Thursday, May 9, 2013

Grandmother Powerblogging Campaign

Good morning,
Those of you that know hubby and I personally also know we are grandparents.  Coolest job on the PLANET!!! Seriously!  That being said, I ran across something I just had to share: the Grandmother Powerblogging Campaign! 
      
                                                                  

According to Tara Sophia Mohr, the Grandmother Powerblogging Campaign is about groups of grandmothers coming together, saying, “This is not the world we want for our grandchildren!” and making positive change. She has started a blog campaign to do just that.

She is working along with Paola Gianturco, a photo documentarian, who says grandmothers are not just raising grandchildren, they are collaborating effectively for education, health, the environment, and justice—forming grandmother groups in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. An unheralded international grandmothers’ movement is underway!

To help us all understand one another better and to share what's happening in the world, here's a story about grandmothers in Argentina who are inspiring children to read.  As someone who taught elementary school and an avid reader, this one touches my heart.

GRANDMOTHERS INSPIRE CHILDREN TO READ IN ARGENTINA




During the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-83) books were banned and burned; libraries were looted; intellectuals, authors and journalists were murdered; newspaper offices were bombed. Not surprisingly, people stopped reading.

To re-engage youngsters with books, The Mempo Giardinelli Foundation launched the Storytelling Grandmother program. Today, 2,000 grandmothers read to children in schools, bookstores and libraries. Unconditional affection plus good literature jet propel children’s love of reading.

The Storytelling Grandmothers are so effective that the Ministry of Education in Argentina has incorporated them into the national public school curriculum. Their program has been copied by Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Spain.

Today, grandmothers in those countries sustain the buoyant enthusiasm of Argentina’s Storytelling Grandmothers:  “Reading is an act of love. Reading is a party!”

One Argentine grandmother pinches a bean between her fingers as she reads children a book titled El Garbanzo Peligroso, The Dangerous Garbanzo, which was banned during the dictatorship for “excessive use of imagination.” Later, remembering the terrible years, she asserts,  “Reading is a right. The right to read must be protected.”

In 2012, the Storytelling Grandmother program received First Prize from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun for promoting children’s literacy. 

From Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon by Paola Gianturco, published by powerHouse Books.


Would you like to read more stories?  Click here for a link to the site and the page where you can find more.   They are open for adding stories through next week.  Head on over and take a peek!

Hugs to you all, especially grandmothers!!
Carrie

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