Sudanese Lost Boy Finds Home in Minnesota

Lately, I've been on a young adult literature kick.

Years ago, when I taught 8th grade, I used to read a lot of YA books, but since leaving the classroom behind, I'd kind of forgotten about the genre. But not anymore. I'm back into young adult and children's literature with a vengeance.

A friend, a former teacher herself, recommended I read Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.

I'm so happy I did. It's a gentle, touching novel about a young Sudanese boy who immigrates to America.

He arrives alone. His father and brother were killed in his country's brutal civil war and his mother is missing, unaccounted for. He is placed in Minnesota to live with an aunt and a cousin already here.

The story is told all in poems. The language is precise and poignant and sparse. It's just lovely. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you've got a young person in your life -- say middle school -- and you want to expose them to thoughtful prose and other cultures, this book is a winner.

Save a Village in Malawi

Do you eat Cheerios? Or any of the other gazillion products put out by General Mills?

If so, you might be interested in the company's Malawi mission. General Mills has set aside $500,000 to be donated amongst ten different villages in the African nation of Malawi through a program called Join My Village.

You can help determine how quickly money gets released. Go to the web site, create a log in name and then read about the various villages and projects going on there.

You take a quiz about Malawi and every time you answer a question, you "unlock" part of the $500,000 General Mills has set aside for its donation.

It's an interactive, feel-good way to learn more about a Malawi and get some resources heading into the country without ever having to break open your own account.

Mmm Bop Grows Up and Gives Back

I really should read the Sunday paper on Sunday. When I don't, I miss out on good stuff. Like this:

Hanson - that teeny bopper boy band of three blond-haired brothers from the 1990s - was in Minneapolis yesterday and performing at First Avenue.

FIRST AVENUE!!!

If you're not a Twin Cities person, this might not mean anything to you. Let me fill me you in. First Avenue is where Prince got his start. It's the setting for the movie Purple Rain. The building occupies a downtown Minneapolis corner and is painted pitch black -- inside and out.

The outside walls are studded with silver stars boasting the names of musicians that have played there, names like U2, the Ramones, Soul Aslymn and Cake. The interior walls, again, are black. The focus is not the decor, which is quite lacking, but the stage.

It's hardly the sort of place where a one-hit-wonder boy band makes a come back. Or is it?

Turns out the Hanson brothers have grown up. So have their politics. And so has their music.

The brothers had been spending time in Africa, doing philanthropic deeds, and decided to record a song with a South African child choir.

Proceeds from the download of the resulting song, Great Divide, support relief work in Africa. Check out the video...

What's a Dik-Dik?

When I picked up this book, my husband teased me. "It's very important to stalk the dik-dik," he said with a smirk.

I smiled, made some suggestive comment then turned and took the few steps to my reading chair. I snuggled in, ready to follow author Marie Javins as she traveled from South Africa to Egypt, alone.

I found it an interesting read as the book is based on the author's travel blog, Marie's World Tour. Since I also traveled, blogged and harbor hopes of turning my online travel journal into a print book, I was curious how she handled the material.

It was a quick read, perfect for distracting me from the cold winter weather that's starting to brew outside. And hey, now I know what a dik-dik is.

Sustainable Shea Butter

A couple months ago, I interviewed a man named Olowo-n’djo Tchala. Olowo-n'djo was born and raised in Togo, a west African nation. He lives in Washington state now and runs a nonprofit organization called Alaffia.

Alaffia imports unrefined shea butter from Togo to the United States. Here in the U.S, the unrefined shea is made into beauty products.

Alaffia returns its revenue to Togo and the community that makes the shea butter. As the son of a shea-butter-producer, Olowo-n'djo grew up watching his mom work long, long, long hours for little, little, little pay.

For example, Olowo-n'djo told me that it takes about 20 hours to make 1 kilogram of shea butter. That 1 kilogram earns just $1 on the traditional global market. Of course, Alaffia is trying to change that.

If you're interested, you can always pop on over and read my article about sustainable shea butter practices.

* photos © Alaffia