BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Even as an elementary school principal, Deborah Gibbens is still learning some extremely valuable lessons.

Gibbens, principal of Bow Elementary School, recently worked with a group of American and South African theater students in connection with a documentary study she is working on for her doctoral dissertation.

A group of 10 South African students from varying tribes came to New Hampshire to join the Kearsarge Arts Theatre Company to perform a play based on Emily Dickenson’s poem “Hope is Like a Feather.”

During the first two weeks of August, a group of the American performers in turn took the trip to South Africa to perform the play at a variety of school and community venues.

Gibbens said the experience taught her and her students great lessons in accepting culture.

“It was a humbling experience, because we were in schools that had large classes, very few resources, and then we came back to American society and it really gave us an appreciation for diversity,” she said.

“The children were wonderful to watch grow. It was amazing. The students had such a different perspective, but were really receptive to each other as well.”

Although it was a learning experience, it was also somewhat difficult for Gibbens to take in the South African culture.

“It was challenging. It broke my heart in some ways when we looked at some of the schools and living conditions. It also gave me a renewed energy to find a way to bring different cultures together,” she said.

While she served as a faculty member, she also was able to learn from the children, ages 12 to 18, involved.

“My favorite part of the experience was to really watch the children learn about each other’s culture. The South African students really accepted the differences in the diverse groups within their cultures,” said Gibbens. “I learned about trying to really understand different viewpoints and different perspectives. It teaches you to listen more, go deeper and learn more of a perspective of where someone is coming.”
One member of the group was Gibbens’ daughter, Kirsten, who is a student at Bow Memorial School.
Gibbens said the experience, “opened her eyes to the world.”

Heading into the upcoming school year, Gibbens looks forward to taking her experiences in South Africa and applying them into the classroom to teach students about understanding diverse cultures, and also anticipates helping the South African students in any way possible.

After their trip to New Hampshire, Gibbens said many of the South African children would even like to attend Plymouth State University.

Although working on a dissertation is far from an easy task, Gibbens is certainly glad she got involved with the theater group.

“It’s very hard to put into words, because it was a very life-changing experience,” she said. “It opened my eyes to a bigger world and I look forward to providing students with the opportunity to do this again in the future, because they are our future. If we can build that hope and that desire to accept each other’s cultures, it will be a much better world.”