VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 33

MIA FARROW’S ODE TO THE WORLD’S STRONGEST MOTHERSELEMENTARY RESOURCES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• e website warsintheworld.com lists 60 different armed con#icts happening right now around the world, involved 534 militias or guerrilla groups. According to standnow.org, eight of these con#icts—in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, and Syria—involve large-scale atrocities against civilians.

• According to Amnesty International, 80 percent of all refugees and people displaced by con#ict are women.

• roughout history, militaries have used sexual violence against women as a weapon to terrorize civilian populations. Over the past 20 years, widespread sexual violence was observed in the con#icts in the former Yugoslavia, during the Rwanda Genocide, in the Sri Lanka civil war, in Sudan and the Darfur Genocide, in Iraq, during the 2011 Libya civil war, and in the Syria civil war. In one of the most extreme examples, it has been estimated that more than 400,000

women were raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2006 to 2007.

• Last October the United Nations unanimously passed Resolution 2122, which is intended to increase protection for women in con#ict zones, and increase the participation of women in post-con#ict peace negotiations.

• However, Amnesty International says only three per cent of all current UN peacekeeping forces are women, and less than half of current UN peacekeeping missions have a gender advisor as part of the mission, to ensure women’s issues are taken into account by the mission.

e following activities are designed to stimulate a current events discussion. Generative in nature, these questions can be a launching point for additional assignments or research projects.

Teachers are encouraged to adapt these activities to meet the contextual needs of their classroom.

In some cases, reading the article with students may be appropriate, coupled with reviewing the information sheet to further explore the concepts and contexts being discussed. From here, teachers can select from the questions provided below. e activity is structured to introduce students to the issues, then allow them to explore and apply their learnings. Students are encouraged to further re#ect on the issues.

NOTE TO EDUCATORS

KEY TERMSPersevere—To keep going despite extreme difficulty, even if there is little chance of succeeding.

Adversity—Extreme hardship or misfortune.

Squalid—Very dirty, very poor living conditions.

01

AN INITIATIVE OF

An advocate for the women and children survivors of con#icts in central Africa, Mia Farrow has encountered mothers dealing with the most crushing adversity imaginable.

ADVISORY

is article was inspired by a tragic events. Please take caution when sharing this column with students.

e following activities are designed to stimulate a current events discussion. Generative in nature, these questions can be a launching point for additional assignments or research projects.Teachers are encouraged to adapt these activities to meet the contextual needs of their classroom.

In some cases, reading the article with students may be appropriate, coupled with reviewing the information sheet to further explore the concepts and contexts being discussed. From here, teachers can select from the questions provided below. e activity is structured to introduce students to the issues, then allow them to explore and apply their learnings. Students are encouraged to further re#ect on the issues.

THEMES AND COURSE CONNECTIONS • emes: Women’s Rights, Inspirational Figures, War and Con#ict,

Global Issues

• Course Connections: Language, e Arts, Social Studies, History, Geography

MATERIALS • Front board

• Paper and writing utensils

SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS AND LEARNING GOALS Students will:

• Develop and express responses to issues and problems.

• Reassess their responses to issues on the basis of new information.

• Participate in active group work and class discussions.

• Communicate effectively in oral, visual or text form.

• Demonstrate the ability to think critically.

• Develop, express and defend a position on an issue.

MAP IT Have students locate the different countries mentioned in the article to gain an understanding of the international expanse of the issues.• South Sudan

• Darfur, Sudan

• Central African Republic

DISCUSS 1. Who is Mia Farrow? What is she most famous for? Did you know

that Mia Farrow was a Hollywood star or that she is the mother of fourteen? Why do you think she feels such a strong connection with mothers who live in other parts of the world from her or that lead such different lives?

2. What is adversity?3. e Global Voices article explains that in con#icts like those

mentioned in the column, women and children get the worst of it. What does this mean? Do you agree? Why do you think this is the case? How are men also affected?

4. What characteristics of mothers do you think are universal? Based on your knowledge of mothers in your community and mothers around the world and based on the information in the Global Voices article, what do all mothers want for their children.

DIVE DEEPER e following three activities focus on three ways students can honour mothers.

Honour your mom.

As we grow, we begin to see our mother in a new light. Instead of the mom that nags us about keeping your bedroom clean, we see the person who has dedicated years to nurture us into the person we’ve become and in many cases, our mom becomes our hero.

Help students appreciate their mothers, a strong woman in their life, or parental %gure by conducting an interview with them.

Ask students to take %ve minutes to brainstorm a list of questions to ask their mother. Instruct students to compile a list that will help them learn new things. Advise students to form more typical interview questions rather than personal questions, it will help them see their mothers differently. (E.g., What jobs did you have when you were younger? What advice would you give to the youth of today? If you had a superpower what would it be? Etc.)

Have students pair up and compare questions. Instruct students to add questions to their list as they listen to their partners list. Ask students to share some of their questions with the whole class. Write questions on the board for an example list students may pull from as well. Assign the interview as homework.

Honour the moms in your community.

In the Global Voices article Mia Farrow reminds us that there are women in our communities, mothers, who should be honoured. Use this Mother’s Day to help students connect with the wise women of your neighbourhood. Organize an afternoon where students will spend time with their elders who are living in seniors’ homes or take them to the community’s seniors’ centre.

In preparation for the outing, ask students to come up with a list of activities they can do with the elder mothers while they are there (e.g. playing games, holding a wheelchair/walker wash, reading, singing, etc.). Prepare the items necessary for the activities so you will be able to take them with you.

Honour moms around the world.

In a poll of 40,000 people in 102 countries conducted by the British Council in 2004 found that “mother” was considered the most beautiful word in the English language by non-English speakers. Share the beauty of this word and the women behind it by creating a wall-sized collage of the words that mean mother in different languages from around the world. Have the class brainstorm words that represent what their mother’s mean to them and also what mother’s represent around the world. Use the Global Voices article to help shape this list, for example, words like strength and education represent mothers and what they want for their children.

Once the list is compiled, use the knowledge of the students, dictionaries and online translators to translate the words into other languages. Have students put the words on cards and construction paper then decorate them. Hang the decorated words in a wall collage in a prominent hallway to share the meaning of mothers with the rest of the school community.

RESOURCES BBC News “Mum’s the word, says the world.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4039185.stm

02

AN INITIATIVE OF