November 2010 Archives

I've often thought that children's books-- Grimm's fairytales, Disney witches with exaggerated noses-- were the root cause of the end of witchcraft belief in Europe/U.S.  Never seen a study though that tries to trace/pinpoint the decline and presumable tipping point after which everyone was too embarrassed to say they believed in witchcraft.

From the BBC- Shock in Ghana over gruesome death of 'witch':

There has been widespread shock in Ghana over the death of a 72-year-old woman accused of being a witch. The woman, who lived in the port city of Tema, near Accra, was allegedly set on fire by a group of five adults, one of whom is believed to be a pastor. The suspects say her death was an accident, and deny committing any crime. The BBC's David Amanor in Accra says belief in witches is common among both educated and uneducated Ghanaians. Three women and two men have been arrested, aged between 37 and 55. Police say the suspects tortured the woman, Ama Hemmah, until she confessed to being a witch, before dousing her with kerosene and setting her on fire. She died from her injuries the following day. According to reports, the suspects say that they poured anointing oil on the woman which caught fire as they were trying to drive out an evil spirit.

Benefits of living in Ouaga vs village :

Thanksgiving at Associate Peace Corps Director's house. This picture says it all!

"It's a kind of commitment to a classic Modernism which is rooted in traditions of authenticity."
Yup.  That's us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have an exciting new fundraising opportunity with GlobalGiving.  FAVL will be taking part in GlobalGiving's December Open Challenge, which runs from November 29, 2010 to December 22, 2010.  During that period FAVL will be challenged to mobilize supporters to raise US $4,000 from at least 50 unique donors.  We are shooting to raise even more, though, in the hopes that we will be able to expand our summer reading camps in Burkina Faso.  If we reach our goal, we will secure a spot on GlobalGiving which will permit us to benefit from corporate partnerships (i.e. Nike, Dell, Gap and Ford), website and donor management technology and media outreach.  Furthermore, the projects that receive the most funding and donors during the Open Challenge receive additional bonuses of up to $3,000.  As you've no doubt seen here on the blog, this year's camps were a huge success and we hope to make them even better next year with your help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check back on Nov. 29th when the challenge goes live for the link to our GlobalGiving Project Page.

I have read several books now, written by returned volunteers on their Peace Corps experience.
Some I really enjoyed, like George Packer's The Village of Waiting. (What a writer! Though I wish he went into more explanation as to why he quit after 18 months). Others, like Erdman's Nine Hills to Nambonkaha, I didn't like so much (The part where she complains about the village finally getting electricity...because it ruins her view of the stars? Please!!)

Yet no matter if I like or dislike the book, it's shocking how much I can relate to each of their experiences. It's like they are writing about my time in Pobé! I've found this to be true no matter the country, or even the time period (such the case for Packer's experience in Togo...in 1982-83!)

I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I read "Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali," by Kris Holloway. Most books by PC authors are about their own experiences. But this book is different.  It's all about Monique and the author's friendship with her.

Monique was a village midwife. She only attended a few years of school yet she was a very intelligent and extremely hardworking woman devoted to the maternity clinic. Through Holloway's words we see the struggles of village life that Monique faced: The lack of respect she received by village elders because she was too young to be a midwife (she was 25) ;  The loveless marriage she had with her husband and her inability to get out of it ; that she couldn't collect her own salary (a man of the family collected it and gave her only a small amount).

Sadly Monique led a short life (this is not a spoiler, you find out she dies at the very beginning) but one that was uplifting and inspirational.

I didn't find this book to be particularly well-written, yet I found it hard to put down simply because of the story itself. I love that this book doesn't focus only on the authors PC experience but on her friendship with this incredible woman.

It's the story of Monique, seen through the eyes of Kris.

Listened to Monica Ali read this story on The New Yorker podcast.  It might be better to hear it than read it.  Very good writing.  Nice review and commentary at Perpetual folly.

He leaped four hours ahead of himself. He ruminated on the evening in future retrospect and recalled every gesture, every word. He walked back to the kitchen and stood with a new drink in front of the fridge, out of the way. "I can't do it," he said. "Can't do what?" The balls were up in the air: water slowly coming to a boil on the stove, meat seasoned on a plate sitting on the butcher block. She stood beside the sink dicing an onion. Other vegetables waited their turn on the counter, bright and doomed. She stopped cutting long enough to lift her arm to her eyes in a tragic pose. Then she resumed, more tearfully. She wasn't drinking much of her wine.

If you have a friend who like mysteries, then this is a definite Christmas present. Of course, I enjoyed the setting, and Quartey never goes tourist-brochure.  Relevant details are introduced in a subdued way.  The mystery itself, like many, is pretty straightforward (I'm not really a big fan of the genre).  But the main character is a nice complex figure, and if Quartey chooses to write well, in future books, rather than make money, it bodes well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's that time of year...Tabaski! Celebration of the sheep; a Muslim holiday. A day of going door to door visiting family and friends and feasting on, you guessed it,  sheep. Coming from Pobe-Mengao, a predominately Muslim village, I wasn't expecting much from Ouaga.

I should have known better!

 By 1p.m. the top button of my pants had to come undone. It was like the food and drink would never end.  I haven't eaten so much since....well since last year's Tabaski!

Amina!

That was Sukie, today in the car, reflecting on her 7 year old life.  Wouldn't it be a nice world if every kid felt this way about another continent?  "I feel that Asia is my real home."  "I feel that Antarctica is my real home."  Can an attitude like this be created only by relentless parental "engineering"... like having parents tag-teaming in Burkina Faso for 3 months of the year, and having parents take you to live in Burkina Faso for six months, and having friends from Burkina Faso visit?  Or could you do a 30 minute lesson in second grade and accomplish the same change in value compass?

Some former students wrote a nice opinion piece for the SCU student newspaper... thanks Ashley, Elena and Meghan!

The four months that students spend living in Burkina are divided between studying in a city and working in a village library. After several weeks of rigorous classes and adjusting to the new environment, students spend six weeks in various village assignments in southwestern Burkina. While there, they intern with libraries established by Friends of African Village Libraries, a nonprofit created by two Santa Clara professors that aims to improve literacy in Africa. The students create photo books with French text that are assembled in the U.S. and then sent to each of the libraries, thus making relatable books available to young readers. The program also includes a week-long trip to the old capital city of Bobo-Dioulasso and hiking through the Dogon Cliffs in Mali. In our free time, we would explore the city, seek out the best food stands, take djembe dance classes and go out for a cold Brakina beer at night. Our small group of nine quickly became a family; we spent many free hours in rapt conversation about our experiences, the country's political climate and cultural issues. During our village assignments, we were afforded many opportunities to become more fully immersed in our local communities. Elena worked in the maternity ward at her village health care center and traded riddles with the local children in her courtyard. Meghan witnessed an ancient fortune-telling ritual and learned how to make shea butter from a women's collective.

Click the link above for more.

This may be young and naive of me to say, but through my current work with FAVL I've really realized the value of connections and social networking.

I've never been a particularly social or outgoing person. If anything, I'm usually awkward and shy in social settings. I'm the kind of person who loves when I accomplish a task and hate having to depend on others to do it. I consider myself independent; others, like my parents, say I'm hard-headed and impatient.
In just the past two months, however, I can't deny certain events benefitting FAVL that were strictly due to social connections:

The Jungle Party. Charley is friends with Carolaine, an ex-pat, who is friends with Omar, who organizes the Jungle Party. Omar was looking for an NGO to support at the next party, Carolaine heard about it and called Charley to give him Omar's contact info. We were in Ghana at the time. All this happened in less than 3 hours. End result:  FAVL gets more exposure and is $450 richer.

DIACFA. Because of the Jungle Party we got to know Omar pretty well. While one day conversing about FAVL, I mentioned how expensive books are. Ends up Omar is close friends with the man who owns all of DIACFA stores, including the DIACFA book store. He said for us to contact him, using Omar as a recommendation, to get a percentage reduction when FAVL purchases books there.

Grant proposals. A huge part of Charley and my work here includes looking for funding. This is never easy and to be honest, it's not very fun. After one discouraging and unsuccessful morning of browsing, I get an email from someone who used to work in Burkina and has followed my blog since 2008. What was the email about? Apparently they used to work for a nonprofit, Books4Life, which is looking for projects to help support financially. Would FAVL be interested?

The grant gods were definitely looking after me that day.

These things all happened in just a matter of weeks and all because of random social connections. Not all will lead to success. Maybe we won't get the book store discount. Maybe FAVL's project proposal won't be chosen. But that's OK. I see now the value of every connection we make. Who knows who I'll meet tomorrow and what it will lead too. Who would have thought smiling and being nice to people could lead to such good things?!

