Atlanta Refugees Need Your Help

Kashif and I went last Friday to a meeting in Clarkston, GA.... right by my school actually....

Bantu Somalians have come to the USA, numbering at MINIMUM.... twelve thousand, yes 12,000. They are being settled in Georgia by an organization claiming to be secular but whose online website states its mission is to convert them to Christianity...

What's wrong with that you might think... well they are not offering them advice, they are basically forcing these Bantu Somalians to convert. The missionaries are sleeping in the homes of these refugees, telling them they MUST go to Church, and when they refuse, they are threatned that they will be returned to their countries refugee camps. Most of the targets are the children, ages 2 and up. They have even been renaming some children to Christian names. The parents often times have no idea what is going on as they don't speak English, AND they are frightened of the consequences if they object. Some of these Bantu Somalians are being settled in remote parts of Georgia where they have no communication with other Somalians or Muslims for that matter, and they are isolated to the point they do anything they are told.

The organization doing this a non-profit, government funds receiving organization. If we ask to join, they legally cannot refuse us. At the meeting we agreed to all join this organization and ask to be given a family to host... this does not mean you take them into your homes... you provide them emotional support, teach them English, answer their questions, help them learn the norms of our society and culture. Hygiene, clothing, etc... they need advice.... After one month we will reconvene to discuss our results.

If you live in Atlanta, please contact me or comment me your contact information so I can give you more information. This does not have to be a "Muslim" thing. Religion shouldn't be forced upon anyone, it should always be a choice. By joining the organization maybe we can better understand how it operates and how to fix the situation.

Very Random Thoughts

We bought a rug from Imran and it really looks very nice in our house. At first I thought it was too busy, but I arranged some things and now it looks fine. It matches well with our color scheme and its handmade which is also very cool. All we need now is a big screen TV and a good entertainment center, that room will look like a million bucks :).

Buying school supplies makes me way too excited! I'm making a treasure box that have items marked at different prices. The children have to earn which prize they want, starting from 5 point prizes to 100 point prizes, we'll see how that works. Since I'm going to be attending law school as well I need my classroom to be as organized as it can possibly be before I begin the school year. People look at me as though I told them I eat glue sticks for breakfast when I tell them what my schedule will be like this fall. I hope its not as bad as it seems....:(....

Our lawn is on steroids we have conclusively decided.... it grows so fast it needs cutting twice a week...

I saw a rose grow before my eyes.... I'd been meaning to pull it for days because as it grew i thought it was a weed. Each day I looked at it and thought, ooh i need to pull it. But it's thorny and I kept putting it off, the day I finally went to pull it I looked at the tip and it looked like a bud with something pink in it. So I held off, the next day it began to bloom, and by the end of the day it was a full blown rose! It was so beautiful... just proof that beauty can grow where you last thought..

And movies, here are the ones I saw and my concise reviews:

1) Farenheit 911: EXCELLENT... must see, one of the best of 2004
2) Shrek II: Also an excellent movie but with completely different purpose, keep an eye out for the three blind mice, my favorite characters.
3) Troy: Unless you just want to see senseless violence and mediocre acting, keep your money... there is one good scene, but not enough to go see it.
4) 50 first dates: Very cute, family friendly and happy.
5) Love Actually: It's okay... made to please all, and it shows...
6) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: BLAH.... had great potential but didnt develop it.

That's all for now... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

PartTime/Full Time....DECISION MADE

Yes Yes Yes

The time has come for me to announce my decision....

(drum roll) ;)

It's taken me a long time to reach this decision as I was extremely undecided about what to do. The decision was not easy and I'm still not entierly confident, but I've made my choice and I am going to stick with it at least for this year, we'll see how it feels...

I'm going part-time. The reason I made this decision... well there are many reasons... one important reason is that I like teaching and I know i do it well... its scary to leave what you do well for something you're not even sure you will LIKE... the second reason is linked to the first, when i applied i intended to go part-time but i got offered admittance into both.... full time is harder to get into and is faster to get it over with so my leaning began to go towards that option... whenever i become a lawyer i will... there is no mad dash rush really is there... I have a career that i appreciate for the time being..... and the third decision is i like making money and i know that its delayed gratification going to law school, but its hard when you are used to a lifestyle to give it up...

Part-time is going to be very tough because it requires three to four nights a week of classes, not to mention a full time job. I am going to try it this year, I can only take it one year at a time, if I feel that I am drowning in work and can't keep up, then the next year my decision won't require so much deliberation..

