Thursday, April 30, 2009

joy luck club 1

The first section of this book was confusing and, dare I say, mildly annoying because of all the symbolism. I honestly do not seethe point in using it ever and think that things should just be described straight up. I do, however, see their references to the game of mah jongg. The colors are all symbolic and more similarities and symbolism lie in that there are four ladies that play the game. In doing so they each represent the four directions north, south, east, and west. The fact that they play this game in midst of all this peril tells me that they play it to escape their worldly troubles and that it is a very popular past time during this period. I also do not understand why the daughter wants to know her mothers life story so badly. This is going to sound really bad, but why does she care so much ? Obviously her mother is withholding information for a specific reason and she should respect that. Who knows? Maybe it is to keep from hurting her. I am sure the book will progress nicely and I might get into it as we move along but right now, I do not really enjoy it.

amy tan

This packet on Amy Tan was really very interesting. In it, she seems to talk a lot about coincidence and fate, and in my opinion, thinks too strongly that these things run her life. She seems to simply accept the “inexplicable” in a way and go along with it. She believes that ghosts talk to her and that she finds a deeper meaning that others do not see. I hate to be so blunt and pessimistic, but I don’t at all feel that the things she says she feels and sees are anything special. People, in my opinion, only see as much as they want, and if they open their eyes to the bigger picture and choose to really take things in, anyone can “see” as much as Amy Tan does. Personally, I do not believe in fate, everyone works to get where they are and controls their own future. As for coincidence, things often happen by accident, but it has nothing to do with fate or sign from a supreme being. It is simply just an occurrence.

Amy Tan

This was a really good packet to read about this woman who points out who has made an impact on her, which would be her mother. She also expresses her life and her imagination that she developed throughout her life, which I think influenced, her writing. I noticed that she likes to write about her experiences, good and bad and include them in her stories. I believe she keeps conscious about fate, especially hers. You can tell that shes been through some hard times in her life and that because she’s been through some tough situations that is the only way she can express herself in the best way she can. I think she simply wants her readers to connect with her and understand where exactly she’s coming from. There are not too many people who are believers in fate and she is trying to prove them that there are people who are believers and she for one is a good example. Although it’s a scary situation, there are people like Amy Tan in the world.

THe Joy Luck CLub Blog 1

Well apparently all they did at the San Francisco version of the Joy Luck Club was play Mah Jongg. They have a refference to the game where the author of the first story says that people came into the city from the East, West, North and South. In Mah Jongg one color or symbol represents all four directions. It seems that for the Joy Luck club for women were needed for four directions or for the number of players that is required fro Mah Jongg. Apparently the Joy Luck club would gather, bring lovely exotic dishes and would not say anything except Chinese phrases when taking a tile. The Joy Luck club will always play mah jongg for which I guess is why they were formed. There are a bunch of references in this story to Mah Jongg. Like the directions East, West, North and South.
I really liked this story because one it was well thought out and the plot was very good. Even though it was about war and how the Japanese tried to take what the Chinese had. It was still a pretty good story. And I am very interested in reading more of the Joy Luck Club.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Joyluck club

There were many references to the Mahjong game in this story of the book. For example, the title: "The Joy luck Club" is where a lot of women gather around and play Mahjong pretty much all day. If i were to write one sentence to explain the theme of the book, i would have to say that the story is about the life story of the mother's life story and trying to re-tell the interesting story of the mother's life. I'm both liking the story and disliking the story. I like the story because of the way that Amy Tan uses her descriptions and she really pulls me into the story when she brings in a this sort of mystical and spiritual sense to it when the women start to play Mahjong. I don't like the story because Amy Tan has a very different style of writing then I'm used to, and i think it's a little bit confusing. I think i would like to see the direction the story goes because i really like the mythical effect Amy Tan adds to the book. I hope the story of the mother's life really helps me like the story, and maybe everything will be explained in better detail later on in the book.

