For October 17, 2008, the World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty, we invited children to take part in a discussion forum.

 What can you do with others to make life easier in your family, in your neighborhood, or in school?

23 Forum messages

• Mackenson

  6 October 08:08, by Mulonda - Democratic Republic of Congo

  “To look out for other children who are like Mackenson and help them participate in the meetings of our Tapori group, we go see their families. If we see that a kid can’t come to a meeting because he’s sick, we go to his house to do the meeting."

• Tapori weekend

  6 October 15:50, by Nathalie - Switzerland

  I’m 8 years old. I have two brothers and one sister. One of my brothers comes to the Tapori weekend with me. At the Tapori weekend, we play games. For example, we jump rope. We also do drawings about Tapori that show the world a little bit. Then we send them to other countries.

  And you, what do you do in your Tapori group?

• Getting made fun of

  6 October 16:00, by Nataelle - Mauritius

  There’s a girl in my school who always comes early. When I got to school one day, she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said that another girl had made fun of her. I told her not to cry, that I’d take her to see the teacher right away.

• Meeting other children

  6 October 16:05, by Intisar - Switzerland

  I’m 12 years old and very shy. I’m 150 centimeters tall and I live in Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.

  I like meeting other children because we can make friends and meet children from other countries! If we talk to each other, we can get to know each other better and there will be more friendship in the world!

  For people not to feel left out, we can go to their house and keep them company.

  If there’s a problem in my school, my neighborhood, or with my family, I can try to solve it.

• Being friends

  6 October 16:11, by Ebtisem - Switzerland

  I’m 9 years old and I have a big sister and a step-brother. I come to the Tapori weekend with my sister. The Tapori weekends are good for having friends in all of Switzerland. We don’t all come from the same part and there are even some children who come from France.

  I like to meet other children to make friends. To make friends, you need to introduce yourself first, then talk a little bit with them to get to know them. If there are people who pretend we don’t exist, they aren’t real friends.

• A kid who’s absent

  6 October 16:15, by Chloe - Mauritius

  When there’s a kid who’s absent, I tell him the story that we heard in our Tapori group and tell him what happened to me that day. That’s a way of getting him to participate.

• Everyone helps everyone

  6 October 16:24, by Malyka - Switzerland

  1. My name is Malyka. I live in Cossonay. I’m 10 years old and I live in Switzerland. There are a lot of cows. I like horses a lot. I also like meeting other kids. I like making firendship bracelets, listening to music, reading, and horse-back riding. I have brown eyes and light brown hair.

  2. I like to meet other people because I like communicating with them. Because everyone is on the same wave-length and is looking for and finding friends. Finding out about their culture and the habits in their country.

  3. Either go to find children who are absent or send them a card like we did for the children who didn’t come to the Tapori weekend.

  4. Everyone helps everyone. For example, my mom asks me to set the table and I do it. I help my sister. We don’t cheat. We don’t speak during class so we don’t bother the others. At recess, there shouldn’t be anyone who’s all alone. Go talk to people who are alone and ask them to come. If they don’t want to, you shouldn’t insist. Don’t call names. Help out if someone needs help. In my neighborhood: organize projects for kids who are all alone after school. Build a playground for the bigger kids.

• Making people happy

  6 October 16:31, by Sébastien - Switzerland

  I’m 11 and a half years old. I live in Switzerland, in Thônex, and I like math and German.

  I like meeting other children because I’m not alone and they aren’t either and they can have fun.

  I go toward them and invite them to play. In my neighborhood and in school I make other people happy by being friends with them.

• Accepting everyone

  6 October 16:38, by Anastasia - Switzerland

  1. My name is Anastasia. I like to share my happiness and friendship. I live in Cossonay. I have two big sisters.

  2. I like to meet new kids and make friends wherever I am. I have fun with them. Most of my friends are girls. I like to play board games or wear costumes with them. We’re here to make friends. The theme of Tapori is to make frends. Here we don’t feel judged.

  3. I go toward children who are alone and ask them if I can play with them. I sometimes take a couple of friends along with me. If my friends don’t want to come with me, I tell them that’s not nice because we should accept everyone.

  4. Accepting others. In my family, I can help out. At school, being kind to everyone without swearing. Not pushing other students. In my neighborhood, saying hi to people who walk by and beling polite. Not bumping into people on the swings.

• Less fighting

  6 October 16:44, by Michelle - Switzerland

  My name is Michelle. I’m tall and I’m from Cameroon. I’m 10 and a half years old. I’m nice to others. The weekend when I get bored, I go to help out elderly people who live in my building.

  I like meeting other children because I have more friends and if they like me, they can teach me their language. That way I know their language a little. When we talk to each other, we learn to gt to know each other. At the Tapori weekend, we have fun, we meet new people. Everyone’s nice.

  In my neighborhood I can help others to fight less. You need to go talk to one person, then the other. You get them to meet each other, then you discuss the problem.

• Friendship

  8 October 18:17, by Ali - Ivory Coast

  Hello, my name is Ali. I’m 15 years old and live in Ivory Coast. I like to learn English. It’s good to understand other people’s problems and help them. It’s really cool!

  Thanks Abidjan - Ivory Coast

  
  

  The dazibao created by Ali’s Tapori group

• Discussion Forum for October 17

  8 October 18:24, by Eric - Rwanda

  My name is Eric and I’m from Rwanda.

  I like to meet other children from different backgrounds so they’ll become my friends and then there will be more friendship in the world. When we meet others, it also helps us stick together and share our ideas.

  For children who are absent, we’ll look for a better way to help them participate in this forum.

