Books are treasures...

..dig in! ( the 2011-2012 theme for Literacy Week).  The students surely dug in ALL the way after the grand re-opening of the school library this year. 

As many of you know, I have less than a year left of my service. I will be at the school for term 1 and 2 of next school year and then my service is over. Yesterday my Dad asked me if I felt my work at the school was actually impacting the students. After a few moments of uncertainty, it came to me with clarity- The Library has been the absolute highlight of  my work at the school. 

Creating a space for the students to come and relax, find a moment of peace and quiet as they read through Clifford the big red dog, Dora the explorer, "Just for me"  (a series specially created for children of African Descent), Chicken soup for the child's soul, Baby sitters club, Junie B. Jones, National Geographic for kids and the list goes on and on...seeing them fully take in this space daily has continued to be a source of inspiration during my time here. 

I am extremely grateful for all of you that helped make this vision become a reality last year.  Hands Across the Sea has generously offered to help us again this year. With your help, we obtained 700 books and art supplies last year. This was a GREAT start. We are looking to continue to grow the school library by adding 700 more books this year. You aren't in this alone, Hands Across the Sea contributes donations from private donors and we had parents and teachers that also brought in books throughout the year. Our collection is growing each month. 

 The donations this year will also be used to purchase manual stationary pencil sharpeners to install in each classroom so that the students can finally leave the straight edge razors at home! (cringe)

Any little bit helps! Please donate today.

DONATION PAGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderful start, help us keep growing.

Help nourish our library...

Library Card full up!

Teacher sign out sheet

See that space? Help us fill it with new books!

...Carnivaaal Time

I was recently discussing Carnival with a friend and stated that I was looking forward tor Vincy Mas this year. They asked me why I was into Carnival and what  Carnival meant to me.  After giving a generic answer about sharing history with generations and perserving culture I realized I actually didn't have a good understanding of where the tradition came from.

This convo motivated me to ask more Vincentians the same thing. What IS Carnival to you? Maybe I will get some good answers to post as Vincy Mas gets closer.

This was a pretty good site that summed up the history of Carnival and why it is such a big deal in areas that still have Carnival.

The History of Carnival
(carnivalpower.com)

What is carnival?
It is an annual celebration of life found in many countries of the world. And in fact, by learning more about carnival we can learn more about ourselves and a lot about accepting and understanding other cultures.

Where did the word “carnival” come from?
Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival.

African influences on carnival traditions
Important to Caribbean festival arts are the ancient African traditions of parading and moving in circles through villages in costumes and masks. Circling villages was believed to bring good fortune, to heal problems, and chill out angry relatives who had died and passed into the next world. Carnival traditions also borrow from the African tradition of putting together natural objects (bones, grasses, beads, shells, fabric) to create a piece of sculpture, a mask, or costume — with each object or combination of objects representing a certain idea or spiritual force.

Feathers were frequently used by Africans in their motherland on masks and headdresses as a symbol of our ability as humans to rise above problems, pains, heartbreaks, illness — to travel to another world to be reborn and to grow spiritually. Today, we see feathers used in many, many forms in creating carnival costumes.

African dance and music traditions transformed the early carnival celebrations in the Americas, as African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick fighters, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the carnival festivities.

In many parts of the world, where Catholic Europeans set up colonies and entered into the slave trade, carnival took root. Brazil, once a Portuguese colony, is famous for its carnival, as is Mardi Gras in Louisiana (where African-Americans mixed with French settlers and Native Americans). Carnival celebrations are now found throughout the Caribbean in Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, St. Thomas, St. Marten; in Central and South America in Belize, Panama, Brazil; and in large cities in Canada and the U.S. where Caribbean people have settled, including Brooklyn, Miami, and Toronto. Even San Francisco has a carnival

Uniting the World
Carnival arts offers all of us a dynamic tool for self-expression and exploration, a tool to seek out our roots, a tool to develop new forms of looking at the world and its cultures, and finally, a tool to unite the world, to discover what we all have in common, and to celebrate what makes us different. The power and creativity that underlies these art forms can transform lives. Join hands with All Ah We, and together we will dance the song of life!

life

...in the blink of an eye, you wake up and life as you've known it is forever altered.

Those long days and quiet nights when you wonder "Could things get any worst?"...more often than not, the answer is YES they absolutely, most definitely can.

 Perspective shifted. Blinders lifted.

Each day is a gift, there is no contract. Celebrate living, breathing, loving, crying, stumbling, repairing, growing, shedding and creating  each day.

I am living a part of my dream, a manifestation of many visions.

Blessed.

and sometimes, it really is that simple.

... the linear time prison

up down, round and round we go:

Application Process (October 2009) : Oh it's just 2 years, it will fly by!

Pre-Service Training (March 2011): We only have 2 years?? I am going to extend to a 3rd year for sure! I love it here!!


Easter Break (March 2012): Three week break from school, I would testify in a court of law that I actually felt time STOP during the 3rd week. What is REALLY going on?

Mid- Service Training (May 2012): Less than a year left. Freak! There are many things I still want to do. Time to go hard.  Lets do this!!

Post- Mid-Service Training (June 2012): Man, 2 years is a long time. What was I thinking? Ok if I don't count June or April that leaves me just 9 months yes , 9 months is all. I can do this. *sigh* I miss home.


I know I hold the key to freeing myself from this self imposed  'sentence'. As easy as 1-2-3. ha. Linear time is a tricky little thing. aiiee, ...just keep breathing, don't forget to breathe.