An Afternoon with Deborah Ellis

Lucky me! On Friday I had the enjoyable experience of hearing Deborah Ellis, author of The Breadwinner series set in Taliban Afghanistan and many other books for children and young adults, speak at our librarian’s PD. I took notes so I could share this wonderful opportunity with others, including a few jealous colleagues!

Trip to Afghanistan

Deborah Ellis returned to Afghanistan last year, travelling with two women associated with the organization, Women for Women. Her reaction to the current situation in this country is two-fold. She experienced rage, disappointment, and discouragement at the ongoing government corruption. Obtaining any kind of a permit requires money on the side. More disturbing than this petty corruption is government concessions to the right wing. There are women’s shelters in Afghanistan, but a woman must apply to a panel of five men and submit to a virginity test to determine to her worthiness. Deborah observed that people often hold on to the old, tired ways when threatened.

However, the new generation gives her hope. Deborah Ellis said that these Afghan young people, who remember being locked in their homes with their mothers, are grabbing hold of any opportunities, be they sports or education, doing three or four years of school in one year. They never know when they might lose these opportunities, so they experience their freedom to the full and pack as much in as they can. There is also a sense of solidarity; they are in this together. A free press does exist in Afghanistan. Young people are also embracing the new technology and many have cell phones. There is a women’s soccer team, although those who play are subject to criticism that it is not appropriate for girls to be running about and getting sweaty, that it is immodest.

Sadly, women are still stoned and forced marriages still occur. Deborah told of a young 13 or 14-year-old girl who resisted a forced marriage with an old man. She was adamant that she was not going to marry him.  She sought help from the authorities, who did nothing.

This girl had sent a song request to a young DJ who became concerned with her plight. He said he would help her and she ended up running away with him. Along the way they stopped at a restaurant. The owner asked questions and upon learning  the circumstances, he called the police. Even though she had not violated Afghan law, she was put in jail for seven years. In fact, you can be put in jail, even if you have committed no crime under the Afghan criminal code.

Sad to say, she is better off in jail with girls who are incarcerated for similar reasons, than on her own. Women cannot own property or rent. Deborah emphasized the importance of economic power for girls and women.

Deborah spoke of a teacher of a women’s literacy class, who found that initially the women needed to talk. All that had happened to them flowed out; this was their first opportunity to release their distress. After a while less time was spent talking and more on the lessons that were to empower them. One woman commented that now that she knows how to read she’ll be able to find things out for herself.

Similarly, a community centre had a library consisting of 10 shelves of books. A young man said that with these 10 shelves they can now solve all their problems. Imagine!

Deborah was asked if she has a bodyguard when she travels to trouble spots. She does not, she generally travels alone. In Afghanistan she was accompanied by the two women from Women for Women. She is more concerned with the risk to the people she talks to, and allows them to frame their own terms, i.e., how much they reveal about their identity. She said that as a woman she can easily slide into the world of women and children in a way a man could not.

Deborah Ellis, a long-time peace activist, asks people to consider the possibility of finding other ways to settle conflict apart from war. She noted that when you ask primary students if it is possible to eliminate war, many will say yes. By the time they are in the junior grades their opinions are divided and in high school most say no. She commented that we are failing to inspire a different vision of the future and we need to bring home to children the effects of these decisions.

Her Writing

Deborah Ellis also spoke of her writing and her books. She said her books begin with a question: “What would I do if my best friend were accused of murder? “What would it be like to be a girl in Taliban Afghanistan?” She also noted that her interview-based writing follows in the tradition of the late Studs Terkel, whom she admires. Favourite books include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and anything by Jean Little.

She spoke specifically to some books. I will outline her comments below:

Off to War:  Deborah Ellis said this book of interviews with children whose parents were fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq was her most challenging book to write because of her anti-war views. However, she said she that in talking with these children she was reminded that every group, including the military, consists of individuals. She noted that books she would have liked to write would have been Children of War, Children of the Taliban, and Children of the Iraqi Army.

No Ordinary Day: This junior-level book was written to benefit The Leprosy Mission. She noted that we have the ability to wipe out leprosy, but the funding is lacking.

