Following the earthquake in Mexico in September, ISA’s Hispanic community came together to raise funds to help those affected by the disaster.
A key aspect of the fundraising efforts was the Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast held on November 1st. The breakfast was kindly supported by the Mexican embassy, who loaned the decorations and sent their representative, Mr Jorge Delgado Sumano, to speak at the event. The breakfast was a great success, selling over 220 tickets and attracting a large crowd.
The Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.
Both the Upper School and the Lower School held bake sales to raise funds. Staff, parents and students across the school worked tremendously hard to make these sales a success. The Upper School bake sale alone raised €548.35, a fantastic achievement that the students can be proud of.
As a result of the combined efforts of the solidarity breakfast, the upper and lower school bake sales and personal donations, the Hispanic community raised a fantastic total of €3834.65.
The funds will go directly to UNICEF Mexico, an organisation who specialise in relief efforts for children and families in the hardest hit regions of disaster, providing them with life-saving resources. This is a fantastic example of how our ISA community can come together to do something truly amazing.
Some of the ISA community. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.
Written by Megan Amelia
https://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/image1.jpeg9921843Megan Ameliahttps://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ISA-logo.pngMegan Amelia2017-11-28 09:00:152017-12-15 12:04:32Hispanic Community Fundraising
Yesterday, bestselling author Jean Kwok visited ISA for a meet and greet session with grades 10, 11 and 12. It was a wonderful opportunity for a few of the ISA Upper School students, some of whom are studying Jean’s internationally successful novel Girl in Translation as part of their English B course, to ask in-depth questions about the book and the author’s life.
Jean Kwok visits ISA.
As a follow up to the formal meet and greet sessions, four students were given the opportunity to attend a small, intimate lunch with Jean as a reward for their hard work and to ask her questions about her twin passions–writing and dancing. Having all danced from a young age, three of the students discovered that Jean shared their passion and gained insight from her about the competitive nature of professional ballroom dancing.
For most ISA students, Jean is a highly relatable figure. A Chinese immigrant to the US at the age of five, Jean left behind everything she knew at home and arrived into a whole new world, with an alien language and culture. Not only did the students have a chance to learn more for their coursework, but they also received some powerful and inspiring life advice from Jean.
Jean began by telling the story of her own life and the extent to which Girl in Translation is based on reality. She discussed her experience as an impoverished immigrant in the US, where her entire family worked in a clothing factory for as little as 1c per piece of clothing they produced. She described feeling ‘all wrong’, with her handmade clothes and short hair, which left her feeling isolated and an outsider to American culture. This is reflected in her protagonist Kim’s own feelings in the novel.
The picture of squalor Jean paints in her book, including the apartment ‘from hell’, filled with roaches and rats, where Kim and her mother have to ‘seal the windows in the kitchen with garbage bags’ for ‘a bit more protection from the elements’ is absolutely true to life, Jean explained.
Before meeting Jean, it might have been easy for the students to dismiss Jean’s experiences as unique or rare, or to argue that times have changed since her childhood. However, with an estimated 170 million children across the globe still engaged in child labour, with many of these employed in the clothing supply chain, Jean’s emphasis that ‘this can and does happen’ certainly remains pertinent today. She explained that her work is for people without a voice; for the working-class people who don’t have their stories told.
What was really striking about Jean’s talk was her passion and enthusiasm, not just for writing, but also simply for life. Jean argued that while hard work itself is not fun, the deepest happiness comes from the knowledge that you are fulfilling what you were meant to do, to the best that you can do it. Everybody fails at things, she said, but success comes from resilience; successful people are the ones who get back up again. Her most powerful advice to the students: you’re the only one who can give up on yourself.
https://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Jean-Kwok-6.jpg34565184Megan Ameliahttps://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ISA-logo.pngMegan Amelia2017-11-23 12:12:152017-11-27 12:15:52A Meet and Greet with Jean Kwok, author of Girl in Translation
On 31 October, 2017, ISA’s Amnesty International Club engaged in their annual tradition of hosting an event called the Amnes-Tea, “ a campaign that is able to raise awareness about humanitarian issues across the whole world, making everyone an active member of society in order to create positive change”, according to Isabelle Buklarewicz, chair of the ISA’s Amnesty club. Students, teachers, and parents are encouraged to sign petitions to help those whose human rights have been violated, and free tea and cookies are given out as incentive. All it takes to help make a change is a signature, for as these signatures from all over the world pile up in a single office, governments are made aware of the fact that their actions are under international scrutiny and are pressured to take action to free those whose rights have been abused.
