PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Sarra Abudabous of Revere passes out a Libyan sweet called konafa. She is joined by her son, Tameem Abujrida, 3, and Sharmin Habib and her daughter, Sheri, 5.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — The library launched a new initiative to teach children about the many different cultures that make up Saugus’ population.
“I wanted kids to learn about the rest of the world with the idea that it could help promote peace,” said Children’s Librarian Amy Melton. “We talk about understanding the world around them and learning about children from around the world. We have an amazing community in Saugus with cultures from around the world right in our backyard.”
Each month, a volunteer from the community will teach the children about his or her country of origin. The program started with Sarra Abudabous, who moved to the United States five years ago from Libya. Abudabous led the first half-hour session Thursday afternoon. Beginning with a presentation, she showed a room of young children where to find Libya on a map.
Her son, Tameem Abujrida, 3, arrived sporting traditional Libyan clothing that would be worn on a special occasion or holiday.
“In Libya there is warm weather and very nice and beautiful beaches,” she said. “We have a very old city — kids like to play outside. Most of the kids like to play with the camels.”
She focused her lesson on the children of Libya and how they were the same and different from children in the United States. Each curious toddler tried homemade kunafa, a Libyan treat, created the flag of Libya and learned how to write their name in Arabic.
“We want kids to explore the world and learn about how kids look in other countries and what they like to play,” Abudabous said.
Sharmin Habib brought her daughter, Sheri Habib, 5, because she has an interest in learning about different cultures. Sheri has friends at the Waybright Elementary School who are Russian and Spanish, she said. She also knows a lot about the culture of Bangladesh, where her mom was born.
“She’s very curious to learn about different countries and cultures,” Sharmin said. “She likes learning languages. She learned some Spanish from television.”
But Sheri said her favorite part of learning about a new culture is exploring the food.
“I heard of Libya before but I didn’t know what it was like,” she said.
Each child was given a pretend passport and received a sticker to represent the Libyan passport stamp. In March, children can learn about the Russian culture and receive a Russian stamp. Bangladeshis and Irish programs are planned for later this year.
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Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.