Hands up for Henna.

Hands up for Henna by Adrienne Jansen

School Journal Part 4, Number 2 2002.

WALT: Skim and scan the text for key information and make inferences.

Success Criteria: I can locate the key information in the text.

I can use information found in the text and make my own conclusions about this information.

Answer the following questions in red:

Looking at the images on the front page, what do you think Henna is? I think Henna is a girl because it says hands for henna and on the picture I can see the hands is girls hands.  Why do you think this? The reason I think this is because girls always paint there hands to make it pretty.

What do the words dramatic and decoration mean? The word decoration mean is that they are making them self look nice and they are decoration it for something special like a birthday party. The word Dramatic mean is when people goes to overboard of something like if they are driving and they were meant to go and park at the spot they were meant and they, just when past it that means dramatic to overboard.

Why has Henna been used for hundreds of years in Somalia? Because it is a traditional thing for there country and they have been used for years and years. Henna has been used for special things over and over again because that is part of there country and that is what they always put on them.

Where is the Henna imported from The henna is imported from Saudi Arabia., why do they not just purchase it in New Zealand? The reason they don’t import it from New Zealand is because it is difficult to buy from the one they are using today.

What does the Henna powder feel like? The powder feels gritty rather than sand because when they press it down really hard it feels really sore because it is taking for long and also it really hard to make it straight that why they press it hard. What substance has the writer compared Henna to? It is compared to black duy and mud thats how is it compared to it.

Why do you think it took so long to draw the outlines for the Henna? The reason it took 2 hours is because they have to make the line straight to go in the right order and try to don’t make it messy and also they have to do it really carefully.

What does the writer mean when he says “painstakingly begins to fill the outlines on Asli’s feet”? Painstakingly means that when they press the henna into the girls hands it is really hard and it feels really painstakingly. Everyone sometimes have painstakingly is because sometimes they trip over and fall and they have are sore on there feet.

What type of traditional elements does the outlines include? (refer to the images) What they include is Flowers, Sand, Mud and also black duy. The reason they use black duy is because it can turn black to it make it black.

What do they use when applying the Henna? They use the henna for special thing like birthday party and when they go somewhere special they can just do it for fun.  For what purpose do they use this instead of a small stick? What they used instead of a stick is they just put the henna in something and just  squeezing it into there hand and they just think of what pattern they can draw on her hand.

Wednesday:

What does Asli have to do after the Henna has been applied to her skin? After you have done the Henna you have to put on baby oil on so it can be smooth and shiny when it finish. The reason they put on baby oil is because it looks better and clean and even more better.

Henna has an ‘earthy’ smell, describe what you think this smells like? I think the Henna smells like the gas that they used for the car or properly it smell really good thats why they keep on using it all the time.

Baby oil is rubbed into the skin after the Henna has been applied, for what reason do you think they do this? The reason they used baby oil after they used Henna is because to make it look shiny and clean so it can stand out. What they have to do before they put on the baby oil is that they have to wait until it drys before they put it on incase they might ruin it.

How did Asli’s school friends previously react when she last had Henna? Asli’s friends said cool but the boys said what happen to your hands. One of her friends dyed her hair with Henna.

How was Asli’s sister having fun? The reason Asli’s is having fun is because she just likes to yours the Henna just to draw some crazy pattern on her arm. Is this different to the type of fun you have. How does your activity of fun and Asli’s sisters differ? It is different type to us is because some of our country doesn't have these kind of things so our type of fun is really really cool like playing outside.

What is Henna? The Henna is what you put on there skin when you go somewhere special like birthday parties that is what the henna is for or sometimes they just put it on for fun. The Henna is a really special thing for there country because they always put it on because they think it looks really cool when they put it on.

Will the tradition of Henna continue? The tradition of henna will always continue because it is really special for them and they will always use it all the time when they go somewhere. It will always be use every single time and it will never finish until when the Henna it all finish and which they have to get some more Henna.

Thursday / Friday

Henna is seen as being traditional, can you elaborate and find examples in the text of how it is traditional? Henna has been used for body adornment for thousand of years in Somalia.

In what countries do they use Henna? Somalia , middle east, north africa and India.

Do you think because Henna is used on the skin it is encouraging people to get Tattoo’s why / why not? No because it is a body decoration also it is a traditional ink for Somalias.

Would you recommend henna to be used by men/ women or both? What is your reasoning for this? Only women and girls because reading back through the story the boys at her school says what happened to your hands.

Write a step by step set of instructions at to how Henna is applied. What they do first is dig mud and put it into a bowl and then add water and you just stir it until it smooth. The 2nd thing you do is that you have to add Hair dye and tea to make the last colour of it so it can turn black and that is how you make the Henna.