So, I had joined a "Christan" support group online for women w/ADD/ADHD, didn't turn into a good experience.. however, it lead me to recieve an invitation to this new website:
http://www.womenwithadhd.com
I liked it, until I read a poem, and joined an online chat, I now LOVE it!
the poem made me cry (reposted on this blog), and the chat made me laugh harder than I have in a very long time!
I'm not a big "joiner" but this one is great ladies!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
My first non-self publication since college!
How many of your neighbors do you know?
By Jennifer S. Kouamé
Published in Daily Globe November 13, 2010
I know by name or face, eight families within a one block radius of my house. This is an all time record for me. Even in Anoka, where I spent the first 16 years of my life, I only knew seven. In between Anoka and Worthington, I’ve lived in nine other cities, in two countries besides the U.S., and never known more than three of my neighbors.
I never would have believed it, if you’d told me even a year ago, that I would grow to love Worthington. It’s strange for me to feel so immensely proud to be a part of any community, let alone a “small town”. I have to admit that moving from a suburb of such a large metropolis, to a small town had me worried about possible reactions to my husband and children’s “tan’s. After all, when I asked a representative of New Ulm, a small town located west of the cities, about their diversity in their town, she replied “well, we have Germans, and Norwegians!” Yet, within a week of moving into Worthington, my neighbor from Guatemala was mowing my lawn, and another, who is native to Worthington, shared his fresh strawberries and has been incredibly generous with his handy man knowledge. Yet another neighbor invited our whole family to her grandson’s birthday party just last week.
If the incredible neighbors and Doctors weren’t enough, I was granted the miracle of a paid, full time, volunteer position with District 518’s Community Education department through Americorps Vista. I have never been happier to go to work each morning. I have discovered that almost all things that pertain to education that are not housed in the three main schools are located in the West Learning Center. As a teacher, wife of a West African immigrant, and mother to three multi-racial children, I was thrilled to find myself at the hub of probably the most diverse student and employee population, in the county with the highest percentage of foreign born population in all of Minnesota.
I am delightfully flabbergasted that the place that was supposed to be simply a stepping stone to the next on our career paths, is now the place that I call home. And I do so proudly. For what other place could you have the safety, and community of a small town, with the diversity of any major city?
If you haven’t been able to meet many of your neighbors, or are not one of the privileged few who work at West Learning Center, there is another way to meet your neighbors. At the West Learning Center, we provide Adult Basic Education that includes classes for English language learners at every level, GED classes, Citizenship classes and even parenting classes. Our students come from countries all over the world, and would be so thankful if the people of Worthington would share their incredible hospitality with them by helping our students to learn to read, speak English, or pass their GED or Citizenship test. We also need caring people to assist the teachers at Prairie Elementary and the middle School with the district’s after-school program.
You don’t need to speak any language other than English. Even if your English is limited, but better than our newest immigrants or refugees, you can help. You do not need any previous training or special degree. If you are a teacher, who is keeping their license current, you can actually receive CEU’s for volunteering with us. If you’re a mom who is earning mommy bucks (vouchers that can be redeemed at the Helping Hand Pregnancy Center for various baby supplies), you can get those too! If you have a job, help with the after school programs, or any of the other evening classes we offer. If you don’t have a job, why not help our adult students during the day? We offer classes from 8:45 am to 8:45 pm, so just about anyone should be able to fit volunteering into their schedule. Volunteering also looks great on your resume, and just might lead to some job opportunities; you never know. If you don’t have transportation or child care, we may be able to help you out there as well.
It all comes down to this: there really is no good reason not to connect to this incredible “neighborhood” through volunteering. Who knows? You might just meet that next door neighbor; you will definitely meet a “Worthington neighbor” in any of our classes. So come join us in crossing the cultural boundaries, and continuing to prove what an inspirational community Worthington is.
By Jennifer S. Kouamé
Published in Daily Globe November 13, 2010
I know by name or face, eight families within a one block radius of my house. This is an all time record for me. Even in Anoka, where I spent the first 16 years of my life, I only knew seven. In between Anoka and Worthington, I’ve lived in nine other cities, in two countries besides the U.S., and never known more than three of my neighbors.
I never would have believed it, if you’d told me even a year ago, that I would grow to love Worthington. It’s strange for me to feel so immensely proud to be a part of any community, let alone a “small town”. I have to admit that moving from a suburb of such a large metropolis, to a small town had me worried about possible reactions to my husband and children’s “tan’s. After all, when I asked a representative of New Ulm, a small town located west of the cities, about their diversity in their town, she replied “well, we have Germans, and Norwegians!” Yet, within a week of moving into Worthington, my neighbor from Guatemala was mowing my lawn, and another, who is native to Worthington, shared his fresh strawberries and has been incredibly generous with his handy man knowledge. Yet another neighbor invited our whole family to her grandson’s birthday party just last week.