Em
 

(Emilie Crofton writes from Ouagadougou...)

Every few months a local expat/businessman named Omar throws an event called the "Jungle Party", held in the Parc Bangr Weogo, where locals and expats come to meet, greet, drink, dance and have a good time. At each party, Omar chooses one local organization to help support and this month...FAVL was chosen!

How it works is that the organization chosen raises money through a raffle held at the party.

So for two weeks Charley and I ran around town, trying to get local businesses (hotels, grocery stores, restaurants etc.) to offer certificates and prizes. Throughout the night of the party, we sold raffle tickets and 100% of the money (tickets cost 1,000 CFA each, about 2$) went toward FAVL.

Well, the party was a big success! At first, Charley and I were nervous; by 10:30p.m. just a handful of people were there. But of course, in Burkina parties don't start until midnight
or 12:30. Over the course of the night the crowd grew and grew and by 1 a.m. I would say there  were about 150 to 200 people there.

Throughout the night Charley and I meandered through the crowds, trying to sell as many
tickets as possible. It took a while for both of us to get our salespeople skills on, but once we got on a roll (and people got a few drinks in them) it didn't stop.

By the end of the night, the amount we raised for FAVL was...drum roll please...

210,000 CFA (about 450$)!

The Jungle Parties usually last until 5 or 6 in the morning. Charley and I had both been there since 8:30 p.m. to set up, so once the ticket numbers were called out and the prizes claimed, we thanked everyone and headed out, returning home completely exhausted at 3 a.m. (We may be Ouagalais now, but were still on village bed time!)

Overall the night was a great success. We were able to meet a lot of people, introducing and exposing FAVL to a new crowd,  and raised quite a bit of money!

Former RWA participant Meghan O'Connell spent summer 2010 in Addis Ababa, and was on the lookout for photo ops dealing with books... Here's two shots.  She writes:

Amharic books were very available in stores in Addis Ababa, on the street, and even in smaller markets outside the city. In the last few years, the demand for English language programs and higher education has risen dramatically, so an interesting market has emerged to meet these education based needs. Unfortunately, most of these programs are considered fraudulent. The many international organizations in Addis are by far the most generous employers in the country and they all demand English fluency and education in their employees, no doubt fueling the demand for these programs.

Community non-profit based library organizations are thriving in Kenya... I've known about Maria's Libraries group for some time (the boosters have deep ties to the randomista community of experimental and randomized impact evaluation development economics trend) and I just came across Kidslibs Trust, a group I was not aware of, that has started their 7th community library.  here's their blurb about the new library.

At last! Gacharageini opened its doors to the public on September 23rd, as soon as the last pieces of furniture could be put into place. This is the seventh library that KidsLibs Trust has opened in Kenya, and our second rural library (after Sipili). It is staffed by Faith and Mercy.

Just one week after opening, we launched our signature family early-reading program, Little Hands Big Steps, with an eager group of parents/caregivers and young children who are already enjoying their take-home bags of books.

Interesting that so many people are converging on supporting libraries, just as libraries are about to go through their "death throes"... reading programs is clearly the way they are going to morph, as 300 books on a Kindle is great, but kids really want to read with adults, other kids, or even in groups...

I bought this purely at random, as amazon.com "suggested" it when I bought another novel online.  The blurb and cover made it sound pretty good.  And it was.  Pretty good, that is.  My opinion is that the relationship story between Zara and Mamo doesn't work at all... dialogue stilted, characterization uncomfortable.  But the "village" life of Mamo, as he refashions himself as a village intellectual, was super.  I found that part of be full of insight, presented in a nice narrative context.  Habila should have expanded on characterizing the Mai and Waziri and their conflict with Mamo.  That would have been great.  So definitely pick it up for a decent read.  Not quite as coherent as some other recent African novels, but quite interesting and nicely written.

