Letters to Haiti

Warning: htmlspecialchars_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, NULL given in /nfs/c01/h11/mnt/11651/domains/brooklynbodega.com/html/wp-includes/compat.php on line 113

From npr

When they heard I was going to report in Haiti after the massive earthquake, fifth-graders from Amylynn Robinson’s class asked if I could deliver some messages to any children I’d meet. Their letters included drawings of flowers, hearts and rainbows. And they began simply:

“Hello Haiti, nice to meet you.”

“Dear Buddy … ”

“Hi there, I’m a child as well.”

“Dear friend, I am your friend. I wrote this letter to tell you I care about you.”

The children wrote about their school, Balboa Magnet Elementary, a public school in Northridge, Calif., in Northern Los Angeles County, which was the epicenter of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. Although these 10-year-olds were not alive then, many say they’ve heard stories about the damage in California. So they were sympathetic to kids coping with the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.

“Because they were one of the poorest countries in the Western atmosphere, it shocked me greatly,” Issac Choi said.

“I was like, oh, my gosh,” said Joon Lee. “Their buildings were made out of rocks. Many people died, and I feel so sad for them.”

Help In A Different Form

Matthew Del Castillo said they thought writing letters to children in Haiti might cheer them up.

So they wrote about their best friends, sports and their hobbies.

“My hobbies are gymnastics, drawing, computer games and reading,” wrote Liliana Manamino. “I’m a total bookworm, but I’m not shy. I have a wild imagination and I’m not afraid to share what goes on in there. My favorite flower is a rose, and I really do believe in a lot of stuff like vampires and fairies.”