We all know that some words are not easy to translate into other languages. People collect these words and make lists of them (see here and here). But most of the time these words are used quite rarely, like Gokotta -- to wake up early in the morning with the purpose of going outside to [...]
Maybe you can't volunteer this summer in Nashville to read to refugee kids (IF YOU CAN, go HERE!), but you'd like to help. There are two ways: Head over to our Amazon Wish List! On there you'll find books, blankets, and awnings that will help us serve kids who attend our reading program this summer! [...]
This summer, each Wednesday afternoon in July, we'll be taking a team of volunteers to a Nashville apartment complex where hundreds of refugee children are wasting away their summer hours playing video games and watching TV. Our goal is to change that. We've picked out four classic children's stories and will share one each week. We [...]
The American in Iraq, Holiday Survival Guide! Hannah and Colleen start with Valentines Day and move through the year to touch on combined Halloween/Thanksgiving parties and finally the great Christmas massacre! Also, see that colander on the right side of the picture... yeah, that's the one we used on the green beans! Learn how you [...]
Director Dave's view from the van! Our recent “Walk and Talk” program was a great success. Over 20 volunteers from local churches joined us to share some exercise, conversation, and much-needed friendship with our refugee friends from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Somalia. As I watched these women smile and laugh together, [...]
I never thought of my students as backward or from an undeveloped country. They all had smartphones when I still had a flip. And if their paper was a bit too short, they were certainly tech-savvy enough to try to change the margins or font size by fractions of an inch. That was why I [...]
Yezidi Mythology Some Yezidi mythology has been translated into English and other languages. So far there are two parts roughly translated — The Revelation and The Black Book. The Revelation mainly consists of God speaking to the Yezidi about who he is and who they are in relation to him. However, The Black Book contains [...]
This project didn’t go as planned. You see, it was spring break so I had a little extra time that was normally spent shuttling refugee women to English class and herding elementary kids who think they can’t read and so don’t want to try. But I’d been wanting to put together a cooking blog [...]
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen I had high hopes for this book. I started reading it days after the travel ban had been put into place and then taken down. The feelings toward refugees were running high, and I was excited to read and review a book about a subset of refugees that I [...]
It’s quiet in the mornings Before the student rush The call to prayer […]
