For students at Alternative School No. 1 in North Seattle, Afghanistan hardly feels like a world away.
The One Face at a Time International Exchange Program connects Seattle children with children in Kabul, Afghanistan. It matches students in countries where there may be conflict or fundamental misunderstandings of culture, and creates an exchange through letters, photos, storytelling, videos, poetry, technology and artwork to solve problems.
Cultural awareness
The program took form April 2004, and the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in Nicole Johnson's class have been participating since the beginning of this school year.
Johnson feels that the kids are starting to see the world in a different way.
"The kids are really getting that there is so much more out there than their daily lives," she said.
Program director Shannon Faulk echoed Johnson's sentiments, saying that she's watched the children's perceptions of Afghan culture slowly start to change, explaining that the children are learning cultural awareness.
One such experience came when the children were asked to wear long sleeves in their videotapes, because it is disrespectful not to do so in Afghan culture.
"We've had to explain that some of what's OK here isn't OK there - and there is nothing wrong with that. The differences are exciting and make us learn more," she said.
A personal connection
During a special event in March with Teachers Without Borders (TWB), a Mercer Island-based nonprofit organization, the students and their parents ate authentic Afghani food donated by Kabul restaurant in Wallingford, and received their first letters along with video footage of their pen pals for the first time.
Before being translated by Kabul owner Wali Khairzada, the letters were purposely kept in Farsi, so the kids could see what the language of their new friends looks like.
Faulk feels the program has a unique personal connection: Kids get to see their pen pals and watch their letters being read on video, rather than just receiving mail.
She added that the children in Afghanistan have been just as excited as the kids here in Seattle and have written things like "I can't wait to meet you," "I know I haven't met you but I love you" and "I love you as much as food!"
Learning for themselves
The One Face program was born out of collaboration between Teachers Without Borders and Creative Economic Opportunities (CEO). CEO president Marnie Gustavson spent significant time in Afghanistan as a child.
In traveling back and forth between Afghanistan and the United States so much, she decided to bring letters and video footage from Afghan schoolchildren.
TWB director Fred Mednick had already created the One Face curriculum, but saw the video footage and loved Gustavson's version of a student exchange. The One Face at a Time program grew out of this collaboration.
Johnson will have many of the same students in her class next year, so the program will likely continue beyond the end of this school year. The program is designed to adapt to different times frames.
Goals for next year include increasing funding, bringing the program to three more schools and continuing to foster relationships with the Afghan children, Faulk said.
She feels the program is teaching young people how to be more global and how to be local leaders, and it has the potential to enhance understanding in future generations.
"The kids are getting taught at a really young age that it's important to discover things about people for themselves, instead of just believing the media," she said.
Creating change
It is clear in their letters that the Seattle students are enthusiastic about their new friends across the globe. The students write about their favorite activities, their friends and families and how excited they are about their pen pals.
Kali, 8, wrote, "When I think about having a new friend in Afghanistan, I feel happy, glad and excited. What I wish for is that the whole world would stop [fighting], and we would have peace."
The Afghanistan children similarly write about friends and family, but also about how they feel about war and peace. The Afghani pen pal of Clover, 8, wrote, "I hate war, but I like peace a lot. I would like to become a doctor in the future so I can help my people."
To show what they learned about Afghani children, students demonstrated that Afghani children raise their hands with one index finger pointing upwards in the air, rather than their whole arms.
Students shared insights about their pen pals that were well beyond their years, and that summed up the purpose of the program: to celebrate and understand cultural diversity and to create change as a result.
"It seemed to me like we aren't that different," said Lisa, a 10-year-old fifth-grader. "It's amazing to see that people on two different sides of the planet can be so alike."
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