I found that I enjoyed this article more than most. I feel silly admitting this, but I could just picture some of these boys as they are often portrayed in shows such as 24 or in the movies. For me, being able to make this connection brought this article to life. One thing about this article that truly inspired me as an educator was the statement that through this study, the researcher found that the participants "ascribed great importance to literacy, in part because they believed education and literacy were the keys to improving their own personal lives. What a powerful statement this is! I often feel that education is taken for granted in our country. If more people had this positive attitude about gaining an education, I think educators would face less problems in the classroom and in a sense gain more respect. Another aspect I found interesting in this article was how these boys viewed English as a way to empowerment, however, they still have to learn their own communities languages in order to preserve their heritage and culture. Again, in our country, I feel as if we take this for granted with everyone having equal opportunity and living in a place where English is such a huge part of our culture.
Although the points discussed above are very interesting to me, the author of this article chose to focus on three main points for the study: the roles of storytelling in the lives of the Lost Boys of Africa, how the Lost Boys have transformed traditional storytelling as a result of their experiences in refugee camps, and how storytelling and its transformation relate to issues of identity and community for this group of refugees.
The history behind why mostly boys fled their homes is a traumatic one. Boys having to flee to avoid being kidnapped and forced into either sides army or because their families had been slaughtered is surely and emotionally trying experience. After all of this heartache, the boys were left to travel thousands of miles to a safe haven. Through interviewing some of these boys, Perry got an idea of the importance of storytelling and the structure of the stories that were told. It was shown that storytelling came about in two different ways: talk about storytelling and enacted storytelling. I found it interesting that the Bible and religion were such a huge part of the literacy of these boys. Several stories from the Bible found their way into the lives of the boys and provided a connection back to their communities as they were told in both English and Dinka. Overall, storytelling for these boys provided motivation for them to become involved in printed literacy practices and develop their English language abilities. Overall, I liked how storytelling or writing stories was empowering for the boys in this study. Understandably, all refugees were not comfortable with speaking of their experiences, but thankfully there are boys like the three mentioned here who can share their stories and in a sense educate the world in the goings on of their cultures.
Erica Spicer
Comments (4)
I agree with you about the storytelling traditions empowering the boys! It did serve as a nice segue to written stories and helped the boys ease into the more "American" way of doing things.
Posted by Kelly Beckley | June 18, 2009 11:02 PM
Posted on June 18, 2009 23:02
Erica,
I share some of your same feelings about how we Americans just seem to take so much for granted!! We are so spoiled here aren't we? Part of my frustration with teaching is that so many parents and children do not value getting an education. If parental support were stronger, then kids would place a much higher value on their educational achievements and our jobs would be so much easier and our kids could achieve so much more. Much too often I feel that I am a babysitter for parents and that they really are not that concerned about what I do with their kids all day. I think this attitude comes from living in a society of such abundance. The Lost Boys probably knew that the opportunities they had here, they never would have had in their homeland. So therefore, they took advantage of the opportunities and pursued an education with all they had in them.
Don't you wish all your students were this eager to learn? I wish mine were.
Lorie Hedrick
Posted by Lorie Hedrick | June 19, 2009 5:48 PM
Posted on June 19, 2009 17:48
Erica,
Command of literacy in one's life is power. Conversely, lack of literacy in one's life leaves one powerless. The article mentioned, "Sudanese refugees now recognize the power of stories to not only preserve history, but also to change its course..their stories...may be having an impact as nations around the world put pressure on Sudan's government to end the crises..." Using literacy to progress a political agenda is only one other example of how powerful a tool literacy is. That is why students from all walks of life must become literate, each individual in his / her own way. YES, they must learn to read, or learn to deal with a severe handicap.
Posted by Annie Croon | June 19, 2009 7:15 PM
Posted on June 19, 2009 19:15
I agree that it is wonderful that through literacy practices these boys have found a way to tell their story and their history. I was also inspired by their desire to learn English and be educated. They saw it as such a great opportunity because they had experienced so many horrible things. I think most people come to a point in their lives when they need to be able to read and write to get what they want. For these Sudanese boys, the need arose when the wanted to tell their stories and their histories.
Posted by Shannon | June 20, 2009 12:29 AM
Posted on June 20, 2009 00:29