If the incredible neighbors and Doctors weren’t enough, I was granted the miracle of a paid, full time, volunteer position with District 518’s Community Education department through Americorps Vista. I have never been happier to go to work each morning. I have discovered that almost all things that pertain to education that are not housed in the three main schools are located in the West Learning Center. As a teacher, wife of a West African immigrant, and mother to three multi-racial children, I was thrilled to find myself at the hub of probably the most diverse student and employee population, in the county with the highest percentage of foreign born population in all of Minnesota.
I am delightfully flabbergasted that the place that was supposed to be simply a stepping stone to the next on our career paths, is now the place that I call home. And I do so proudly. For what other place could you have the safety, and community of a small town, with the diversity of any major city?
If you haven’t been able to meet many of your neighbors, or are not one of the privileged few who work at West Learning Center, there is another way to meet your neighbors. At the West Learning Center, we provide Adult Basic Education that includes classes for English language learners at every level, GED classes, Citizenship classes and even parenting classes. Our students come from countries all over the world, and would be so thankful if the people of Worthington would share their incredible hospitality with them by helping our students to learn to read, speak English, or pass their GED or Citizenship test. We also need caring people to assist the teachers at Prairie Elementary and the middle School with the district’s after-school program.
You don’t need to speak any language other than English. Even if your English is limited, but better than our newest immigrants or refugees, you can help. You do not need any previous training or special degree. If you are a teacher, who is keeping their license current, you can actually receive CEU’s for volunteering with us. If you’re a mom who is earning mommy bucks (vouchers that can be redeemed at the Helping Hand Pregnancy Center for various baby supplies), you can get those too! If you have a job, help with the after school programs, or any of the other evening classes we offer. If you don’t have a job, why not help our adult students during the day? We offer classes from 8:45 am to 8:45 pm, so just about anyone should be able to fit volunteering into their schedule. Volunteering also looks great on your resume, and just might lead to some job opportunities; you never know. If you don’t have transportation or child care, we may be able to help you out there as well.
It all comes down to this: there really is no good reason not to connect to this incredible “neighborhood” through volunteering. Who knows? You might just meet that next door neighbor; you will definitely meet a “Worthington neighbor” in any of our classes. So come join us in crossing the cultural boundaries, and continuing to prove what an inspirational community Worthington is.
My Husband's First A paper
The Generation Ceremony
By Leon Konan Kouamé
When I was about fifteen years old, most of my family and I went to the village for a generation ceremony. Only part of my family could go because it was difficult for twenty-five people to find transportation and to meet at one time. Yes, I said twenty-five. My mom, dad, his second wife and twenty-two kids.
Because I grew up in the city of Abdijan, which is, and was the New York of Africa, going to the village was a huge change. The houses were small, with walls made of mud. The roofs were made of grass, drinking water came from the river, and the women cooked over the fires. It was a far cry from the houses in the city that were built with bricks, sand, and cement. Where we had clean tap water and the cooking was done on the stove. The village was called “Konankro” which means village of Konan. I believe it was named after the first king. Incidentally, my middle name is Konan. This is not as big of a coincidence as you might think. In my tribe, all children’s middle names are days of the week. The king and I were both born on Wednesdays, and were therefore given the middle name Konan, which means, literally “Wednesday.”
The generation ceremony is a time for the future generation of the Baoule tribe to prove that they are strong enough to lead the next generation. People from many other tribes come to watch this celebration of life. It is like a family reunion, county fair, graduation ceremony all rolled into one. The generation ceremony lasts three days.
On the morning of the first day, the huge drum sends the message as far as sound can travel that the Baoule tribe’s generation ceremony is about to begin. All women stay inside their huts and are not allowed to leave on the first day. Eighteen-year-old boys pain their faces black and white with different designs, and wear nothing but a loin cloth. To prove their man hood, they take knives and cut their stomachs with either a stabbing or a slicing motion. The elders then come and place dust on the wound, making the bleeding stop. It seemed like voodoo to me. ‘When that is done, the celebratory dancing begins. It was scary for me, as a young boy, to see such violence, but it was exciting as well.
On the second day, the girls are whipped by the older women. The more whippings they get, the more scars they will have. Because scars prove that the woman is strong, they are considered beautiful. So the girls as for ask many lashes as they can take. Strong and beautiful women attract strong and handsome husbands.
On this same day, boys attempt to prove their manhood once again by running across the backs of eighteen cows without falling down. While this may seem less painful than the previous day’s activities, it is actually much more dangerous, and vastly more important. If the young man falls down, it dishonors their entire family, and the family then has to pay a fine, usually in the form of an entire cow. That aside, if the boy falls, he is very likely to be killed by being trampled under the feet of the cows.
Finally, the third day arrives. This was the best part for me: no blood shed or whippings; only eating, drinking and dancing. Many foods that cannot be found in the city are served: cassava couscous, antelope meat, wild boar, yams, and rice.
