Cultures in a Box

Roya Ansari, dressed in a traditional Iranian robe adorned with Persian coins, is setting up her "Cultures in a Box" presentation at the Wilsey Conference Center in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. She has been invited by the Reverend Whitney Roberson to share her Persian heritage with more than 15 families and their children.

In the "Box," like one you would use to put toys in, Ansari brought with her books, maps, CDs, DVDs, Iranian musical instruments, and exclusive hand-made rugs from Iran.

An executive of a high-tech company in Silicon Valley and a native of Iran, Roya Ansari created the "Cultures in a Box" series to encourage children to understand and respect other cultures.

The program introduces elementary-school students to more than 21 global cultures. Ansari is planning to increase this number by including Germany, Israel and France by the end of 2006. Parkmont Elementary School in Fremont is the first to implement the program into its curriculum during the last academic year.

Hope Burnes, a social worker for the San Francisco Unified School District, whose son attends a public school in Marin, said, "It's a really different experience when this presentation comes to my school. I'm thinking about how the world actually comes together, but children don't. Knowing what cultures are in different places is knowing more about what we have in common than what we don't. Like knowing that the Iranian capital is crowded with traffic as opposed to thinking that everyone is riding a camel!"

Ansari was motivated to develop the program for schools after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when Iran was labeled as "part of the axis of evil." Instead of giving speeches of how Iran shouldn't be slapped with this label, feeling affronted, she chose to introduce children to the beauty of each culture in the world.

"Children take a glimpse at the news and they form an opinion," said Ansari. "They are mostly introduced to another culture through disaster, wars and destruction. There are stigmas attached to some cultures," she added.

She starts her presentation with the most common greeting in Farsi, "Salaam," which means "Peace be with you." The slide show continues with the country's geography, history, population, customs and music.

"The land Iran, which means 'the land of noble men,' is one of the oldest countries in the world," continues Ansari, "It's like a bridge, a country that connects two continents."

"Where do you think Iran is?" she asks children whose grade levels range from kindergarten to the sixth grade.

"It's in Asia," chimes a girl in the front row.

But Ansari's presentation is not only about telling children the facts. Whenever she can, she relates the American lifestyle to those of foreign countries and encourages children to think critically about the differences.

Ansari also spoke about some figures such as the average life expectancy in Iran of 68 versus 76 in the U.S. In Ethiopia life expectancy is 46. "How can we improve the lives of all people in the world?" she provokes children to think.

At the end of her presentation, she showed and handed out to children several Iranian musical instruments and popped in a CD with cheerful Iranian folk music.

"It's really important to reach children when they are young," said Leslie McCarthy, a writer, researcher, and mother of three.

Children and parents said that they enjoyed the presentation.

"One of the most exciting aspects of life in the U.S. is the cultural mosaic that has brought people from all around the world to this country. We live in a global society and we need to open our minds and our hearts to have a better understanding of the world so we can better connect with people," said Ansari to the parents.

She pointed out that "Cultures in a Box" is laying a strong foundation from early childhood for understanding our cultural diversity and that the program is connecting tomorrow's leaders to people around the world.

Ansari's next presentation will feature Brazil. For more information, please visit www.culturesinabox.com.