blog - all the latest happenings in [sameness] project land. Keep up to date with all the action.

[ one + one ] All Smiles

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“We’re all connected because we’re all people.”
That's the way Ramzi saw One + One and the interaction between the kids from Collegiate American School and the kids from the Child Learning & Enrichment Medical Center as they learnt about each others differences, but also about each others [sameness].

One + One is about erasing the lines between children in mainstream schools and children in special needs schools, through creativity and large doses of fun. Over two sessions in January, Ramzi, Lucy, Parsia, Nardine, Yousrah, Isabella, Mercades, Daniel, Murad, Humaid and Hassan, let their creativity loose, shared, played, learned, and had some One + One fun together.

The exhibition of their work and the goodness that took place over the course of the project was held at the Child Learning & Enrichment Medical Center on February 19th and was a beautiful little bow tied on top of a very special initiative.

The list of activities the kids completed together over the course of One + One included an empathy board game, potting and exchanging plants, creating recycled superheroes, iGotSole, and lots of playing. It was pretty clear that once kids start interacting, having fun, and being creative together, their differences are not a big issue and finding their [sameness] happens quite naturally. 

You can scroll through the gallery below to see some of the moments of [sameness] captured at One + One:

It was great to have some of the kids that participated in One + One, a number of the parents, and the public, walk through the exhibition and see the work first hand, and the feedback from everyone involved has been massively positive.

We've also got a really cool video of all the One + One goodness that will makes it way online soon, so keep an eye out for that...

We'll leave you with a word about Yusrah. She is from the Child Learning & Enrichment Medical Center and she likes to dance. When the kids met for the first time at the opening One + One session it was Yusrah that broke the ice by starting a dance party with everyone in the middle of the courtyard. She also brought a whole bunch of life and energy to the exhibition by dancing for everyone there too. She is a pretty awesome example of [sameness] in action as she pays about 0% attention to her own or anyone elses differences and just engages people with a whole heap of joy and energy, instantly lighting up whatever she is a part of.

One + One will be happening again with a new group of kids from two new schools later on this year, so keep an ear and an eye on our social media and you can catch that as it happens.

Thanks to the Child Learning & Enrichment Medical Center & Collegiate American School, and especially the teachers from each, who got on board with this brand new [sameness] project and helped make it as good as it was.
Thanks to Loes for coming all the way from the Netherlands with her amazing empathy board game to make some desert connections - you can check the game out HERE 
Thanks to PepsiCo for helping us start the One + One journey. 

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