“Our regions are different. Our languages are different. But we are equal.”
In Kolkata, West Bengal, India, at St. George’s School playground, Play for Peace Club JAGRAN brought 20 participants together for the Compassion Games' Global Unity Games. Led by 4 Youth Facilitators, the activities took a little over an hour. The session started with Ritual, and then the kids were asked to circle up.
During the session, the kids did a "Moon Walk" activity, where they needed to reach a "target planet" moving one by one. While the children were confused at first, with a little patience, and some trial and error, the activity was completed successfully. One participant said, “With focus and hard work, one should never give up hope in the face of challenge.”
Club JAGRAN held another Play for Peace session at Metro Polliton High School with 30 participants and 4 Youth Facilitators. The session lasted for an hour and a half. In this session, participants completed the Commonality activity, where the kids were divided into two groups, and were asked to choose their 5 favorite common foods or ingredients. Then each child was asked to write those foods in 3 different languages: Hindi, English, and Bengali. In another activity called The 8 Shake and Fruit Salad, children again exercised their use of three different languages.
These activities encouraged diversity within a small community. Within this group of 34 participants, three languages were understood by all. And although the regions that surround them have many different languages, this does not make one person better or worse. Shome Mondal said during the session, “Our regions are different. Our languages are different. But we are equal.” Club JAGRAN learned valuable lessons about working together and recognizing that everyone is equal despite the many differences that exist.