World

“Home of the Brave Meets Salem’s Family”

 by Salem Wolderufael 

This year fifth-grade readers are exploring the book Home of the Brave, a story about a boy named Kek, who had to move from Sudan to Minnesota because of war. I lived in Sudan and still have family there, and there is war still going on today.  I’m not sure if all of my family members are still alive.  Some of them have lost their lives. Come with me inside this story—mine and Kek’s—to learn more about our culture and moving to the U.S. 

It’s challenging to leave your culture and learn a new culture.  On Kek’s first day of school, he was nervous but excited.  He couldn't help but wonder who he would meet.  At lunchtime Kek sat with his new friend Hannah.  Hannah gave Kek an unfamiliar “red food,” which was ketchup, to dip his fries in.  It was hard for me to understand how to eat American food at first, too.  I used a fork to eat applesauce instead of a spoon, and I saw my new friends dip their fries in the applesauce, so I did the same. I thought it was disgusting!  

In Kek's culture, a cow is a "God with a wet nose."  This means the cows are sacred to the village, they're never slaughtered, and they're always loved like family.  Kek says, "Cattle mean life.  They are the reason to rise with the sun, to move with the rains, to rest with the stars.  They are the way we know our place in the world."  In my culture, we do the same.  We make sure that they cows are grazed and make sure they're happy and healthy. 

Kek had a hard time adjusting to his new life in the U.S.  and a harder time learning the language.  Kek said his mouth will be sore by the end of the day from stumbling on his words.  For example, he called a slam dunk a "dunk slam."  During my first year in school in the U.S., I was walking in the hallway to go to the bathroom when one of the teachers said "hi" to me.  I replied "noby" instead of "goodbye."  I just mixed up my words.  On that day, I understood why we have spaces.

Readers, try to imagine yourself in a story that makes you feel like you are an explorer searching for something that makes you jump to your feet and want to explore more and more through a sea of books. 

"Unexpected Drone Crash Injuring 5 People, in Western Kursk, Russia"

by Levi Higgins

Imagine that you were in a railway or bus station and a drone crashed and you were injured or you saw it happen. What would you do?  What you are about to read is an event that is life threatening and stuff like this is still going on in Russia and Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

On August 20, 2023, a Ukrainian drone hit a building in Kursk, Russia, causing a small fire to break out and damage the roof from the crash and fire. Fifty people were in the station at the time, and they were all evacuated safely, but five people were injured. Two people rejected medical aid, the other 3 people were sent to the regional hospital and are already home and well. 

Will these unexpected attacks end for Ukraine? Russia's President Putin falsely claims that Ukraine was always a part of Russia, even though Ukraine has been independent for 32 years (since 1991).   I think we’ll see many more unexpected attacks because in a CNN article it says, “Reported shelling and drone attacks by Ukrainian forces have occurred with increasing frequency in recent months."