Queen of Cardboard

The Queen taught the children, and some of the adults, her secrets of turning ugly garbage into beautiful treasures and usable things. Soon, some of her helpers were bringing useful bits of cardboard, like the green "Sweetie" box this little girl is carrying on her head, right to the Queen's front door. Students in her class for making furniture out of paper and cardboard started picking up the useful bits of cardboard along the side of the road and bringing them to the class to use for building furniture. Of course they carried them in the baskets on their heads. They picked up other things too, like the plastic drink bottles that were everywhere, and they transformed them into useful little containers by covering them in strips of newspaper. They made fans out of scraps of cardboard. Fans are good to have in a hot country like Haiti! They made children's toys and puzzles out of cardboard covered in layers of newspaper and pieces torn from cement bags. They painted beautiful designs on their work with bright colours.

The students in her class all worked together and made two strong benches that could double as tables. They were so proud of their work and what they had learned about transforming garbage into treasure, that they never wanted to stop.

At last the day came and the Queen had to travel back to her home in Canada. The people that had just learned how to make useful things out of paper and cardboard wanted to keep working! They got together and formed a group so they could help each other. The Queen promised to return in one year to see how much they had done on their own, and to teach them new secrets for transforing trash into treasure.

But the story isn't over yet. People heard what the Qeen had done in Haiti. They were so impressed and infatuated with the very idea of making treasure out of garbage that they joined the Queendom of Cardboard right away. They gave her gold and jewels and all kinds of money to support her magic journey so she could travel and teach all around the world. Along the way, the Queen knew she would meet many new interesting people and make new friends who would help her even more. Others, like the Occupational Therapists in Nigeria, invited her to come and show them the secrets of building with paper and cardboard too. They wanted to learn how to make strong furniture and useful aids to help people with disabilities, by using old boxes and bags and envelopes and newspapers.

Late at night, if you listen very carefully, maybe you can hear the Queen whispering her secrets on the wind to you, and to all who will listen.
She knows that as more and more people listen and learn the magic of transforming throw-aways into useful objects, there will be less and less garbage in the world. When the Queen of Cardboard wakes up dancing now, every shiny morning, she is filled with delight that the world is getting beautiful again so she and all her people can live happily ever after.