Slums of Africa

One of the topics we discussed in class for the past two weeks was about two slums in Africa. One of them has a positive story and the other one is more negative. It is crazy to think that the human population keeps growing to the point that we are running out of resources and areas where people could live. These slums are packed with people who are poor and cannot afford to live in the more rural areas, so urbanization started as the population gets bigger. 

Mathare is the oldest urban slum in Africa and the world its population is about half a million. The biggest problem they face in Mathare is the sanitation. There is waste everywhere because they don't have a system where to dispose of the trash properly. Also, they hardly have restrooms so human waste is in the streets and in water sources. The restrooms have a poor drainage system and sewage pipes often leak, contributing to the pollution in the area. Since there is waste everywhere around the slum, there is a higher chance of getting many diseases and sicknesses. There isn’t a good way to clean up the waste so the people don’t do anything, making the problem worse. The second problem these people face is obtaining clean water, which is limited in their areas. I didn’t consider the fact that finding water can disrupt a child’s education because the children have to find or carry clean water to their families. There are very few clean water stations in the slum and it is on the outskirts so people have to walk a great distance to get the water. Learning about this type of slum is eye-opening because you would think there would be groups of people who would try to help make their living situations better because it is such a huge area of people, but there doesn’t seem to be. I wonder how much money it would take to build some houses to help the people, and how long it would take to clean the area of all the waste. Also, I wonder if life in Mathare has improved since the time the video was made 2 years ago.

There is a slum in Kenya that has a happier story than Mathare and that is Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and the world, and its population is over 1 million people. We watched a video in class that seemed like a sort of advertisement. The video showed the people in Kibera who are building their economy with different markets and businesses. They mentioned that many famous people have lived in that slum and are living a successful life, giving hope to those who too live in the slum. It is surprising that they talk about how happy their life is, but the Mathare slum looked very similar to Kibera. I wonder how the biggest slum in Africa is able to be successful and what Mathare could learn from Kibera’s example of urban living.

Since I live in an urban area it is interesting to learn about different urban areas in the world. However, it’s also sad knowing that people live in worst situations than I would have imagined. I wonder what I could do to help these people who live in the worst slums, and if there are any people now who are helping them. 

Child Soldiers

In places of the world there are children who have to face adult decisions and are growing up too fast. There are children who, by our standards, their childhood is being taken away from them because they are being kidnapped to be a child soldiers. It is surprising to think that a small child would wield a gun to kill a person they are told to kill, when they definitely shouldn't be experiencing that kind of trauma at all. 

In class we watched a video about a child soldier who was kidnapped and forced to work in the field. He was found and rescued, then returned home, but he made the decision at a young age to join the army to fight against those who kidnap children and turn them into slaves. To his father it was more important that he get an education first before making an adult decision to join the army, especially when he was needed at home. The boy decided to quit and return home but I think that for child he shouldn't have to make that kind of decision in the first place. According to the website www.child-soldiers.org the definition of a child soldier is "a child associated with an armed force or armed group (child soldier) is any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities." I have learned that being a child soldier doesn't just refer to children holding guns and fighting but could also mean any type of forced labor. 

A story that I heard about during a volunteer event called We Day was from an inspirational speaker name Michel Chikwanine who talked about his experience about being a child soldier when he was the age of 5. He, unlike the boy in the video, had a worse experience because Michel was force to shoot his best friend because the warlord covered his eyes and yelled shoot at him. Michael described his horrible experience that opened my eyes to what bad experience young childreen face that I would have never have otherwise known. 

There aren’t many solutions I could find that could help stop child soldiers other than donating to organizations that fight to stop these terrible warlords. Since we are learning about human rights in class I was able to learn more about child soldiers and the true meaning of them.    

Educate young girls for a better future

In class this week we watched a documentary called Girl Rising directed by Richard E. Robbins, which was about nine young girls with different stories. Each girl had the same goal to receive an education that they deserved and we watched how each overcame their struggles to obtain that education. It was an eye-opening documentary because in different parts of the world girls have different situations that prevent them from receiving an education, versus being a girl in America that can easily get an education. I realized how much I been taking advantage of my own education and even being able to attend college, I now will double think before I complain about homework or exams.

All of the stories shocked me to know that in many countries there is still a version of slavery among young girls, girls are abused or raped, and families choose to send their sons instead of their daughters to school. Parents easily sell their daughters to obtain money and prevent them from doing what they want most and that’s going to school.  One of the stories was about a young girl in Afghanistan who parents sold their daughter to a man double her age to buy a car for their son.  I thought that was heartless because with the money they receive for their daughter’s life they traded for a car, I would have understood if they needed something more important to survive with but it was just a car for their son. The horrifying part of the story was she gave birth at a very young age when she should be enjoying a life as a child, but she is treated like trash that is just a slave to man. It was hard to watch knowing that there isn’t much I myself can do to help those children in the same situation.

