On Monday February 24th Passages to Canada Speaker Joel Assogba video conferenced with my grade 2 class at Stephen Central PS to tell his story of coming to Canada and talk about Black History. Passages Canada is a FREE service offered year round to schools and community groups of all ages. A storytelling initiative of Historica Canada, Passages Canada volunteers share their personal accounts of cultural identity and heritage on-line in the Passages to Canada Multimedia Story Archive and in person with schools and community groups. Passages to Canada is a registered dHL member and speakers are available via video conference by request.
Our Virtual Visit with Joel Assogba
« Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you — that’s the golden rule. » he said. If you would only take a minute and put yourself in the place of others, then you can understand how they might feel.”
After sharing his story of his coming to Canada, talking about his family, and his life now, Joel, who has written and illustrated a series of trilingual books on multiculturalism, read The Rainbow’s Kids — a story about a bay boy name Kento who went to the park and tried to play with other kids, but was ostracized several times because he was different. He ran back home several times to change and try to look like others in order to be accepted. His efforts were unsuccessful. … He gave up and sat down alone, but luckily a group of kind kids came to invite him to play … He was very happy to find genuine friends. While playing, it rained a while … then, a Beautiful Rainbow appeared, and all the children acclaimed « How Wonderful! All different colors are united to make a Beautiful Rainbow! »
Joel’s other titles include: Wind of Freedom; I’m Not a Foreigner; Respect for Life; and What Colour Are Burdocks?
“I believe we are now at a crossroads of difficult times. We have a chance of choosing a path of peace and nonviolence and respect for life. And we can do that by teaching compassion to our children and grandchildren,” says Assogba. And today, Joel did just that.
Want to learn more about Joel Assogba?
The Guardian (Charlottetown, PEI, January 8, 2013): http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Living/2013-01-08/article-3152283/Choosing-a-path-of-peace/1
This post is also available in: English (Anglais)
