From Christchurch to Lima, Peru
01 Dec 2020
Four College boys took part in a live Zoom call last Friday 27 November with students from Markham College in Lima, Peru – and came away changed.
“This opportunity we were given to connect and interact with the Peru students made me realise how much Covid-19 has disrupted us all,” says Year 12 Kosei Oikawa.
“It is easy for us all to forget in New Zealand that Covid is still an ongoing crisis, and this Zoom call reminded me of this fact.”
Most of the discussions were in English, and since the Peruvians are fully bi-lingual there was an opening for some discussion in Spanish by those College boys wanting to practise their language skills.
“It assisted us in understanding our place in the world,” says Year 13 Alistair Morgan.
“For me, it helped illustrate the similarities and differences and showed me that despite our different cultures, ages and countries, that we have a lot in common. I would call it what makes us human.”
Year 12 George Gearry says that “having the chance to talk to real people who were our age, was really valuable in helping us to put into perspective the extent of the lockdown and Covid-19 in places that have been worse affected than New Zealand.”
The Peruvians interviewed the College students about their life here, what motivates them, and their dreams for the future. It was all part of a larger unit they were studying on diversity which had begun by looking at diversity within Peru and then expanded to incorporate interviews with students around the world.
They intend to create a visual product of their work, which will communicate what they learned from the interviews.
The collaboration was initiated by Markham College via the Round Square network, which offers a wealth of opportunities for students to connect and collaborate with others worldwide.
Several more College boys are continuing the same project asynchronously via recorded videos.
