Let's keep kids' dreams alive!
Our Story Garden and stemDiscovery! exhibit programs in New Mexico have been on hold for four months now, and we deeply miss the joy, creativity, wonder and friendship that were part of these learning spaces. Now, as we plan for the months ahead, the dreams, hopes and intelligence of children continue to guide and inspire us.
“It seems like an easy thing to do,” texts 10 year old Fran from her grandpa’s car as they drive to their home near Pinon, Arizona, in Navajo Nation. She had been talking about finding a cure for the coronavirus, but she had also been talking about ending hunger, about fairness, and about her dreams for the future.
At a time when the long-standing injustices and inequalities of the world have come closer to the surface, many of us are eager to look to people who have the moral authority and clarity to guide and inspire us, to show us the way forward. We generally look to adults for this vision, but what could we learn by looking to children like Fran?
Despite school being disrupted, Fran is laser-focused on her education and her future: “I think I am going to be in college for 5 years, to grow smarter, learn to cook, learn to drive, learn to pay bills.” Fran was not only thinking about her own success. She added: “And to help other people like the poor people. Because it's not fair if other people get gifts on Christmas and others don't get gifts on Christmas. And It’s not fair that people are hungry for food and others aren’t, because they have money to get food.”
Fran reminds us of something important during this time when many more families are struggling financially: having access to healthy food and the basic essentials to care for one’s family should not be considered a privilege, but a basic human right. As we mobilize around providing food and essentials to families struggling in our communities during this pandemic, Fran’s words remind us that this is not an act of charity, but an act of justice.
And Fran did not stop there. Her community has been hit hard by the pandemic, like many low-income communities of color in the US: “I wish the virus would go away. It stops us from seeing people's families, friends and to visit places, planets and stars. Why couldn't people eat the cure and then the virus will go away? It seems like an easy thing to do."
Fran’s words are a clear call to action: Are the changes we want for our communities really that hard to accomplish? What would it take to ensure that every family has their basic human rights met? The inequalities that have made life too hard for many families in our communities were created by people, and we can each step up and be part of changing them. Fran’s right: It seems like an easy thing to do.
Let’s keep our kids’ dreams alive: whether it’s making sure every family has enough food to eat and gifts for the holidays, or whether it’s joining Fran in believing that every child should have the chance to one day visit the planets and the stars.
Constellation art made by a child at Story Garden
We’d like to invite all of you to ask the children around you for their vision for our world. What do they want to see change? How should the world be? What do they dream of for themselves and their community? Please share their thoughts back with us, so we can build our actions around their hopes and dreams! Email: newmexico@4thworldmovement.org.
Karen Stornelli
ATD Fourth World New Mexico