When American kids go to school, it's rarely with joy on their faces. American kids go to school in a parent's air conditioned car or on a school bus, either plenty comfy. Alas, when they get there, they might be subject to bullying--or at the very least, a barrage of state-mandated tests and a very competitive atmosphere.
We tease about our collective parents saying, "I walked three miles in the snow barefoot to go to school,"--though that's actually probably an urban legend. My parents never walked three miles in the snow--not in Georgia or Tennessee.
"On the Way to School features Jackson, the Kenyan; Carlito, the Argentinian; Zahira, the Moroccan; Samuel, the Indian, four children who live light years away from each other and who have never met but who have a common point. They have to cover tremendously long distances to reach their school. On foot, on horseback or in a wheelchair, but all with an extraordinary determination."
What strikes me about this documentary is the kindness of the children, the parents, and the teachers. When Samuel arrives at school after an arduous trip, pushed and pulled by his two beautiful brothers, his classmates run to meet him and carry him into the school in the white plastic yard chair attached to a frame (his homemade wheelchair.)
The parents send them off in the morning knowing they have a dangerous trip--in one case warning them to avoid being trampled by elephants.
All of these children have their dreams--to become a teacher, to become a pilot, to become a doctor "who helps kids like me walk." They are male and female. They go on foot (and in one case on horseback) for hours to get to school on time. They wash their clothes by hand to prepare for school.
In spite of meager food and material poverty, these children radiate joy, a love of learning, and a sense of friendship and caring for each other.
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