Africa

Big news!  I am going to Africa this summer!! Lusaka, Zambia to be exact.  I have been given a fabulous opportunity to write a literacy curriculum for a center there and I am beyond excited!!  Heads up I will be gone all of July.  I will try to schedule posts through the time I am gone but be prepared for a, hopefully brief, interruption.

In light of my upcoming adventure I was especially drawn to Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave.  This is a deeply compelling story of Kek, a refugee relocated from his home in Sudan.  Now he lives with his aunt and uncle in Minnesota.  His father and brother were killed in front of him and nobody knows where his mother is.

Kek tells his own story in free verse (which, as you know, I typically hate, but here it works).  Here is just a sample for you.

My people are herders. 

We move with the seasons, 

with the wet and the dry, 

so that the cattle

may be strong and well fed.

We cannot carry much with us, 

and so our stories don't

make their homes

in heavy books. 

We hold our stories

in our songs.  

Kek's beautiful explanation of his culture made me even more excited for my trip.  But more importantly his honest rendition of life as a refugee gave me such insight into the experience of modern refugees.  I think everyone should be required to read this book before making any decisions on refugee policy (looking at you capital hill).

Finding your new place...that's kids stuff.