http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/ The next level in Our community as we move our people from all talk and no action, to talk with action. In terms of organizing in respective communities to promote conscious discussion and solutions powered by The Talking Drum Collective. en Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:35:45 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/images/misc_2/rss.jpg http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/ http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/238-working-children-part-2.html Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:22:05 GMT Greetings camaradas! Im sooooooooo thankful that destiny has put me here. I think these kids are helping me more than im helping them! Either way its being a fantastic experience. We have two groups, one from 8 to 10 years old, other from 10 to 12. In the younger group all but two are... Greetings camaradas!
Im sooooooooo thankful that destiny has put me here.
I think these kids are helping me more than im helping them! Either way its being a fantastic experience.
We have two groups, one from 8 to 10 years old, other from 10 to 12.
In the younger group all but two are Moroccan, but the older group is more "multinational".

Im deeply in love with this little kid that still doesnt speak spanish and its so shy and quiet! but when he smiles, aaah!!!! :flowerly:
And also with these two little devils, one from Morocco and the other from Ivory Coast, they CANT stay quiet but its so hard for me to put on a serious teacher face instead of just laughing.
And Im ALSO in love with this other young man. He always has something positive to say about anything, and when there's a negative moment, he always stays calm and solve it. He's like the rational voice of the group, I would have squized him when we were discussing bullying and he came up with some "he might laugh in the outside when he's insulted but in the inside his heart is crying" aaaaaw!!

It has also surprised me how it doesnt matter how many times you "reprimand" them or punish them, they never regard you as the "bad one" the way students do towards their teachers in school nowadays.
And you can see how all of them only strive to do better, although some dont want to admit it.

During the activities, i sometimes find myself so immersed in it i forget im an educator and not a kid, lol!!

Im only sad at the idea that i finish my practises in january, and the center is so poor in economical resources (specially in these crisis times) they cant hire anymore people.
I wish i could maintain close contact with at least a couple of kids, since i live in the same area. Do some kind of tutoring thing... i dont know. ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/238-working-children-part-2.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/200-my-new-job-children.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:19:42 GMT Greetings fam! Im excited because tomorrow i start working in this social center in my neighbourhood. With this practise i will finish my studies this school year (yay!) The good thing about this social center is that, in spite of the poor installations and funds, it has many projects, most... Greetings fam!

Im excited because tomorrow i start working in this social center in my neighbourhood.
With this practise i will finish my studies this school year (yay!)

The good thing about this social center is that, in spite of the poor installations and funds, it has many projects, most of them in relation to the migrant collective which is already 30% of the neighbourhood's population.
I will be working in the children space, but if i have time, i can also collaborate with the rest of the projects.
The "children space" is for children who need school support or just a place to stay and meet other kids. But i been told some of them are those "labeled" as problematic by their teachers.
The main goal of the project is education into values of friendship and respect (its has a strong [multi]cultural approach) But it all depends on what each volunteer wants to do.
So i have complete freedom to propose all kind of activities, as many as the moeny allow us, or get more involved in the kids' life, their family, school, etc...

Im excited to meet the kids! but they wont come until october 15th.

I will be writting more about this experience and the children!

Fenix, u know im gonna be knockin at ur door with questions!!! ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/200-my-new-job-children.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/178-trip-expo-2008-my-one-love-moment.html Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:45:08 GMT Greetings Camrades! I dont know if you ever heard of the international exposition that its celebrated every two years in different cities of the world. Well, this year the city is Zaragoza, my hometown! Leaving aside that i am against it because, as always, they talk about the envioroment,... Greetings Camrades!

I dont know if you ever heard of the international exposition that its celebrated every two years in different cities of the world. Well, this year the city is Zaragoza, my hometown!
Leaving aside that i am against it because, as always, they talk about the envioroment, balance and ecoblah, and they destroy, unbalance and waste.
I been twice, and the really good thing of it is that is a very wiiiiiiide place, with different "houses" for every country that has participated. Some of them have a common house like "Caribbean countries", "Latin America", "Subsaharian Africa", etc. So every countries shows a lil bit of its culture (most of them are made by companies and they just exhalt the "jamaican's innate ability for business! visit us for you next investment!" lol, but they also organize concerts, so i have been blessed to see, for example, for the first time in my life, a Steel Band from Trinidad playing Calypso, live!
that is awesome!
And i have also spent half my salary in the stores!! image a whole store with different sections for the different afrikan countries, each one of them attended by a person from them. Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Senegal... all together...
So i got me a lot of ethipian stuff, coptic crosses, incense and burners, bags and foulards. and i also got painted batik for the walls from uganda and tanzania, colorfull baskets, jewelery (nice jewelery in Colombia! btw) teas, etc.
Not to mention what i got me in egypt and latin america (but thats easier to find in town)

But that is just the nice but material consumer culture part of it.