This year, the club collected signatures for two causes, one of which was the Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, who was unfairly detained in June of 2012 who, according to Saudi Arabian forces, insulted the Islamic religion. He was then sentenced to 10 years in prison as well as 1000 lashes in January of 2015. 50 of these lashes were inflicted in a public square. It is the opinion of medical professionals that he will not survive the rest of the lashes. His case has been taken up by several organizations, including Amnesty International, who are fighting to have him freed. The second was the catastrophic issue of the ethnic cleansing that is currently happening in Myanmar. As of October 16, 537,000 Rohingya refugees have come to Bangladesh after escaping from the brutal environment of Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Those who have not fled their home suffer as the nation’s forces inhibit their access to aid provided by organizations. Commander in-Chief of the Myanmar army, Min Aung Hlaing has the ability to cease the violence that is happening in Myanmar. Gathering signatures will illustrate the scale of demand there is for the violence to stop.
Over 150 signatures were collected. Molly Christophers, a member of the club and a participant in the event says, “It was really great to see the ISA community come together to support this important cause.” The Amnesty International club has raised immense awareness about human rights within its community, and it hopes to further make a change that resonates on an even larger scale.
Article written by Neha Suneja
https://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Grade-7-Petition-Signer.jpg19201080Erika Harrifordhttps://www.isa.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ISA-logo.pngErika Harriford2017-10-31 11:41:062017-11-15 11:54:10ISA Amnesty International Club Hosts “AmnesTea” Petition Drive.
This site uses cookies for improving performance and features. To know more about how we protect your privacy and the cookies we use, please visit our privacy policy.AcceptRefusePrivacy Policy
A Successful ISA Food Drive
/in All School, Nursery, Lower School, Upper SchoolHispanic Community Fundraising
/in All School, Lower School, Upper SchoolFollowing the earthquake in Mexico in September, ISA’s Hispanic community came together to raise funds to help those affected by the disaster.
A key aspect of the fundraising efforts was the Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast held on November 1st. The breakfast was kindly supported by the Mexican embassy, who loaned the decorations and sent their representative, Mr Jorge Delgado Sumano, to speak at the event. The breakfast was a great success, selling over 220 tickets and attracting a large crowd.
The Hispanic Community Solidarity Breakfast. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.
Both the Upper School and the Lower School held bake sales to raise funds. Staff, parents and students across the school worked tremendously hard to make these sales a success. The Upper School bake sale alone raised €548.35, a fantastic achievement that the students can be proud of.
As a result of the combined efforts of the solidarity breakfast, the upper and lower school bake sales and personal donations, the Hispanic community raised a fantastic total of €3834.65.
The funds will go directly to UNICEF Mexico, an organisation who specialise in relief efforts for children and families in the hardest hit regions of disaster, providing them with life-saving resources. This is a fantastic example of how our ISA community can come together to do something truly amazing.
Some of the ISA community. Credit: Olga Bolhuis.
International Community Coffee Mornings
/in All SchoolA Meet and Greet with Jean Kwok, author of Girl in Translation
/in All School, Upper SchoolYesterday, bestselling author Jean Kwok visited ISA for a meet and greet session with grades 10, 11 and 12. It was a wonderful opportunity for a few of the ISA Upper School students, some of whom are studying Jean’s internationally successful novel Girl in Translation as part of their English B course, to ask in-depth questions about the book and the author’s life.
Jean Kwok visits ISA.
As a follow up to the formal meet and greet sessions, four students were given the opportunity to attend a small, intimate lunch with Jean as a reward for their hard work and to ask her questions about her twin passions–writing and dancing. Having all danced from a young age, three of the students discovered that Jean shared their passion and gained insight from her about the competitive nature of professional ballroom dancing.
