Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti, assistant=20 superintendent for Amador County Unified School District and a = creative=20 writing instructor for the Gifted And Talented Education program, = has=20 published a book called "Poems of Peace: Darfur and Beyond." The = poems=20 address one of the worst humanitarian disasters happening in the = world=20 today.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson
The images are rarely seen on = television -=20 the droves of frightened, starving refugees huddled in rags and praying = their=20 lives won't be swallowed by the terrifying violence that's engulfed = Darfur. With=20 organizations like Human Rights Watch to UNICEF battling for public = awareness, a=20 teacher from Amador County is following suit, raising the issue of the = Darfur=20 catastrophe while at the same time showing her students that their = creative=20 energy can help change the world.

Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti has = been=20 interested in the global problems of violence and poverty since her = college days=20 at University of California, Los Angeles. A lifetime literature fanatic, = the=20 teacher turned assistant superintendent for the Amador Unified School = District=20 has published a new book of verse entitled, "Poems of Peace: Darfur and = Beyond."=20 With works like "Third World Mother" and "Oblivious," Chapin-Pinotti = gives voice=20 to both the invisible Sudanese victims, of which the death toll stands = at=20 200,000, and the far-off American observer who often struggles with = feelings of=20 helplessness.

"The poems actually didn't take that long to = write,"=20 Chapin-Pinotti said of the project. "My focus was really on how they = would work=20 to educate people about what's happening. I think education is the key, = because=20 when people understand the magnitude of what's really happening in = places like=20 Darfur, Sierra Leone and Uganda -how much the people are suffering - = they=20 usually want to do something to make a difference."

In addition = to more=20 than 60 poems, Chapin-Pinotti's book on Darfur also ends with a short,=20 reflective essay called "Parting Words." The moving sign-off implores = her=20 readers to celebrate what they have as Americans without guilt or = regret, yet=20 never let cloud the responsibility they have to care for their fellow = human=20 beings in Africa and other struggling places. "These things that are = happening=20 over there, like the famine and killing and 2 million people displaced = from=20 their homes, unusually end up on the back pages of the newspapers,"=20 Chapin-Pinotti observed. "I don't think we should feel bad about what we = have=20 here, or that we should ignore the poverty that exists in our own = county, but we=20 can't pretend these things aren't going on anymore. Right now an entire=20 generation of Sudanese will be raised in refugee camps."

As a = creative=20 writing teacher for the Gifted And Talented Education program, = Chapin-Pinotti=20 has shared with her students not only her passion for third-world = causes, but=20 her strong belief that literature and art can be vehicles for becoming = engaged=20 in what Charles Dickens called "the business of mankind." She currently = teaches=20 novel writing classes for fourth- through 12th-graders in G.A.T.E., and = she=20 stresses that they should get involved in issues that concern them, as = well as=20 imagine big about the possibility of using their literary skills to = engage those=20 same issues. "I have some incredibly talented students that are = interested in=20 reading, writing and expressing themselves creatively," she said. "One = great=20 thing about getting my book published was that it shows them not to = listen to=20 people who say they can't accomplish the things they want to accomplish. = I hope=20 they'll see that if they have their minds set on something, they're free = to=20 believe in themselves and just do it."

With "Poems of Peace: = Darfur and=20 Beyond" now on sale at local and regional book stores, Chapin-Pinotti = hopes=20 adults who read it take as much interest in affecting positive change in = the=20 world as her students have. She points out that with all the luxuries = Americans=20 enjoy, even the slightest sacrifices can have a huge impact in the lives = of=20 others. "I'm not one of those people who thinks Americans shouldn't buy = things=20 and enjoy themselves," said Chapin-Pinotti. "I just think we can all = come up=20 with little ways to help. For most people, even skipping one latte a = week and=20 putting the money aside for some cause, whether it's in Africa or those=20 struggling in our own country, can do more than we realize. By being = aware and=20 trying in our own ways to do something about poverty and violence and = genocide,=20 it make us better people."

"Poems of Peace: Darfur and Beyond" = is on=20 sale at Bubble Gum Book Store in Sutter Creek and Borders in Folsom.=20

People

Dreamers lie awake at = night

And=20 search the midnight sky

Lovers dance above these = dreams

Never=20 asking why

Players dip into the heart

And game upon the=20 soul

Do'ors are most anyone

Who know not to say = no.

-=20 Elizabeth Chapin-Pinotti, from "Poems of Peace: Darfur and = Beyond"

Scott Thomas = Anderson