Amy Tan

This packet was really about the different unique experiences Amy Tan had with what she calls the "The unexplainable" or spirits. I feel that Amy Tan feels that fate is a part of everyone's life and that it plays a big role in everybody's life. Amy Tan's take on "unexplainable" events is that she doesn't let them fade her and she just sort of shrugs them off her shoulders and lets things flow on without interruption. My feelings on ghosts are heavily helped by a Discovery Channel show called "A Haunting". I myself have not experienced any encounters with any spirits, but i feel like there has to be some kind of world of the dead because people have been saying that there's a place people go to after death from thousands of years; and i think if there wasn't a place people go to after death then people wouldn't have brought it up randomly into their culture so freely, without any reason other then just to have it there. I believe that there are no coincidences or fate. I believe that God has a line of choices set up for everyone and which ever choices you make personally will effect your life permanently and will shape who you will decide to be as an adult later in life, but i feel like coincidences are very unlikely, because everything has some kind of meaning to it.
I’m not really sure if I like this story yet because it was kind of interesting, but so far it’s really weird and sort of confusing. There were lots of references to the game because the joy luck club is where all these women meet up to play mah jongg. From what I can tell so far if I had to write one sentence about the theme of this story it would be After her mother’s death a young woman takes her place playing mah jongg with her mother’s friends and begins to unravel her mother’s true story. I think I would like to read more of this story because, although I’m not really that interested in it, the story of this woman’s mother has intrigued me enough to want to keep reading to learn the story even if it’s one I don’t like. In order to tell if I really will like this book I will have to know about it and read more of the story.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Joy Luck Club -- Blog 1

Write 200 words about the first story/chapter in the book, "The Joy Luck Club." Consider what you learned about mah jongg in class. Did you see any references to the game and/or its symbols in the story? If you were to write one sentence explaining a theme of this story, what would it be? Did you like the story? Are you interested in reading more?

Monday, April 27, 2009

Amy Tan

This was a very interesting packet about the author Amy Tan and the strange incidents that have occurred in her life. The author has had many strange things happen to her- unexplained noises, lights turning off, etc. I think of her as a woman who would take in stride her ability to not draw conclusions off the bat. She is the kind of person who keeps an open mind and doesn’t let the mystery of these occurrences really bother her.  She has tried to speak to people about it, but her husband immediately wrote it off and her mother is convinced there are ghosts in her house. I have never had an experience with a ghost or spirit, but I believe that they exist and have the ability to communicate with us. I am a strong believer in fate. I believe that the universe is much too vast and complex for there to be no connection between people and events seeming to be just a coincidence. 

Amy Tan packet 1

Please read the packet you were given in class, then write a 200 word response. What does Amy Tan think about coincidences and fate? What is her take on what she calls "the inexplicable?" And what are your thoughts/experiences with "the inexplicable?" Do you believe in fate?

Friday, April 17, 2009

3 essays blog

I think all of these essays are about women being abused and about them being treated as in superior to men. In the first one her brothers, father, and even her mother and sister viewed the men as superior. They abused her sister and every other woman they met. The brothers were allowed to do anything they wanted and the girls were just expected to serve the men and then be married off. This was like the second one because she was the only daughter and was only sent to school because her father thought she could meet men there and get married. I didn’t like the first one at all, but the other two, even though in both people were sexist they both were happy inspirational stories. I loved how through all the years of her father not realizing her talent and potential for anything other marriage at the end after reading her story you could tell he was proud and finally realized who his daughter was and was amazed at her work and wanted everyone else in the family to see her work. Then in the last one even though she was very frustrated and annoyed that everyone assumed her husband had hit her, at least in this one her husband didn’t beat her and he agreed with her and no matter what other people believed they didn’t let it get to them.