True Blue: This more recent book looks at how we find courage. While Casey knew her own mind from a young age and had determined her path, Jess was not equipped to be on her own. She had no compass, no inner strength. Deborah Ellis also revealed that she had been a camp counsellor and asked herself, “What if I had lost one of the campers?” (Elsewhere Deborah Ellis said, “Courage interests me – when we have it, when we don’t, and how we make the decision to be brave or cowardly.”)

Bifocal: This book, written with Eric Walters, was based on a terrorist incident in 2006. Students at a high school in Mississauga, Ontario were arrested on suspicion of terrorism, although the charges were later dropped. The authors wanted to explore the effect of such an event on a school. She said she and Eric Walters visited the same school so that their setting would match and exchanged chapters as they wrote the book.  She wrote Haroon’s story and Eric wrote Jay’s.  The shared authorship worked well for them, but was hard on their editor!

Upcoming Books: I was very excited to learn that a fourth book in the Breadwinner series, My Name is Parvana, will be coming out in September.  She had just finished her edit the day she spoke with us. She is also working on a book on the Nuremberg trials, with a particular focus on accountability.

At the end, I took the opportunity to get True Blue autographed and to tell her how much recent Grade 6 classes have enjoyed The Breadwinner. Like many kids their age, they’re not really interested in other cultures, so the teacher has to do a persuasive introduction before they begin. However, once they get into the story, they love it and a number go on to read the entire series. She smiled broadly when I told her. Her smile told me that’s where her heart is, reaching young people with her stories.

I was unable to find a good up-to-date biography of Deborah Ellis, but in this short videotaped interview in 2010 she talks about a recent book, No Safe Place, and the impact she hopes to have on young people through her writing.

 

A longer, more recent video interview with Deborah Ellis in December 2011 is available here.

Memorable Non-Fiction

I recently answered the question, “What are some great non-fiction books  I should read?” on Quora. When I looked for my answer it said it was deleted. I undeleted it, but to ensure a greater chance at permanence (if there is such a thing in the digital world), I decided to reproduce my answer in a blog post.

Here are some of my picks:

Reckless Youth by Nigel Hamilton (young JFK bio, excellent, great use of primary sources)

The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 and The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940 by William Manchester (Excellent, comprehensive Churchill biographies)

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken (Written from a Christian standpoint, is well worth the read for the beautifully crafted account of the loss of his wife. Includes letters by and stories of C.S. Lewis, who befriended the couple)

The Double Helix by James Watson (Great book about the discovery of the structure of DNA. Far from dry science, it is a great look at the personalities of the scientists involved and the dynamics and politics of the discovery.)
Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920′s by Frederick L. Allen (Notable as a contemporary account of this decade.) Allen also documented the next decade in Since Yesterday: The 1930′s in America, September 3, 1929 to September 3, 1939.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (The book that started the modern environmental movement in the early 1960s. Beautifully written, with a poetic quality even while dealing with hard science.)
The Educated Imagination by Northrup Frye (A very accessible introduction to Frye’s theories of literature and literary education. Originally delivered as a Massey Lecture.)
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin; The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X; Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver  (Must contemporary reading for an understanding of the 1960′s civil rights movement.)

The Theory and Practice of Communism by R.N. Carew Hunt. (Excellent study of the origins, theories and very dissonant application of Communist theory. Comprehensive, well-researched and well-written.)

Recent reading:
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch (Documents the healing journey of a year of reading a book a day, prompted by the death of her sister 3 years earlier.)
A Nurse’s Story: Life, Death and In-Between in an Intensive Care Unit by Tilda Shalof. (A well-written, hard-to-put-down, first-hand account of an ICU nurse. Nursing is a profession that is often under-appreciated, but after reading this book you will have a new respect for the challenging work that nurses do.)

What non-fiction books have made an impression on you? Please add to my list in the comments.

9/11/11 What Might Have Been; What Could Be

There has been an endless array of 9/11 programming leading up to this 10-year remembrance day.  I had seen a number of these programs before and others presented information most of us are already familiar with. However two programs were particularly memorable for me.

