Social Awareness Project

My Mother in Mali

My mom is currently in Mali. I interviewed her over email about what she does for Unicef and what the situation is like in Mali.

Me: Who is in charge in Mali?

Mom: Well, in 2012 a terrorist group in Bamako, the capital city, took over and overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré. They appointed new officials but the north was taken over by many different military groups.

Me: What kinds of groups?

Mom: Everything from small bands of armed men and boys defending their own land to Jihadi rebels who have linked themselves to Al Queda and other terrorist groups worldwide. The northern area of the country is in anarchy.  Militia firefights break out constantly.

Me: What is the situation with children?

Mom: Children here have it bad. Most families are in poverty because of draught and famine. Diseases kill many children every day in Mali and few have an education. There is a hunger crisis and many children are homeless. It is a huge issue.

Me: What is the deal with child soldier is Mali?

Mom: In northern Mali, families often cell their children to militant groups for money to buy food with. These kids can be anywhere from 10 to 15 and can be bought for as little as $600. Also, some kids fight with their fathers to protect land and villages.

                               This interview reminded me of how good kids in America lives are. In Mali, your own family could sell you to a militant group where you might be killed for money so that they could eat. You most likely wouldn’t have an education or learn to read or write. Your family would probably be in poverty and you would be hungry most days with very little to eat. Life would not be as good as it is now, so remember and be thankful for what you have because children all over the world need help and wish they could have a life ½ as good as yours.

Source - -Elizabeth Kiem, 11/24/12

Misplaced Hate

Here I am

Beneath his boot

His cold dark heart

Colder than the deep bone

On a frosty winters night

But beneath each frost

Lies a spring bloom

Where buds grow fast

And tree flowers boom

I believe

The idea is similar

To the cold dark heart

From that cold dark winter

For every snowflake

There is a light bud

For every white night

There is a bright red cardinal

In wonderful flight

For every bully

There is a friend

One who cares and loves

The way that anyone can

Beneath each person’s hard outer shell

Lies a tender soul

That rings like a church bell

One that wants to be a friend

Reading Response on:

When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw & Other Stories

                               “When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw & Other Stories” is one of my all time favorite books. Supposedly, Fiddler on The Roof is actually based on these stories. I thought it was a great book to write my social awareness reading response on because a lot of the stories have to do with class barriers and bullying.

                               Throughout the entire book others pick on Shlemiel. In yidish, Shlemiel means “idiot” to some extent.  I think that the way he is picked on can be seen in modern day society too. For example, when Shlemiel is going to Warsaw he stops outside of a blacksmith shop to sleep for the night and points his boots towards Warsaw so that when he wakes up he knows where to go. The blacksmith decides to pull a prank on Shlemiel by switching the direction of his shoes when he was asleep. Shlemiel ends up walking back to his hometown rather than towards Warsaw. This sort of bullying happens all the time in modern times. Often people will give mis-information and it can result in a much bigger problem.

                               The reason I think that this book portrays bullying really well is because of what happens when he gets back to his hometown. He believes that it is a second Chelm, the town he is from, which is between Warsaw and the first Chelm. When he arrives everyone thinks he has gone mad because he keeps saying that all the people in the town look like the people from his Chelm but are actually copies of people in his Chelm. That one little prank pulled by the Blacksmith caused a huge problem. In fact, he was sent to the poorhouse because everyone in the town thought he had gone mad.

                               This book is so much fun to read.  I have read at least four times and I think it teaches a great message. No matter how small or funny a prank may seem or no matter how small that trick seemed it can cause huge problems for people and this book portrays that perfectly. 

Wicked Reading Response - 11/14

   "Wicked" by Winnie Holzman is an adaption of the original story "The Wizard of Oz" but "Wicked" tells the life story of the wicked witch of the west all the way from her astonishing birth to her school life in the city of Oz (that is as far as I have gotten). So far the adaption and the original story contrast sharply. I think that the author did this strategically because the original is such a classic.

    The first reason I think the author contrasted "Wicked" with the original because in the original there was such a huge world created and so much of it was un explained. Hozman really knew that readers would buy her book to learn the back story of the magical kingdom. The first example of how Wicked elaborated on The Wizard of Oz is the regions that Hozman divided the Kingdom into and all the different races and species and stereotypes that came along with these new areas. For example, the people of the far south are considered very stupid because they dont speak the language of the northerners. The people of the west are extremely well educated and full of them selves. This is displayed throughout many of the main characters.

    The second reason I think the author contrasted the two storys to much is because she wanted to take the idea that the two sister witches, good witch, and wicked witch, could be sisters in common but also extremely different and the author may have felt that the wicked witch was mis represented in the original. For example, throughout the portion of the story I have read the wicked witch of the west doesnt seem to wicked. She seems canny and smart and quick witted. In many ways, the "Wicked" witch of the west is much nicer and kinder than the character I assume will become the good witch.

    After reading both the adaption and the original it is  clear to me that the author had many motives for the choices she made in her writing. She chose to make the witch a nicer character to show that wicked is often mis represented. She chose to explain the original story much deeper because she, probably like many other readers, felt like the whole wonderful kingdom of Oz was not explained thoroughly enough.

Non Fiction Article Response

     These past two weeks have been dreadful for people from all over the tri state area. After a large and dangerous hurricane swept through the area people all over New York and New Jersey were stranded without power, gas, or heat. Out on long island, Gasoline was being rationed as it was not being brought into the stations along the island. After reading "NYC starts to ration Gas after $33 Billion dollars in Damage" on the CBS news website, it is clear why New Yorks Governor Cuomo has decided to begin rationing gas.


     Not one but two storms hit the tri state area these past weeks. First Hurricane Sandy leaves a trail of wreckage and then a snowy nor'easter swept in. Between the two of theses superstorms, the gas infrastructure used to deliver gas to stations was knocked out. This is the first reason Governor Cuomo has started rationing gas. Until cleanup has reached the point where more gasoline can be brought into stations, it has to be trucked in by tankers. This has caused a gas shortage and the lines for gas are extremely long. In order to speed things up (both the lines and the recovery) mayor Bloomberg of NYC and other state officials have decided to ration gas in which drivers will alternate days they can fill up based on their license plate numbers. Bloomberg believes that the gas problems could last another couple weeks. Doesn't look so bright for the New York area.

    The second reason is because of the trail of wreckage that both storms have caused. According to the article, a damage forecasting ferm estimated that Sandy and the Nor'easter caused $30 to $50 Billion dollars in damage from The Carolinas to Main. $50 Billion in damage would make the storm the second most expensive in American history second only to hurricane Katrina. I think that this could have caused a lot of gas companies to be hesitant to pay the expenses for their downed infrastructures. Both the Red Cross and FEMA have been on top of things when it comes to personal needs and supplies such as food, blankets, and medical needs but have done next to nothing about the gas problems. I'm assuming that they have more important things on their minds at the moment then to fix a gas shortage.

    After reading this article and experiencing this storm first hand I now see why Bloomberg and Cuomo made the decisions they made. I walk home past the line of cars waiting for gas at the hess station on 4th avenue and Union st and wonder why and now I really understand the true horror of these superstorms.