What benefits do youths get from engaging in cross-cultural storytelling?
Borges: They learn with and from each other, not just about each other. When we paired kids in Seattle with kids from the Navajo Nation, the kids from Seattle wanted to hear the Navajo kids speak their own language, but only half of them could speak it. The Navajo teacher told me, ‘Those kids asking our kids to speak Navajo gave our kids a sense of pride about their culture that they were losing.’ What kinds of insights do kids in the U.S. gain from those abroad? In one workshop, two girls from Washington State went to Peru. When they got home they made some observations: ‘The Peruvian kids all have to work to help support their families,’ they said. ‘They spend a lot of face time together. Here we’re online, talking to each other, texting. They tell each other things we wouldn’t dare tell our friends about ourselves. They’re more emotionally open.’ How does your Bridges Ambassador Program connect youth from Seattle with youth in India, South Africa, and Guatemala? The kids from differ
