Schools and Communities 

GBF U.S. SCHOOL PROGRAM DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS: A WINDOW TOWARDS HOPE & THE WORLD. 

The current social climate is filled with conversations, fears, and news focused on COVID-19. Our students are impacted in numerous ways both personally and socially. This is a time when our students should be interacting with their peers, running around playgrounds, and maturing socially. Instead, we find our students isolated, emotional, and stressed about COVID-19. Many agonize over its spread, their family members who have been impacted, economic consequences, and if their family survive. The past few weeks has taken the joy, excitement, and stability away from many children.  Many students are finding it difficult to cope as they miss their friends, teachers, and the reward of learning.

Families across the country are struggling to adapt with the evolving changes to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rules and guidelines often change daily, making the simplest tasks seem challenging. Intense pressure on social distancing, coupled with non-essential travel bans, correlates to our children and their families struggling to maintain good physical and mental health. Schools, places of public gathering, playgrounds and parks that are traditionally safe havens for our students have been closed. Parents are faced with helping their families adjust to the new normal and many themselves are impacted greatly by the current crisis. This includes trying to keep children occupied, engaged with school, happy, mentally healthy and feeling safe. For some it is an impossible task, as the parents have to work longer hours, manage uncertain economic conditions, care for sick family members and deal with their own fears.  

The importance of mental health has never been greater. Hearing how others have managed challenges can be motivating and give these students hope. Confidence, hope, and a positive attitude is what we all need right now. You have a great opportunity to help your students in a remote learning set up. Teachers are adapting their classes and lessons as they are working from home through e-learning channels (such as Zoom or Google Classroom). 

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Georgie Badiel Foundation has decided to continue its school program and foster interaction between teachers, children, and Georgie Badiel as an external speaker. We believe this can have a very positive impact on those struggling during this crisis. This exceptional program is designed around the e-reading and conversation of the acclaimed children’s educational book written by Georgie Badiel, The Water Princess. The book is based on Georgie’s childhood and tells the story of a young girl facing the daily challenges of fetching water for a family in a country prone to water scarcity. The book is discussed, and the discussion is focused on providing an opportunity for the class to reflect on overcoming challenges, problem-solving, flexibility, and compassion. The goal is to uplift the children from K to 5th grade by introducing an engaging conversation between the students and teacher.

High Fashion model and activist Georgie Badiel e-reads her book on Zoom/Skype after a program is built with the teachers. This program encompasses short conversations and assignments for the classroom section of the activity. The GBF continues to provide these services to schools across the U.S.

Sample Topics of Discussion and Thought:

• Georgie had to help her family respond to the challenge of collecting water. How can children help their parents and their siblings at home?

• How was a young girl able to be so optimistic and grateful?

• How can you turn a challenge into an opportunity? How do you define and identify opportunities? Give examples.

• What do children dream to change in their lives, in the lives of others?

• What was Georgie’s daily routine? What are the daily routines of the students in the class?

• Hygiene challenges and a good health routine: how can the hero in The Water Princess be compared to children living through COVID-19?

• Drawings and letters to be mailed or scanned to schools in Burkina Faso?

Georgie is available to help! Please email us at info@georgiebadielfoundation.org, to set up a schedule for Georgie to speak to your class or school. You can also share the video below with your students, in which Georgie is reading The Water Princess… 

For Teachers and Schools

The Georgie Badiel Foundation encourages educators and community leaders to incorporate Georgie’s life story, The Water Princess, to engage, educate, and inspire students to become global citizens and join our mission. For more information about service-learning projects and fundraising campaigns with your class, school club or school, please contact info@georgiebadielfoundation.org