This love reaches over borders
Feb 20, 2019
Fifth grade students pause from making Valentine’s Day cards to smile at the camera. Photo by: Amy Casi
Students work on Valentine’s Day cards for pen pals in Uganda. Photo by: Amy Casi
Students make Valentine’s Day cards to accompany a donation of books they sent to students in Uganda.
Students take a break from making Valentine’s Day cards out of paper and pipe cleaners. Photo by: Amy Casi
Fifth grade students celebrate Valentine’s Day by making cards. Photo by: Amy Casi
MATTAPOISETT — Old Hammondtown students showed some love for their Ugandan pen pals this Valentine’s Day by sending over 1,000 books and letters to another school.
Old Hammondtown teacher, Amy Casi, writes:
Kai Uhlin, a fifth-grader at Old Hammondtown School has a family friend that works at the U.S. embassy in Kampala, Uganda. This friend has connected with Kampala Parent's Primary School, a local school that is trying to build a library.
Kai, and his mother Ariane, brought this service project to the attention of Old Hammondtown School. In the last two weeks, the OHS community has collected over 1,000 books and almost $200 to help Kampala Parent's Primary School create an amazing library for their students.
“I thought it was fun to collect books for kids who did not have much at all. They would be getting something they would enjoy for the rest of their lives," Kai Uhlin said.
One of Kai’s classmates explained why she contributed to the drive.
"I think it's important because everyone needs a good education and they deserve books like us. I think that everyone should get books to read," said Grace Rousseau a 5th grader.
Although kids living in both countries have many things in common, such as a love of Harry Potter and enjoying time playing with friends, students at Old Hammondtown School were very excited to learn about the differences in culture and daily lives of students living in Uganda.
At the fifth-grade Valentine's Day party, students decorated envelopes for the pen pal letters they wrote and made wire people out of pipe cleaners to exchange with their new friends.