Sukie, as many of you know, attends 2nd grade at River Glen School, a wonderful Spanish immersion school that is part of San Jose Unified School District.  An amazing school, with fantastic and dedicated teachers with a well-oiled pedagogy that easily handled California's idiotic reluctance to fund 20 student classrooms.  Yesterday evening, she announced she was going to read three chapter of a Magic Tree House book.  She started.  She got to Chapter 3, and asked me to sit and listen to her read.  After reading aloud for 2 pages, she said something to the effect that, "This isn't working, Daddy, I'm just going to read quietly now."  I sit back and watch her eyes start doing that immersed in book scan back and forth, back and forth... then hear the sigh at the end of chapter, then the question, "can't I read another chapter... PLEAASE!!!"  Then in the morning she woke up early... (she never does that) to finish a couple more chapters.  "Pirates are chasing them," she observed, fully satisfied.  Her first chapter book read alone, of her own volition, and wanting to keep reading.  It was nice that it was so dramatic, and announced.

Then tonite Elliot and a couple friends went to stand in line at San Jose's own best children's bookstore, Hicklebee's, and see Suzanne Collins.  If you don't know who she is, you obviously don't have a 10-14 year old in the house.  She read an excerpt from Mockingjay, and sign-stamped their books.  All the boys were impressed by how nice she seemed, and how normal she seemed.  I loved hearing her read in a (seemingly?) southern accent.  Not the "voice" I had heard in my head when I read Hunger Games (which I liked just fine as a book for 12 year olds, but not nearly as much as other parents, who seemed to be comparing it to Henry James.)

But one more thing, as we say in Silicon Valley.  During the long wait for Suzanne Collins, Elliot spotted the latest instalment (7th?!) of The Last Apprentice series.  Feeling exapnsive, I bought it.  (Instead of grumpily saying, "Wait until it comes to the library.")  It is about 300 pages.  We got home about 8:30 pm.  It is now 10:30.  Bedtime.  He's about to finish.  Hmmm... a little too fast. No wonder he reads them six times...He just corrected me... 436 pages.

One of my colleagues, Bill Sundstrom, sent me the following:

This article by Jim Heckman is the most important, depressing, and possibly hopeful piece I have read in some time. It won't come as a big surprise to those who follow Heckman's work, but it is a fantastic summary of his current thinking as well as a ton of other work. It is rich in its empirical savvy, theoretical clarity, and interdisciplinary creativity.

Important because it is a compelling explanation of the increasingly polarized economic prospects of Americans; depressing because the causes are deeply rooted in social trends that we cannot, and probably would not want to, reverse. Hopeful, because we actually know cost-effective ways to address the problems. Doubly depressing because there's little indication of the political interest, let alone will, to do anything.

After reading the article, I'm inclined to agree.  Very powerful summary.

One of UgLCA's big success stories this year has been its Children's Book Project. The project had two major components: workshops for library managers about how to work with children; and a distribution of a packet of children's books to ten libraries on the basis of proposals that they submitted. There were three workshops altogether, two organized by UgCLA, one in January and one in July, and an extra one hosted by the US Embassy in April. The two UgCLA ones were held at a village near Kampala called Kabubbu, where there is a conference center and a well established community library that is one of UgCLA's most active members.

The workshops centered around the packet of books. In the first one, to which all UgCLA members were invited, the participants got to look at the books and to learn about how to use them, especially for library story times; they also heard about children's programs initiated by particular libraries and thought about what programs they might themselves propose. The second workshop was facilitated by a visiting expert from the US, but since we were allowed to nominate the people invited, we chose those who had submitted proposals and used the workshop as an occasion to distribute the books to the winners. At the final workshop, to which again all member libraries were invited, those who had received the books presented reports on how they had used them; workshop activities also included presentations by the Kabubbu librarians on how to make books accessible and interesting to children and a session in which participants discussed photographs as a basis for making children's picture books.All three workshops were well attended and everyone was deeply engaged in and excited by the activities.

The ten libraries that received the books submitted written reports, and nine of them made oral presentations. Each library received only 84 or 85 books ($200 worth), but these small numbers had an enormous impact. The donation more than doubled the stock of three of the libraries. Three others had only small collections of about 300 volumes, and these included few books for children. The remaining four had larger collections, but their books were either inappropriate, being foreign, or were worn out. Nearly every library used the arrival of the new books as an opportunity to introduce a new program or to establish new relationships with local primary schools, with the result that many more children came to read. The Mpolyabigere Community Library staff reckoned that through their travelling box library (they put the books in a box and took them to different primary schools) they reached no fewer than 1000 children in the month of May. The Kitengesa Community Library persuaded three neighboring primary schools to schedule a regular library period for three of their classes, so the library is now serving more than 400 children every week. The Bushikori Christian Centre's library has more children coming during their free time than it can handle. The Queen of Heaven women's group in Yumbe, which had no books before, now boasts the first ever library in Yumbe District.

