Most-prized Possession

 

Most Prized Possession

In 2004, we visited our daughter, a Peace Corps volunteer, in Namibia, Africa. After seeing her work and enjoying the overwhelming hospitably of the people of her village, we visited the homestead of a family in the Himba tribe. The Himba people are hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers relying on their cattle and goats for housing, clothing, and food. When we arrived, we were welcomed by the patriarch who introduced us to his wife and children. Proudly, he showed us his cattle. Cattle are an indication of wealth in the Himba culture. He drew milk from a cow into a goatskin pouch and invited us into the family’s home that was constructed from goatskins.

Inside, we gathered into a circle around a central fire pit. As we passed around the milk pouch  to sample the fresh milk, the family pointed out their furnishings, crafts, and jewelry made by the women, and farming tools, all the while laughing with one another. The Himba use a paste, called otjize, made from butterfat and ochre pigment to protect their hair and skin from the hot climate and insects. The matriarch demonstrated how she ground up the ochre, an orange-colored clay, mixed it with fat, and created the paste. She then offered to share it with us. We laughed together as she painted our daughter’s face a bright orange. 

Through our interpreter, the mother offered to show us her most prized possession. We were expecting to see another useful tool or even a goat. Excitedly, she held out her voter registration card. Namibia’s voting campaign that year had encouraged everyone in cities, villages, and rural areas to register.  In their traditional dress, each citizen had been photographed and registered. This card showed our hostess, hair and face painted with otjize, smiling broadly. 

Voting is a right Americans share with the people of Namibia. Our homes and cultures may differ but our duties as citizens are the same. We have a duty to register and to vote. Our Himba hostess was proud of her right to vote. Are we as proud? If you were asked to share your most-prized possessions, would your right-to-vote be on the list?  

As we left the Himba homestead, children ran waving after us. We remember the bittersweet milk, the goatskin house, the orange otjize, and the laughing family. We also remember the pride on the face of a busy woman who knows that she has a voice in her nation’s future. Be sure to have a voice in yours. 

Register today. Vote.

The Truth

 

The Truth

“Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect, and whistle a happy tune, so no one will suspect, I’m afraid.” These lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein from the musical “The King and I” echo in my head. How often we are afraid! Could whistling really help?

In this little song, Anna is teaching her son about having confidence in himself. When he feels afraid, he is to “strike a careless pose” or act as if he is confident. When he acts this way, he will appear poised and “fool the people [he] fears” and, more importantly, himself. When he believes that he is fearless, he will act bravely. The whistling is a trick or cue to help him remember that he can be confident in his abilities.

Why can he be confident? Is it just because he thinks he has courage or is it because he has something to base his courage on? The values he brings with him, the truths he stands on, give him the support he needs to go forth confidently. His mother has taught him well.

What truths do we stand on today? I am sure that they are wide and varied. We have different cultural, religious, and family backgrounds. Our differences may cause conflict. We are encouraged to stand up for what we believe yet we all believe differently.

Dr. Frank Crane calls this “The Uproar” in Volume 9 of his Four Minute Essays published in 1919. At that time everyone then was screaming about their own particular take on the “truth.” The world had just fought a war over it. Dr. Crane felt that this tumult was not based on conviction, but on the lack of it. “Truth is the one indestructible, evergreen, eternally persistent thing on earth. All we have to do is to See it, to Believe in it, to Adjust our lives, thought, and speech to it, and wait. By and by it always wins.”

Truth is not something to shout about or fight over. It is something to be lived. Truth is obstinate. Truth prevails. People who believe in truth can be quiet because “they have hold of the one thing that cannot fail.” They can whistle in the dark because they have seen the light.

We may never completely agree on what “truth” is, but rather than shout at one another, might it not be better to live the truth we believe? Dr. Crane believed that “out of Truth flows Peace.” 

When Anna met the King of Siam, she found that she had a lot to whistle about. His truth and hers did not mesh. But they came to a mutual understanding because they developed a respect for one another. Perhaps if we harmonize our truth with respect we will create a new melody of peace. I can whistle that tune. How about you?

I Want to Read

 

I Want to Read

On my first day of first grade, I was ready to read. My parents and grandparents read to me regularly but I wanted to read by myself. As soon as I learned, I taught my younger brother who was just as eager. Why should he wait for first grade? We wanted to read — NOW! 

To become a good reader, readers need phonemic awareness (distinguishing individual sounds), decoding skills (connecting sounds to letters and patterns of letters), fluency (reading easily, smoothly, and with expression), a large vocabulary (word meanings and usage), and comprehension (understanding text and making connections). To become a great reader, children must want to read. 

Motivation is a vital part of reading success. Learning to read is a complicated process. Children who want to read will read more. Children who read more will have greater success in all areas of learning. How can parents help their children want to read? Model, share, provide, and encourage.

1. Model: Children want to be just like mom or dad. They watch their parents carefully for action cues. Children who see parents reading will want to read. Remember D.E.A.R. — Drop Everything and Read. Create sacred reading time and spaces. Furnish your house with bookcases full of your favorite books. Read out loud. Read silently. Read in private and in public. Read signs, instructions, and plaques. Tell your children what you learn from reading. Show your children how reading enriches your life.
2. Share: Make time every day to read to your children. Always carry a few books with you. Waiting is less stressful when reading a good book. Treasure your library card and use it often. Make an event of getting Junior one too. Create a family or neighborhood book club. Take turns reading aloud to neighborhood kids. 
3. Provide: Make sure your child, and every other child you know, has access to great books. Provide books at your child’s reading level and in their areas of interest regardless of reading level. Children who love robots, space travel or walruses want to read about them. Owning books is even better than getting them out of the library. Buy the books your children especially love. Library and yard sales are great places to fill your bookcases. When books are outgrown, pass them along to younger friends and family. Donate books to needy children. Reading requires time. Carve time out of busy schedules for reading. 
4. Encourage: Never force your child to read. Encourage children to read by sharing your love of reading. Show them how much reading enriches your life. Make weekly trips to the library. Applaud beginning efforts. If your child struggles with text, help with decoding or read it aloud yourself. Ask your child to repeat what you read and give high fives. Cuddle while sharing books. Make reading pleasurable and fun for both parent and child.

Help your children want to read — NOW!

(This is the final in a series about reading success by Lisa Marie Crane)