Final Trafficking Article

This article, like all the others, identifies the hidden, frightening truth of human trafficking. Young girls, as early as 5th and 6th grade, are traveling dangerously through borders in order to find work. Some young children end up traveling alone, though an adult usually accompanies most. The fact that people are driving themselves to literally become slaves in order to find a way to live is incredibly sad and upsetting. Young girls are being raised to live under extreme living conditions, work long hours, and are subjecting themselves to sexual abuse, neglect, and illegal confinement- among other things. It is also upsetting to read about families who have a full understanding to what is happening to their children, yet do nothing about it and raise no awareness to the rising issue. The rights of these people have been completely stripped away from them and no one seems to care enough to help them out of their misery. This is an alarming neglect to the rights of human beings and a solution to this problem should be the priority of nations around the globe.

Rwanda Article

The fact that women in Rwanda are finally developing a voice in society is a huge feat for the rights of women, although they still have a little way to go until they reach total equality. In order to begin recovering from the genocide, Rwandans realized they needed a radical change in the way their government works. The only way they could exist peacefully and productively is if they tossed all prejudice aside and worked amongst each other as equals. I think this is a great example for other countries to follow by and appreciate. It sounds like this new change in power is having a very good outcome on the people of Rwanda and it seems like positive change should keep coming for them. The men in their country seem to have a few different opinions on the matter. Many men think that this is a great change and are hopeful for the future. Some, however, feel threatened by the new female majority and are afraid that if women get too powerful, they could take advantage of men and oppress them. I find this terribly ironic and have no sympathy for the men who say these things and happen to be the reason why women were and still are so oppressed and looked down upon in so many places in the world.

Togo Article

As I read this article, I continued to become more and more horrified and disgusted at the living situation that these poor people are subjected to. It bothered me even more that these terrible things are happening to many young children, especially girls. It is terrible that these young girls are being kidnapped and smuggled to different countries to do illegal labor work. What seems to be even more terrible, however, is that some families willingly sign their kids up to live through these events, not because they want to but because they must. I think this is such a rampant problem in areas such as the Togo because the poverty levels there are so dramatically high, people are turning to very desperate measures in order to have enough money just to hardly get by. In order to eradicate this domestic service nightmare, I believe that many countries need to start helping out the Togo government and others like them. It would be a lot of hard work and take a lot of energy from people, but I think that we have the power and ability to significantly change the lives of these people in a positive way and we should do the most we can to help.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

final trafficing article.

When I started reading this article i was expecting to read about little girls being shipped across the ocean to be in nail salons, the sex trafficking business, and other industries. When i got deep into the article, something caught my eye; and it was that they said girls were forced into marriage without even knowing it. I was shocked, because i didn't know people could do that. Also they were locking fifth and sixth grade girls in cages without food or water. In my opinion this is low, like lower than the nail salon and massage palor's thing. Mabey even the maid thing. When I say the maid "thing" I do not literally mean thing i mean the situaltion where girls are lockin in the basement and forced to clean houses and beaten. in this article the girls are locked in cages and not given any food or water.

3 Essays Blog

I really don’t know what to say about the first essay. I guess it’s about family life during the old school days where once again men think their so good and all. It just like showing what women and men go through and how sometimes when one of your brothers or sibling are bad it doesn’t mean all of them or something like that. I didn’t understand it at all, or what message it was trying to convey to me or to whoever read it.

The second essay is about a young women who went through life kind of being looked down upon by her father and brothers who think the only thing she is good for is getting married to some man. And through her life the writer was always told to use her head and not her hands. And when she returned one Christmas day to her home she found her father in bed reading a book she had written and said that they would need more copies to give the relatives. It seems that was the best things that ever happened to her. Now what this is saying, is that while some people might look down on you sometimes, but when it comes down to it and you become successful they still love you.

The third essay was about a woman who had a black eye and how people were interested in that. It’s saying that people were interested in colors and what not and that junk. It seems that people will immideiatly get the impression that you have been beaten by a husband or lover. It really shows how violent people are these days.

