Why One Pearl Supports Global Studies Education

October 29th, 2008 by Theresa | Posted in One Pearl Story |

Of my life experiences, travel has probably had the biggest impact on me. At a very young age, my father, mother, sister and I moved to Dhaka, Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). We lived there for 2 and a half years.

At six years old i witnessed poverty that was unfathomable, from inside our huge compound with servants and all the food and clean water we wanted. From my bedroom window i witnessed men bathing and drinking from the gutter, children begging, with stomachs swollen from hunger and mothers scavenging for any item that could be used for shelter, eaten or sold. 

My parents made sure that we learned about life outside of our compound. My father’s students and the other professors from the university he taught at became friends. We learned about their way of life, traditions, religion and food. We learned what they wanted for their family and country. That was the most important lesson of all – i learned that nearly everyone wants the same thing, but they “go about it” in many different ways. I think that most people are frightened by things that are different. But different does not equate to “bad.” It’s just different, something that is foreign to what we are accustomed to. 

We traveled throughout Asia and Africa, by plane, train, automobile and boat, my parents making sure we saw the “real” world. In doing so, we had incredible adventures that i remember to this day. I am not afraid to go to some far away place. I know that when i get there, i will meet and make new friends, who have the same intrinsic needs and wants as i do. This is the tie that binds all of us together in this incredible world.

It drives me crazy, when people make decisions based upon preconceived notions/stereotypes about another country, race, religion, etc. To me this is where travel and immersion come into play. By being thrust into a totally foreign environment, you are forced to look at and deal with things that you never would have seen, had you not left the comfortable and safe confines of your home. It is so easy to stay within your comfort zone, never leaving, never experiencing that which makes this world so incredibly fascinating – differences. 

The differences in culture can be frightening, until you discover that there is really nothing to fear. Once you become aware of the fact that every person really wants the same thing, to be safe, happy and healthy, that fear dissipates. People go about life in many different ways – but all with the same goal. Does it really matter how we/they achieve it? No. Do we need to dictate or inflect our ways upon them? No. 

It is because of this experience, that i support the Global Studies Program at Watkinson School,  in Hartford, CT. I believe that if we can get kids out into the world, out of their comfort zone to see a different side of life, that they too will realize what a varied world we live in. I want them to be able to go beyond their own confines in the future. I want them to pass the word, that this huge world we live in is not so scary after all. I want them to realize that all of us want the same things, but we just go about it in many different ways, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In this sense, the kids who participate in the Global Studies Service Learning Program at Watkinson are also pearls. They are thrust into a foreign environment, nurtured and cared for in a different manner than they have been accustomed to, and come back transformed, like a pearl.