10,000 FRANCS

This last week we have been working with seventh graders and having small group conversations to help them with their English. One of the questions we asked is "What would you do with 10,000 francs?" For most of them, this is a huge amount of money. In American dollars it is about $20.00.  Some had no idea of what that amount of money would buy. Some said a house or car. But most said they would buy shoes and fruit. The shoes that most students wear are comparable to a really cheap pair of flip flops in the US. It is all they can afford. Since they walk almost everywhere they go and the roads they walk on are so bad I imagine a good pair of shoes would be really a great gift to have.

Then they said they would buy fruits. For most families fruit is a treat.  Pineapple here is about $1.00 and they can't afford to pay that much for one item. As I have said, their diets consist of mostly starches. They also eat a food that is affordable, but has no nutritional value. When they drink water with this food it swells in their stomach and makes them fill full.

This is one of my seventh grade group