Final Trafficking Article

I am surprised that parents might traffic their own kids if it simply suits their own needs. This article also showed me how screwed up the world is. Children under the age of fourteen have to leave home because of numerous overlapping factors and brought into the worlds second largest wealthiest business. But the money doesn’t go to the workers. Oh, no, it goes to the pimps and other control freaks who think of themselves as gods. A lot of girls and children are even married off to some fat lard that can’t find a woman because one he doesn’t work for it and 2 thinks he can beat the women whenever he wants. A lot of children are drawn into this business when they are either alone or sometimes even at home, but they just have to be vulnerable. A lot of fifth and sixth graders are drawn into this business because of either drugs, trouble at home or they don’t have a home. What really amazes is that these evil people who traffic these young people go to such lengths to ensure that they will keep their own hides at the end of the day. This business is completely selfish.

Rwanda Article

I think that the situation in Rwanda where the women are the majority and run the country is a nice change. I also find it very unique because not many places in the world, especially in that area of the world, have more women then men running the country. Also, I think this is good because it can most-likely give women a better chance of getting equal treatment. Women are now more or less running Rwanda because they need more opportunities in getting a job and being able to support their family without the help of men. I think that the men in Rwanda find it unfair that the women have more rights and have more political power then men. The fact that women run the country, and they want to give women to have more rights is working, but it might be a problem if the men feel emasculated in a way; because they might want to protest, or retaliate in some way.

Togo Article

This article really opened my eyes to the horrors of human trafficking. At first I knew that people would be kidnapped, addicted to drugs and sometimes even killed. But now I see it in a broader perspective. I didn’t know that even children were taken away and beaten and kept in slave-like conditions. I honestly had no idea that it wasn’t just prostitution or sexual slavery. What surprised me was that men and kids are also taken away and used for things that some people are just too lazy to do. Some kids are just used for vacuuming and cleaning which someone can legally hire someone to do it for them, but I guess people just love their money more than human life. Also people have their passports taken away and when their loved ones are going crazy trying to find them, the person who was trafficked can’t even call them to rest their weary souls. What amazed me is that some people kind of volunteer for this kind of things. While I do admire the bravery and selflessness that it requires someone to do this for their family. But it also shocks me is that parents even give their kids away for this kind of thing.

Final Trafficking article

I started reading this article expecting to hear about little girls from all over the world being shipped across the ocean to be in massage parlors, nail salons, and the sex trafficking business. When i started getting deep into the article, something caught my eye; and it was that they said girls were forced into marriage without even knowing it. I was shocked, because i didn't think people could do that, and just be fine with locking fifth and sixth grade girls in cages without food. In my opinion, i think that Thailand and China need to enforce their laws a lot more. If I were the leader of China or Thailand i would try to stop these immigrants from being put into terrible situations with no water, and little food. These countries need to start making a change in their streets by at least trying to step up and keep these children from being put into helpless situations with no support, and no money.

3 essays blog

The three essays that we were assigned to read were all different experiences in the lives of women who came from different cultural backgrounds, but basically told the same story. Since the beginning of time women have been considered the weaker sex, and the stories that we read only prove that these feeling are not completely gone. The first story talks about how sexism trickles down from generation to generation, the author tells of how her father treated her and her sister differently from her brothers, and didn’t show much respect for the opposite sex by condoning her brothers promiscuous behavior while completely banning her sister from even meeting up with boys. The second essay tells of how the author’s father thought that she would end up as nothing but somebody’s wife, just because she was a girl, and how the author felt that she constantly had to prove herself to him academically. The third essay depicts a different scenario completely, as the author tells of how a mere black eye brought everyone to the assumption that she had been beaten by her spouse. All in all, the purpose of all of these essays are to prove that women are not as weak, stupid, or helpless as many would think, and that sexism still finds a way into our society and daily lives.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