For most ISA students, Jean is a highly relatable figure. A Chinese immigrant to the US at the age of five, Jean left behind everything she knew at home and arrived into a whole new world, with an alien language and culture. Not only did the students have a chance to learn more for their coursework, but they also received some powerful and inspiring life advice from Jean.
Jean began by telling the story of her own life and the extent to which Girl in Translation is based on reality. She discussed her experience as an impoverished immigrant in the US, where her entire family worked in a clothing factory for as little as 1c per piece of clothing they produced. She described feeling ‘all wrong’, with her handmade clothes and short hair, which left her feeling isolated and an outsider to American culture. This is reflected in her protagonist Kim’s own feelings in the novel.
The picture of squalor Jean paints in her book, including the apartment ‘from hell’, filled with roaches and rats, where Kim and her mother have to ‘seal the windows in the kitchen with garbage bags’ for ‘a bit more protection from the elements’ is absolutely true to life, Jean explained.
Before meeting Jean, it might have been easy for the students to dismiss Jean’s experiences as unique or rare, or to argue that times have changed since her childhood. However, with an estimated 170 million children across the globe still engaged in child labour, with many of these employed in the clothing supply chain, Jean’s emphasis that ‘this can and does happen’ certainly remains pertinent today. She explained that her work is for people without a voice; for the working-class people who don’t have their stories told.
What was really striking about Jean’s talk was her passion and enthusiasm, not just for writing, but also simply for life. Jean argued that while hard work itself is not fun, the deepest happiness comes from the knowledge that you are fulfilling what you were meant to do, to the best that you can do it. Everybody fails at things, she said, but success comes from resilience; successful people are the ones who get back up again. Her most powerful advice to the students: you’re the only one who can give up on yourself.
Further Reading
To find out more about Jean, you can visit her website: http://www.jeankwok.com/
https://labs.theguardian.com/unicef-child-labour/
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—ipec/documents/publication/wcms_221513.pdf
Grade 8 Trans-Atlantic Slavery Walking Tour
/in Upper SchoolISA Amnesty International Club Hosts “AmnesTea” Petition Drive.
/in AthleticsOn 31 October, 2017, ISA’s Amnesty International Club engaged in their annual tradition of hosting an event called the Amnes-Tea, “ a campaign that is able to raise awareness about humanitarian issues across the whole world, making everyone an active member of society in order to create positive change”, according to Isabelle Buklarewicz, chair of the ISA’s Amnesty club. Students, teachers, and parents are encouraged to sign petitions to help those whose human rights have been violated, and free tea and cookies are given out as incentive. All it takes to help make a change is a signature, for as these signatures from all over the world pile up in a single office, governments are made aware of the fact that their actions are under international scrutiny and are pressured to take action to free those whose rights have been abused.
This year, the club collected signatures for two causes, one of which was the Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi, who was unfairly detained in June of 2012 who, according to Saudi Arabian forces, insulted the Islamic religion. He was then sentenced to 10 years in prison as well as 1000 lashes in January of 2015. 50 of these lashes were inflicted in a public square. It is the opinion of medical professionals that he will not survive the rest of the lashes. His case has been taken up by several organizations, including Amnesty International, who are fighting to have him freed. The second was the catastrophic issue of the ethnic cleansing that is currently happening in Myanmar. As of October 16, 537,000 Rohingya refugees have come to Bangladesh after escaping from the brutal environment of Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Those who have not fled their home suffer as the nation’s forces inhibit their access to aid provided by organizations. Commander in-Chief of the Myanmar army, Min Aung Hlaing has the ability to cease the violence that is happening in Myanmar. Gathering signatures will illustrate the scale of demand there is for the violence to stop.
Over 150 signatures were collected. Molly Christophers, a member of the club and a participant in the event says, “It was really great to see the ISA community come together to support this important cause.” The Amnesty International club has raised immense awareness about human rights within its community, and it hopes to further make a change that resonates on an even larger scale.
Article written by Neha Suneja