This combination of a distribution of books and workshops that focus on them evidently works well. We hope to continue with this formula, focusing on a different topic each year; but we also hope that our donor will extend the Children's Book Project so that more libraries can put into practice the ideas that they have discussed in 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elisée's book review is in French, followed by English :

 

Comme Daniel, lorsqu'il a choisit "L'Ombre du Vent" au ''Cimetière des Livres oubliés'', lorsque j'ai reçu ce  livre en cadeau, j'étais loin de m'imaginer la magie de l'aventure qui s'y trouvait.

"L'Ombre du Vent", c'est deux livres ! L'un parlant de l'autre ! Carlos Ruiz Zafón, l'auteur du second, décrit l'histoire assez tumultueuse du jeune Daniel, dont la vie a été définitivement marquée par le livre de Julian Carax.

C'est le genre d'histoire dans laquelle l'on se prend en sympathie pour le personnage principal. La vie de Daniel a prit un tournant décisif le jour ou il a choisit choisi L'Ombre du Vent au ''Cimetière des Livres Oubliés''. Pourquoi Julian Carax, l'auteur d'une œuvre si prisée a t-il sombré dans l'oubli le plus total ; jusqu'à se retrouver de façon anonyme sur une étagère dans les méandres du "Cimetière des Livres oubliés" dans la Barcelone d'après guerre ?

Quand j'ai lu les premières pages de ce livre, je n'ai pas échappé a ce qu'un critique a dit a son sujet : "Si vous avez le malheur de lire les trois premières pages de ce livre, vous n'avez plus aucune chance de lui échapper".

Et, si je devais résumer en trois mots cette œuvre de l'immense Carlos Ruiz Zafón, ce serait : Réelle, Émouvante, Captivante !

A lire donc sans modération !

Elisée

 
Just like Daniel when he chose The Shadow of the Wind in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, I never imagined the magical adventure that lay ahead of me when I received this book as a gift.

The Shadow of the Wind is two books! One talking about the other! Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the real author, describing the tumultuous story of the young Daniel, whose life is forever impacted after reading the book by Julian Carax.

This is the kind of story in which one easily sympathizes with the main character. Daniel's life took a decisive turn the day he chose Carax's book. Why did the author of The Shadow of the Wind, such a prized work, sink into total oblivion; ending up anonymously on a shelf in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in postwar Barcelona?

When I read the first few pages of this book, one of the book's critiques never escaped me:

"If you have the misfortune of reading the first three pages of this book, you have no chance of escaping it."

If I were to summarize in three words this great work by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I would say:

 Real, Poignant, Fascinating!

To be read, therefore, without moderation!

Elisée

The Kitengesa Community Library in Uganda has a new redesigned website, at www.kitengesalibrary.org. It has also published a recent newsletter that can be accessed from the website. And for anyone who is in the New York area, there will be a benefit for the library at Hunter College on November 15, 2010, at 7 p.m. The event will feature readings by Meena Alexander, a well known poet who has written extensively about the postcolonial condition. For more details, write to kateparry@earthlink.net.

Seems unlikely that I will find this book someplace in the U.S., let alone Ouagadougou... but maybe a French colleague (Amy, are you reading the blog) will find it in France and send us some copies!  Blurb from Takam Tikou:

On renoue avec la très belle écriture de Véronique Tadjo dans ce texte remarquable qui parlera à tout âge. Il était paru en France avec d'autres illustrations, celles de Bertrand Dubois (Actes Sud, 2007) ; mais Véronique Tajdo reste fidèle à son éditeur ivoirien et voici Ayanda, publié par les NEI, en format souple, à l'italienne. Les illustrations de Kyoko Dufaux sont faites de peintures sur tissu, dont on voit bien la trame, aux aplats de couleurs acidulées et aux cadrages originaux ; elles sont touchantes dans leur simplicité enfantine.

Ayanda est une petite fille heureuse, jusqu'au jour où son père, qui a été enrôlé comme soldat, disparaît. En révolte contre le monde cruel des adultes, elle décide de rester petite. Elle recommencera à grandir pour aider sa famille frappée par la maladie et deviendra géante pour chasser les bandits qui terrorisent le village. Enfin, victorieuse et apaisée, elle retrouvera une taille normale et reprendra le fil de sa vie.