Being held in mind - Cayman says hello to Mysore

As many of you know, I spent the last 3 months of the year in India. During my time there The Mysore Foundation was in the early stages of establishment. Before leaving I donated my belongings to the Mysore community and made the suggestion of a Pen-Pal program to Ms Brice Watson, CEO. 

http://www.themysorefoundation.com/

I felt it important that these children in Mysore who are sidelined and forgotten by their own feel some connection and love from the rest of the world. Sending a letter or a simple picture would make the receiving child feel special by being held in someone's thoughts. After all, we all want to be 'held in mind' don't we? Knowing we are in someone's thoughts, that someone out there is thinking of us; we feel loved. 

It was my dream when I came to Cayman to start a Pen-Pal program with my own children. After 6 months of hard work at East End Primary School my efforts have finally come to fruition.

I wanted to teach the children: 

• About another culture and the world we live in;  that there is a world bigger than themselves. 
• The concept of charity and helping others. By asking their little boy/girl their name, age, likes etc they are thinking of someone else. And as many teachers and parents will agree, getting a young child to think of others is quite a challenge. 
• How blessed they are. Children in the Western world are very lucky and take their privilege for granted, I wanted them to understand what it's like to be poor. 
• Finally and most importantly for me, I wanted to explore the relationship of friends with the children. Helping them to see how friendships make others as well as ourselves feel good inside. That everything we do impacts another's feelings.

Despite it being the last 7 days of school and the children bouncing 'off the walls', My Year 1 class of 19 children have all written very sweet letters, coloured a picture of a typical Cayman animal (stingray, iguana, turtle etc) and tracked the route of their letters from the Cayman Islands, Caribbean to Mysore, India on a map. 

I'll admit I shed a couple of tears when reading through these letters. They've done so well and I'm very proud of their efforts. In a recap session I asked the children 'Why are sending letters to children in India?' One little boy raised his hand 'We want them to feel special Miss Winter.' My heart started to beam. They understood this project.

We will be finishing them tomorrow then I will put them into individual envelopes with either 'boy' or 'girl' written on them, ready to post to the guardians of the foundation in Mysore. 

On the other side of the world 19 boys and girls will smile and feel loved because of my children here in Cayman.

#Wintydidgood

And here was the report...

https://www.caymancompass.com/2016/06/30/east-end-students-hope-to-make-friends-in-india/