Gandhi Peace Program Report - December, 2019
By Jitesh Jaggi - Office Manager and Program Coordinator
Due to some difficulties he's facing, 8-year-old Ethan sees the school counselor every day to report on how his day has been going and how he's coping with it. Last month, he attended one of the classes where we delivered the Gandhi Peace Program. The day after our class, he reported this to his counselor: "I had a calm night after (listening to) the Gandhi story" and described his feelings as warm and happy- see image 1 attached.
When our lead teacher- Jitesh Jaggi returned to the school the next day to deliver another set of classes, the students from Ethan’s class saw him and quickly put together a letter of gratitude where they thanked him and the National Indo American Museum (NIAM) for the fun and learning experience. They picked Ethan as their class representative and sent him to Jitesh with the letter neatly folded in an envelope. It has some heart-warming comments like: "Thank you for teaching me different things I never knew" and also includes a comment from the class teacher saying "Class 201 has never been so calm and quiet"- see image 2 attached.
These are just a couple of anecdotes that we have cherished from successfully delivering the Gandhi Peace Program to 32 classes, directly impacting more than 800 students in the Chicago Public School system in the past five months. We mention "successfully" here based on the feedback from class teachers, school coordinators, and students.
NIAM has received inquiries from eleven more schools to bring the Gandhi Peace Program to their students over the next three months- most of them located on the West and South sides of Chicago- areas that are struggling with violence in the neighborhoods. The program is sowing the seeds of peaceful resistance and non-violence in neighborhoods that need them the most, through interactive and mindful exercises like meditation, storytelling, and art. We are eager to continue sharing our values-based yet practical approach to young minds in Chicago and hope for your continued support in spreading Mahatma Gandhi’s message of non-violence and bringing peace to those communities that have been impacted by violence.
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