Reflective Piece

On 9th September 2013, Island school participated in a poverty simulation exercise run by Crossroads, an NGO based in Hong Kong. We were in groups of 10 and the aim for the simulation was to keep our "family" alive. The issue of being stuck in the cycle of poverty everyday really came clear to me during this simulation. During the simulation, we were all working really hard in order to make more paper bags to get money. But no matter how hard we worked, there was no guarantee that we could get enough money to pay for our necessities. Getting out of the cycle of poverty was so difficult, but I would do anything in order to get more money. I sold all my materialistic things to keep everyone alive. All I could think about is how are we going to survive today? Human Trafficking is a worldwide issue that has been around for a long time. Slavery was the first form of human trafficking. There are many forms of human trafficking like forced labour and organ removal. The most common human trafficking is sexual slavery, which involves selling young girls to men in order to fulfill their sexual pleasures. The causes of human sex trafficking include gender discrimination, poverty, and lack of information about the issue. Many girls believe that they are going to be brought up in a better environment but in reality they are actually being brought up to become sex slaves. If they had a little more information about this issue then they wouldn't have sold themselves to rich men. The many poor families have hoped for their girls to have a better life, but they would never know how they are treated or brought up. We can help raise awareness and inform people about Human Trafficking, the more people know about it the more prepared they are. So if they notice any signs of it, they will know how to fight back or steer clear. This solution to raise awareness will only reach the people who would see it; it doesn't guarantee that the affected people will get the message. Inequality is a serious issue for countries all around the world. Inequality is the wealth gap between people living in the same place. It is really shocking that in one place there could be prosperous people and people living in extreme poverty. The wealth is not distributed evenly within the population, which leads some extremely wealthy people and leaves some people stuck in poverty. Poor social mobility is one of the causes of inequality. Having poor social mobility is being born into a poor household will immediately mean that you will not get access to good education, because only the families that have money can go to school. If the children can't get access to education then they have no way to get themselves a job in order feed their families. A lot of the companies around the world now require employees that have special skills, because they are starting to de-industrialize. This means people that don't have high qualifications won't have a job because they didn't get a good education. The issue of inequality pressurizes the people in poverty to live in horrible conditions while watching other people live their materialistic lives. They are constantly worrying about if they will have money for food or water, all they care about is it they will survive the night without the essentials. The main cause of inequality is the lack of access to good education. One solution could be to offer free education, which all you need is a pencil and everything else is provided. A lot of people might have access to free education but can't even afford to get schoolbooks or a uniform. But then some people might not be able to go to the school because they live too far away. The school will only be able to help the slums in the area of the school. Transportation is also a factor that needs to be considered. I learned that we shouldn't take things for granted because there are people who don't have the things we do and the opportunities that we are given. I've learned to appreciate the things that we have and always give back and do more charity work to help others in need. I also learned that the cycle of poverty is really hard to get out of and most people are born into it and have no choice but to live in these hard conditions for the rest of their lives. This simulation also helped me understand more about the living conditions of a slum.

Poverty Simulation

Words Homeless, home, education, sad, poor, sorrow, helpless, inferior, worthless, despondent, money, rich, insecurity, Despair, depression, hopelessness, despondency, anger, frustration, insecure, pressured, dignity, fear,

Poverty What is poverty? What do you think of when you hear the word poverty? How is poverty like all the different ropes tying Gulliver down to the beach? What are some of the causes and effects of poverty?

Poverty is the lack of the basic needs for survival, when I think of poverty I think about beggars, homeless people, people who don't have access to basic needs. The Causes of poverty are war, financial crisis, and lack of resources. A lot of people lose a lot of their things in wars and are forced to flee the country.

Simulation What was the goal for your group and did you achieve it? Why was it important to reach your goal? What did you do in order to achieve your goal? How did you feel when prices rose? How hard did you have to work in order to survive? Did you sell items in order to survive? Body? Personal items? Were the ‘charity’ classes really free? Did you engage in criminal activities in order to survive?

For our group our aim was to get enough money to pay for rent and money. School was a dream for us, because it cost so much. We would give up all the materialistic things like our phones, accessories etc, in order to survive. We were willing to do anything, even get married to a rich guy because it was the only way that the family could still survive. When the prices rose, our hearts dropped into depression. But the only thing we could do was to keep making more paper bags, because we were worthless. We worked super hard because we knew we had to work efficiently in order to sell the bags. We were under timed pressure, which made it even harder. I sold a lot of my things like my shoes, phone, earrings, and watch because I knew it would be worth something. Our group thought about stealing but we didn't actually do it. It was really tempting because of the money and time pressure.

Future What did you understand by the term “the cycle of poverty”? What solutions did your group come up with in order to break the cycle of poverty?

The cycle of poverty is when a poor family is trapped in poverty unable to get earn enough money for generations. They have limited resources to provide future generations to have an education or a better life. It is really hard to break the cycle of poverty because of the scarce resources that they have. Our group tried to sell our things and try to get the girls in our group to marry a rich guy in order to have enough money to send someone to school or at least have a better living conditions. Other good ideas that we didn’t think of were to sell an organ like a kidney or sell blood.

Me How did it feel to be poor? What did you care about when you lived in the slums? What didn’t you care about? What did you learn about what being poor was actually like from being in the simulation? How do you think your morals changed when you were in the simulation? Did you experience any of the following feelings when you were doing the simulation?  What does that mean to your understanding of the nature of poverty?  Despair, depression, hopelessness, despondency, anger, frustration, insecure, pressured

Being poor was horrible, because we are all used to living in good conditions and having enough money to, not only survive but to have more opportunities. When we were in the simulation, we only cared about keeping everyone alive and making enough money. We didn't about how dirty we are or how long we've been working because those issues were less important than surviving. I really got to experience how hard the slums have to work and how pressurizing the world is through this simulation. They had no dignity at all and the shopkeepers that didn’t want the paper bags easily destroyed our hopes to one day live a better life. I felt really angry and frustrated when the shopkeepers destroyed all our hard work by ripping up our paper bags. I would never understand what the slums are truly feeling but now I have a good understanding. This simulation inspired me to appreciate the things that we have and always give back and do more charity work to help others in need.

Syria

Where is it located?
It's located in the middle east.

Which are the 2 sides involved in the conflict?

Government and president vs Rebels = FSA (Free Syrian Army)

How long has the conflict gone on? (Civil War)

The Syria conflict has been going on since March 2011 and is still going on now. Bashar al Assad- children arrested for anti-government graffiti, which led to protest for children released and democracy. Violent government reaction in April 2011 and more protest and for president's resignation. Sarin Gas attacks against the Syrian people in 2013.

Weapons used?

-Chemical Weapons / Warfare (Neurotoxin Sarin Gas) can cause mass destruction. It was banned in many countries around the world due to the horrible consequences in
-The UN (United Nations) went to Syria for a Chemical weapon inspection.

Reasons why Obama is involved?

-Because Obama is the current president of US and the weapons that are used can be very dangerous and it is a international issue.
-Obama is discussing with Britain because he says that "We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale."

Impact on the Syrian People?
This violence has led to many civilians to flee the country. 1 million children were made refugees, total of 2 million refugees.
Refugee- people that are running away from a place due to war or violence, homeless.
Veto- a right to say no.

Resources:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/01/syrian-refugee-obama-lied-zaatari
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23910589
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/01/un-chemical-weapons-inspectors-investigation