If you invite 10 people to your home, we will come help you host a Middle Eastern meal.  After a lovely meal we will make a presentation about the ways we are walking with refugees toward stability and recovery.  The purpose of this night will be to celebrate the vibrancy of Arab culture, while building connections between communities.  Donations will be encouraged, but not required.

How would your life be different if your mother had never learned to read?     

Seven little girls came to our first Malala Day for an interactive learning experience and to celebrate access to education.  Malala Yousafzai is the Pakistani children’s rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize after being shot by the Taliban for resisting the closure of girls´ schools.  We celebrated resilience, her life’s work, played games, read books about her dream for a better world, and drew pictures of how we would like to make the world a better place.

The children learned that enforcing the Burqa leads to the erasure of women from public life.  In a roleplay game, the kids couldn’t recognize each other when wearing a turquoise sheet over their heads.  The children understood how women in Afghanistan might not even be able to greet each other when passing in the street, if they don’t recognize one another.  The girls helped raise funds for the children who are under the Taliban now in Afghanistan.   I was particularly touched by a girl who brought 81 cents from her piggy bank.  

We can bring Malala Day to schools, clubs, or any children or youth groups, to raise awareness about the inspiring people of the Middle East and to encourage resilience in Gen Alpha.