The power of the best in us
In today’s world people are very busy, paying less attention to surroundings. For example, we are becoming complacent that trashed streets and roads will be cleaned up by our towns. And when that doesn’t happen, people usually prefer to complain over doing something about it. So we were thinking how to show children that even a very small deed can be powerful if it is performed every day which requires determination and patience. Day by day. Week by week. Or month by month.
During our November field trip, we went to beautiful mountains called Beskydy. Up the mountain we were carrying our backpacks but also a black plastic bag full of … hmm… something. Here and there we were asked what’s in the bag, but we have purposely stayed silent. After having an overnight stay, next evening was the right moment to reveal the secret. After a delicious dinner cooked by the scouts, we sat down in a circle and we ‚dumped‘ the content of the mysterious bag in the center. A few children somewhat suspected what’s in the bag, although they were questioning why would we carry a trash bag, full of, ehhmmm, indeed trash, up the mountain.
So at this point, children were staring in awe what in the world did we ‚dumped‘ in front of them. „How many pieces of trash do you think is in front of you?“ asked Luky, one of the leaders. After a few guesses he continued: „There is exactly 150 pieces of trash. If you pick just one piece of trash per day, in merely half a year you will clean your streets by this amount of trash. And all it takes is 5 seconds per day. And now think, how much trash would it be in a year? And what if it wasn’t just one person, but the entire troop? Or the entire scout organization in the Czech Republic? Or in the world? Can you imagine what would happen?“
Children were sitting and listening and didn’t know what to say. Luky continued: „So, now imagine that our small troop from Ostrava (town in the Czech Republic) will motivate other scout troops. What would you think and feel?“
The feeling of awe in children was magnified. They never thought what a positive effect a small scout troop can have in the world. And nobody knew how to achieve that.
„Let’s record a video, that will show how much goodness can be created with one small good deed.“
And a video was born that most likely lead you to this site.