Brought Out the Play-Do Last Night to Simulate Sudanese Cow-Crafting, a Dinka and Nuer Tradition Amongst Children

Last night was refugee and immigrant young adult novels, and asking questions about home, identity, location, and global struggle. Although no one opted for Ger's book or John Dau, one student did read Luma Mufleh's Learning America and another read Victoria Jameson's When Scars are Scattered, and all the stories depicted the narrative of relocation, societal change, and global conflict. The conversation was based on other ways of knowing and the interconnectivity of global history. 

So, the students sculpted cows as the men used to to every Sunday at St. Vincent's Church in Syracuse - a fundraiser we held for Sudanese immigrants. They sculpted, we fired in a kiln, they painted, and we fired again. These were sold to help them pay for books at the community college and to enroll in classes. A couple of the kids mastered their tiny little cows (a hands-on opportunity).

This year, the students' independent projects are heading in a variety of directions, but one is looking at portrayals of Muslim-background girls in YA literature. She's Albanian and on the University cheer team, so had to leave before class ended, but she's been super excited the books she's selected all semester, and loved the Luma Mufleh mission and story. I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes the writing.

Hard to believe there are only two more classes left (as we have turkeys intervening once again). Semesters fly by. Years even faster.

I'm off to the turbo now, and another week of Freire and philosophy. Needed a winter coat on the drive home but didn't have one. It got chilly rather quickly. 

And with that...another cup of coffee is needed.