live, laugh, love...

follies recorded by camera & heart. all photos taken by denise ortiz, founder of sharing to learn, a ngo empowering impoverished communities in south africa through education & compassion. www.sharingtolearn.org

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rain - rose

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Makuleke Mural in a NYC classroom; recreating Makuleke Village with 2-D shapes

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Learning about South Africa in a NYC classroom

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Cultural Immersion in the Elementary School Classroom: Learning About the Makuleke Community; What We Know, What We Want to Know!

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StoryBook Adventure: Connecting Children from Makahlule Village, South Africa, and Lisbon Portugal through global literacy!

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Xihluke, of Makuleke Village, South Africa, sends a letter to her friend in New York City.

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a letter from Tshepo of Makuleke Village, to his new friend in New York City. 

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Earthbox Exchange: planting seeds of friendship

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From New York City to Makuleke Village, South Africa, with love. A letter from STL's Earthbox curriculum.

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A preschool teacher from New York City, teaches children in Makuleke village, South Africa, how to use different instruments.

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Children at Jamella Preschool in Makuleke Village, South Africa, learn a new song, taught to them by their preschool friends in New York City!

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The Earthbox Exchange: Planting Seeds of Friendship Across the Globe 

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Replay, a 5th Grade student in Makahlule Village, South Africa, proudly holds his new book, Shrek and the Magic Chicken.  In this story, made by new friends - middle school students at CAISL in Portugal, Replay is the protagonist of the story.  His life - his interests, hopes and dreams - were the inspiration for this story.  StoryBook Adventure is one of the many ways that Sharing to Learn connects children around the globe to learn with and from one another.

www.sharingtolearn.org

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Nadalie, a student at University of San Diego, reads to children at the Makuleke Library in South Africa.  Nadalie took part in USD's cultural immersion excursion to Makuleke Village. USD and Sharing to Learn are partnering to create an innovative service immersion program, focusing on mutually beneficial transformational experiences.

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7th grade students at the Carlucci American International School of Lisbon meet their new friend in Makahlule Village, South Africa.  

Sharing to Learn coordinated the global literacy project, StoryBook Adventure, pairing 5th grade students in Makahlule with 7th grade students in Lisbon.  We collected photos and gathered information on children in the village and then sent that over to Lisbon, where the children were learning how to write fiction.  The 7th graders in Portugal used the information sheets and photographs of their new friends in South Africa for the protagonists in the stories they were crafting.   

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A student in Makuhlule Village, South Africa, receives a postcard and photograph from a new friend in upstate New York.

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A student in Lisbon, Portugal takes a photograph of her new friend from Makahlule village, South Africa.  The children were connected in an innovative literacy project, "StoryBook Adventure."