Some 2.5 million Muslim faithful from all over the world descended on Mecca this year despite heavy flooding from recent torrential rains.

An impressive collection of photographs of this year’s Hajj and observance of Eid al-Adha—which comes at the end of the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca—can be found on the Boston Globe’s website. Link here.

Prayer time in the Abobo district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Join Nic Esposito of Mighty Writers and the Urban Nutrition Initiative for a storytelling corner at the Clark Park Market in West Philadelphia beginning this Sat., 10am to 2pm.

Readers will be asked to read for 30 minutes at a time, entertaining West Philly children while giving their parents the space to shop for produce. Kids will enjoy the tales of Roald Dahl, Madeline L’Engle, Jerry Spinelli and other children’s writers. They will be able to contribute a poem or a picture to the Mighty Writers Sign-In Book, thereby becoming an official Mighty Writer!

Interested volunteers can attend the events planning meeting at the home of Dana Henry on Wednesday, June 3 at 6:30. Email for her address: danahenry65@yahoo.com.

Volunteers who cannot attend the meeting are also welcome to look for the Mighty Writers storytelling corner at Clark Park Market at 43rd and Baltimore. The Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI Farm stand) is located toward the middle of the market, and the storytelling corner will be setting up near the statue of Charles Dickens.

Shout-out to Studio 34!

Last night Mighty Writers hosted their first Storytelling event at Studio 34 on Baltimore Avenue in West Philly.

Joined by friends, tutors, writers and readers, it was a kick-off to an exciting summer of tutoring, writing and events at our new South Philadelphia location at 15th and Christian!

The evening featured stories by students, writers and storytelling luminaries. Philadelphia was the theme and the tales of the city inspired the crowd.

CHAD students and their teacher, Melissa Donner, read a piece about a ruined marriage, a child’s place in divorce and the struggles that can make Philadelphia challenging.

Crime novelist Anthony Bruno provided the chilling back story for his book “The Iceman,” taking the audience to maximum-security prisons as he told of his research process.

Leo Koorhan, a 15-year-old magician with a quick tongue and highly developed skills, took the stage at intermission. Leo chose Mighty Writers Program Director Rachel Loeper and the two Esposito brothers to perform his final tricks. Young as he is, Leo has learned the performer’s secret: leave the audience wanting more.

For the second half, Ingrid Wiese took the mic with a candid piece on her comic affairs with local residents. Winner of the 2009 Philadelphia Story Slam, Wiese is a crowd favorite.

Nicolas Esposito closed things with a homage to South Philadelphia. His heartfelt essay ended with a call for Philadelphians to start talking about their experiences in the city. He promised more storytelling events intended to highlight such stories.

Special thanks to Eve Nikolova for our beautiful flyers, Studio 34 for their space, Barefoot Wineries for the libations, Metro Bakery and Joanna Schwartz for the tasty spread and all the volunteers who shaped the evening.

As we plan our fall programming, please stay posted for further news on this site and on our Facebook page.