I am Alexis, World Traveler and I would love for you to join me on my many travels to different countries. Together we will learn about the children and families of these lands. We will learn it is ok to be different, that we are all God's Children.
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Alexis's mother and I feel it is important to teach Alexis about diversity and cultural awareness. We want Alexis to know that people of different cultures may be different from us but that it is ok to be different. We want her to know that if we understand their culture that the differences are not really that great. From the time Alexis was born we have been talking to her about world events, and racial tolerance. She has never heard a racial slur in her six years of life. The foundations for racial attitudes are laid as infants and toddlers and after the age of nine their racial attitudes tend to stay the same. That is why it is so important that we never let our children hear or see any form of racial intolerance. When you live in rural Indiana it makes it more challenging to teach about diversity and different cultures. We came up with the idea to have her study about a different country each month and we will do fun activities such as eating at restaurants, playing games, visiting museums, dressing , and listening to music depicting the country we are studying. Follow Alexis on her many travels around the world and feel free to join her as she learns about the many different cultures.

~Mamaw~

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Building A Tippy Tap

Posted in | 9:38 AM | by Diana

This month we are learning about the meaning of being a global citizen. To learn this, Alexis must also learn that not everyone around the world lives in the same conditions as we do in the United States.

We have been discussing poverty and hunger and how that effects peoples lives. Alexis is learning that not everyone has indoor plumbing and how that leads to poor hygiene practices. We also have discussed the quality of the water in these countries and the dangers of parasites, when drinking the water.

Every year 3.5 million children die from diarrhea and respiratory infections. Handwashing with soap and water can prevent many of these deaths. Yet many people in developing countries do not practice handwashing with soap after going to the latrine or before preparing food.

In some developing countries they have soap available but they see it as a priority to use soap only when washing laundry or washing their dishes etc. not for handwashing.

The Tippy Tap is a hands free way to wash hands in a rural setting where there is not running water. It is a very simple device created with resources readily available. To make a Tippy Tap you must have sticks, a jug for holding the water, string, soap, and a nail to poke holes with. I won't go into details on how to make a Tippy Tap but if you would like to build your own you can find directions here.

I was so fascinated with the Tippy Tap, that I decided Alexis and I should make one ourselves. We used some old boards and a half gallon milk carton. Here is a video of our Tippy Tap in use.


To learn more about promoting handwashing in developing countries and the uses of the Tippy Tap visit www.tippytap.org

I told Alexis she could tell all of her classmates about building a Tippy Tap...but she said they would think she was cuckoo...so she probably won't be sharing this adventure even though she seemed to enjoy it. I'm pretty sure it is mommy who is cuckoo...I just seem to drag others into my cuckoo world, lol.

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