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Maria Nhambu

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I went to the recreation room and knelt down in front of the same Nativity scene where I’d prayed to Baby Jesus to find my mother when I was a child. I looked at him lying there in his bed of hay and wondered why this scene never left me. Over the years, whenever I prayed, I prayed to Baby Jesus. He was the miracle baby who never grew up. I believed that he really listened to me and often answered me. As I knelt there I realized that Sister Silvestris was right all along. She told us every Christmas that whatever we asked of Baby Jesus he’d grant us.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
Discovering dance and its power to heal my soul played a key role in my survival.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Standing up for your human rights is what you must always do.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
To them I was first a Black, then a Black from another country, and then a person.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
In your heart, you will always be African, but in America you are a Black American. It is possible and desirable to be both.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
What was wrong with these American students? Didn’t they know I was the teacher and they had to do as I said? I learned quickly that my authority meant little, if anything, to them. I was not the all-powerful and feared mwalimu (teacher) of Africa.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Mary’s childhood was rough. She was frequently beaten and chastised by the nuns who served as her protectors and brutalized by the older girls in the orphanage.

Oh how I wept those first few years of my life. My tears came like tropical storms. Every pore in my body wept. I heaved and shuddered and sighed. Everything around me seemed dark and terrifying.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
I had a long talk with my dear Fat Mary that night, because I had many questions. Could someone actually be beaten to death by such a nun? Did Mother Rufina, the new Superior, know that Sister Clotilda was so cruel? Who let her work with children? Could nuns go to hell?
Fat Mary told me she didn’t know the answers to my questions, but she reminded me that it was her role to take my worries and burdens and keep them for me until a time when I could understand them.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
I can’t cry so I have to laugh.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
There is no such thing as immunity from the joy or pain of the past.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
In their hearts, they know that we are all created equal in the eyes of God and the universe. Whoever thinks otherwise will never be happy.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
I went to the recreation room and knelt down in front of the same Nativity scene where I’d prayed to Baby Jesus to find my mother when I was a child. I looked at him lying there in his bed of hay and wondered why this scene never left me. Over the years, whenever I prayed, I prayed to Baby Jesus. He was the miracle baby who never grew up. I believed that he really listened to me and often answered me. As I knelt there I realized that Sister Silvestris was right all along. She told us every Christmas that whatever we asked of Baby Jesus he’d grant us.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
Discovering dance and its power to heal my soul played a key role in my survival.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Standing up for your human rights is what you must always do.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
To them I was first a Black, then a Black from another country, and then a person.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
In your heart, you will always be African, but in America you are a Black American. It is possible and desirable to be both.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
What was wrong with these American students? Didn’t they know I was the teacher and they had to do as I said? I learned quickly that my authority meant little, if anything, to them. I was not the all-powerful and feared mwalimu (teacher) of Africa.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Mary’s childhood was rough. She was frequently beaten and chastised by the nuns who served as her protectors and brutalized by the older girls in the orphanage.

Oh how I wept those first few years of my life. My tears came like tropical storms. Every pore in my body wept. I heaved and shuddered and sighed. Everything around me seemed dark and terrifying.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
I had a long talk with my dear Fat Mary that night, because I had many questions. Could someone actually be beaten to death by such a nun? Did Mother Rufina, the new Superior, know that Sister Clotilda was so cruel? Who let her work with children? Could nuns go to hell?
Fat Mary told me she didn’t know the answers to my questions, but she reminded me that it was her role to take my worries and burdens and keep them for me until a time when I could understand them.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
I can’t cry so I have to laugh.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
There is no such thing as immunity from the joy or pain of the past.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
In their hearts, they know that we are all created equal in the eyes of God and the universe. Whoever thinks otherwise will never be happy.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
I went to the recreation room and knelt down in front of the same Nativity scene where I’d prayed to Baby Jesus to find my mother when I was a child. I looked at him lying there in his bed of hay and wondered why this scene never left me. Over the years, whenever I prayed, I prayed to Baby Jesus. He was the miracle baby who never grew up. I believed that he really listened to me and often answered me. As I knelt there I realized that Sister Silvestris was right all along. She told us every Christmas that whatever we asked of Baby Jesus he’d grant us.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
Discovering dance and its power to heal my soul played a key role in my survival.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Standing up for your human rights is what you must always do.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
To them I was first a Black, then a Black from another country, and then a person.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
In your heart, you will always be African, but in America you are a Black American. It is possible and desirable to be both.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
What was wrong with these American students? Didn’t they know I was the teacher and they had to do as I said? I learned quickly that my authority meant little, if anything, to them. I was not the all-powerful and feared mwalimu (teacher) of Africa.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
Mary’s childhood was rough. She was frequently beaten and chastised by the nuns who served as her protectors and brutalized by the older girls in the orphanage.

Oh how I wept those first few years of my life. My tears came like tropical storms. Every pore in my body wept. I heaved and shuddered and sighed. Everything around me seemed dark and terrifying.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
I had a long talk with my dear Fat Mary that night, because I had many questions. Could someone actually be beaten to death by such a nun? Did Mother Rufina, the new Superior, know that Sister Clotilda was so cruel? Who let her work with children? Could nuns go to hell?
Fat Mary told me she didn’t know the answers to my questions, but she reminded me that it was her role to take my worries and burdens and keep them for me until a time when I could understand them.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Religion
I can’t cry so I have to laugh.
From Africa's Child
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Inspirational
There is no such thing as immunity from the joy or pain of the past.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope
In their hearts, they know that we are all created equal in the eyes of God and the universe. Whoever thinks otherwise will never be happy.
From America's Daughter
NOT YET RATING ▼
Topic: Hope