Young boys and girls around the world want to share their lives with the girls in Rwanda. Here are some of their letters:
Dear Alice,
My name is Astha. I am 19 years old and I live in India, a big country in Asia. I read your letter on the Girls Without Borders website. I study history in college. But my college is not a residential school like yours. I have to travel for about an hour to reach it everyday. I live with my parents and my younger brother. I also have a dog.
India is a very big country with many different languages and cultures. I live in the capital city of Delhi. It is very big with lots of big cars and buildings. There are people all around and it is easy to lose yourself in the crowd. Delhi is a wonderful city; it was first established over 2000 years ago. There are old forts and palaces around the city with intricate carvings. People from all over India come to Delhi to study and work.
Now a little about myself: I like to read and listen to music. I enjoy watching movies, especially Indian movies which are full of dance, music and colour. There is never a dull moment in Indian films! There are usually made in Hindi (which is the most widely spoken language in India), but there are movies made in regional languages as well. I also enjoying running and playing sports. I used to do pottery as well, its very relaxing. It feels like you are passing off all your problems on to the piece of clay.
I want to study development and come back to India and work to better the position of the lower castes. There are many problems within Indian society and I feel that it is my responsibility as an educated individual to help get rid of all the wrongs. My mother wanted me to become a lawyer but I chose the field of development. I would have loved to be a doctor but I was never really good at biology...
I read that you want to make an orphanage for poor children. I think that's a wonderful idea and wish you the very best for it. Keep us updated!
Lots of Love
Astha
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Hey Flavia!
My name is Rafi, I am almost as old as you (still 17 going on 18) and I live in the capital of Austria, Vienna. Vienna has been one of Europe's cultural capitals for many centuries now. It was the home of Mozart, Sigmund Freud, Empress Elisabeth, Arnold Schwarzennegger, and many more. Don't worry, that is not all that Vienna has to offer! On the weekends our clubs and pubs are very popular. It would be great to see you in Vienna some time. However, I personally prefer the Austrian mountains (known as the Alps), because I can go snowboarding there. During the winter, when it snows, I go snowboarding, and during the summer I usually play rugby, go windsurfing or swimming. How about you?
You are my first pen-pal! It's really nice to be able to correspond with someone from another continent, and to be able to glance into the life of someone who is totally alien to me. Apart from the fact that I have never seen you before, I have unfortunately also never been to Rwanda – although the "wonderful gorillas“ and "beautiful women“ you spoke of in your previous letter do make a visit very appealing!
Having established how utterly little we still know about each other, I would like to learn more about your every day life in Rwanda. I hope we will stay in contact and not fail to sustain our Rwanda-Austria connection!
With lots of love,
Rafi
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Dear Jessica,
I decided to reply to your letter because I liked it a lot. I hope you are doing well. My name is Karoline Nader and I am 18 years old. I am half Austrian and half Norwegian. I live in Vienna with my parents during the holidays but during the school year I am a student in England at the University of Warwick. I study law. I enjoy it but there is a lot to read and often when my friends want to lie around and listen to music or watch movies it is hard to say no to them.
In your letter you said that your hobbies are reading novels. I also love to read novels. Are there any in particular that you could recommend to me? What type of music do you listen to? I like to listen to almost everything except for hard rock and metal music.
It sounds exciting that you have a big family with five children. Although I have one brother and one sister I always wanted more siblings. I am the oldest and it is often hard because I often get a lot of the blame when my brother, sister and I fight.
My hobbies are reading, listening to music, dancing, meeting friends and singing. I also love to go snowboarding in the winter. I love to eat, that is everyting except for fish. I also love the beach but unfortunately, as Austria does not have a sea, I don't get to go very often.
It would be great if we could keep in touch.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Karoline Nader