3 essays response

I think the one thing these three essays have in common, is the fact that the men and people in these three different stories underestimate the abilities these women have and it's truly ashame. The first essay shows that the men can't trust the women or better yet they don't want to trust to which is really crazy. I personally think that they just don't want the females to have fun at all and want them to suffer and have to look after everything all the time and that can get tiring. With the second story,it's weird that the father would just focus so much of his time on his son's that the only thing that he is concerned about her is that she go to college and find a husband, not go to college and get a masters or something like that. I personally don't find that important. The people in the third story don't believe the woman's reason for her injury, they just assume that a man put his hands on her. I think that right there they either believe that if a man did put his man on her it was her fault, which is not the case. People just assume so many things and make it harder for women to achieve things in life. Men are constantly putting women down or at least trying to. It doesn't matter what race we are they will do it anyway.

Rwanda Article

I actually found the Rwanda article somewhat surprising. I thought it was surprising based on the events that have happened in Rwanda and the state that it is in following them. I think the thing that surprised me the most was not the fact that women had taken such a large role within the government, but it seemed to be managing things a lot better. Like I said the recent events in Rwanda have had such a tremendous impact on the people as well as the land. It would be pretty safe to assume that because 55 percent of the country is female, that would be an understandable reason as to why one-third of the Rwandan government would be run by women. I thought it was also pretty cool to see how accepting men are of the situation and how they feel as though their leadership is working better than their past male leaders. Although it is small, it seems as if a lot of progress is being made to help the situation in Rwanda. It seems as if it is working because there are so many women in the country and therefore it is easier for the women within the government to know how to act on what they do.

3 Articles

I thought that the three articles were all very interesting. I thought each were different because of the language and the time in which it was written. In fact, I thought the coolest thing about each of these articles was the difference in each woman’s language whether it was Alice Walker’s southern family in the 70s, Sandra Cisneros Mexican-American family in the 90s or Jane Slaughter’s Detroit family in the late 80s; each story had its own tone. However, I thought that there were numerous similarities, the main ones generally being about family. The main thing I noticed with the first two was that there were a lot of brothers so their fathers are very hard to impress. I think the main theme I noticed would have to be the how each woman overcomes an obstacle that is centered around the men in their life. An example for each one would be would be how Alice Walker ends up being the responsible adult that none of her brothers turned out to be despite her father’s doubts of the woman she would become. Sandra Cisneros left for college and was still able to please her father despite his ideas. And Jane Slaughter was able to get by the rumors or thoughts of her husband speculated by her peers, due to her black eye, or “beaut.”

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Rwanda Article

Amazingly women in the tiny African country of Rwanda have finally stepped up and taken power. Women now run the show. They have seats in congress and they can have just about any job they want to. Rwanda has banished archaic patriarchal laws that are enforced in just about the rest of Africa. In recent years the ratio of women to men, making women the dominant sex in this small country. In 1994, genocide occurred where 800,000 people were killed and over killed and raped. Then the population of Rwanda then become 70% women. Then a new constitution was introduced in 2003 where 30% of all parliament and cabinet seats had to be women. And then right next to Rwanda a sexual violence ravaged Congo. Where there is no law and there is no order. And then even some women legislatures and cabinet seats were raped, threatened and one was murdered. And out of 222 lawyers or lawmakers only a few are women.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Rwanda Article

I think that the situation in Rwanda where the women are the majority and run the country is a nice change. I also find it very unique because not many places in the world, especially in that area of the world, have more women then men running the country. Also, I think this is good because it can most-likely give women a better chance of getting equal treatment. Women are now more or less running Rwanda because they need more opportunities in getting a job and being able to support their family without the help of men. I think that the men in Rwanda find it unfair that the women have more rights and have more political power then men. The fact that women run the country, and they want to give women to have more rights is working, but it might be a problem if the men feel emasculated in a way; because they might want to protest, or retaliate in some way.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Women in Rwanda article

