Just had a quick conversation with Sihing Kichko about some books that I have read recently. I explained to her, that I often go on "Reading Jags", which I define as a mini-journey through one particular topic. Right now, I'm on a jag about the recent history of human suffering that occurs in war. Sounds dreary, but what urges me on is the fact that I was enjoying myself in the 1970's, 80's, 90's and now, oblivious to the fact that millions of people were suffering in other parts of the world. How was it that we failed to fully understand the atrocity that occured in Rwanda, Cambodia, Sudan? How did the world get to a place where we could accept the displacement of Palestinians, Afghans? Do we expect these people who survived to treat us and our future generations as friends or complacent purpetrators? Sometimes I feel that the education system has let us down. My daughter is being force fed the grade 10 curriculum, which covers topics such as Human Rights, Globalization. How can she really understand this stuff unless she reads individual personal accounts of people who have survived? If I were teaching, this would be her reading list.
RWANDA:
An Imperfect Offering, by James Orbinski
Shake Hands With the Devil, by James Dallaire
PALESTINE:
In Search of Fatima, by Ghada Karmi
Ambivalence, by Jonathan Garfinkel
CAMBODIA:
Stay Alive My Son, by Pin Yathay
First They Shot My Father, by Loung Ung
Pol Pot: Anatomy of A Nightmare, by Philip Short
SUDAN:
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky; The True Story of The Lost Boys of Sudan, by Benson Deng, Alphonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak
AFGHANISTAN:A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Raise Her Voice, by Malaila Joya
Claire Finnamore
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu
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