Mistakes with permanent consequences

In the picture above, this man lost his leg due to the painful realities of war. He is struggling on his crutches a long the forsaken avenue Jade Maiwan. In a world where destruction can come so swift with the many advanced weapons, it is insane on how fast one's world can be flipped upside down. I find this picture powerful because of this man's will to keep moving. Surrounding him are buildings that have been massacred and his body has been been scarred but yet he seems to move on instead of giving up. Sometimes we give up when we have been faced trials that kick us on the ground, yet we still have our legs and we should use them stand up. With everything we're given, we should really put our trials in perspective. Once we realize how insignificant they can be, we should approach them without hesitation and may even give more than needed. From pictures like this we can learn valuable lessons, motivate us, and give warnings.
When viewing, we should ask ourselves questions: what is happening, what emotions are involved, what is the message, and why did this happen? Afghanistan has been an unstable country for decades with many wars. In between the years 1978 and 2001 Afghanistan lost $240 Billion worth of infrastructure due to the destruction of war ("Collins").
 This picture just shows a small glimpse of the destruction that went on in the country. It was 1996 when the Taliban came and seized control of this city, Kabul, and began to implement  fundamentalist Islamic law ("Afghanistan timeline"). As part of all this happening, this man lost his leg. With that came the struggles of living with living with only one leg for the rest of his life and city that would take a lifetime to repair. Taking the time to learn about this all of this, I have learned about the many harsh realities in the world. I learned how oblivious and naive I was to problems of the world. Next time I go out to walk, maybe I shouldn't take these legs as much for granted.

“Afghanistan Timeline.” National Catholic Report.  July 19, 2002. EBSCO Publishing. Web. 31 January, 2013.

Collins, Joseph. Understanding War in Afghanistan. National Defense Press, 2011. Print

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 1996. 80/81. Print.

The beauty behind music

This last Thursday, my friend Sadie and I had the opportunity to go the South Franklin Community Center. The focus of the center is to help strengthen the kids' ability to read and write. After the orientation, we were greeted by a hyper boy with glasses in the 2nd grade of Latino descent. He picked us out to be his tutors and we would soon learn how hectic this boy could be. Starting off with a game or two of hang man we proceeded to try and get him to start his reading. We soon learned this would be a long and monotonous task as every book. He called every book we pulled off the shelf "Stupid." After knocking down a shelf and a few swings to my stomach, we finally satisfied his needs. We discovered the boy had a knack for singing nursery rhymes. After reading the lyrics and learning the tune, all 3 of us were singing a long to "hey diddle diddle," "Hickery Dickery Dock," and even "Humpty Dumpty." After we mastered the tune, Sadie whipped out her concert piano skills and began playing so we could sing. It was amazing to see how intrigued this boy became with reciting familiar tunes and learning new ones. Reading no longer became a chore this boy.  We soon lost track of time and realized the tutor session was over. I learned more than just the wonderful rewards from serving. I learned about the beauty of music. It has the ability to influence emotions, send messages, motivate, and teach. It was evident on how it influenced this boy.
As we all go about serving, we often find that we have gained more from the experience than we actually gave in service. It shows that it is important to serve each other often. I enjoyed my time in the South Franklin Community Center. I hope to continue to go to gain new experiences.

Have we thought about ourselves too much?

Sometimes in this world we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget there is a whole world outside our “bubble.” We become concerned about how our self-image looks and try to make sure that all our wants and desires are met. Sometimes we like to compare ourselves to our peers. We make sure we are “Up to par” with our fashion, language, physical appearance, and gadgets. Too often do we tell ourselves that we are deprived because we are not given certain privileges. Then there is that someone (mom, dad, or friend) that reminds us that there are people in developing countries that can’t get even get close to our level of living. 

What if we stopped and thought about those people in developing countries. Are we aware of all the hardships they have to go through? I would like to refer to the photo above. Sebastiao Salgado took a pictures of migrants and refugees from all over the world and he captured the photograph above. These people are hitchhiking on top of a train in an attempt travel to a new home. I asked myself what would motivate someone to leave one’s home to travel on top of a moving freight train? Only someone that was truly determined to find a better life. That person wanted a life like mine. He wanted a life where he could eat until he had a full stomach every day. He wanted to live where when he was hungry he would look in the fridge or the pantry. Though both you and I can’t relate personally to any of these migrants’ hardships, we can still help. 

By creating awareness one can better understand their situation. Often these migrants move because they were forced, lost everything or they were just looking for a better life. By identifying why one would be motivated to migrate, we can start narrowing the problem. By finding the problem one can then look for solutions. After finding a solution, we can then act. I would like to start by spreading that awareness so we can eventually all find a way to act.

Work cited:

Salgado, Sebastião. 1998. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 27. Print.