Global Studies
Ghana trip will bring laptops and medical supplies to Tamale
The next KCD Ghana delegation is now preparing for their departure on February 6.
The group consists of upper school students James Robertson, Shelby Allison, Lauren Adams, Sarah Klein, Elliot McCoy, and Sarah Whittenburg. Dexter Mahaffey and Brooke Eckmann are the faculty leaders for this trip.
In addition to their personal effects, this group will be transporting a collection of medical supplies as well as a batch of computer hardware, including eight laptops, for the computer labs at Dahin Sheli and Tamale Islamic schools.
While in Tamale, the group will also present Tamale Islamic Secondary School with a substantial sum donated by KCD parents. These funds will be used to provide meals for many of the students at the school.
Students and their parents met yesterday after school to pack the donated items. The group will return to Louisville late on February 17.
Faculty workshops explore Indian and Indian-American culture
During the teacher inservice on January 4, KCD faculty and staff were treated to a series of workshops exploring different aspects of Indian culture. In addition to a presentation covering the history, religions, and cultures of the country, teachers and staff also had the opportunity to attend a series of workshops covering topics such as rangoli (decorative art using brightly colored grains), mehndi (henna tattoos), fashion, and dance. The workshops concluded with a fabulous lunch highlighting the many cuisines of the states of India.
According to Diversity Coordinator Dexter Mahaffey, this was the first in a series of parent presentations to the faculty dedicated to exploring the diverse cultures and beliefs represented in the KCD community. The next will focus on Pakistani and Pakistani-American culture at the March 19 inservice.
Our thanks go to event organizers Upasana Chhibber, Azra Siddiqi, Vinod Solankhi, and Geeta Vinayakan. Thanks also to Rinkoo Aggarwal, Ranjit Brar, Kanugovi Chandrika, Asha Chembuli, Sunil Chhibber, Swati Daftary, Pratiksha Naik, Kavitha Tallapaneni, and Anupama Wadhawa for donating items for the displays, helping with the workshops, preparing food, and helping to organize lunch. Finally, thanks to extended family members Anu Datta, Iram, Sarojini Joshi, Prerna Mohan, and Nirav Pandaya for their invaluable assistance.
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf visits KCD
On November 12, KCD proudly welcomed Sheikh Hamza Yusuf to KCD. Sheikh Yusuf is one of the world's leading scholars and lecturers on Islam. He has served as a presidential advisor on Islam and is the cofounder of the Zaytuna Institute, which is dedicated to the revival of traditional Islamic scholarship. Sheikh Yusuf spoke to the upper school and seventh graders during the weekly X period. His ecumenical remarks focused on kindness and the importance of accepting difference in others.
Students from a variety of religious backgrounds discussed their reactions to Sheikh Yusuf's remarks. Sophomore Ravenna Grewal believes that the Sheikh's speech resonates with her own practice of Sikhism: "Sikhism believes in equality of all humans and it rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, and gender," she stated. "This view goes along with Hamza Yusuf's speech because he continuously highlighted the importance of equality among everyone without regard to race, religion, and gender."
Junior Michael James stated that Sheikh Yusuf's remarks resonated with his own secularist beliefs. "Mr. Yusuf's powerful opening speech about the word kin brought to light its many different meanings. Later, he said to accept people different than ourselves as allies. As a secularist, this reminds of the way I live my life."
We are thrilled that we were able to present our students with the opportunity to hear a guest speaker of Sheikh Yusuf's prominence at KCD. His visit reinforces our commitment to building understanding across the diversity of cultures and beliefs represented in our community.
KCD Water Project featured in essay collection
The new book Water: Its Spiritual Significance collects essays on water and spirituality from such noted authors as Wendell Berry, Coleman Barks, Huston Smith, and Hamza Yusuf. The collection also includes an essay on KCD's Water Project in which Diversity Director Dexter Mahaffey recounts last year's efforts to provide clean drinking water for our sister schools in Tamale, Ghana.
The collection is published by Fons Vitae, a local press founded by KHS alumna Gray Henry-Blakemore '64. Fons Vitae has established a reputation for publishing outstanding works in the areas of spirituality and interfaith studies, and we are proud to have our community represented in one of their publications!
Mayor of Tamale visits KCD
Alhaji Abdulai Haruna "Friday," the Metro Chief Executive--in other words, the Mayor--of Tamale, Ghana, and his delegation of seven visited KCD as their first official stop during their trip to Louisville last Friday, October 16. As hosts to an official mayoral visit through Sister Cities of Louisville, KCD was happy to welcome our friends from Tamale. After a warm welcome from Mr. Lyman, KCD provided meeting space for Sister Cities' Tamale Committee for an orientation meeting with the delegation.
The Tamale delegation will also meet with Mayor Abramson and Metro Council officials, leaders at Yum! Brands, Louisville Water, JCPS, and Healing the Children. Additionally during their visit to KCD on Friday, we were able to present and discuss the African Urban Poverty Alleviation Grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that KCD is administering for Sister Cities of Louisville under the management of Dexter Mahaffey, Director of Global Studies. The grant is a $115,000 contribution from the Gates Foundation to address issues of water, health, and sanitation in Tamale.
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