|
Sarah | Emma
| Jeremy | Martha | Pao
| Gabby | Mariah
| Pakou | Cristina
| Maggie
The most important thing we can’t show
in the exhibit is the Hmong people themselves and how generous
and kind they are. It is really important that people who
see the exhibit feel like they know Hmong people, instead
of being outsiders. I really didn’t understand Hmong
culture until I became a part of it...
–Sarah
Even after our trip we only know a fraction of Hmong culture.
It is so complex, I can’t understand it all. So the
exhibit will have only a small piece of Hmong culture...
It cannot show the stuff inside a Hmong
person—the thoughts and the feelings of Laos and the
war and the abuse they took coming to the U.S. I think those
feelings are a big part...but they will be hard to express
in a Children’s Museum.
–Emma
I don’t think we can show the war
in Laos, because kids under the age of ten wouldn’t
really understand it. Kids might freak out and cry. Secondly,
I don’t think we can show the shortage of food in the
refugee camps, because a lot of kids wouldn’t understand.
Kids will come from families that have enough money so they
just couldn’t imagine it.
–Jeremy
There are many things the museum will not
be able to show, including how nice all the Hmong people were
to us on our trip...and all the pain, the confusion, and terror
they experienced in Laos and at the refugee camps.
–Martha
We won’t be able to show a k’eng,
a shaman, or any sharp object. The k’eng could be broken
or else little kids will blow on it and it will have germs.
I don’t think you should show a shaman that is a person
because he might get tired standing. We can’t show sharp
objects because some kids might poke them in their stomachs
or be bad and fight with them.
–Pao
You can’t show a funeral and the
feeling of being there. How homey and how free it is. How
it is like a family gathering...
–Gabby
We can’t show the Hmong butcher
shop because it would be too hard to show all the hanging
carcasses and blood. And also there would be no butcher to
explain why things are done the way they are. And we would
not be able to show a Hmong funeral, because we would not
have a dead body or rooster with its head cut off.
–Mariah
We certainly can not show butchering
. I don’t think kids would like the killing part.
–Pakou
When people start knowing Shamanism,
they say this culture is very weird. It will be hard to explain
Shamanism good.
We can’t really show them the camps in Laos. Unless
somebody has pictures of their memories. I’d think it’s
way too sad to remember their memories. I just think the Hmong
wouldn’t like their bad memories back.
–Cristina
There are quite a few important things
that we won’t be able to show. It would be difficult
to get a whole entire village into the small space that’s
available to the exhibit. Another thing that’s hard
to get into the exhibit is the fighting and shooting of soldiers
as the Hmong crossed the Mekong River. A lot of kids think
that shooting is fun, but it was scary for the Hmong in real
life. But if we make it so people feel how the Hmong felt,
it would be too scary for young kids. A room about a Hmong
person would be hard, because we don’t want to leave
anybody out. If we did traditional it would leave out Christian,
and if we did Christian, traditional would be left out.
–Maggie
|
