Global Citizens: Fostering Empathy in the Next Generation

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_margin=”||-56px|||”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”3px||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.5.7″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”||22px|||” hover_enabled=”0″]

For more than six months now, a small group of Little Ripples Expert Teacher Advisors (ETAs) has been working hard to answer two important questions, “How do we connect our children here with the refugee children of Little Ripples?” and “How do we use that connection to foster empathy and create the next generation of global citizens working for peace?”

Little Ripples is an innovative preschool program that blends a basic curriculum steeped in cutting-edge early childhood development philosophies (such as student-emergent and play-based learning) with activities like free play and mindfulness that can be enjoyed even in the harsh conditions of refugee camps. Little Ripples teachers — all refugees living in the community with the students — then fill out the curriculum using their own cultural components. In the harsh environment of eastern Chad, in a community with low levels of education, this program has been successful beyond our expectations.

As iACT began to share the success of Little Ripples, more an