What can I teach them about peace, helping, and sharing? As I’m sitting in a training with twenty-nine Darfuri refugee women, I am hit with the absurdity that I—Gabriel coming from the beaches of Southern California—am presenting to them—young women that as girls saw their homes destroyed, family and friends killed, and escaped to become refugees with nothing but what they had on their backs—about the core values of peace, helping, and sharing.
These three values are the pillars for our Little Ripples (LR) preschool program. The LR teachers will be sharing and practicing the pillars every day with their students. They are trained to use storytelling and play to bring peace, helping, and sharing alive and make it a part of their daily lives—hopefully for the rest of their lives!
I’ve done the pillars talk multiple times now, and I’ve made a mental pause each time when I’m about to start. As I’m looking at the women sitting in our circle, I see strength, wisdom, and passion. I think about what their eyes must have seen: some of the most unimaginable horrors by man on fellow humans. And yet, they are caring, compassionate, and loving.