The best best thing was, the people!! First time io met so many people from such diverse countries in the same day. The musicians of the steel band, after seeing i was the only one really dancing and enjoying and not taking picture and moving, came to me and i could share with them, even if it was just for a minute, it was nice.
Also the rastafari musicians of the senegal band, which magnificently played the bolong, the bongo ma, the marimba, the djembe..., aproached to say hi.
I started a conversation with the woman in the nigerian store after she saw my uhuru pin, she spoke swahili! and i could use for the first time the few sentences i have learn here (asante sana!!) and of course get a discount for my mama's bag!

I know these are just few minutes encounters, but they really blessed my soul, and increased my need to travel.
I have heard in spite of wars, hate and hells, most people in the world are good, and nice. could it be true?

lol

PS: Im goin to post some pictures soon ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/178-trip-expo-2008-my-one-love-moment.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/165-crisis-lol.html Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:18:02 GMT My goodness!! i was trying to take this easy, with philosophy and humor, cause i laugh at people going crazy buying and further increasing the problem! I mean, how do expect the supermarket to have things if everybody buys food for one year! The problem is this. Truck-drivers in Spain (and i... My goodness!! i was trying to take this easy, with philosophy and humor, cause i laugh at people going crazy buying and further increasing the problem! I mean, how do expect the supermarket to have things if everybody buys food for one year!
The problem is this. Truck-drivers in Spain (and i think in other places) are on strike because of the oil growing price. So they are collapsing the roads and food and other products cant make it to the stores. So this goes to the news and these folks that been hearing about world crisis, hunger and all that, get paranoid and collapse and empty the supermarkets and grocery stores.

anywas, as i said, i was relaxed cause i like to be and because i dont think im goin to go hundry ever as long as i have potatoes and rice.
but i went to the grocery store today and saw it with my own eyes. i could only find, and aford, mushrooms, brocoli and cucumber, and i had to surrender and buy some onions that costed twice the price than usual, cause, i love onions.

So, i wish i know how to grow something in my tiny balcony, maybe onions?, but i barely can put a chair on it right now, so im not sure if such a mini garden could work.
At least i know my father has some small piece of land with wonderfull things growing there in the country, so im not worried at all!

but all this is an interesting situation i thought was worth of a blog! ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/165-crisis-lol.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/151-ulises-syndrome.html Wed, 14 May 2008 17:21:30 GMT Yesterday I felt devastated. I went to the office of my teacher called Joseba Achotegui, who has a center for psychological counselling for immigrant people, to attend one session with one of his patients. My teacher told me he was a young man from Senegal who three years ago met a spanish... Yesterday I felt devastated.
I went to the office of my teacher called Joseba Achotegui, who has a center for psychological counselling for immigrant people, to attend one session with one of his patients.
My teacher told me he was a young man from Senegal who three years ago met a spanish woman, journalist of an important spanish newspaper, they fell in love, married, came to Spain, had twins, and then he started having problems, mental and/or behavior problems. Right now they are separated, she kicked out of the house because he was agressive, but they still see echother (and seems like she is paying for the therapy and probably more because he cant keep a job, but thats only what i supposed) OK.

The man, called Abdul, came into the office with the ex-wife. And I see the picture. She, a bit older, or at least dressed as if she was, typical woman from a good family, excellent education, clear project of life, everything under control 21 century type of woman. He, younger, dressing casual, young, afrikan jewelery, your typical Afrikan Rastaman, but completly drugged with antipsychotics and probably also high from marihuana (i could smell his clothes). He made me feel easy, she didnt!