Living in France when I was eighteen and unable to attend what would have been my generation ceremony, I regret not being able to prove my manhood. However, I am glad that my daughters are being raised here in the United States where they will not have to endure being whipped to prove their strength or to be considered beautiful.
By Leon Konan Kouamé
When I was about fifteen years old, most of my family and I went to the village for a generation ceremony. Only part of my family could go because it was difficult for twenty-five people to find transportation and to meet at one time. Yes, I said twenty-five. My mom, dad, his second wife and twenty-two kids.
Because I grew up in the city of Abdijan, which is, and was the New York of Africa, going to the village was a huge change. The houses were small, with walls made of mud. The roofs were made of grass, drinking water came from the river, and the women cooked over the fires. It was a far cry from the houses in the city that were built with bricks, sand, and cement. Where we had clean tap water and the cooking was done on the stove. The village was called “Konankro” which means village of Konan. I believe it was named after the first king. Incidentally, my middle name is Konan. This is not as big of a coincidence as you might think. In my tribe, all children’s middle names are days of the week. The king and I were both born on Wednesdays, and were therefore given the middle name Konan, which means, literally “Wednesday.”
The generation ceremony is a time for the future generation of the Baoule tribe to prove that they are strong enough to lead the next generation. People from many other tribes come to watch this celebration of life. It is like a family reunion, county fair, graduation ceremony all rolled into one. The generation ceremony lasts three days.
On the morning of the first day, the huge drum sends the message as far as sound can travel that the Baoule tribe’s generation ceremony is about to begin. All women stay inside their huts and are not allowed to leave on the first day. Eighteen-year-old boys pain their faces black and white with different designs, and wear nothing but a loin cloth. To prove their man hood, they take knives and cut their stomachs with either a stabbing or a slicing motion. The elders then come and place dust on the wound, making the bleeding stop. It seemed like voodoo to me. ‘When that is done, the celebratory dancing begins. It was scary for me, as a young boy, to see such violence, but it was exciting as well.
On the second day, the girls are whipped by the older women. The more whippings they get, the more scars they will have. Because scars prove that the woman is strong, they are considered beautiful. So the girls as for ask many lashes as they can take. Strong and beautiful women attract strong and handsome husbands.
On this same day, boys attempt to prove their manhood once again by running across the backs of eighteen cows without falling down. While this may seem less painful than the previous day’s activities, it is actually much more dangerous, and vastly more important. If the young man falls down, it dishonors their entire family, and the family then has to pay a fine, usually in the form of an entire cow. That aside, if the boy falls, he is very likely to be killed by being trampled under the feet of the cows.
Finally, the third day arrives. This was the best part for me: no blood shed or whippings; only eating, drinking and dancing. Many foods that cannot be found in the city are served: cassava couscous, antelope meat, wild boar, yams, and rice.
Living in France when I was eighteen and unable to attend what would have been my generation ceremony, I regret not being able to prove my manhood. However, I am glad that my daughters are being raised here in the United States where they will not have to endure being whipped to prove their strength or to be considered beautiful.
Monday, November 15, 2010
WHY ADHD-ADD IS FANTASTIC!
You are amazing. But many don't understand the ADD/ADHD mind. So
you can tell them ...
The ADD/ADHD mind is no more than this:
A heroic soul born desperately in need of sensation.
To you ... a moment is an eternity, a rule is a tyranny, a
process is a purgatory, a joy is an ecstasy, a daydream is a
vision, a hazard is a playground, silence is suffocation, and
completion is death.
Add to this brutally expansive spirit the overwhelming need to
risk, create, and express -- so that without the creating of
music or poetry or books or businesses or buildings or something
of meaning, your very breath is cut off ...
You must create, must pour out your entire being in creation. By
some strange, unknown, inward urgency you do not feel alive
unless you are intimately involved in the risk of self-
expression.
Thank you for having the courage to create.
For without your creations
the world would grow dull and listless
And the rest of us who are like you
would not have your courageous act to lean on
to inspire our own.
Rock on,
Garret LoPorto
Author of The DaVinci Method
you can tell them ...
The ADD/ADHD mind is no more than this:
A heroic soul born desperately in need of sensation.
To you ... a moment is an eternity, a rule is a tyranny, a
process is a purgatory, a joy is an ecstasy, a daydream is a
vision, a hazard is a playground, silence is suffocation, and
completion is death.
Add to this brutally expansive spirit the overwhelming need to
risk, create, and express -- so that without the creating of
music or poetry or books or businesses or buildings or something
of meaning, your very breath is cut off ...
You must create, must pour out your entire being in creation. By
some strange, unknown, inward urgency you do not feel alive
unless you are intimately involved in the risk of self-
expression.
Thank you for having the courage to create.
For without your creations
the world would grow dull and listless
And the rest of us who are like you
would not have your courageous act to lean on
to inspire our own.
Rock on,
Garret LoPorto
Author of The DaVinci Method
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