The pleasure of enjoying simple things is not limited to a specific age. In addition to my role as EJI
director, I am also the Children’s House Spanish and PE teacher. For the last two weeks, I have been
working with the Olders from the Birch and Willow rooms making our own kites and gardening, in
addition to our usual Spanish and PE classes. We have been planting raspberries, corn, beans, squash,
and flowers. These activities are ones that I remember doing as a child and which I enjoyed
tremendously.
I wanted to share my memories with the students of seeing kites made of newspaper or plastic flying in
the sky; waving hello to me with their tails and wings, as they bent and resisted the strong winds to the
sturdiness of its bamboo frame. Recycled bags of seed and compost made the perfect materials to
construct the kites and to introduce this new adventure to the kids.
While one group of Olders worked on the kites, the other took advantage of the excellent weather and
abundance of space in our lower garden area. Envisioning planting our food was a fascinating
conversation to observe. We talked about our “Stone Soup” ceremony. We talked about COVID-19 and
the critical role that farmers have had during this time. We talked about, how great it would be if we
could plant our own food. We talked about all the fun that we could have with all the dirt and bugs. We
talked about the great responsibility that this could bring to all of us and how this could inspire others.
“Can I invite my grandmother to come to help us? She has a big garden and lots of gardening tools” said
one of the children. Thus began our garden.
While the other group of Olders were flying their kites, I ran with them, enjoying the pleasure of such a
simple triumph. The kites were flying, and while the other group made trip after trip carrying buckets of
water to water their plants, we carried with us the memories of the taste of the sweet raspberries, corn,
squash, beans, and the smell of the flowers. The pleasure of enjoying simple things is ageless, especially
when we teach and share things with intention.
Yupaichani/Gracias/Thank You,
Marco Yunga Tacuri