Andrew Parker from Flying High for Kids recently visited Modikwa Primary School in Simson Village, South Africa. After working his way through Africa over the last five months in his truck, which has got him safely around the world all the way from his home country of New Zealand, he arrived in Simson Village in Limpopo.
Andrew addressed the children, explaining what he was doing there. He told the story of how when he was six years old, he had a dream to become a hot air balloon pilot, and that he never gave up on that dream. And there he stands now, three years on in his adventure of flying around the world, using his passion for flying to change the lives of children around the world. He told the children about his mission:
- shine light on and encourage discussion of children’s rights all around the world
- engage children in cultural exchange and understanding by way of international postcard swap
- bring joy to those visited, especially those who have never seen a balloon before
- dare children to follow their dreams… No matter where they come from!
Our Eco-Club children at Modikwa Primary had the chance to chat to Andrew more as he explained the idea of his postcard swap. Each child was given a postcard which was coloured in and decorated by children in Belarus. Andrew pointed out where Belarus is on the tiny world map in the classroom, while the children oohed and aahed at how far both Andrew and the postcards had traveled to get to Simson Village! The children then decorated their own postcards, which Andrew will swap at his next school visit.
The children were told to be at school extra early the following day to see Andrew fly his balloon. At 6am, there were only six children, shivering in the cold morning chill, watching Andrew set his balloon up. With the first blast flames into the balloon, children and members of the community came running to see what was happening! A few lucky children got to float up and down in the balloon while everyone stared in amazement.
The village watched as Andrew took off over their school, over their homes and into the distance. The village was buzzing for the rest of the day, with everyone retelling the story, sharing their photos and playing back videos of what they’d experienced.