Its nice to see that women are starting to stand up for themselves and stop letting the guys do everything. There starting to do what guys were doing all the time. before women couldn't even do half of the things tat we can do today. girls are now running for president witch is good. They are standing up for what they believe in and being heard from people that once didn't care and now they have those people on there side. this makes me feel wonderful and proud that women have accomplished something that was once hopeless. this is definitely a working progress. i hope that it stills keep going cause we should never be looked upon as a slave.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

rwanda article

In my opinion it is a good thing that they have those laws in Rwanda and that women are finally being recognized for all that they can do. Also that they are finally getting the respect they deserve. Even though some of it is because it is the law a lot of it is because people actually respect women more now. Women started "running" the country because it is now a law that at least 30% of Parliament has to be female and now they have 56 seats in Parliament so they are the majority. In my opinion it is working VERY well. Some men are still being ignorant about things and saying that women could now oppress men because they are the majority. But some men are being open minded and actually looking at the big picture and think that women are "more reasonable, more merciful, and less corrupt than men."

togo article

This was not the first time that I have heard about human trafficking in Africa, among other places in the world, I was shocked to how young some of the girls where. When I hear the words “human trafficking” my mind automatically jumps to forced prostitution. The article tells the story of a girl who had been working as a maid since she was nine years old, and how she was abused and mistreated. The fact that so many of these girls have to go through such horrible mess during their lives while still being so young breaks my heart. In my opinion, the main cause of all of this is the poverty that these people live in, because the few cents a day that they make is what they must survive with, they will take any job they can find for themselves or their daughters, just to support their families. They don’t have the time or luxury of even thinking of the horrible things that might happen to them, leaving home to work for a stranger. I think that this problem might be solved if more jobs start to appear, a union for housekeepers might help as well, and the police and law makers cracking down on abusive employers.

Final trafficking article -- READ BY THURSDAY!!!

Please read the following summary of a Save the Children report and write a 200 word blog about it. Focus on the section regarding trafficking. Please be prepared, on Thursday, to ask informed questions. Most importantly -- why is this something to think about in a class about women in history and literature?


Small Dreams Beyond Reach: The Lives of Migrant Children and Youth Along the Borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand
Therese M. Caouette
A Participatory Action Research Project of Save the Children (UK) and the UK Department for International Development / 2001

The majority of cross-border migrants from China and Myanma into Thailand were young, came from rural areas, and had little or no formal education. Along all the borders, young people began migrating on their own at about the age of thirteen. Some children under that age also migrate on their own, though most are accompanied by parents or relatives.

The decision to migrate is complex and usually involves numerous overlapping factors. Children and youth did not give one reason exclusively, but an explanation that included economic survival, war, refuge, government policies, personal problems, and envisioned opportunities abroad. The majority of migrants first explained their move to find work as necessary for their daily survival.

Migrants travelled a number of routes that changed frequently according to their political and economic situation. The vast majority crossed without documentation and even those with travel permits often stayed beyond their expiration or did not abide by the restrictions placed on their visit, with the ultimate result of being identified as illegal immigrants.

Generally, migrants leave their homes not knowing what kind of job they will find abroad and even when they think they know, they often find it is not what they expected. The actual jobs available to migrants were very gender specific. Migrant girls and women sought jobs in factories, shops and restaurants, sex work (direct or indirect), the entertainment industry, or as domestic workers (cleaning and care taking). Male migrants found jobs in the fishing and agricultural industries or as manual day laborers or construction workers.

Though the living and working conditions of cross-border migrants vary according to the place, job, and employer, nearly all study participants noted their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse without protection or redress. The study revealed extensive debt-bondage, sexual abuse, illegal confinement, confiscation of documents, arrest and extortion, forced overtime, few basic resources, and poor accommodations that were overcrowded, insecure, and often violent. Sexual abuse was commonly reported among girls and young women, particularly among those involved in sex work and domestic service.