The first program was The Man Who Knew. Shown on the PBS series, Frontline, it was the story of John O’Neill, an FBI agent who was a leading expert on Al Qaeda and who tried to warn authorities of its threat to the U.S. However John had not found favour among certain powers-that-be in the FBI and by the summer of 2001, he had been marginalized and then pushed out of the FBI.

John found security work at the World Trade Center. On the evening of September 10, 2001, a friend commented that he should be safe in the WTC; it had already been a target. John disagreed, he said that Al Qaeda wanted to finish the job. In one of the saddest ironies of 9/11, the man who had tried so hard to warn of an upcoming attack was at his new job in the World Trade Center on that fateful day and among the many who perished. What might have been…

I just heard the second program today. It was only a small segment on a CBC  early Sunday morning radio broadcast, but its topic is had a big impact on me.* A CBC producer, Mary Wiens, reported on how a small portion of the Old Testament, a story that the Bible and the Koran share, was bringing Jews and Muslims together.

It is the story of Ishmael and Isaac, both sons of Abraham, a story that marks the beginnings of the antipathy between these two groups. You may be familiar with it. Abraham was childless in old age, yet God had promised him descendants more numerous than the stars. His wife Sarah was also an old woman and had been barren all their married life. At Sarah’s urging, he took Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar, and fathered a child with her, Ishmael. A number of years later, as an old woman, Sarah miraculously conceived a child and Isaac was born.

In time jealousy grew between the two women and Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. So begins the sad saga of the hatred between the Arab peoples and the Israelites. However, there is a seed of hope in this story. When Abraham died, Isaac and Ishmael put aside their differences and came together to bury their father. Building on this hope, in the present day some Mosques and Synagogues are coming together in this same spirit, recognizing their common heritage in this ancient patriarch.

Now if all of us could contribute to this spirit of cooperation, just imagine what could be….

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*The podcast of this CBC program will not be posted until tomorrow. I will add the link then. In the meantime, this link will provide some background (click on “Listen” under Isaac and Ishmael):

http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2011/09/09/sh-1/

Libraries and Jack Layton

Tribute to Jack Layton at Nathan Phillips Square

Two of my librarian tweeps were outside Roy Thompson Hall for Jack Layton’s state funeral Saturday. Jack Layton was the recently deceased leader of the Canadian social democratic party, the New Democratic Party (NDP). Noting their presence, I tweeted, “Librarians love Jack Layton.”

This  observation set me on a path to the realization that the loss of Jack Layton and the threatened loss of public libraries were both capturing a incipient mood in the public. Jack Layton was admired as a man of the people. Remembrances of how he touched so many lives, meeting needs and serving people, dominated the tributes. He believed in and practised generosity, sharing, and the principle of equality, and did his utmost to move Canada in this direction.

Public libraries were born of this spirit. Every person has a right to knowledge and education. In the February 2007 Student Library Journal, A.S. Popowich wrote: “19th century Scottish essayist, Thomas Carlyle, founded the London Library as a model for an egalitarian institution serving the common man.”

Jack Layton’s death triggered a recognition that we need to return to Carlyle’s ideal, the same ideal that those who fought for representative government espoused. The outpouring of grief at this champion of the people was as deep as it was swift, and should be a lesson to the current crop of more vituperative (as Stephen Lewis worded it in his eulogy) politicians, who tell Canadians what they want, rather than listening to them.

Similarly when some politicians cut from the same cloth tried to cut libraries in Toronto and the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board attempted to virtually eliminate libraries and librarians in their schools, the public outcry was swift, sure and deep. I suspect many of the people who said libraries are outdated hadn’t set foot in a library in a long time. Libraries are emblematic of the common man and provide services that many may not be able to afford.

Modern libraries also have a social service component – a refuge for those who seek quiet, or the homeless and beyond. McClure and Jaeger wrote, “… [T]he social role of the public library has matured from a repository of texts to a marketplace of ideas (Heckart 1991)….For all people,  the public library is now seen as a social and virtual space where all ages and walks of life can mix, exchange views, access materials, and engage in public discourse (Goulding 2004; Jaeger and Burnett 2005) ” (p. 17) A modern library is a hub of community activity, information seeking and social intercourse.

