The Story Behind "ABCs in Arabic"

Earlier this week, the San Mateo Daily journal published my story "Learning the ABCs in Arabic," a profile of the only Muslim pre-school and kindergarten in San Mateo County (it is also the county's only Muslim school, period). I received a lot of great feedback on this piece, but my favorite email was from Abeer Elafifi, the Muslim Children Garden's director. She wrote:

"Just to let you know that everyone thought it was well written and really loved it. I can't thank you enough. May Allah (God) give you the best in this life and the life after."

I try very hard to separate my desire to be liked from my desire to be a good journalist, but I can't deny that I was touched by Abeer's email. It was difficult to write a story that described the unique parts of MCG's educational experience while not making the subjects appear overly exotic. The truth is that MCG is just like any other kindergarten/pre-K in so many ways, but the elements that set it apart are the things that make it special. I spent a lot of time on this story trying to strike the right balance with the "familiar vs. foreign" tone, wanting to simultaneously engage the public while staying true to the spirit of the school. I don't know if I fully succeeded, but I was fairly happy with the result.

Working on this story made me wonder why the Bay Area's Muslim community doesn't get more coverage by the local media. As Abeer notes in this piece, the community is young but also strong, and it seems strange that MCG hasn't been covered before. The Daily Journal is no New York Times, but hopefully this story will raise awareness of Muslims in San Mateo County and increase their visibility in the local media.