Who are the Mennonites?
The danger of a single story...
As educators, we often feel the need to categorize our students' weaknesses, strengths, character, aptitude, etc., as quickly as possible. After all, we have been given clay to mold, wings to gift with flight, curriculum to plough through. It is my fear that we may too quickly label various students of similar skill, ability and possibly even heritage as having the same story, when in fact, each student is a special individual. Each student has his or her own story to tell, filled with joy and hurt, celebration and need, success and misunderstandings. As you all know, we CAN NOT place everyone in the same mold and expect each individual to flourish. We do need to unveil to our students their own value. For being the unique individual they are. And not to feel the need to conform to the norm, to change, and to be ashamed of and hide who they are.
"Chimamanda Adichie is a novelist who, in (the video below), describes her journey through discovering herself through her own eyes and the eyes of others perpetuated by the media. She describes having an understanding that she was not what was ideal, not a little white, blonde girl with piggy tails and a smile. This understanding was perpetuated by the British literature that she read, which exposed her to exotic worlds, yet made her think that someone like her could not exist in literature. Adichie discusses the reality that people accept “single stories” about most people, places, and things. To understand one thing about a country or a person in no way means that you now have a complete knowledge of it or them. In fact there is really no way to ever have a complete understanding unless you conform to believing in a “single story.” A truly enriching way to exist is to constantly be interpreting and reinterpreting your surroundings, to explore new ideas and materials, even stories, with an understanding that it is not certain, not definitive."
Taken from: http://storytellingasperformance.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/chimamanda-adichie-the-danger-of-a-single-story/
As educators, we often feel the need to categorize our students' weaknesses, strengths, character, aptitude, etc., as quickly as possible. After all, we have been given clay to mold, wings to gift with flight, curriculum to plough through. It is my fear that we may too quickly label various students of similar skill, ability and possibly even heritage as having the same story, when in fact, each student is a special individual. Each student has his or her own story to tell, filled with joy and hurt, celebration and need, success and misunderstandings. As you all know, we CAN NOT place everyone in the same mold and expect each individual to flourish. We do need to unveil to our students their own value. For being the unique individual they are. And not to feel the need to conform to the norm, to change, and to be ashamed of and hide who they are.
"Chimamanda Adichie is a novelist who, in (the video below), describes her journey through discovering herself through her own eyes and the eyes of others perpetuated by the media. She describes having an understanding that she was not what was ideal, not a little white, blonde girl with piggy tails and a smile. This understanding was perpetuated by the British literature that she read, which exposed her to exotic worlds, yet made her think that someone like her could not exist in literature. Adichie discusses the reality that people accept “single stories” about most people, places, and things. To understand one thing about a country or a person in no way means that you now have a complete knowledge of it or them. In fact there is really no way to ever have a complete understanding unless you conform to believing in a “single story.” A truly enriching way to exist is to constantly be interpreting and reinterpreting your surroundings, to explore new ideas and materials, even stories, with an understanding that it is not certain, not definitive."
Taken from: http://storytellingasperformance.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/chimamanda-adichie-the-danger-of-a-single-story/
To the right is a video made by the Mennonite Central Committee, sharing some of the challenges of immigrating to Canada as a Low German Mennonite. Many students are torn between their identity and the surrounding "world" and feel pressured to choose between the two because they feel their own identity is inferior. |
|
The video below was done as part of a news broadcast by a local television station in Chihuahua state, where many of the families who move to southern Alberta come from. Below I have included an English translation of the Spanish broadcast. (Note: Mennonite families in the Chihuahua area do use many electrical devices necessary for daily life today and although cars were forbidden by many churches until approximately 25 years ago, all Mennonites in the Chihuahua area now drive cars.)
They are white with blue eyes and European features.
They were born in Mexico, but don’t speak Spanish. Their language is German, and their education, more than being academic, is religious. “The first thing is the Bible….” Mennonite children attend school up to age 13. After that, they need to work like the rest of the adults. “Their teacher (from then on) will be their father. He will take them to work.” The Mennonites are of Dutch and German descent. They came to Mexico in 1929. In the state of Chihuahua they stand out as farming people (they are important as a people who have dairy farms [granjeros] and farm fields [agricultores]). “The Mennonites have been a type of people who want to work with their family.” The Mennonite men are known for the bib pants they wear. The women for their long dress, headscarf, or hat. They live separated from the rest of the Mexicans. And marriage is permitted only with people of their religion. “If any Mexican decides to integrate himself, he could!” The religion of the Mennonites doesn’t permit them to have cars, although nowadays, many have disobeyed that rule. |
What is still prohibited them is a television or any other electronic device.
Another characteristic is their long working days. They also help each other out. “We’re grinding the corn and then… we sell it like this, bagging it and selling it.” Mennonite children are introduced to the fields at a young age. “He’s already four years old. He’s already starting to work.” But their popularity has come through their famous Mennonite cheese, made of pure milk. This is a business in which everyone works. “What is it that they do right now?” “Well, they’re filling the molds.” “Where does the cheese go that you make here? Where do you export it?” “Well, to many areas. In Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, to Creel, Culiacán, Sinaloa.” And this is the final product: the famous Queso Menonita. A true delight to the palate, that is exported to a great part of the Mexican republic from here – from the Mennonite community in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. The Mennonites have a religious leader and a legal leader, but they depend on the Mexican laws. It’s true that they have different physical traits, and their religion makes them different. But they are still Mexicans (they do not cease to be Mexicans). From Chihuahua, Mexico, Pedro Ultreras, Telemundo. Translated by Christa Dueck. |
A few of your questions about Mennonites (in general) may be answered in the video below.