Deo - the main character in the book - leaves frantically with his family but soon finds himself alone and struggling to survive. The reader is never sure where Deo was fleeing from, but we know he makes it to the Lukole Refugee Camp in West Africa. 

Deo's story in The Banana-Leaf Ball is based on a true story.

Benjamin had to flee his home country of Burundi in 1993 when conflict broke out. His journey to Lukole was much like Deo's. While he reunited with his father and some cousins in Lukole, his mother and sister did not survive. 

It would be through an organization called Olympic Aid, now Right to Play, that Benjamin would work through his grief and start connecting with his new community. 

Benjamin eventually made it back home. Understanding the power football has to bring kids together, he began coaching. He is now working for the very organization that renewed his life. 

Professional football (soccer) is the most popular sport worldwide. Aside from the estimated 3.5 billion fans, the 2006 World Cup collected 30 billion viewers (accumulated viewing audience across multiple games).​

Where communication and cultural differences create barriers, football forms bridges! The Banana-Leaf Ball by Katie Smith Milway is a poignant story that shows the power one sport can have to bring people together.

But, it's not the only story!

​The Panyee FC in Thailand is another example. This 5 minute video shares the incredible ingenuity a group of young boys had to form their own football club and build their own pitch; on the water!

The Right To Play's mission is: "To protect, educate and empower children to rise above adversity using the power of play."

We all face adversity, it is one of many things that unite us all. While there are many ways to respond to adversity, maybe we should consider the power play can have to rise above it.

Belonging at school is a critical component of student success, academically, socially, and emotionally. However, across the globe, students have been reporting experiencing lower rates of belonging in recent years. Upon reading this, the questions for educators are as follows: How exactly does a student’s sense of belonging impact their life in and out of school? How do I know if my students feel like they belong at school? What can we do to foster a sense of belonging in all of our students? Let’s address those questions now.  

Jacqueline Woodson is one of Cultured Kids’ favorite children’s book authors. I will openly claim a bias. However, regardless of our preferences, I do believe many children’s literature professionals would agree with me.

Woodson’s skill as a writer has proven itself through the extensive collection she has produced for all ages. Although, it is not her skill per se that causes us to use her literature in our programs and curricula.
 
Jacqueline Woodson’s work has a depth to it that is hard to find. Her soulful work reaches out of the book pages and grabs ahold of children’s hearts.
 
Cultured Kids uses literature as a tool to support positive identity development, empathy, and sense of belonging. We search for these themes in books. Our goal is not to teach children what they mean, but to help children internalize and exemplify them in their own lives. Woodson’s books transform the reader, and quite simply, expand our impact.