  To make life better in our families, we should help each other and work together so there won’t be any more poverty.

• Hello

  8 October 18:26, by Emilie - Switzerland

  I’m 15 years old. I’m Thai and Swiss. I like French and English. It’s interesting to get to know each other because we can learn how children live in different countries. Me, I go see my classmates and try to undersatnd their problem so I can help them. I’m not happy when someone else is sad.

• Children are the world of tomorrow

  10 October 09:24, by Jacque - Democratic Republic of Congo

  Children are the world of tomorrow

  My name is Jacque, and I study in Uvira, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I’m also a child who likes peace and friendship, even though my country is still living in violence. I like to meet other children to share ideas and experiences and because children are the world of tomorrow.

  For children who are absent, we’ll create better ways for them to participate in this forum as well.

  To create a better life in our school, we should always be together and cooperate with each other.

  
  

  A drawing from dazibao made in Uvira
  • Children are the world of tomorrow 10 October 09:28, by Gabriel

    Hello! We’re two brothers, Gabriel and Gaspard. We’re part of a Tapori group in France in the Alps. Our group is called "Rainbow of Friendship." And you, what’s your group called? We might receive a dazibao from your country and maybe even from your group!?!

    I’d like to have your email address if you have one so that I can have news from you and your group. Do you have a lot of friends? Talk to you soon! Gabriel

• Discussion Forum for October 17

  10 October 09:32, by Sarah - Ivory Coast

  Hello everyone! My name is Sarah. I’m 12 years old and live in Ivory Coast. I’d like there to be no more war in my country so we can live in peace. I like to play with my friends and I like Agnès. Goodbye!

• Food and a house

  10 October 10:23, by Ebtisem - Switzerland

  I’m 9 years old and I have brown curly hair. Poor people should have a free house and things to eat. Poor people should have a very very big house to be able to live together in a house.

• Live in peace

  10 October 10:30, by Djuma - Rwanda

  We’re Tapori children from Rwanda. We like to meet other kids to share idea and have more visits that we need. We all like to live in peace like others and friendship is useful for us. Our responsibility is to make sure that children like Mackenson are at our meetings.

• Respect

  10 October 11:04, by Dylan and Christophe - France

  We need to respect people: welcome them during our whole life and not criticize them whether they’re a different color than we are, they’re disabled, they’re elderly, or if they don’t look or act like we do.

• Discussion Forum for October 17

  10 October 11:06, by Kataldi - France

  My name is Kataldi and I’m 7 years old. There’s a girl who cries all the time, so I give her a kiss. Her name is Manon.

• Discussion Forum for October 17

  17 October 14:44, by Children forum: Antonia, Karlo, Matija, Dorian S., Dorian T., Nina, Matea, (...) - Croatia

  We are Children forum from Opatija, Lovran and Dobreć from Croatia. Children forum is an activitey of Society "Our children" Opatija in which children learn about children right’s in our countrey and through the world. We would like to say that there are also poor children in our country, in our activities we think about ways we could help them. We would like to send message to the adults to help poor children in our country and through the world. We sent to Tapori address how do we see Dazibaos meetings. We invite you to come to Croatia, countrey with beautifull seaside, nature in which children can enjoy with their family! Greetings to all of you! Antonia, Karlo, Matija, Dorian S., Dorian T., Nina, Matea, Matija, Irena, Marta, Edi and Adi.

• Discussion Forum for October 17

  17 October 16:38, by klubowicz - Polska

  Hallo! Jesteśmy reprezentacją klubów "Wolna Strefa" i "Młoda Strefa" z Kielc (Polska), czyli z miasta wyjątkowo zaangażowanego w działalność Karawany ATD IV Świat. Od dłuższego czasu bierzemy czynny udział w tych działaniach, a nasi wolontariusze na bieżąco referują nam dokonania Karawany. W sierpniu 2007 r. mieliśmy przyjemność gościć uczestników Karawany w naszych klubach, co zaowocowało wspólnymi projektami, mającymi na celu jeśli nie kanonowe eliminowanie ubóstwa, to prace zmierzające do opracowywania działań idących w tym kierunku. W tegorocznych obchodach z okazji Dnia Ubóstwa, delegacje nasych klubów wzięły udział w konferencji tematycznej z udziałem prezydenta w Urzędzie Miasta, po czym przemaszerowaliśmy ulicami,do miejsca wmurowania płyty Praw Człowieka, gdzie odczytane zostało przesłanie Ojca Józefa Wrzesińskiego oraz intencje wzystkich zebranych osób. Kolejno przeszliśmy pod Krzyż Bezdomnych, gdzie skierowaliśmy nasze myśli w intencji osób które odeszły w zapomnieniu. Ponadto w klubie "Młoda Strefa" przy ul. Oboźnej w Kielcach wzięliśmy udział w zajęciach warsztatowych związanych z tematyką 21 obchodów Dnia Walki Z Ubóstwem.

• October 17 in Poland

  23 October 09:27, by Kielce - Poland

  We come from the “Wolna Strefa” and “Młoda Strefa” Youth Clubs in Kielce (Poland). Our city took part in the ATD Fourth World Movement’s Caravan project. We were happy to participate too by hosting the caravans in August 2007. As a result, we’ve started projects to try to eradicate poverty.

  Our clubs sent representatives to the ATD event on October 17th, this year. We participated in a conference at town hall and then in a march to the commemorative stone. There we heard Joseph Wresinski’s message and several testimonies. Next we went to the “Cross of the Homeless,” where we honored those who died forgotten in the streets. We also took part in a workshop about themes of the 21st World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty.