Longhouse School

(From r/LoHeidiLita) This is a post from my friend Junior. He is not a member of the Longhouse School project but I think his thinking is very much aligned with ours.

The start of School here is going great. My friends and I changed the name of our club. It’s no longer “The Geek Squad.” That would discriminate against anyone who wasn’t a geek! From now on we are simply “The Fix-it Club.” We finished planting the 50 chrysanthemum bushes and 100 daffodil bulbs around the campus.

Yesterday we took on our first “fix-it” job. There were two duplicate broken chairs that were going to be thrown out. One had a broken frame but a good seat, the other one had a good frame but a broken seat. Could we turn two broken chairs into one good chair? Sounds simple, right? But it’s not. The school engineer showed us an illustration of different types of screw heads. And they need different types of tools to loosen and tighten! Anyways, we got the job done.

NB: This type of “community work” is very similar to Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s idea of rooting education in the community.

Sopie and Apie are going to spend the weekend with me and Carlito! Tomorrow will be our last day as landscapers. We are only doing the Goldstein-Thomas house. We won’t be seeing Heidi, though. She is playing with Jammy in the morning, volunteering with ACS in the afternoon, and playing with ALDI in the night. Wow!

(NB: Heidi is a very self-motivated student who works hard on her music, sports, and volunteering. Her dream is to study at one of the top conservatories in the country next year. She just can’t figure out “WHAT” she wants to study. Jazz piano, arranging, American popular music? Meanwhile she is playing professionally with two bands. She’s an unstoppable force. I think this also personifies the goal of Longhouse and well as Value-Creative (Soka Education). If you told me that I am a self-directed learner, I would take that as a compliment!)

Getting back to the New Human Revolution Volume 20, Moscow State University is now holding a banquet for Shin’ichi and his delegation. He gives a speech and says:

Education is the font of wisdom that will bring peace and enrichment to the twenty-first century. In that context, initiating fruitful educational exchange with your nation, starting from this visit, is a great source of joy to us. And nothing could make us happier than to be able to form friendships with people from various sectors of Soviet society.

I am thinking now about the terrible war in Ukraine. Also what is happening in Palestine. The situation in Nicaragua is beyond disheartening (my family members are refugees from there). How do we “normalize” things? Maybe Sopie and I can look at this chapter for some hints!

Shin’ichi now says:

The light shining from people’s homes during the beautiful Siberian winter exudes a human warmth that touches those who see it. Similarly, we are resolved to cherish the light that shines in people’s hearts across all social and political barriers. And just as spring brings the emergence of fresh green sprouts from Siberia’s frozen soil, I believe that the future will bring a fresh spring of brighter hope to humanity. Building bridges of friendship requires looking one hundred or two hundred years hence and paving the way forward for future generations. That’s why I place tremendous importance on educational exchange. I am convinced that a rising momentum toward world peace can be realized through the creation of lasting exchange, free from the vagaries of political and economic influences, that links not only Japan and the Soviet Union but all the nations of the world. (p. 105)

A housing complex for Russian families is only a few blocks from the school, right next to the Library. It’s called the Russian Mission Residency in New York. But the people there keep to themselves. I don’t think I have ever met one. I read that in the past, there had been exchange meetings between the Russian and American high school students. I don’t know if they are still going on. I would like to be part of one if I could.