Tam Biet and Cao!
I have really enjoyed creating this cultures blog, but alas, all good things must come to an end! What started as a blog being updated purely for my graduate credit became something that I was excited to research and post for every day. I have been fortunate enough to find lots of information on the cultures of our ELL students here in Burlington, but for every great link I wrote about, I found three more. There is such a wealth of information on the cultures of our refugee and immigrant populations here in the Champlain Valley. Many of these links are easily accessible through BSD’s Diversity and Equity office, as well as through the many associations that have been formed by the communities. Additionally, our own students are another amazing resource. I never realized how excited the ELL students I work with would be when I asked them questions about their languages and cultures, but they really opened up. Hopefully, the information I gathered from both them and the Internet will aid anyone interested in learning more about the students they work with, as well as give them ideas for putting together cultural lesson plans of their own for the classroom.
So, goodbye– or should I say… 
Kende malamu (Lingala)
Xin chao tam biet (Vietnamese)
Cao (Bosnian)
Thwa me knor (Burmese)
Namaskaar (Nepali)
Nebed geli’yo! (Maay Maay)
Avocado Smoothies!
I started this blog off with recipes, so what better way to end it with one as well? My friends have themed cultural potlucks every week, and last Tuesday was Vietnamese. There were tons of great curry, rice, and noodle dishes, but I went the easy way out and made avocado smoothies (Sinh to Bo). You can learn more about the history of this yummy shake here. Avocado smoothies and milkshakes are a very popular desert in Vietnam, and are extremely easy to make. It would be very easy to incorporate this recipe into a lesson plan– it’s a fun and interactive way to kickstart a conversation for students on Vietnamese culture.
If you don’t feel like doing the dirty work yourself, you can find them at most Vietnamese restaurants around Burlington as well. My favorite is Pho Hong, on North Winooski Avenue.
Enjoy! 🙂
Avocado Milkshake (vietworldkitchen.com)
phamfatale.com
Makes about about 2 1/4 cups, enough to serve 2 or 3
1 ripe medium avocado (6–8 ounces)
1 cup ice (8 ice cubes)
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
Scoop the avocado flesh into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients, starting out with the least amount of milk and puree until completely smooth. Taste and add additional milk, depending on the avocado type and if a thinner consistency is desired.
Notes:
Some people use a combination of condensed milk (e.g., ¼ cup) and add sugar (1 to 2 tablespoons) to taste. It’s really up to you.
The shake tastes better (the buttery, grassy avocado flavor becomes more pronounced) if it sits for a bit, say 10 to 15 minutes in the fridge. I’ve left it to sit in the fridge for 24 hours and it was okay. At 48 hours, there was discoloration at the top and the flavor dwindled a bit. had it sit for as long as 21/2 hours.
Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Programs
Besides Looms to Cloth, the Burmese Weaving apprenticeship, the Vermont Folklife Center also supports several other cultural folk arts. The Center is a great physical representation of the challenges that refugees and people from other cultures face here in America. Despite a changing environment, many of these cultures strive to carry on their traditions and celebrate their heritage– which is, almost word for word, the Center’s mission statement.” The Apprenticeship Program’s description is as follows: “The traditional or folk arts historically have been passed from generation to generation without the support of classes or public institutions. They were carried on because they had meaning in people’s lives. But in a changing world the link between generations can be broken and time-honored knowledge can be lost.”
Somali Bantu apprenticeships:
The Wedding Band: Somali Bantu music
Patterns of Color: Somali Bantu Needlework
Bosnian apprenticeships:
The Bosnian Lilies: Bosnian Folk Music and Dance
Jamina Jusufagic (left) sings alongside Ekrem Hamzik (right) as he plays a traditional Bosnian folk song on piano (http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/education/apprenticeship/about.php)
For the Generations: Bosnian Folk Music
Japanese apprenticeships:
Culturegrams & the Congo
Many of the schools here at BSD have subscriptions to Culturegrams, an awesome cultural reference website that offers information (both visual and textual) on countries, cultures, and their populations. It’s extremely easy to use– you click on the country you’d like to learn more about in a map, and voila! One new feature I just found, however, was the Culturegrams Kids Edition. Not only is the information in there written for students, but it also offers “a kid’s-eye view of daily life in countries around the world.” Sounds like a perfect resource for this blog, as well as for lesson plans. Not only can you read the Kids Edition to learn more about what life may have been like for our ELL students if they originally lived in another country, but it is also accessible for kids and could be utilized in the classroom.
I decided to check out the Kids Edition and find out some basic information on the Congo. The Kids Edition is split into some handy categories, and uses bright colors and bullets to make it more attractive and easy-to-read 🙂 which is always a plus!
