Greensboro Montessori: Harvesting the Fruit of Action

Our Heroes of Compassion at Greensboro Montessori

Again and again I discover that steady and persistent effort, held together by patience, makes a difference.  Our actions have an effect, even if the immediate results are not obvious.  What we do matters!  If you plant seeds where the soil is fertile, roots grow and a seedling sprouts, eventually yielding fruit.

In fall 2007, Ariane and I, along with our dear Dennis Hamilton, attended the Global Citizenship Action Project conference in NYC.  Ariane eloquently presented Amman Imman to over 100 middle school students who were there to learn about global issues, tour the United Nations and take action.  Different projects were presented at GCAP as opportunities for these student activists.   Over the course of time, several have taken up the cause of the people of the Azawak:  

Starting in 2008, The Boyd School middle school students began to heed the Amman Imman call.  Since then,  The Boyd School has raised thousands of dollars, most recently staging A Walk for Water and Amman-a-thons for over 600 students.

In 2008, Berkeley Montessori School middle schoolers staged a One-Act Play fundraiser, raising over $2,000.

Additionally, River Valley Charter School, Bowman School and Coral Reef Montessori also got involved as a result of GCAP.

We thought we had savored all the wonderful blossoms from the GCAP seedling, but recently a new branch has harvested some luscious fruit.  North Carolina's Greensboro Montessori School sent us a check for $1,353 raised at their summer market along with  this story:

Each year the Greensboro Montessori School in N.C. holds a camp called the “Montessori Market.” This camp provides children with the opportunity to use the School’s extensive gardens to raise money for other children who need support. The campers harvest produce from the gardens to make goods such as fruit jams, pesto, vegetable and fruit breads, tarts, herb blends, rosemary skewers and sachets. They also spend time making crafts. The children take their wares, along with flowers and fresh produce from the gardens, to a local farmers’ market to sell.

In 2007, one of the School’s teachers had learned of the Amman Imman Project at the Global Citizenship Action Project, an annual youth conference held in NYC to educate middle school students about the workings of the United Nations.  Touched by the story of the people of the Azawak,  she hoped that  Greensboro students would take on the project, but the students were busy helping with other important causes.  Then, this year she showed the children videos from Amman Imman's website. The campers enthusiastically decided to donate their profits from the market to the Amman Imman Project. They raised $1,353. They even had the opportunity to educate one of North Carolina’s senators, Kay Hagan, about the project while she was shopping at their stand. 

One of oldest campers, Abby Waldron, will present the Montessori Market fundraising concept and how they took action for Amman Imman at this year's GCAP.

Who knows what additional Amman Imman branches the GCAP tree will grow!