JEM Earth Summit Begins!

(This post is duplicated on the JEM site)

It has been an amazing four days. We left Honolulu Saturday night and flew more than 10 hours to get to Newark, NJ mid day Easter Sunday. Our plane had to circle for more than 30 minutes before being granted permission to land. We were greeted warmly by staff and family of The Buckingham Friends School who loaded up all of our luggage and drove us to the school 90 minutes away. The weather was chilly (40's) but clear. My first host family was terrific. They welcomed me into their home and prepared a wonderful Egyptian-American Easter dinner.

The campus is beautiful. We begin everyday by gathering at the meeting house. This building has great historical significance. It was built in the mid 1700's and was used as a field hospital during the American Revolution.

Monday morning we arrived at the school early and the summit got underway. It was sunny but cold and I felt bad for the group from Kenya who looked so cold. We met the faculty and students, took pictures, played some getting to know you games, and toured the school. Our group stopped at the Peace Garden for a photo beneath the sign that has the distance and direction to all of the JEM schools. After school we went home with our host families.

Tuesday morning the students discussed environmental concerns related to their country/region. In the afternoon the BFS language teachers conducted a group activity that asked students to share environmental words and phrases in their native languages. Tuesday evening there was a pot luck welcome dinner at the school. It was a great event that gave the parents, students, faculty, staff and visitors a chance to relax and get to know each other better. :) I moved in with a new family that will host me for the remainder of the summit. I cannot believe the friendliness and generosity of this school community. There truly are no words to explain how special this place is.

Wednesday was a very busy day. In the morning the students learned how to do the Alley Cat dance and sing the JEM song (written by BFS teacher Toby Mochol). Each delegation then had the opportunity to share a song. A welcome assembly was held in the auditorium. The BFS students sang and they showed video that introduced the JEM students.

After lunch the students took part in a discussion activity that focused on the 5 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse, rethink) and listened to guest speaker Gary Sorin. Before leaving campus for the day they spent time listening to Global Warming specialist Medard Gabel. It was a full day and by 5:00 pm most of us were ready to go home. A couple of lucky JEM students were treated to a 76ers game. What a treat!

Thursday the students begin the Global simulation game. Stay tuned. I'll post again soon.