“In response to the earthquake, my daughters, Riva and Caitlin, and I have developed a reading out loud program in Creole for Haiti’s displaced children…Read, Read! We like it because it has a musical sound such as La la la! and is fun and easy to remember…To provide an engaging, interactive, and fun hour long activity for children displaced by the earthquake that will also encourage literacy, create a model for parents to read to their children, reinforce Creole, contribute to job creation, and be part of much needed efforts to address the trauma and anxiety children are suffering since the earthquake.

These anxieties continue to be compounded by fears of additional severe aftershocks or earthquakes, the continuing death toll amongst those who have survived, and the uncertainties of finding loved ones who survived. And, countless children are suffering and struggling with the pains of injuries, physical trauma, rehabilitation, and post earthquake illnesses. Story time hours help children release tension, find some new joy and give them some colorful and engaging images and stories that they can use at night when trying to go to sleep — despite their difficult sleeping conditions, physical pain, anxieties and sadness. We translated colorful, engaging and fun storybooks into Creole and use puppets and dolls to animate the stories as well. Our trained readers (animateurs) are dispatched in teams of two each for storytelling hour at various tent camps (or “sheet camps”), hospitals, and other transitional settings.”

To read more about the work Riva and her family are doing please visit their website: http://www.lililiread.blogspot.com/

The group welcomes donations of money, books, puppets, stuffed animals, etc.

From the National Radio Project: “The genocide of Native Americans was one of the largest mass killings in human history. Very few tribes survived and were able to maintain their languages and traditions, and for many, the threat to their culture continues even to this day. On this edition, Making Contact trainee producers Rachel Gelfand and Michael Preston bring us the story of the Winnemem Wintu, a small Indian tribe in Northern California, and tell the story of their struggle to prevent the flooding of the sacred land they have called home for centuries.”

Recipe for a Prejudice-Free Society

By Kamron Yazdani

“Peace-o-Pie”

10 lbs. love of humanity

1 teaspoon seeds of positive energy

1 teaspoon cream of martyr

2 cups wine of justice and mercy

1/4 cup freedom

1 pound tolerance and open-mindedness

5 teaspoons essence of unity

1 passport

Dash flavor and harmony

1 spoon of the sweet honey of nature

2 “peaces” clarified butter

Icing of goodwill

2 cherries of humor

Directions:

First, you need to add the base of the entire recipe and work with the goodness of the foundation, to enrich the final result. With that in mind, begin with 10 lbs. love of humanity. To get the recipe started, add a teaspoonful of the seeds of positive energy. Once initiative begins to take place, use 1 teaspoon cream of martyr to put yourself on the right path no matter what the cost. In order to enable the recipe to develop properly, you must include 2 cups of the wine of justice and mercy. To allow the recipe to rise fully, you must include 1/4 cup of freedom.

Next, you must use 1 pound tolerance and open-mindedness so that the flavors of the recipe are balanced. After that’s completed, add 5 teaspoons essence of unity to bring the recipe together. 1 passport is necessary to broaden the recipe. To unify the ingredients, you must use a Dash of flavor and harmony. 1 spoon of the sweet honey of nature will also be needed to sweeten the experience. One of the most important ingredients in this recipe is 2 “peaces” of clarified butter, which is used to enlighten and reveal the flavor. Finish the recipe off with the icing of goodwill, and make sure you don’t wait for it to cool. Finally, you must add two cherries of humor on top to lighten the mood of the dish.

This is a recipe best served with a side of humility and garnished with good intent. Do not serve cool. Must be kept warm for the flavors to reach their full potential.

A beautifully written and inspiring essay by Global Village homeschool 9^th grader Maryanna Newton:

When I found out I was going to get to go to the 2009 presidential inauguration, I freaked, and I couldn’t wait! Then I found out that two of my very best friends were going to go with me and it made it even better. I couldn’t believe I was going to get to see Obama get sworn into office! Everyone knew it was going to be one of the biggest moments in America’s history. I found out that I was going by bus with the school that I used to attend. We would meet at the school at 9 P.M. and we would be on the buses ready to roll at 10:00 P.M. only to arrive in Washington D.C. at 4:00 A.M.! As planned we pulled into D.C. at 4:00 A.M. and nobody had slept at all on the buses, but the adrenalin was enough for most everyone.

It was by far, the brightest night I had ever seen, bus and car lights were everywhere, the city looked amazing. We pulled in with a few hundred other buses to an already half full parking lot and got our metro tickets. Then we walked with a huge crowd down a gated walkway to the shuttles. All along the path there were people— girl scouts, boy scouts, adults, vendors—everyone was welcoming us with energy, asking us where we were from, greeting us with smiles, all at 4:00 A.M. Everybody seemed so much more alive than usual.

We got on a shuttle that took us closer to the National Mall where we walked down the crowded streets with cops directing traffic and little orange cones everywhere and lighted signs, buses, cop cars, ambulances, fire trucks, all in the middle of the roads.

We got to the Mall and filled in behind the crowd and found a good spot close to a screen projector that showed what was going on on the capitol steps. It was cold, but it was perfect. Everyone was pushing and shoving trying to catch up with others, there were moms and group leaders running around looking for teenagers that got separated. It was chaos.

Everything was decorated beautifully and the marine band and girls and boys chorus of San Francisco was performed very well. The crowd was all hyped up and very positive, the happiness was felt all around; strangers were talking peacefully, and hugging after the first couple of hours. It was a peaceful gathering of the nation. The cold was also felt all around, we had hand and foot warmers with us, but we used them anywhere they would fit, our coats, pants, socks, hats, gloves, scarves, anywhere! At 4:30 A.M. it was about 15 degrees, then the sun came up and it warmed to a “toasty” 25, maybe 30 if we were warmer than we thought.

Hours passed as we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. They showed the inauguration concert from Sunday night that was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the screens, but it was rather difficult to watch while we were jumping up and down to keep warm.

Finally the Inauguration ceremony started, as well as the tears. Just thinking of how the Obama family must have felt, to feel the energy of two-million people together in one place, peaceful and happy, and so positive was amazing. It was like all my body had gone numb; no longer could I feel the cold, the tears on my face, the weight of my extra clothes, all I could feel was a smile on my face and the chills throughout my body. The moment was happening. Martin Luther King’s dream wasn’t a dream anymore, it was reality.

After President Obama spoke, our group had to get back to the buses. It sounds a lot easier then it was though. The bus was 3 miles away and we weren’t going to take the metro with two million people. That was the other issue, there were no directions, there was one way: with the crowd. We finally got to a clear area and looked at a map, but the streets we had planned on walking were down for the parade, along with all public transportation except for the metro station.

We finally found out way back to the buses, asking army guards and bus drivers where to go. When we got back on the bus it was about 5:30-6:00 P.M. and we were all exhausted after walking about 6-8 miles. On the way home we all had some time to think and reflect on what we had just witnessed, and that’s when I realized, anyone can be someone, and anyone can make a difference and Barack Obama is proof. Also that people tell me “You’re the youth of America, therefore you are the nation’s future.” But I’m not, as America’s youth, I am not the future, I am now.