Sports for Sharing

An important component of Sports for Sharing is a treasure-chest exchange conducted every semester among participating schools. Throughout the course of the program, children collectively select objects that are representative of their cultural pride and identity and pack them up in creatively-crafted boxes to be sent to other communities. The only rule is that contents must be hand-made or part of the natural environment. At the end of the semester, boxes are strategically exchanged and each school receives a treasure-chest from a distant, contrasting community. For example we place boxes from rural schools in urban ones, boxes from coastal regions in mountainous areas and a private school might exchange their chest with an indigenous academic shelter. The purpose of this activity is to bridge cultural and social realities. When children come into contact with each other’s treasured objects they awaken their curiosity, respect and appreciation for diversity. One of our most beloved anecdotes is an urban child’s uncontainable excitement with a hand-crafted toy created by a raramuri indigenous child. The first child might have felt indifference or pity, at best, for the second prior to this experience that gave him new appreciation and admiration for another child living in a different socio-cultural context.