Timeline
- The D.R. of Congo was a colony of Belgium until 1960, when they gained their independence and civil war broke out.
- Patrice Lumumba, the first elected prime minister, was executed in 1961.
- Mobutu Sese Soko takes power in 1965, and holds onto it for 32 years. Under his reign, the country is called Zaire, and other political parties are banned until 1991.
- Laurent Kabila takes power in 1997, and war soon breaks out between Kabila supporters and rebel groups, each one supported by troops from neighboring countries.
- Although a peace treaty is signed in 2002, the civil war has already claimed more than three million lives. Elections are held and a constitution is signed; however, fighting breaks out again in 2008.
- The UN called for rebel troops to leave the Congo; however, violence still plagues parts of the region.butu
Population
- The population of 71 million belongs to more than two hundred ethnic groups.
- Most live in the countryside, but some are beginning to move into crowded cities.
- Despite the current violence, for many years ethnic groups have lived side-by-side and intermarried with little conflict.
mapsofworld.com
Religion
- Religion plays an important role in everyday life.
- Eighty percent are Christian, and churches can be found all over, including vacant lots and rooftops!
Games and Sports
- Soccer is the most popular sport– people often play on dirt fields, with homemade balls.
- Other popular pastimes include mankala and socializing– people often get into walking groups as an excuse to talk and enjoy each others company.
Food
- Food can be hard to come by, so some Congolese only eat two meals per day.
- One of the most common foods is cassava, a thick root similar to tapioca. They make cassava balls and dip them into spicy sauce
Schools
“War has hurt Congo’s education system. It is difficult to know how many of Congo’s kids actually attend school. A lot of schools are closed because the government can’t afford to pay teachers. Many teachers and other educated people have left the country. Those kids that are able to go to school must use limited resources. There aren’t many books. School buildings are made of basic materials like mud brick walls and thatched roofs. For many years, boys as young as eight or nine have been prevented from attending school because they have been recruited for service in the military.”
Life as a Kid
“Life is often hard for Congolese kids. Many are refugees, forced to leave their homes by war. Some boys have been made to fight for the armies in Congo. They are given rifles and put into combat. Luckier kids live at home with their families and attend school. Kids are expected to do a lot of work to support their families, so they don’t have a lot of free time. But, like you, they like to play with their friends whenever they get the chance. Lack of money doesn’t prevent them from finding ways to have fun, though. They enjoy challenging each other to foot races, practicing being hunters with homemade bows and arrows, or pretending to be mothers.”
Looms to Cloth
Another cool program from the Vermont Folklife Center: the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program supports Looms to Cloth, a Burmese weaving group. The group comes together to set up, and work on, handmade looms. They create a variety of woven goods, including traditional Burmese clothing, bags, and scarves.The web-site has a great video that features photos, as well as interview with several Burmese refugees.
I did some research on Burmese weaving, and found out that “the art of traditional Burmese weaving has a 5,000 year-old history and its one distinct set of motifs.” I am not sure if they do this in Looms to Cloth, but many weavers use vegetable dye to create the bright colors found on their cloth and threads. Weaving and embroidery skills are a Burmese tradition, and often passed down through generations of women.
Burmese crafts production has been growing in recent years, especially in refugee camps. A brief, brief history: the “oppressive military regime in Burma has wreaked havoc for decades, and forced many citizens to flee to neighboring Thailand for safety. The Burmese army has particularly targeted the Karen and Karenni minority ethnic groups because of their struggle for regional autonomy. In 2006, a military invasion of the northern Karen state destroyed 232 villages, and displaced roughly 27,000 civilians. Today, there are some 148,000 refugees in nine camps along the Thai-Burma border, facing constant struggles to keep their families fed and healthy, and to educate their children… The Thai government does not allow refugees to obtain an education or a job, so many refugees have no way to educate or support their families.”
Burmese refugee camp near Mae Sot; http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/4478037
In these camps, female refugees (many of whom were faced with sexual violence from the Burmese army) are often, as stated above, at an odds to find a way to support their families. Crafts production is a growing industry that allows them to independently create their own goods and make a living. Besides generating income, weaving and crafts making in the camps also allows these women to hold onto their cultural traditions, even in “exile.”
It seems as though Burmese refugees in Vermont, although not still in the Thai camps, have also found a way to hold onto their heritage in a new setting. It is great to see how they have managed to incorporate their old traditions into their new lives, and are still able to come together over such an important part of Burmese culture.