I really made a lot duaa to God to help me choose the right direction and I feel through certain signs that this may be right path for now, I pray that insh'allah it will be.

Thank you to all who supported me and put up with me as i oscillated back and forth, I respect all your advice and your opinions, and I hope I will have your support during law scool:).

Books I'm Reading

Allan lent me a book recently:

"The Concise History of the Middle East" by Goldfischt

WoW.... very interesting book, he writes in a way that is so entertaining I feel i'm reading a suspense novel. I needed a book that explained the Middle East the empires which came and went... I started reading Bernard Lewis's book "What Went Wrong", Abu recommended that tone... It is an informative book. My problem with his book is I know his disdain for Muslims... if I know this its hard for me to read it fully trusting him. Again, one thing to be neutral, one thing to be a known bigot about the faith.... The book is also not as descriptive as I need it to be... Because I have very little background knowledge on the issues.... Goldfischt's book is actually a text-book...it doesnt just tell events he also explains the mindset at the time, and the culture, how average ppl lived.... at the least I'm enjoying it more. It also explains WHY things happened.... anyhow, good book and I do recommend it!

Self-Esteem

"No one will place your worth higher than you place upon yourself." - a very wise man, my father....

Freud said your personality is 90% developed by the time you reach age 5.

How scary that you can become who you will be at an age where the choices aren't yours...

Can you look back at the moments that began to edge away at your sense of self worth? Can you pick the moments where you began to determine you werent worthy, not good enough, couldn't do it?

When did the person throw the snide remark that you weren't good enough, and you caught it and said to yourself, "you're right"... and the saddest part, that most of us begin to internalize and actualize those assertions instead of proving them wrong.

What about our psyche makes us fall into the traps instead of rise above it?

Become cognizant and overcome.

Unanswered prayers

"Sometime I thank God for unanswered prayers, remember when you're talking to the man upstairs and just because He may not answer doesn't mean He don't care... some of God's greatest gifts are too often unanswered prayers" -Garth Brooks

Allah SWT talks about this in the Quran too.... that we sometimes pray for things that are bad for us, as though we are praying for something that is good for us.... and God knows all.... this is why they say we should trust in Allah SWT.... him not answering our prayers does not mean he isn't listening. He is.... but we need to understand he is knows beyond our scope, and trust him.

On Teaching

Teaching is rewarding and unrewarding in the same breath.

On one end you are helping a small life learn to read, learn how to multiply and divide... at the end of the year you see the growth, and you feel proud that you played a part.

But did you teach them enough to guide them through the rest of their lives?

I may never find that out...

In the start of education they tell us the story of Tommy and his teacher. She disdained him when he first came to school, smelly and distant until one day he brought her a half used bottle of perfume for a christmas gift, it had belonged to his mother who passed away. He wanted his teacher to wear it because it would remind him of her. This moved her to tears.... she started tutoring him to ensure his sucess, he left her class excelling.... 15 or so years later he contacted her to thank her for the influence she had on his life. He became a doctor and wanted her to walk him down the aisle on his wedding day.... Usually not a dry eye is in the room once this story is told, not even in the fifth retelling...

But that doesnt usually happen does it?

I tried to encourage them to get in touch with me this yera. I told them if they wrote me a letter when they were done with highschool and about to go to college...to write me or contact me so i could give them a graduation present.....

Although all my seven year old students smiled and sincerely promised they would, I know they will soon forget. There is much time in these next ten years for them to forget one teacher among many.

So, though I may be happy with my job at the end of the school year, i will never truly know if they actualized their potential....

It's so hard to see what these children could be.... but with all the obstacles, of poverty, unequal education and lack of family support they may not be able to overcome... again the quote of jesse owens applies: The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself--the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us--that's where it's at."

I hope they all struggle valiantly and I hope they persevere....

and the selfish part of me hopes, that i will find out one day...

Battles of the Inner Sort

"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself--the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us--that's where it's at." - Jesse Owens

The inner battle is disciplining yourself isn't it? Battling your emotions, your thoughts, your fears.... working through them to come out the victor.

The lady who turns down the bread basket at a restaurant, all the while loving bread incredibly, the man who did not raise his voice for the first time when talking to his children, the teenager who resists peer pressure to drink alcholol..... won an incredible, invisible, battle.

Most of our inner battles can be won. Imagine if we won the ones we could.... how strong would we be? We could take on the world, change the world, perhaps move mountains....