The Good Braider has won the Lupine Award from the Maine Library Association. Here’s some backstory on this award. The award is named for the flowers grown in Barbara Cooney’s picture book, MISS RUMPHIUS. I just listened to the story on this beautiful audio book version:
Madhu’s Seeds
Illustration by Ram Darjee
An essay for spring published in New Hampshire Home‘s back page feature “At Home in New Hampshire.”
by Terry Farish
Madhu Bhandari tells me, “When I bring the greens home from the garden, that is the best thing.”
I am in her home in downtown Concord where she lives with her husband; her children, including her grown son Nilhari and daughter-in-law Devika; and grandchild, Neeja.Devika sits with us and translates for Madhu, who speaks Nepali. Dressed in turquoise trousers and a white shirt, Madhu is “wearing pote,” glass pote beads around her neck that say she is married.
“What kind of greens?” I ask.
Journey to Kakuma and the Turkana People
Follow my journey to Kakuma, a village in the Turkana district of northern most Kenya. I volunteered with KVDA in the Kakuma Semi Arid Boarding Primary School where children of the nomadic Turkana people and children from Kakuma
Refugee Camp go to school. See images and follow the journey here.Christmas Visits With The Cat
A child from Pittsfield, NH retells the story of The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup.
I have enjoyed Christmas class visits. I went to New Durham School in New Hampshire and met all the children, grades 1 -6. They are very fun to puzzle out with about what’s really going on in THE CAT WHO LIKED POTATO SOUP. The children are savvy. They see the truth about the old man who in the story claims to have no affection for his old cat. He complains about her. He calls her a “worthless cat. Never caught nothin’ Not a mouse, nothin’.” But the children read between the lines. They see the old man let her sleep on his electric blanket and he takes her bowls of potato soup. And they see the READ MORE
Eleven Days Before I Go
Paul Winter, of the organization Scottie’s Place, posted this photo on a blog. It is dated December 13, 2012. You can read the post, Life in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Scottie’s Place is an American-based nonprofit organization working to support the education of girls and young women in the camp, as well as many other sites. Paul Winter’s blog post is terribly sobering.
I am preparing to go to Kakuma Refugee Camp – in eleven days. From here on out, I am devoting this blog to my journey to Kakuma. It will become a more personal story. Follow my blog at http://goodbraider.com where I’ll write about Kakuma when it is possible.
