Our Crossing Borders international pen-pal program connects students in the US with Syrian refugee girls living in Jordan and establishes relationships with migrant children from Central America who crossed our southern border. GPI is also motivating young female artists from impoverished backgrounds and recognizing their work with prized creative contests, creating an online community for these marginalized girls to share their stories, with a future GPI magazine in the works to share girls’ accomplishments worldwide!
Through a series of writing workshops approved by Syosset School District, and in conjunction with Another Kind of Girl Collective, a media arts collective for and by young women living in displaced, migrant or transitory communities, we connected the community’s students with Syrian refugee children living in the Za’atari camp in Jordan, building mutual acceptance and respect for both worlds, and allowing students to connect, bond, and inspire one another.
Crossing Borders was so impactful, the program coordinator at Za’atari camp wrote: “The personal connection and admiration conveyed in the letters are literally lifelines for some of the girls.” Since then, Crossing Borders has developed writing relationships with over 40 Syrian refugee girls in Jordan, connected with a community of Central-American migrant children in New Orleans, bonded with students in the Samburu Tribe of Kenya, with much more to come!
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