Fellow Kossacks, it’s been a great month. We have achieved political change. But political change is only part of the better world we want to build. A real shining city on a hill, to co-opt a phrase someone else once co-opted, will need an even longer view. Let me share with you a story—please forgive me for using other people’s words (taken from the two websites cited in the diary) to do it; I know they won’t mind. Given yesterday's sad events in India, perhaps this all seems only more relevant.
They didn’t beat me yet!" This was Fahima’s happy report to her family after her first day of school at the International Community School (ICS): http://www.intcomschool.org/ .
The shop where Fahima and Farida worked was cold, and the hook and blade tool they used for cutting knots was dangerous in the hands of small, tired children. There was a constant threat of blinding injury, and cuts that left their elbows permanently scarred. If Fahima and Farida worked too slowly to please the foreman, he beat them. After work, Fahima and Farida went to school until early evening. Here, they were also beaten, this time for infractions like falling asleep in class or not completing their homework. Beaten at work and at school, they literally spent their lives waiting for the next blow to fall.
Fahima and Farida were carpet workers while refugees in Pakistan, valued for the tight knots they could tie with their small fingers. The sisters worked the 7 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. shift for a dollar or so a week. They had started working when their father was disabled in serious construction accident, and their wages were essential to their family¹s survival.
At 5 and 7, Fahima and Farida Bostan Ali arrived at school near the end of ICS’s first year in 2003. They were survivors of the wars in Afghanistan. They seemed both younger and older than American children their own age. As new students, Fahima and Farida cowered in their classrooms. Their faces were pale and blank, and they kept their eyes on the floor.
Fahima refused to speak at all. Her fear of being hit by an adult did not die easily. She spoke her first words in school several weeks later, when a classmate asked her to draw a picture. Because of her work history, at age 5, Fahima had better fine motor skills than most adults, and she was a gifted artist. Other students began to ask her for drawings, and Fahima began to speak to them.
Some weeks later, she was racing toward the playground, laughing with a group of friends.
ICS is a DeKalb County, Georgia charter public school, meaning that though it receives significantly less funding than other public schools it does not charge tuition. The school’s vision is simple: build and nurture Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Beloved Community by bringing together refugee, immigrant, and native-born children in an academically challenging and nurturing environment. ICS seeks to create a supportive community of students, staff and parents, learning from each other and celebrating the diversity among us.
In the last 15 years, thousands of refugee children have come to DeKalb County, bringing not only gifts and talents but also the deep physical and spiritual wounds of war. Today the county is home to the highest percentage of refugees in the southeastern United States. ICS began operation during the 2002-2003 school year and has grown to be one of the most successful charter schools in the state, with close to 400 students representing more than 35 countries and some 40 different language groups currently enrolled. Approximately half of the students are refugee/immigrant children, and half are native to the U.S. Students at ICS represent an economic mix seldom seen in America's schools--more than 90% receive free or reduced lunch, one of the most reliable economic measures in the public school setting. Full disclosure: two of those U.S. natives, I am inordinately proud to say, are my children.
ICS families and staff partner with community organizations in order to provide families with the educational, social and spiritual services they need, including social services, food & housing assistance, and other concerns because we expect students to become independent learners and to feel responsibility for building our Beloved Community.
Read more about ICS, including the original and better account of Fahima’s story: http://features.csmonitor.com/...
We can build the world we want for our children. Dreams live forever--but they do require work to become reality.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
P.S. After re-reading this before posting, I thought I should add this: Yes, ICS is not what would call wealthy, but No this posting is not intended as some sort of fund raiser.
My intent is to ask us to keep politics in its place, to provide an example of the generational work (that sounds grim—we actually have a lot of fun at ICS) it takes to build a better world. We really do believe we are an example of what can be done.