Perhaps our citizens* (and I use that word deliberately, as we are more than taxpayers) on both sides of the border are beginning to tire of politicians in the grasp of the rich and the idealogues. Something is missing in government today: civility, service, a genuine concern for the citizens you are governing, and compassion.

These are the qualities the public responded to in Jack Layton. And when people rallied around libraries facing cuts, they were responding to politicians and school board members who were so out of touch with the people these institutions serve that they thought libraries could be cut with impunity.

While I don’t have any information about Jack Layton’s view on libraries, I do know that libraries represent the spirit of Jack Layton: generosity, service, and equal access. The public response to the loss of a beloved politician and threatened loss of libraries are hopeful signs if they signal a return to the ideals that both represent.

The pictures are mine, taken at Nathan Phillips Square outside of Toronto City Hall.

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* For an excellent series on citizenship and what we need to do in our current political climate by former MP Glen Pearson, see:
http://glenpearson.ca/2011/08/

The Sunset Limited: a review

I just finished watching The Sunset Limited, a powerful HBO TV movie. Two men, one a Bible-believing ex-con played by Samuel L. Jackson and the other a professor who expounds existentialist views, played by Tommy Lee Jones, discuss life and death, meaning, experience, suffering, destiny, theology and philosophy. Tommy Lee Jones’ character states, “The dialectic of the homily always presupposes a ground of evil.” There is a dialectic in operation here as two opposite viewpoints clash and remix.

The movie reminded me of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, “No Exit.” The door takes on a symbolic significance at the end that put me in mind of Sartre’s work. Both are one-act stagings (apart from the brief initial scene outside the locked doors of the apartment in this movie) with a small cast. Both examine the lives, memories and sins of the participants. In “No Exit”, they await a torturer who doesn’t arrive, and come to realize they are each others’ torturers. At the end of The Sunset Limited, the man Samuel L. Jackson sought to comfort has become his torturer.

Highly recommended if you enjoy the exchange of ideas in a well-crafted, well-acted movie.

Bird Tales

Cedar Waxwing in schoolyard

As the last days of school wind down,  I’ve had close encounters with a couple of birds over the past couple of days . Yesterday I saw this lovely Cedar Waxwing in the early morning schoolyard picking at some gauzy material that had somehow found its way into the branch of the tree. It’s been a long time since I’d seen a Cedar Waxwing and it took me a couple of minutes to go through my memory bank of birds I know. Some of our younger staff had never heard of a  Cedar Waxwing.  I had hoped to see it again today, but there was no sign of it.

However, this morning had its own bird drama. Downtown a little not-yet-fledge sparrow had fallen out of its nest. I watched the touching sight of two young men picking up this tiny bird and trying to find a safe spot to place it. They tried the entryway to a Subway shop, but decided it wasn’t the best location and were crossing the street with the sparrow cradled in the palm of one man’s hand when my bus came along. I left, saying a prayer for the little sparrow and its rescuers.

When I arrived at school I told a teacher of the little drama I had witnessed. He had his own story of a Snowbird (Junko) that he found unconscious in his snow-filled backyard one winter, possibly after flying into a window. He could see its tiny chest rising and falling so he scooped it up and brought it indoors to warm it and see if it would revive. He placed it in the cat carrier to contain it and keep it safe from their cat.

An hour or two later, the bird woke up. He could only imagine the bird’s surprise and confusion to find himself in this plastic cage, when his last memory would be flying free. He took the bird outside, opened the carrier and away flew the Snowbird, recovered and restored. He said that every time he sees a Junko he wonders….

I hope the little sparrow downtown does as well.