Trafficking of persons, predominantly children and youth, was common at all sites. The majority of young women and children were trafficked into sex work, marriage, domestic work, or begging. It was found that the majority of girls from migrant communities along the Thai-Myanmar border left their border villages for jobs further inside Thailand. Typically, girls were recruited during the fifth and sixth grade. Trafficking into marriage was also frequently reported by girls and young women from minority communities in Northern Shan State, who often were forced into marriages deeper in China. Many domestic workers from Myanmar also reported being trafficked into domestic work and forced into arrangements and conditions without their knowledge or agreement. Trafficking of young children and babies was reported from Myanmar into China.

Migrants frequently considered their options and opportunities to return home. For many, the decision to return revolved around issues of security and logistics. Discriminatory attitudes towards those who have migrated, especially girls and young women, made the reintegration process extremely difficult, often resulting in further migration.

Though many acknowledge that growing numbers of children and youth migrate with or without their families, there is little awareness of their concerns and needs and extremely few interventions undertaken to reach them.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Homework, due 4/7

Please go to the following website and pick three countries along the left-side. Read what it says about human trafficking in the areas you choose, and write 3 questions for each country (so a total of 9 questions!).
http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates

NPR Story on Human Trafficking

Please click on the following link and listen to the story about human trafficking. Write down 3 questions you have that you could ask our speaker on Thursday.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102705618

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Rwanda Response

In a way I think it's a good thing that women have the freedom to become what they want to be in their country after many years of being extremely limited to what they could do in their future other than being a mother and a housewife. they had to deal with many years of rape and were criticized on what they could do and were pretty much often told that the only that they are good for is to have babies and cook. I don't think that they appreciated the men getting all the attention for the "hardwork" that they do and not realize whathardwork women have to put up with and that they don't live an easy life either. But now that things have changes around a bit alot of men arent too happy with this new change. Alot of them don't agree that the women in their country have careers and are making more money than them. The men are just flat out jealous of them because they think that now women are on control of their own life that they might control theirs and that's not the case of this matter.

Togo response

I actually was surprised by this article because I expected something much sadder and worse. I’m not saying this isn’t sad because it is it’s just that I already knew stuff like this happened and I also know there are a lot worse things that happen to children in Africa. It’s also a lot worse for the girls who are beaten and sexually abused daily. In fact I’ve read stories about these types of things happening to slaves here during our civil war and, although it’s a lot less common now days it does still sometimes happen here still. I don’t know why this might be a particular problem in Togo because everything I know about Togo was in this article, but usually the way these things happen is because of poverty and prejudices, both just in families and throughout whole countries. I don’t think this would be anywhere near as big a problem if poverty and prejudices weren’t that big a problem. Of course both and these things would still exist, but these things would be rarer and unlikely to happen if there weren’t big problems with prejudices and poverty and if prejudice and poverty didn’t exist then I think this would barely exist too. The whole world has yet to find a solution for prejudice and poverty and I’m only 14, so I have no idea how to solve these things and like I said before if prejudice and poverty didn’t exist these things practically wouldn’t either.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Togo Response

I feel that this is such a serious situation and I honestly feel bad for the little girl who has to go through that. I mean, no child, male or female should have to experience something so horrific that they have to run away just to be safe. I almost cried. It’s just really sad that they treat girls as young as 10 this way. Prostitution is a horrible thing and I honestly didn’t know that that was human trafficking. It’s bad enough that they have to be put to work and don’t get much in the end but a terrible beating from their owners. It’s completely different to how kids like us are treated in America, which is nowhere near this. I think that this is a problem in this country because they have such huge families in Africa and the parents normally can’t afford much for their kids sake so the kids have do whatever they can to get money and they’re not even receiving anything. But in reality, all they’re doing is suffering really badly over there and I don’t even understand why they are sexually abusing these girls for no reason. I think a way to stop this horrible matter is if we Americans just help them out and come against this situation so that way these poor young girls will be set free.