The Cultural Education Program is Manos' core program, where volunteers bring enriching youth development activities to our community centers and sites themed on four countries each program year. The Program incorporates fun educational activities that build life skills, while teaching global and cultural awareness. Over the years, we have studied more than 20 countries with the children we serve. Each country is hosted over a four week session where our Community Centers transform into the country being studied. Children enter the Centers with their Manos "Passports" and get an international traveling experience, brought directly to them at their community centers. Volunteers share the sights and sounds of four different countries through planned activities over four week for each country:
- General education about each country (such as geography, population, language, history).
- Arts & crafts themed on each country
- Indoor and outdoor games, including sports from the four countries
- And, finally, each four-week session ends with a Cultural Party, where the community centers are further transformed for a grand finale event.
When we studied Spain, the Centers were transformed into a Spanish Restaurant and Museum for the Cultural Party. Children enjoyed delicious paella and even a fruit-filled sangria.
For Madagascar, volunteers transformed the center into a maze of jungle trails, led by a "guide" volunteer, children crossed streams and saw lemurs in this imaginative Madagascan Safari! Afterwards, they met back at the "Camp Site" (behind the Center) for a safari camp fire and a taste of Madagascan food.
The Cultural Education Program also incorporates holiday celebrations, language learning, such as English, a library of resources about different countries, and access to technology to further open their "window to the world."
In addition, being healthy is also important to progression and breaking the cycle of poverty. Within our program year, we provide the children we serve with a healthy breakfast, snack, and lunch. While also making available to them an exercise and health education area in the Community Center. To further our celebration of cultures, the program year ends with an Olympics Themed Camp, where children are placed into 4 teams to represent the countries studied, and compete in fun Camp activities, such as sack races and tug-o-war. Please join our supporters in making these programs possible. Your donation is tax-deductible and will directly help our volunteers bring youth development programs to children in need. On behalf of the children we serve, "THANK YOU!"
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