Tweets that caught my eye this week

These tweets are worth a second look, or first, if you missed them:

• @EdConti Why is Finland a model for the teaching profession? http://sbne.ws/r/71PT
• @kishizuka Worth reading and passing on – A Letter to Scott Walker From a Wisconsin Teacher | Mother Jones http://bit.ly/gLjZmx
• @alancross Brilliant story: there hasn’t been a SINGLE case of looting in Japan since the earthquake/tsunami. http://bit.ly/gomjSK
• @rabbleca: Nuclear power point: Canada needs a common-sense disaster response http://bit.ly/i61YZl via @matttbastard
• @ShireenJ: Ken Dryden gets it -> Hockey violence: How could we be so stupid? http://t.co/utg1MZJ via @ziteapp @AureliaCotta
• @kylepace Great digital citizenship resources. Thanks @courosafor putting these together! http://bit.ly/ev48Aa
• @keisawilliams: Love documentaries like I do? Check it out http://bit.ly/96N8ln via kbkonnected
• @ArmaVirumque Very cool: Time Lapse video of Milky Way Over Texas http://bit.ly/h5BYkl via @spacefuture

What tweets got your attention this week?

Then and Now – A Personal Experience of Changes in an Emergency Room

Photo courtesy of Chealion

Last night I had to call 911 when my heart went into atrial fibrillation for two hours. It had happened four years ago and I was taken to the same ER, so it gave me the basis for comparison between then and now.

The first difference began with the arrival of the paramedics. The last time they assessed me in my home; this time it was in the ambulance parked outside my home. I was freezing by the time they got me into the ambulance on the stretcher so it was difficult to get the catheter in the vein in my hand for the IV line, as my hand was so cold. The assessment also seemed to take a lot longer. They were having trouble getting my blood pressure and I was concerned that it seemed more important than getting me to the hospital.

However, it was at the hospital that I noticed the biggest change. Four years ago I was taken immediately into the ER with three people waiting to get me into my stretcher/bed on the count. This time I was taken to triage where I waited and waited. When I commented on the change, the paramedics, with obvious frustration, said, “Don’t ask.”

The paramedics were concerned about this delay as my rapid heart rate (150-180) and atrial fibrillation were putting a strain on my heart. The paramedics had to wait with me in the ER hallway while I waited for a space to become available in the ER ward. I very much appreciated their help and company. It beat waiting by yourself on a stretcher in the hallway of an emergency room, which I have experienced. At least I knew I wasn’t forgotten. This time I had two people to keep me company, reassure and advocate for me and find me a bedpan and privacy when needed.

These paramedics were dedicated professionals, concerned for my well being while working within the constraints of a health system that has had so much money drained from it that it isn’t functioning as it should or even as well as it once did.

After waiting an hour I finally got into a bed in the ER and my paramedic companions were free to leave, ready for the next call. I was quickly hooked up to a monitor, a second line of fluid added, an ECG run and blood work taken. Fortunately, soon after the transfer, the atrial fibrillation reverted.

I had two visits with a doctor. He sat down in the chair beside me. It may have been a chance for him to get off his feet, but combined with his kind, attentive manner, it communicated to me, “I have time for you, am concerned for you and am here to help you.” I can’t remember an emergency room doctor doing that before. On the second visit, he brought my file  and had familiarized himself with it, confirming the history and dates I had relayed.

He reassured me that I had done exactly the right thing to come to emergency and to do the same should the need arise. He told me what he was writing down and as he handed me my report, he said I wouldn’t be able to understand it, but my doctor would. I informed him that I had worked with a doctor and had deciphered many illegible ER reports. He smiled.

Once I was out of the hall, the rest of my time there was pretty much the same as four years ago, except that my stay was much longer then, as the A-fib reverted only after seven hours and three different meds.

Some things in the ER never change. You observe a multigrain slice of life: a man spewing out expletives and threats at the staff trying to help him was hastily wheeled by me on a stretcher while I was waiting in the hallway; the elderly with DNR orders lying in beds alongside those in the prime of life, suddenly taken seriously ill. An ashen young woman who had been hemorrhaging fainted as she passed my bed, trying to walk supported to the washroom.

When I was set free to go, on my own, of course, a little shaky and worse for wear, I passed through a packed waiting room, filled with people facing the prospect of a wait much longer than mine. I note with regret the erosion of our health care system, but am thankful I didn’t even have to consider how I was going to pay for an expensive but necessary trip to the ER. I didn’t have to worry if my carrier would cover the expenses and if I would be able to afford the deductible, if it was covered. I didn’t have to sign any invoices on the way out. I simply walked out. All I have to do is look to the south and realize how fortunate I, and all those waiting for care in Emergency last night were.

