A few words for the children

Daisy Kabagarama, associate professor of minority studies, who tries to foster dialogue on various topics through her writings, has turned her pen to poems about issues concerning children.

Kabagarama’s sixth book, "When the Storm Rages," includes 52 poems "to preserve our children’s well-being." The poems deal with various topics and are meant to be a starting point for reflection or discussion.

"I ended up with 52 poems so that readers can dedicate a poem a week to guide discussions through the year," Kabagarama says. She includes exercises and questions at the end of the book to get such discussions started.

"We don’t have to look far to see that most of the youth today are living in undesirable conditions," she writes in the book.

"The problems are many but let us reflect on a few: violence, children having children, drug abuse, disrespect of authority, little or no interest in education, poverty, prejudice, over-emphasis on materialism, low self-esteem, lack of regard for one another, and a weak spiritual base. All these and many others take away the children’s innocence at a very early age."

Kabagarama’s book is available through the University Bookstore. The cost is $12.50.

– Amy Geiszler-Jones