Saturday Kicks Off 2008 Events

In this post ...

1. Saturday Kicks Off MV Reads Together 2008
2. MVHS Art Reception (Nov. 3, 5:30-7pm)
3. Margo McAuliffe's Path to Kenyan Girls' School (Nov. 10, 6:30pm)

1. Saturday Kicks Off MV Reads Together 2008

During the entire month of November Mountain View Reads Together is encouraging a community conversation around the themes of this year's selection, Three Cups of Tea.

This Saturday at 2pm, the events kick off with “Getting to Know Your Muslim American Neighbors” at the library. The founder of Islamic Networks Group (ING), Maha ElGenaidi, will be speaking. She is known to be a fabulous speaker and has been the keynote speaker at many events. Maha’s educational presentation is ideal for adults and families with children grades 3 and up.

Getting to Know Your Muslim American Neighbors
Library Community Room
Saturday, November 1, 2-3pm

2. MVHS Art Reception
Meet the artists from Mountain View High School at the opening of their month-long art show at the City Hall Rotunda. Over 80 pieces of work will be displayed -- photography, painting, and digital art. Some of the pieces might be controversial – experience it yourself and talk to the artist.

MVHS Art Show Reception
City Hall Rotunda
Monday, November 3, 5:30-7pm

3. Margo McAuliffe's Path to Kenyan Girls' School

Margo McAuliffe, a retired math teacher from Menlo Park, followed her dream of teaching African girls and travelled to Kenya in 2005. Instead of teaching math, she discovered a greater need: fundraising. A local priest desperately needed money to fund the building of a new girls’ school in the town of Naivasha.

Although the funding came from the US, this is an African project, with Kenyan architects, engineers, and builders. Margo divides her time between the US and Kenya, as the final phases of the school project continue.

Margo will speak following the rescheduled screening of PBS documentary "Back to School."

"Back to School" & Margo McAuliffe
Library Community Room
Monday, November 10, 6:30pm

What happened next? What's happening now?

I read Three Cups of Tea a few months ago and right away I wanted to know “What happened next?” and “What’s happening now?” Almost all the events in the book took place more than five years ago.

The Central Asia Institute site (www.ikat.org) is the best resource I’ve found. Three Cups tells the story of CAI’s start in 1996. The focus today remains schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the Institute has smaller projects in Krygyzstan and Mongolia.

Check out the videos https://www.ikat.org/media-and-press/videos/ for a small glimpse of the schools, students and workers. The publication called Journey of Hope linked from the CAI front page www.ikat.org is a compilation of a series of articles published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in the fall of 2007. Two newspaper staff members joined Greg Mortenson on a trip in July of last year. The photographs alone make this document worth viewing. The text tells of several schools built to replace those destroyed in 2007 northern Pakistan / Kashmir earthquake, and of one school in Afghanistan that was attacked by the Taliban, who were fought off by a local militia. Journey of Hope II is due to be published in November and should provide the latest news.

Journey of Hope counts 64 schools by the end of 2007 and the CAI site (https://www.ikat.org/projects/regional-map/) lists 93 projects – 69 in Pakistan and 24 in Afghanistan.

You won’t find too much additional information at the official Greg Mortenson site www.gregmortenson.com. But Dr. Greg’s blog (http://gregmortenson.blogspot.com/) is more up to date and it lists several books that he has read or recommends.

It’s somehow refreshing to find that there isn’t a detailed page or site for every school built in Pakistan. It says something about CAI’s emphasis. With no letup in the popularity of Three Cups of Tea, the international versions, the upcoming publications of versions for young adults and kids, and the brutal Greg Mortenson travel and speaking schedule, I hope CAI can grow in a way that balances the outpouring of interest with the continuing core mission.

-- Eric Anderson

A Burqa in Mountain View?

I went to see Rosemary speak about women in Afghanistan and after the presentation I was asked to model the burqa that Rosemary brought along as a prop. I agreed.

It was uncomfortable to peek out the little netted window, the head band was tight around the top of my head, and I simply can't imagine having to wear it on a daily basis. I felt like I was hiding behind a curtain. It is unfathomable to imagine being told that I would have to wear that garment everyday.

Heidi Chun