OUR SIDE OF THE STORY VOICES t Black Hawk College OUR SIDE OF THE STORY VOICES t Black Hawk College Fall 2015 www.bhc.edu English as a Second Language Program TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS BullyBully Prevention Prevention By: By: Amelevi Amelevi Tossou Tossou................................ .........................................................................................................................................................2 Is ISIS the Main Problem By: Aroa Afef.....................................................................................4 IsBully ISIS Preventionthe Main Problem By: Amelevi By: Aroa Tossou Afef................................ .....................................................................................................................................................4 2 Trekking in Nepal By: Bibek Adhikari........................................................................................7 TrekkingIs ISIS the in Main Nepal Problem By: Bibek By: Adhikari Aroa Afef ....................................................................................................................................................................................7 4 Music and Singing In Tanzania By: Bukuru Melance ................................................................10 Trekking in Nepal By: Bibek Adhikari........................................................................................7 RacialMusic Profiling and Singing in the In United Tanzania States By: of Bukuru America Melance By: Ilham .................................................................... Saad Allah ....................................1012 Music and Singing In Tanzania By: Bukuru Melance ................................................................10 CopingRacial with Profiling Unemployment in the United By: States Kofitse of GbongliAmerica................................ By: Ilham Saad Allah................................ ...........................................1215 Racial Profiling in the United States of America By: Ilham Saad Allah ....................................12 ObservationsCoping with of Unemployment Differences Between By: Kofitse US and Gbongli Nepali .......................................................................... Schools By: Laxmi Gurling...................1517 Coping with Unemployment By: Kofitse Gbongli......................................................................15 A Door-Opening Program By: Lina Assaf..................................................................................19 Observations of DifferencesDifferences BetweenBetween USUS and NepaliNepali Schools By: By: Laxmi Laxmi Gurling Gurling ......................................17 17 Dhaanto: Somali Cultural Dance By: Mohamed Ibraham..........................................................22 A Door-OpeningDoor-Opening Program By:By: Lina Lina Assaf Assaf .......................................................................................................................................................................19 19 Arts and Crafts of Nepal By: Ram Chapagai..............................................................................24 Dhaanto: Somali Cultural Dance By: Mohamed Ibraham..........................................................22 NoDhaanto: More Bad Somali Practices Cultural By: DanceSantosh By: Ambai Mohamed................................ Ibraham ...........................................................................................................2226 Arts and Crafts of Nepal By: Ram Chapagai..............................................................................24 TwoArts Unique and Crafts Nepalese of NepalFestivals By: Ram By: Chapagai Som Mongar .......................................................................................................................................................2429 No More Bad Practices By: Santosh Ambai ...............................................................................26 The Culture of Feeding Infants: Brazil versus the USA By: Thais Pinheiro..............................31 No More Bad Practices By: Santosh Ambai ....................................................................................26 Two Unique Nepalese Festivals By: Som Mongar .....................................................................29 Wearing Two Hats By: Xiaoqi Wang..........................................................................................33 TwoThe CultureUnique ofNepalese Feeding Festivals Infants: By: Brazil Som versus Mongar the .......................................................................... USA By: Thais Pinheiro..............................29 31 TheWearing Culture Two of Hats Feeding By: Infants:Xiaoqi WangBrazil................................ versus the USA By: Thais................................ Pinheiro ..........................................................31 33 Wearing Two Hats By: Xiaoqi Wang ...............................................................................................33 These articles were written by the students in the advanced writing class. I would like to thank Anne Bollati, ESL Coordinator, for assisting with the editing and revising process, and a special thanks goes to Sheryl Gragg, support staff for the Humanities, Languages,These articles and Journalismwere written department, by the students for her in time,the advanced effort and writing energy class. in editing I would and like formattingto thank thisAnne newsletter. Bollati, ESL Her Coordinator, creativity and for patience assisting are with much the editingappreciated. and revising Additionally,process, and we awant special to express thanks ourgoes gratitude to Sheryl to Gragg, Mike Winter, support who staff took for thethe individualHumanities , andLanguages,group photos, and andJournalism Kris Meyer, department, who designed for her the time, cover. effort Thanks and energy to all. in editing and formatting this newsletter. Her creativity and patience are much appreciated. NinaAdditionally, De Bisschop, we wantAssistant to express Professor our gratitudeESL to Mike Winter, who took the individual and group photos, and Kris Meyer, who designed the cover. Thanks to all. Nina De Bisschop, Assistant Professor ESL 1 1 AMELEVI TOSSOU My name is Amelevi Tossou. I’m from Togo. I’m 19 years old, and I just graduated from Moline High School and am now attending Black Hawk College. My goal is to become a pediatrician, so I’m hoping to finish the ESL program so that I can start taking my major classes. I live here with my family: two siblings, one girl and one boy, my dad, and my stepmom. My dream is to find my mom and become a really big family. I hope I can find her. I love to play sports, such as basketball and volleyball, and I love to run. In my free time, I like to read books and sometimes watch movies. I like comedies, family movies, dramas, and romantic movies. Bullying Prevention As a victim of bullying, I was interesting in the definition of bullying: “use superior strength to influence people to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.” There are two types of bullying: psychological and physical. Psychological bullying involves gossiping, spreading destructive rumors, and talking trash behind people’s backs. Pushing, slapping, smacking, punching, tripping, physical wounding, and destruction of property are signs of physical bullying. The victim of bullying should use a variety of options to deal with bullying. Options to counteract or deal with psychological bullying can be painful. Ways to deal with those kinds of bullying could include ignoring the insults, asking for help, and talking to someone. In my point of view, the best way to deal with this is to stand firm and try to talk to someone who may help like a professor, a friend, parents, or anyone else who could help. For a bystander, the only way to stop psychological bullying is to help the victim. Do not walk past, but stop and say something. People may be surprised that only that one word said may change a life or even save someone’s life. For instance, if you see that someone is being bullied, do anything to help that person. You may not know this, but your stopping will make a really big difference in the victim’s life. Also, the bully may change his or her bad behavior. Many people become a bully because they were bullied before at school or home, or they may even have been abused at home by their parents or another family member. Psychological bullying can be worse than physical bullying because it is really hard to notice since you cannot see the victim’s pain. Before you notice that this person is being bullied, it may be too late. You can see when a person is being bullied physically. Physical bullying involves the victim getting beaten, being pushed around, or hurt in any other way. In my opinion, in order to stop this kind of behavior, people should not act scared, but should try to fight for themselves. It will stop sooner or later, but the only way it can stop sooner is to stand firm. 2 This is my own personal story of psychological bullying. In high school, during my freshmen year, I did not know any English; I could only speak French. Then one day, a bunch of girls came to me, stood next to my locker and tried talking to me, but I could not understand them, so I wrote on a piece of paper “only French”. They laughed at me, threw my books on the floor, and stepped on them while walking away. So