Oral Tales of Somalia
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
16-4-2013 2:00 PM
End Date
16-4-2013 4:00 PM
Student's Major
Anthropology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Susan Schalge
Mentor's Department
Anthropology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Second Mentor's Name
Kellian Clink
Second Mentor's Department
Library Services
Second Mentor's College
Library Services
Description
I started volunteering with the YWCA's Ready to Learn program, which places volunteers into homes with immigrant families and their childrent to make sure that the kids are ready and on track for kindergarden. This program places a huge emphasis on reading books to children to help with bonding, vocabulary, and improving Somali and English language skills. Part of the program recommends immigrant parents to read to their child for 15 minutes a day. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could acquire some Somali children's books for the families I was working with and I found that it was very difficult and that most of the books had to be interlibrary loaned and the ones available for purchase were very expensive. I viewed this as a problem and decided that I would apply for a grant to see if I could interview local Somali elders, collect their stories and have a Children's book illustrated and printed especially for the Mankato and surrounding communities.
Each family in the program will recieve a free copy (with English/Somali translations) and a copy will be donated to all Mankato elementary schools, libraries and universities. A copy will also be sent to other elementary schools with a significant immigrant population within a 100 mile radius. This book will help facilitate bonding, vocabulary and Somali/English language skills. This book is respectfully created and illustrated for the Somali children and families living in Minnesota.
Oral Tales of Somalia
CSU Ballroom
I started volunteering with the YWCA's Ready to Learn program, which places volunteers into homes with immigrant families and their childrent to make sure that the kids are ready and on track for kindergarden. This program places a huge emphasis on reading books to children to help with bonding, vocabulary, and improving Somali and English language skills. Part of the program recommends immigrant parents to read to their child for 15 minutes a day. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could acquire some Somali children's books for the families I was working with and I found that it was very difficult and that most of the books had to be interlibrary loaned and the ones available for purchase were very expensive. I viewed this as a problem and decided that I would apply for a grant to see if I could interview local Somali elders, collect their stories and have a Children's book illustrated and printed especially for the Mankato and surrounding communities.
Each family in the program will recieve a free copy (with English/Somali translations) and a copy will be donated to all Mankato elementary schools, libraries and universities. A copy will also be sent to other elementary schools with a significant immigrant population within a 100 mile radius. This book will help facilitate bonding, vocabulary and Somali/English language skills. This book is respectfully created and illustrated for the Somali children and families living in Minnesota.
Recommended Citation
Hanson, Terri. "Oral Tales of Somalia." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 16, 2013.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2013/poster-session-B/38
