Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Women in Islam (Nov. 24)

L to R: Ameena Jandali and Sumbul Ali-Karamali

Ameena Jandali is a founding member of Islamic Networks Group. She has delivered hundreds of presentations in schools, colleges, universities, churches, and other venues on Islam and related subjects, and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. She currently team teaches a class on Islam at San Francisco City College. She received her M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and B.A. in History from the University of Illinois.

Sumbul Ali-Karamali is a local author who earned her B.A. from Stanford, her J.D. from U.C. Davis, and her L.L.M. in Islamic Law from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She was a teaching assistant in Islamic law at the University of London and was a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London. For excerpts, reviews, and information about her first book, The Muslim Next Door, please visit her website at www.muslimnextdoor.com.

This was the final program for 2008. Raffle tickets had been given out throughout November whenever an evaluation form was turned in. The drawing was held and four prizes donated by our sponsors were awarded: gift certificates from local bookstores East West Bookstore and Books Inc., a Talk Cinema Palo Alto subscription, and a Flip Ultra video camera from Pure Digital. The winners will be contacted by phone.

Thank you so much to the many people and organizations involved in putting on this year's program! Thank you to those of you who made it out to events, connected with the community, and shared your thoughts and opinions. It takes all of us to make Mountain View the vibrant community it is.

Monday, November 24, 2008

"Change Your World" Youth Contest

On Saturday, November 22, the winners of the MVRT Change Your World contest were recognized at a program at the Mountain View Public Library. The prizes and refreshments were sponsored by the Mountain View Los Altos Challenge Team and the Friends of the Library.

1st place, Grades 3-7
Natalie Lillie reading from her book Natalie's Lice Aren't Nice
Natalie, age 12, turned a difficult personal experience into a positive lesson for others with her book, “Natalie’s Lice aren’t Nice.” Natalie wrote the book to show other children that they don’t need to be embarrassed about this very common problem. Her book offers a realistic and entertaining story as well as guidelines for avoiding an infestation and recovering from one. The book is in the process of being translated into Spanish. Natalie received a 1st place award of $250.00 in the 3-8th grade category.

2nd place, Grades 8-12
Alexander Gonsalves -- Disha Trust: India
Alexander volunteered at the Disha Charitable Trust, a school for mentally challenged children when visiting Panaji, a city in Goa , India . He wants to do something to help the children at the school. Alexander will be starting a drive for books and art supplies to be sent to Panaji. He won a prize of $150.00 as the second place winner in the high school category.

1st place, Grades 8-12
Akash Nigam -- Kick, Lead and Dream
Akash, the $250.00 1st place winner in the high school category, loves soccer and cares about people who have not had the advantages he has enjoyed. He put those passions together to create “Kick, Lead and Dream” a summer soccer camp for at risk youth in Mountain View. Akash has enlisted many others in his vision-- from fellow students (to serve as coaches) to the support of local organizations including Police Action League (PAL) and Mesa de la Comunidad. The program has been so successful that Akash has been asked to replicate it in Sunnyvale .

L to R: Sharlene Gee, Alexander Gonsalves, Akash Nigam, Natalie Lillie, Karin Bricker

Copies of the advance uncorrected proofs from Penguin: Listen to the Wind (a picture book) and Three Cups of Tea (young reader's edition for grades 3-6). Final copies of the books will be available for sale in January 2009.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Words N2 Action at MVHS (Nov. 18)

At the Words N2 Action fair at Mountain View High School on Nov. 18, organizations described what they did and shared their needs for volunteers. Students contacted and coordinated the following organizations to participate:
Community School of Music and Arts, Green Citizen, Magic, Tri-City Breakfast Program, Sierra Club, Pathways Hospice, City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, American Red Cross, Special Olympics -- Silicon Valley, City of Mountain View, Ronald McDonald House, and Reading Partners.



Friday, November 14, 2008

Jennifer Jordan (11/12); Red Rock (11/13)

Jennifer Jordan

Kate Reid (from Call of the Wild) and Jennifer Jordan

Scenes from the discussion at Red Rock.


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

"Back to School"; Margo McAuliffe and Kenyan girls school

Excerpted from the PBS site below:

Back to School is the second installment of Time for School, the multi-year project launched in 2003 when Wide Angle profiled seven children in seven countries – Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, and Romania – starting their first year of school, often despite great odds. Returning in 2006, we find that some are already hanging onto their enrollment by a thread.

For more information on the PBS "Wide Angle" documentary, "Back to School," click here.

=================
Excerpted from the kenyahelpkenya site at the end:

Kenya Help: Building a High School for Girls in Kenya

"You don't need me to come here to teach math. What you need is for me to go home to raise money for the girls' high school". Those were the words, spoken in September 2005, by Margo McAuliffe, retired high school math teacher from Menlo Park, California. Thus began the journey from a bare plot of ground in Naivasha, Kenya to the opening of St Francis Xavier Girls Secondary School (or just St. Francis Girls) to the first class of students in February 2007.

Fr. Daniel Kiriti dreamed of a school for the girls of his Naivasha parish, be they Catholic or not. He wanted a school for the bright but poor girls whose only hope was a secondary education. Its mission would be to empower young women, to build their self-confidence and instill a sense of owning their destiny and that of their community and their country.

For more info on Margo McAuliffe's Kenyan girls school project, go to kenyahelpkenya.org.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Celebrate Pakistani Culture

Sunday, November 9, in the Mountain View City Hall Rotunda.












