Forgiveness

Teachers in our meeting today

We are running a project on forgiveness. In the grade 0 all three classes has used a week to tell everyday stories or traditional stories on forgiveness. Then for two more weeks they have told the story of Joseph from the Bible: a very touching story. The teachers have noted down spontaneous reactions from children. Today we met with the teachers to discuss the last part of the study where we will interview the children on what they think about forgiveness. We had a very interesting talk about the children's understanding of forgiveness and also about our own relationship to the theme. It is difficult to ask for forgiveness. In the African tradition it is rear that a senior person ask a lower placed person for forgiveness, that parents ask children for forgiveness, that husbands ask their wifes for forgiveness. However, forgiveness has a great value as it reestablish relations. It needs to be learned when we are young. We all felt we learned something about children and ourselves in relation to forgiveness.

The same project is also being done in preschools in Norway, Botswana and Kenya.