Only she spoke, he was completely numb, downcast, low head, eyes closed or lookin down, only raise them when my teacher asked him something in french or somebody named Senegal. He barely answered, all he could say was "je ne compres pas, je ne compres pas" "c'est trop difficile",(I dont understand -the situation-, its very difficult) and single words.

In the middle of the session, while the woman kept explaining what happened (He doesnt have motivation for anything, before the treatment he was very agressive with her and the children, he has been kicked out the last job for behavior problems, he has some friends that he meets sometimes but he's very distrustfull about them, he wanted to be professional football player, but since he cant he's not interested in football anymore, he likes to run at the beach but he nevers goes, he likes to play djembe but there's no space to play, they want to travel to Senegal this summer, blahblah....) I could see some tears falling thru his beautiful cheek. He was not even there, he was somewhere else, he was completely LOST, disconnected. but nobody really asked him why he cried.

and even tho it seems like people around them try to help, they are really doing nothing.

I felt like kicking everybody out of the office and stay alone with him for a couple of hours, even if he didnt talk to me (i dont even speak french), tell him to come around the house, play some drums, sing somethin, record something, smoke a joint, meet some people, whateva.

But i think what he really needs is talkin to an elder from Senegal, a psychologist or mediator from his own culture. Also go back to Senegal, reconnect and find himself again.

But i could have tell you this solution, and even his symptoms, in the first second I looked at the couple.

So sad, so sad ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/151-ulises-syndrome.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/33-physical-confrontation.html Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:36:45 GMT well, im starting this blog basically because i have been almost forced to write anygodamnthing. so here i am. (lmaaao)

I am a little skinny physically weak person. I had my battles when i was a kid, and i have been called "iron knee", but... those days passed by as everybody would get bigger and stronger, and i developed my speech and diplomatic tactics to avoid and stop any conflict.

I have always hanged out with more men than women, and some violent men i should say. in my teenage years we had at least one "battle" every weekend. i don't know where so many "enemies" were coming from. they would start fighting there in front of me and i would just back up and watch the madness. they didn't let me get in the middle and the fights were always over some stupid reason so there was no way i was getting in the middle and hurt for a stupid reason anyways. I was usually the one trying to talk to the other "band" and explain them how my friend/s was just drunk or whateva. nah mean.

So... as i was always the one in the back.. watching people getting hurt and all the craziness, i grew even more scared of physical confrontation and of being hurt. and losing any trust in my own ability to hurt anybody. i always lose any "joke" fights with my friends and cousins in one minute.
so much it has put in some situations where i should have stand up and do whateva necessary, but i have chosen to watter it down to avoid further conflict.

It came to a very critic point when my man, a girlfriend of us and me were walking down the street, and my man saw this dude on my back joking about touching my pretty behind, so he confronted him, and the fool reacted all stupid so my man, that cant take any kind of bullshit, started kicking his ass.
this was all in one second.. so i got really scared, paranoid and shocked while watching my man on the floor with this fool grabbing his dreadlocks. I don't even know what i did. i think i just started to scream hysterically, cause i didn't even know why he had to get into that in the first place! and i was only thinking about all the friends of this fool that were inside the bar...
so it had to be our girlfriend who got in the middle and pressed her fingers in the fool's eyes and he stopped grabbing my man's locks (he lost one) and get off him. I WAS SO ASHAMED! so so so so so so.
I decided this was the last time i let my fears got in between me and the Real Thing going on.

So.. i know i have to join some self-defense classes. and I am reading a great book suggested by my dearest warrior Daisho.
and at the same time, im improving my self-confidence while working alone in a store in a socially problematic area. I been tried to be robbed like many times already. the worst time was when these Moroccan young ins entered the store, and they were like 6 of them. and started taking stuff.. i had to grab them, fight for the stuff and get them out of there (they run with some things tho). and just last week i had to confront two different tall and strong men in their 30's who could have easily push me and run but apparently felt intimidated by me! these fools... i still don't understand why they dont just get off me and run! but i have managed to stay calm and firm and look into their eyes while i say some intimidating stuff, lol.

But im growing really confident! i hope not too much.. im starting to grab the scissors every time i see one suspicious m/f... :wesson: ]]> Elisa Keisha http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/elisa-keisha/33-physical-confrontation.html