Teachers, schoolchildren, b’nei mitzvah students, and youth groups play an important role in Kulanu’s work.
Children at _____ in Ann Arbor, Michigan made groggers, masks, and hamantaschen for Purim, and then sent $50 each of four communities in Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Nigeria so they could buy supplies for their children to do similar Purim projects. The children in Michigan made “how to” videos on making crafts and reading the megillah, and the children in Namutumba, Uganda, sent back a video of their Purim play. The Michigan children watched videos about Kulanu, then prepared questions about Kulanu’s work and had a Skype interview with Kulanu’s president.
Morristown Jewish Center (NJ) – Beit Yisrael’s Handmade Books Project: Sixth-graders made their own books about being a Jewish kid in New Jersey as a way to connect with their peers in Uganda. Upon receiving and reading these books, the Abayudaya students took delight in creating their own books to give back to their new American friends. However, rather than ship the books back to the U.S., Kulanu volunteers took photos of each page of every book made by the Abayudaya students to show the sixth-graders in New Jersey, and agreed to keep the books in the year-old school library for the enjoyment of other Abayudaya children, community members and visitors. You can see the finished books, from New Jersey and Uganda, in this album on Kulanu’s Smugmug account: “Handmade Books Mitzvah Project – January 2012”