Check this site out for some more basic information: Women’s Education for Advancement and Empowerment
Bhutanese Music Videos
Here is a link to another Bhutanese association or group here in Vermont! Again, the website does not seem to be 100% functioning, but it is more up-to-date than the last one I posted a link about. Vermont HamiBhutani, or Bhutanese Refugees in Vermont USA, has resources for local Bhutanese and those interested in helping out in the community, as well as links to local news. They have one post on a group of fifteen Bhutanese women who work together in fiber-arts, or knitting. One quote I liked was,
“Several of the women participated in similar projects in the refugee camps in Nepal. However, unlike in Nepal, where the work was done for an outside entrepreneur, the women in Chautari have a sense of independence in designing the product and method of sales distribution.” Seems like great evidence of the Bhutanese community coming together to advocate for themselves here in Burlington.
They’ve also got some links to videos of traditional dancing in the refugee camps! Check them out here.
Spotlight on: Refugee Women
Check out this article from July 2010 in the “Vermont Woman’s” newspaper. The focal point of “The New Vermonters: Seeking Respite, Global Refugees Resettle in Vermont” is the New Farms for New Americans project. This is a program funded by national grants that helps refugees in Vermont work, manage, and make a living off of their own farms.
Many of the refugees who have been relocated to the Burlington area have agricultural backgrounds, and so they already have a step up. However, they often face many challenges: raising crops in Vermont often requires wholesale, as opposed to subsistence, farming. Additionally, food that is considered a delicacy in some cultures– for instance, camel meat for Somali Bantus– is not in as high of a demand here in Burlington. However, despite these hurdles, the New Farms participants have begun to sell their produce and meat at local farmers markets, and are expanding their number of farms.
My favorite part of this article was its emphasis on women. Most of the New Farms participants are female, and the feminist in me was excited to learn that they are often the program’s leaders and highest earners. The rest of the article detailed challenges and new opportunities Burlington-area transplants face, again focusing mostly on the female perspective. The section on the challenges of child-rearing in a new environment were especially interesting to me, as a former nanny and current “educator.” I definitely recommend this article for a more personal, and less historical, read than some of my other links!
Poll Answer
Guessed that the Somali Bantu population was the most highly represented culture among our school district’s ELL students? Well, according to my school’s ESL teachers, you are correct! They were not positive, but they thought the Somali Bantu had the largest student representation, followed by the Nepali and then Burundians. They were not positive, though– so if anyone has concrete data, please share!
Language School
I have heard many of the students I work with talk about attending “language school” on the weekends. However, no matter how much Google-ing I do, I cannot find any websites or links with more information. Has anyone ever heard of any of these programs? I’d be interested in knowing if they only teach our students’ native languages, or culture and religion as well.
schooloflanguage.com
The only information I have been able to get out of the kids is that several cultures have these schools. I have heard of, primarily, Vietnamese and Kirundi school. The students who are learning Kirundi go to BHS on the weekends. I’d love to know more! It also makes me wonder if BSD has ever collaborated with any of these language teachers, maybe to provide the public schools with cultural programming?
Circles of My Multicultural Self
The BSD Diversity and Equity office also has a resource center with lots of good links to be used in the classroom. One which I particularly like is called “Circles of My Multicultural Self.” The lesson is interactive, and “engages participants in a process of identifying what they consider to be the most important dimensions of their own identity.”
The original plan, written down on the site, asks students to write down descriptor words which they think best describe their identity. Afterwards, they get into pairs and share two stories: one, a time when they felt proud to be associated with the identifying words they wrote. Second, a time it was painful for them to be associated with these identities. When that is over, the students can then write about stereotypes about their communities, and how they feel about them.
I really like this plan, especially because it allows students to teach their peers about their culture while also delving into what identity means. My favorite part of the plan is the story-telling. I was recently at a conference on, coincidentally, identity, and we did a similar exercise. Being able to speak, uninterrupted, with someone you do not know very well– for instance, you might want to pair an ELL student with one from mainstream culture– can be a very personal and empowering experience for both the speaker and the listener.
However, this lesson plan is a bit sophisticated, and might not be suitable for elementary or middle school unless it was done with the utmost sensitivity and care. But what I like about the plan is that it is easily adaptable! You could have students only focus on positive parts of the identity , and use this as a learning tool for ELL students to teach their peers about what they are proud of in their cultures. Teachers might also learn, as well, especially if students were allowed to write down holidays and traditions, as well as identifiers. I’d be interested in seeing what ELL students would write in these circles, especially if they come from a culture which we have studied. For instance, would Hindu students perhaps write about Holi, or is that only perceived as an important part of their culture?
cultureintheclassroom 