Saturday, November 08, 2008

Building Multicultural Bridges

By Sumbul Ali-Karamali

When I read Three Cups of Tea, my predominant reaction was gratitude for Greg Mortenson. In his book, Mortenson relates Jean Hoerni once cynically stating that Americans would never help the Pakistanis, because they cared about the Buddhists, not about the Muslims. Yet, Mortenson almost single-handedly did care and did help, recognizing – as so few ever do – that education is the key to peace.

As an American Muslim girl growing up in Los Angeles, I had the luxury of education. But I was always aware, even as a child, of how close I had come to not having it. My parents had grown up in India, and my father put himself through school by tutoring children – eventually earning four university degrees. He told me repeatedly, as his grandfather had always told him, that education was the only thing no one could take away.

I grew up Muslim at a time when I was usually the only Muslim in my vicinity – so I got all the questions about Islam. In a way, much of my life has been one, long interfaith dialogue! That’s why it occurred to me one day, after I’d embarked on a career as a corporate lawyer, to write a book for everyone who had ever asked me a question on Islam – and for everyone who had ever wanted to ask but didn’t know any Muslims.

So when my husband’s job took us to London, I earned a graduate degree in Islamic law. To my cultural, practioner’s view of Islam, my degree added a Western, academic viewpoint. And I sat down to write that book!

It just came out in September, and it’s called The Muslim Next Door: the Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing. It’s a fun-to-read introduction to Islam that combines a warm, often humorous, conversational narrative tone with academically reliable substantive content. It’s full of stories and anecdotes about growing up Muslim in America, but it’s deeply informative.

As I read Three Cups of Tea, I reflected that Greg Mortenson touched on, but did not explain, several Islamic concepts. For example, would readers know what he meant by “Sunni,” “Shia” or “mullah”? Or what the religious clergy in Iran have to do with Pakistan? Or what Mortenson is saying or doing when he joins the Pakistanis in their prayers? Or what a fatwa is and what the Wahabis and the Taliban are?

That’s the kind of question I answer in my book, but in a relatable, American context. What does the Muslim family next door believe and what do they practice? What’s the significance of Ramadan and how does it play out in an American Muslim life? What’s the status of women in Islam? I still cringe when I remember a conversation with a young man that culminated in his demanding, “What do you mean you can’t go to the prom because of your religion??”

I hope my book helps build multicultural bridges and, yes, even world peace. I know that’s a lofty goal, but Mortenson began the same way, too, doing what he could do and not worrying about what he couldn’t. Civilizations are not antithetical to each other; rather, it’s the misunderstandings of those civilizations that cause clashes. We can all contribute, in whatever way we can, to the eradication of the “clash of ignorances.” And thus, perhaps even to world peace.

---------------
Sumbul Ali-Karamali is a local author who earned her B.A. from Stanford, her J.D. from U.C. Davis, and her L.L.M. in Islamic Law from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She was a teaching assistant in Islamic law at the University of London and was a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London. For excerpts, reviews, and information about her first book, The Muslim Next Door, please visit her website at www.muslimnextdoor.com.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

MVHS Art Show at the City Hall Rotunda


Visitors looking at the art.



Honorable Mention: by Eric Rizo



Honorable Mention (top) by Amanda Hyer, (bottom) by Becca Robbins



Second Prize (piece on top left) by Michelle Bernard (pictured with her mother)



First Prize by Masha Kitaigorodsky (left), pictured with Lori Nock, MVHS Commercial Art teacher, show organizer

Getting to Know Your Muslim American Neighbors (Nov. 1)


Maha ElGenaidi, President & Founder of Islamic Networks Group presents to the audience








Maha El Genaidi has presented to hundreds of schools, churches, synagogues, police departments, corporations and other public agencies and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. She is a recipient of numerous civil rights awards, including the 2002 "Citizen of the Year" Award from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Maha received her B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the American University in Cairo. http://ing.org

Sumbul Ali-Karamali is a local author who earned her B.A. from Stanford, her J.D. from U.C. Davis, and her L.L.M. in Islamic Law from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She was a teaching assistant in Islamic law at the University of London and was a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London. For excerpts, reviews, and information about her first book, The Muslim Next Door, please visit her website at www.muslimnextdoor.com.

Monday, November 03, 2008

The 2008 Election and the Gap Between Our Minds and Our Ideals

This blog entry is an aside having to do with this year's historical election and the 2006 Mountain View Reads Together book choice, Blink. Back in 2006 we ran a Mountain View Reads Together event related to this gap:
http://mvreads.blogspot.com/2006/11/reveal-your-mind-computer-exercise.html

**** On Sunday, November 2, the San Jose Mercury News published an article by Nicholas D. Kristof:
Race in this election exposes the gap between our minds and our ideals

For the past year and a half, a team of psychology professors has been conducting remarkable experiments on how Americans view Barack Obama through the prism of race.

The scholars used a common research technique, the implicit-association test, to measure whether people regarded Obama and other candidates as more foreign or more American. They found that research subjects — particularly when primed to think of Obama as a black candidate — subconsciously considered him less American than either Hillary Clinton or John McCain.

Click here for the entire article.

**** And another article you may find interesting:
Studies Find a Candidate's Looks Matter
by Jeanna Bryner, on livescience.com, published online 10/30/08

Voters look for someone who appears both competent and attractive when choosing a president, at least when the candidate is female, finds a new study.

If true, the reportedly astronomical fees spent on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance could have been right on the money.

"Campaign managers seem to be ahead of the game in understanding that image really matters," said Joan Y. Chiao, a psychologist at Northwestern University in Illinois. "They know that, contrary to popular notions, people are not necessarily using deliberate and rational strategies in deciding whom to vote for, especially when it comes to women."

Click here for the entire article.