The enthusiasm of Year 4 classes at Clavis International School is palpable. One just has to mention “Jeanne” or “Haiti” to hear pupils chortle with excitement. Is it the project itself, which is close to their hearts or the fact that it is their project? As part of their school activity programme, they have decided to help pupils in Haiti after Jeanne destroyed their schools by sending them T-shirts and stationery.

Clavis School has one motto: children are not there only to learn in books and memorise “formulas” they might forget soon afterwards. This is why all classes – from the first year to the last – have to deal with “Units of Inquiry.” Each class has to do six UOI each year and each UOI lasts six weeks. These activities allow children to think by themselves and take initiatives. Teachers are there only as guides not as adults, who have to tell them what to do or say.

This is where Haiti comes into play. The Year 4 classes’ latest unit dealt with “Natural phenomena have the power to change by creating and destroying” and was entitled: “Give and take.” During those six weeks, the students had to enquire into natural phenomena, how the latter could bring about change and how human beings adjust to those disasters.

The students have been to many places in Mauritius such as Souillac or Rivière des Galets to see the consequences of natural phenomena on the environment. Then, they reflected on what happened in Haiti when cyclone Jeanne has destroyed a large part of the island. They also thought about the situation of children like them and what they could do to help.

“The goal is to make them realise that they have a degree of responsibility on everything that happens around them.” Each unit ends up with an “action component.” The pupils themselves choose and decide what concrete action they will take to help solve a problem linked to the theme of the UOI.

<B>Gardening or other domestic tasks</B>

This is how they thought of helping children, who have severely suffered from cyclone Jeanne in Haiti. The pupils decided they would help their parents at home with gardening or other domestic tasks, which they would be paid for. The teachers sent a letter to parents to explain what their children had chosen to do and got their agreement.

The 75 pupils of the three Year 4 classes have collected more than Rs 5,000. Hence, pupils have decided to buy 50 T-shirts for Haitian children with the inscription, “We think of you from Clavis School Mauritius” as well as stationery. They will send the stuff this week through the Red Cross, which will dispatch them to the most affected schools.

According to one of the teachers, Mr Bruno, this activity is an example of what could be good cooperation between two countries from the Southern hemisphere. And this is, the more so, excellent that the idea came from 10 year-olds. A good example to follow…