Ideas for Youth Age 10 and Under

• The CRS Kids site - crs.org/kids/index_flash.htm - has great resources for young children to learn about the developing world, including coloring pages, recipes and more.
• During religious education classes or Children’s Liturgies of the Word, tell or read and discuss stories that promote peace, global awareness, and principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Suggestions include:

• Old Turtle, by Douglas Wood and Cheng-Khee Chee. Scholastic Press, 1992.
• A Million Visions of Peace: Wisdom from the Friends of Old Turtle, by J. Garrison and A. Tubesing. Pfeifer Hamilton, 1996.
• The King’s Fountain, by Lloyd Alexander. Dutton Juvenile, 1989.

 Ideas for Youth Age 10 and Over

• Use the stories at usccb.org/globalpoverty to illustrate the impact of global poverty on real people. Have students engage with the stories in one of the following ways:


• Have students illustrate what happened in the stories.
• Have each student read one of the stories and then tell the story, in his or her own words, to a partner.
• Have students create and put on a skit about one of the stories.
• Use the stories as a lead-in to help students understand the basics of one or more of the issues of focus for Catholics Confront Global Poverty. These issues include: foreign aid, peace, debt, trade, natural resources, climate change, and immigration. Learn how these issues affect real people around the world by reading the stories and listening to the Podcasts at usccb.org/globalpoverty/ccgp_issues.shtml.


• After students learn about one of the issues, have them choose one issue that is the focus of an “Action Alert” and write an e-mail message to an elected official about that issue.
• Encourage your students to “Face the Fast” by participating in Catholic Relief Services’ Food Fast, a 24-hour hunger awareness program for Catholic youth. Food Fast teaches youth about issues faced by their peers in the developing world; encourages youth to take action on behalf of the poor and hungry; and calls youth to share their perspectives and knowledge about our world with their community to create lasting change in our world.
• Visit the Faithful Citizenship Young Catholic website at faithfulcitizenship.org/youth to learn about how to be a “faithful citizen” who works to address issues affecting the poor and vulnerable.
• Encourage youth to sign up at usccb.org/globalpoverty to be one in a million Catholic voices raised up to confront global poverty.
• During religious education classes, tell or read and discuss stories that promote peace, global awareness, and principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Suggestions include:

• The Quiltmaker’s Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau. Scholastic Press, 2000.
• Peace Tales, edited by Margaret MacDonald, August House, 2005.
• Prayer without Borders, Celebrating Global Wisdom, edited by Barbara Ballenger. Catholic Relief Services, 2004.

• View the DVD, The Line in the Sand: Stories from the U.S. Mexico Border, available from crs.org/dramaproject. This stage drama by Villanova University theater students tells the story of immigration from all sides of the issue. After the video, have a class discussion about the issues the video raises.
• Have young people find out if your church brews coffee that is “Fair Trade certified.” This certification means that the producers are part of a poverty alleviation program that guarantees producers a fair wage. Organize a sale of fair trade coffee and chocolate at your church and encourage these groups to use fair trade coffee regularly. Go to the Catholic Relief Services web site crsfairtrade.org to find out more about fair trade coffee and chocolate.
• Encourage young people to visit the Youth Advocate page at usccb.org/sdwp/yaryouth.shtml for ideas on how to be a voice for the poor in your community and in the world.