A story that was similar to these girls that came to my mind during the documentary was about my own mother who grew up in the Philippines and the struggles she had for her education. She would tell me about how she would wake up 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning to get ready for school where she would have to help wake her 7 other sibling to also get ready for school. They would walk for about 2 miles until they reached school. When I went to visit my cousins in the Philippines they too got up at 5 in the morning just to go to school but they didn’t come home until it was already dusk around 6 at night. That surprised me the most because these young girls would have to walk in near dark just to come home and do homework then start their day again at 5 in the morning. My mom would always lecture me during high school when I would complain about waking up early just to take a bus while for her when she attended high school there weren’t any buses to take, so her only option was to walk.

Overall, the documentary made me realize how much I should appreciate my parents for letting me go to college, and I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to receive an education in America. I would like to know different ways to help young girls all over the world to receive the education they need.

The sad truth about Wally World

Walmart has always been the store known for cheap prices and great customer service, but little did I know about how the workers and the people who make Walmart’s products are suffering. Coming into this class, I didn't have much knowledge about economics, so I was surprised to learn that cheaper prices mean lower wages for employees. I have always known about the overseas labor workers because of big companies such as Nike, where workers are being paid less than a dollar an hour. However, I also thought since its common knowledge, a well-loved store would change their ways. Furthermore, I assumed that since people today are learning more about the benefits to shopping local that maybe Walmart would jump onto the bandwagon as well. 

In the article that I read about Walmart "Why the Bosses Need Wal-Mart" I was surprised to learn that lowing wages would lower prices, and since Walmart is the largest retailer the suppliers have to lower their prices. Other companies are influenced by Walmart, so they also have the same wages in order to compete to obtain supplies. Another fact that shocked me was that even if you worked 40 hours a week with a salary of $10 that isn't enough for one family to survive. One of my group members mentioned how to make up for a low salary Walmart would give them discounts so that way you get stuff back for working at Walmart, but since Walmart then gets back the money they just paid to their workers, that logic didn't really make any sense.

In class we watched a documentary called "Made in Bangladesh" about labor workers, the majority of whom were young women being payed less than 25 cents a day, and working outrageous hours. It was upsetting knowing that even though they worked really hard some days they didn't receive money for their efforts and if they confronted someone about it they would either be fired or abused. All Walmart could do to make their life slightly better would be to pay them 30 cents more. Another shock was they mentioned Disney in the documentary, and how that business was acting the same way as Walmart except they shut down that sweatshop. I was sitting in class wearing a Disney shirt that I bought at the Disney store I felt very ashamed at myself. All over the Disney channel they advertise about changing the world and showing their actors making a change in developing countries. So knowing that they too were treating overseas labor workers like they were nothing made me rethink what other companies were doing the same thing. 

Some of the workers that were in the documentary mentioned that one solution to how they were being treated is that American shoppers should contact the CEOs of these large companies and demand change. As an American, I felt like that wouldn't solve anything, and my group discussed about how we could help but we all felt like there wasn't anything we could do because just writing letters won't make a big change. It's especially hard to go against a big company that has such low prices that many families depend on to survive. I left the class wondering if there was anything I could do to help those who are suffering in other countries because of the big companies over working them. I would donate money but at the same time I feel like that won't solve the larger issue. 

First thoughts of the class

When I first heard the question, “what is globalization for me?” I could only make cultural connections. This is because I grew up moving to different places throughout my life. However, it never occurred to me that the world is intertwined through the economy, media, business, and a variety of other ways. My idea of globalization was a huge oversimplification, mainly about understanding different cultures while being open-minded to those who come from cultures different than my own. But after a week of class and talking in our small groups, I learned there are many parts to globalization. Previously, I had never thought about how globalization could be harmful, I had only thought about the benefits. In our small groups we discussed how people who live in poor countries are being taken advantage of by those in richer countries. Furthermore, another problem that rises from globalization is for those volunteers who try to help underdeveloped countries, but contribute to the problems of that country rather than helping. Also tied to increased globalization is colonization, and then some groups that try to change the lifestyles of those who live in underdeveloped countries, leading to homogenization and decreased interest in diversity. Also, it shocked me to find out that even though people try to do the right thing, be that buy products or donate money to causes that support underdeveloped countries, their efforts can often be in vain.

 Even though there are some negatives aspects of globalization there are also many advantages, such as many more varieties of products, being able to learn more about different cultures, technological advances, and the ability to find employment in a worldwide job market. Since globalization is everywhere, even in the media, it is crazy to think that our celebrities in America are well-known in other countries and I have access to music around the world by simply going on my laptop.

Now, my definition of globalization has expanded by knowing that not only culture is involved, but everything from music to food to different types of companies. Just the interaction between different people is considered globalization. Now I want to learn more about the downfalls of globalization and understand more about groups that are causing more harm through globalization. Finally, I now want watch the news more so I can learn about different issues others are facing and expand my view of our ever-more interconnected world.