March 1, 2011: Why I waited 1 hour for treatment: http://www.atv.ca/london/news_75432.aspx

Testing

My doctor left a message Friday that he wanted to see me to give me a recent test result. He generally doesn’t call if everything’s OK, so I had the long weekend to wonder what it was all about.

I managed to put it out of my mind for most of the weekend, but began to worry again when I made the appointment this morning. As I neared his office, I recalled a meditation about worry I once read. The writer had experienced lots of “what if…” worries. He eventually learned to turn it around to “what if” something good happens? What if it isn’t bad news?

Guess what? It wasn’t bad news, the test showed all was well. I don’t know why the doctor called me in this time when he hasn’t on other occasions, but I’m very relieved that I worried for nothing!

OLA SuperConference, Part 2

OSLA Web 2.0 Hockey Face-Off!

I’ll begin my second OLA SuperConference post with a a couple of  personal observations. I was surprised by the number of out-of-province librarians at the Conference. One librarian from Manitoba said that the OLA sessions are where the rubber hits the road; they are very practical. As well, it’s such a large conference, with as many as 11 sessions for each time period, that its wide variety of offerings also draws large numbers.

I had taken my Netbook with me, hoping to live tweet from the conference. However, there was no free WIFI and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre wanted a more than I was willing to pay by the hour for WIFI.  The OSLA Web 2.0 Hockey Face-Off set up a screen to project live tweets, but you had to have your own connection to participate. I tried texting using my non-QWERTY cell phone, but it was just too slow and my tweets were posted well after the topic had moved on.

I heard a number of complaints about this situation, but was told the MTCC also wanted an prohibitive amount from the OLA to provide WIFI. Nonetheless, it is a situation that will have to be addressed in the future, so we can practice what is being preached.

 Finally, a look at two more memorable sessions:

Students Speak Out – Learning Commons

In this session Diana Maliszewski, editor of the Ontario School Library Association’s journal, The Teaching Librarian, and a teacher-librarian with the Toronto District School Board, brought a panel of four students from Grades 1, 4, 5 and 8 to speak about the implementation of the Learning Commons at their school. She said that they were not necessarily the most articulate students. Nonetheless, they seemed very articulate to me and certainly represented their school and teacher-librarian very well.

As one of the authors of this report, Diana summarized the intent of the Learning Commons to be a flexible, responsive approach to help schools focus on learning collaboratively.  Her initial focus was to try to get students to define and understand the concept of the Learning Commons. When this was met with limited success (they ended up taking the definitions of the two words and coming up with, “Learning to do the same things together!”), she shifted the focus to, “Are they doing the Learning Commons? Are they experiencing it?”

If her students are any indication, they are experiencing the Learning Commons at every level. Many impressive examples were given, including a Speakers’ Corner in a primary classroom, where students go to record a response to a lesson (things they’ve learned) that they may not wish to share in front of the class. The teacher later will listen and may ask the student if they can share the recording with the class. What a great way to give a voice to students who may not have the confidence to speak up!

I was so impressed with the students and the energy and dedication of their teacher-librarian who is bringing innovative, cutting-edge ideas and technology to her school.

Great Web 2.0 Face-Off
           

The Great Web 2.0 Face-Off was structured as a hockey game: three periods with commentary in between. It was a fun and informative session. I was also impressed with the ways school librarians in the audience and on stage were using some of these programs, for example, class blogs or student blogging for Forest of Reading programs.

The commentary was also well done. “It’s the thinking not the tools” and the concept of “sandbox time” (playing with the tools) were ideas that resonated with me.

For more information about the tools presented in rapid-fire succession,  I would refer you to the OSLA’s Great Web 2.0 Hockey Face-Off page and to Glen Farrelly’s What a Non Librarian Learned from a Librarian Conference for a linked list of the Web 2.0 tools covered in the session.

Diana Maliszewski also wrote an excellent summary of the SuperConference 2011 experience, Conference Reflections. This powerhouse school librarian was also a participant in the Great Web 2.0 Hockey Face-Off.

SuperConference 2011 was a great experience. I’m looking forward to next year!