Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Moved to Tears

We have spent the week in several classrooms at Essaada High School in Ait Melloul. Rotating through classes, students were a bit shy about asking us a lot of questions. Today we were with one class for a second time and they were a little more open to discussion.
My partner Stacey asked them what they wanted us to tell our students about Moroccan students, two sentiments were repeated many times.

1. We LOVE America and Americans.
2. We are not terrorists. Islam does not = terrorism.

We were able to have a deep discussion about the power of media driven by advertisement, and how the terrible deeds or offensive words said by a few are used to represent many.

Near the end of class a young man asked if he could perform a recitation of the Holy Quran. His beautiful voice moved me to tears, as well as Stacey and several other students. I am crying now as recall the experience and write this post.

The bracelet on my wrist in the picture above was slipped on my wrist by a girl at the end of class. They call the symbol Hamsa (the hand of Fatima) and is meant to protect against evil.

If there is an evil in this world, I think it is  in forming stereotypes about individual people we have not yet met.


24 comments:

  1. That's awesome! What a wonderful experience. Now if only we could find a way to bottle that and share it... There are a lot of people in this country (and others) who badly need that understanding. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. This relates to my Spanish class because with the knowledge i learn from Spanish i can have a deep discussion as Mrs. Landry did. Personally it relates to me because i will also be shy when first speaking with a native speaker. This relates to what we are learning , which is the cultural aspect and facts behind the country.

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  3. This relates to my Spanish class because with the knowledge i learn from Spanish i can have a deep discussion as Mrs. Landry did. Personally it relates to me because i will also be shy when first speaking with a native speaker. This relates to what we are learning , which is the cultural aspect and facts behind the country.

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  4. I feel like crying as I read this post and post this comment. It hurts me to know that they feel this way and have to even express themselves in that way. I deal with the stereotype image of my race everyday and it is a real problem that hurts real people. I wish I could could tell them now that they are not seen as terrorist and should never have to feel that way. -Hailey H.

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    1. You can tell them. Come to me and I will give you a student contact. The best way we can fight hate and mistrust is by taking action, even if only one person at a time.

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    2. I hope you take the time to follow up with Mrs. Landry so that you can make a personal connection with a student in Morocco. I truly appreciate your willingness to share your personal connection to this post and I am deeply sorry that you have had these types of experiences. I agree with Mrs. Landry that we can change the world one person at a time.

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  6. I think it is incredible that Mrs.Landry had the opportunity to be immersed in the Moroccan culture. In Spanish class, we are able to learn about the different cultures of Spanish speaking countries. We got to learn about the festivals of Cuba and the traditional masks they wear.

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  7. This post was very emotional, and I agree, stereotypes are evil. This reminds me of Spanish class, where several cases have come up where insults are said against the Cuban/Mexican/etc. based purely on the higher immigration statistics. This is a problem.

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    1. Wouldn't it be nice if we could find a way to accept and respect one another rather than judge one another based on stereotypes? I think trips like the one Mrs. Landry took will help us move in that direction because this experience provided an opportunity for people from two very different cultures to interact in a normal day-to-day setting. I think these types of interactions help us see our similarities rather than our differences.

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  8. There are so many stereotypes about many places. If I wasn't in Spanish class right now, I'd probably think that Mexico and Cuba are places full of horrible people since the news seems to only cover negative stuff. In my class, I learned that these countries aren't really that bad and that a lot of nice people live there.

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  9. Mrs. Landry had an amazing opportunity to travel to places that people may look down upon, but that's all the more reason to do something. I believe that in today's pop culture, we put a name to most things or people and it's not something that we should be proud of. In my Spanish class we travel to different countries around the world to learn about the culture, but at the end of the day, they are just as special as the next person and there is no reason that we need to put a stereotype to one person.

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  10. Just reading this post made me realize how lucky I am to live in a community full of people that are so tolerant of everyone's beliefs. I have so many friends that come from many different backgrounds and have many different beliefs. I can relate this back to Spanish class and how intolerant different Spanish nations are of each other.

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  11. Just reading this post made me realize how lucky I am to live in a community full of people that are so tolerant of everyone's beliefs. I have so many friends that come from many different backgrounds and have many different beliefs. I can relate this back to Spanish class and how intolerant different Spanish nations are of each other.

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  12. Just reading this post made me realize how lucky I am to live in a community full of people that are so tolerant of everyone's beliefs. I have so many friends that come from many different backgrounds and have many different beliefs. I can relate this back to Spanish class and how intolerant different Spanish nations are of each other.

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  13. It's sad how people stereotype american's as thinking other places as terrorists and other things. This is sad because I get stereotyped sometimes about either my religion or my body type, but still clarification is everything and is good for everyone to understand.

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  14. It is very sad to see that this still happens to people and people believe this way. Our Spanish class helps us learn and accept other cultures by studying other countries culture, religion, and lifestyle.

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  15. It is a sad fact, but all too real to see this in America. Learning to accept instead of stereotype is a skill that many countries have, but America Struggles with. One step to accepting other cultures is learning about them. This is why we learn about Spanish culture as well as the language.

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  16. You had an amazing chance to travel to places that people may look down upon, but that's all the more reason to do go there and learn. I believe that in today's modern time, we characterize most things or people and it's not something that we ourselves should be proud of. In Spanish class we travel to different countries around the world to learn about how they live, but really at the end of the day, they are just as special as the other person and there is no reason that we need to categorize to one person.

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  17. It's amazing how even though America has said and done all these terrible things to Muslims, their response is still one of positivity and love. America has a lot to learn from the people we hate on.

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  18. This shows yet again how poorly most Americans treat others. It's great to see that these students are still filled with love despite the hatred they get from many Americans. Stereotypes are truly terrible and I'm very lucky to go to a great school where these stereotypes are minimal.

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  19. This sounds like such an awesome experience! This post made me think about how I sometimes jump to conclusions about people I haven't met. After reading this, I don't want to say anything bad about a race as a whole ever again!

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  20. It is very unfortunate that countries such as Morocco are looked down upon by some people in the United States solely because of the stereotypes placed on them. The media is known to view people a certain way because of their religion, actions, and appearance, which does nothing but harm our view to other countries. We should be proud of who we really are, wherever we are. In my Spanish class, we learn about the culture and true beliefs of other countries, and separate the stereotypes placed on these countries to the truth.

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  21. It's nice to see them finally open up, but it is depressing all of the stereotypes that the media puts on people. The bracelet you received is part of their culture, and in Spanish, we have been learning about the different types of Hispanic cultures. To be able to be accepted into their culture is very amazing and cool.

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