When the Fall semester at the Dar Chebab began, we initiated some different classes.
For the younger participants, we introduced mask-making to coincide with Halloween. Some Muslims think Halloween is a religious holiday, and want no part of it, but we emphasized the historic Celtic origins of the festival. As far as we were able to determine, it originated as an end-of-harvest celebration that began in pre-Christian times. And in the US these days, it is certainly a secular holiday.
The afternoon class with university students has been discussing the "Humans of New York" interviews that we have found on Facebook. This inspired them to start a series of interviews with ordinary people around town with the goals of learning about their community and to practice their English writing skills. This week, we asked each student for a topic to discuss over the coming weeks of the workshop. The one student in the class who is not in school (he is a young barber and aspiring artist) comes to draw and do collage. He was not able to participate in the discussion, so we had him express his wishes with a collage, and he expressed the wish to enhance the walls of the city with murals! We want him to take the lead on that project!
In the photo below, you may notice a young child at the table. She is the daughter of our Moroccan counterpart, and occasionally sits-in on the workshop to draw.
For the younger participants, we introduced mask-making to coincide with Halloween. Some Muslims think Halloween is a religious holiday, and want no part of it, but we emphasized the historic Celtic origins of the festival. As far as we were able to determine, it originated as an end-of-harvest celebration that began in pre-Christian times. And in the US these days, it is certainly a secular holiday.
The afternoon class with university students has been discussing the "Humans of New York" interviews that we have found on Facebook. This inspired them to start a series of interviews with ordinary people around town with the goals of learning about their community and to practice their English writing skills. This week, we asked each student for a topic to discuss over the coming weeks of the workshop. The one student in the class who is not in school (he is a young barber and aspiring artist) comes to draw and do collage. He was not able to participate in the discussion, so we had him express his wishes with a collage, and he expressed the wish to enhance the walls of the city with murals! We want him to take the lead on that project!
In the photo below, you may notice a young child at the table. She is the daughter of our Moroccan counterpart, and occasionally sits-in on the workshop to draw.
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