Growing Peace: A Story of Farming, Music, and Religious Harmony

by Richard Sobol, Richard Sobol (Photographer)

Overview

On the morning of September 11, 2001, J. J. Keki, a Ugandan musician and coffee farmer, was in New York, about to visit the World Trade Center. Instead, J.J. witnessed the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. He came away from this event with strong emotions about religious conflict. Why should people be enemies because of their religions?

Back home in his village, J.J. was determined to find a way for people who held different religious beliefs to work together. He saw that the neighborhood children, from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian families, played with one another without a care about religion. Why not enlist their parents, all coffee farmers like himself, in a cooperative venture around a shared goal? Together they would grow, harvest, and sell their coffee. At the same time, they would bridge religious differences to work and live together peacefully.

Here is a rare and timely story of hope, economic cooperation, and religious harmony from an often struggling part of the world. From J.J.'s vision, his community has achieved what many people strive for: a growing peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781600604508
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books, Inc.
Publication date:	10/15/2016
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	215,245
Product dimensions:	10.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

RICHARD SOBOL is an award-winning photojournalist who has created more than a dozen photo-essays for young readers. His books explore a wide range of wildlife, conservation, environmental, and cultural topics. While visiting Uganda, Sobol learned about a village where people of three faiths had come together in harmony in the aftermath of 9/11, and he was inspired to tell their story for children. Sobol's photographs have also appeared in several publications, including The New York Times, Audubon, People, and National Geographic. When not traveling and photographing the world, Sobol can be found in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he liveswith his family.

RICHARD SOBOL is an award-winning photojournalist who has created more than a dozen photo-essays for young readers. His books explore a wide range of wildlife, conservation, environmental, and cultural topics. While visiting Uganda, Sobol learned about a village where people of three faiths had come together in harmony in the aftermath of 9/11, and he was inspired to tell their story for children. Sobol's photographs have also appeared in several publications, including The New York Times, Audubon, People, and National Geographic. When not traveling and photographing the world, Sobol can be found in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he liveswith his family.

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2016
Gr 3–5—After witnessing the September 11 attacks, J.J. Keki—a musician, composer, and coffee farmer—was inspired to create change in his home village of Namanyonyi in Uganda. Keki wanted to foster religious tolerance in his community made up of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families. His solution was to form a coffee growers' cooperative and encourage the local farmers, regardless of their faith, to join and work together for better prices and bargaining power. Using the neighborhood children, Keki reached out to their parents, urging them to become part of the co-op. The venture started in 2005 with approximately 250 members. As of 2016, there are more than 1,000 members participating. Half- and full-page captioned color photos liberally illustrate the text, which also describes the process of growing and harvesting the coffee cherries. VERDICT A useful selection for primary social studies curricula interested in foreign agricultural initiatives.—Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

School Library Journal

2016-07-02
Large, full-color photographs accompany the true story of one man’s efforts to bring together people of three religions by helping them create a Fair Trade–certified coffee-selling cooperative.“As the sun sets in eastern Uganda, the blazing heat fades and a cool wind settles in the valley.” This opening, which continues with information about work and play in the “small, dusty village of Namanyonyi,” sits beneath a photo showing children playing soccer (called futbol in the text) in the twilight. Opposite this, there is a map that shows the route of coffee beans from Namanyonyi to the port of Mombasa. After a few more pages about contemporary life in rural Namanyonyi, the text backtracks to tell how all three Abrahamic religions arrived in the area. Next, the musician J.J. Keki is introduced, along with his inspiration for starting the cooperative: both his near miss from being victimized by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, on a visit to the United States from his native Uganda, and the tolerant children of Namanyonyi. The text discusses the coffee cooperative’s history, looks at Fair Trade, and contains a basic primer on the art of coffee farming. Sobol’s text is accessible and graceful, and the numerous, captivating photographs take readers to Namanyonyi, its places of worship, and the coffee plantation. Work, faith, and joy are equally celebrated. The tone of the book is hopeful and inspiring. A welcome addition to children’s nonfiction from a master photojournalist. (author’s note, glossary, sources) (Nonfiction. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews