The internet makes this easier and more complicated. Easier because it brings us information quickly, and more complicated because you really have to work to make sure you understand who produces the source and make sure you are getting objective information.
Here are a few links for our authors as we have finished the books:
BEAH LINKS:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/08/world/africa/ishmael-beah-child-soldier/
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/da2lgj/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-ishmael-beah
http://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/260761045/a-former-child-soldier-imagines-tomorrow-in-sierra-leone
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| Ismael Beah is a writer and activist. |
UNICEF links
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_pr_childsoldiers.html
CISNEROS LINK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pyf89VsNmg
Sandra Cisneros has stated: "The only reason we write—well, the only reason why I write; maybe I shouldn’t generalize—is so that I can find out something about myself."
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| Sandra Cisneros is also a writer and activist. |
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| Sandra as a teenager. |
After watching the videos and links I took out of this that there are estimated to be 6,000 to 10,000 children still associated with armed armed factions since 2013. But UNICEF along with Ishmael Beah are helping to lower those numbers. As of May 2015 there were 357 children taken away from the army and put in rehabilitation centers and then in August 2015 there were another 163 children, 5 of which were girls were sent to the centers also." Human beings regardless of where you are, are capable of true evil and equally capable of regaining our humanity, and triumphant over whatever life brings us." They expect to see hundreds more before the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteI watched two videos on beah because I was the most interested in that book. As I watched the one on Comedy Central the main thing I took from it was that after he had got out of the war and to America he noticed that human beings are the same around the world he states "human beings are capable of anything no matter where you are in the world" I think this shows that he knows and understands what people can do and why the rebels did what they did in Serria leone. He also talks about how the rebels and the government were using the same propaganda to get the child soldiers to fight or them in the front lines. In the video on CNN they talk about his life after the war and how he was adopted by Lora when he was 17 and he used to listen to the same song over and over again and the song was Don't worry about a thing. When talking about what he could've done he states "If I had known when I fighting that there was somewhere for me to go to get away from the war I would've gone".
ReplyDeleteThe videos that I watched were both on Ishmael Beah. The first video was Comedy Central with Jon Stewart. What I found important in this video was when Ishmael is talking about what he did in his writing of the book "I wanted to bring people to the landscape of Sierra Leone to really follow me on that journey. So they can see the humanity of the people and how conflict changes that". I thought this was important because Ishmael does a really good job in the book describe how peoples humanity was changed during the war. In the CNN video what I found interesting is he goes into more detail about Lora and how he was adopted by her. The part I liked the most was when he discusses the country falling apart again and how he called her. What was interesting about that is she told Ishmael that he needed to get out of the country as quickly as possibly and she said that she would help. This shows how caring she was for him and other kids in Sierra Leone even though she isn't related to them.
ReplyDeleteI watched two video's about Ishmael Beah. I chose to do him because the book was interesting to me and left such an impression on me and my life; and ho we truly take life for granted. Within the first video I watched talked about all the work Ishmael has done to stop child soldiers with UNICF. "To help the young people coming from these places to reassure them that its possible to come out of this experience". Ishmael wants to give these children hope that their is help in this world and that Ishmael Beah is fighting for a better tomorrow. In the second video I watched Ishmael was talking about how forgetting the war and the terrible things one has experienced is not the answer. Ishmael Beah is living proof he never gave up and he learned that survival is key. "Why the past is still trying to pull at you very strongly because many things have changed". You can never escape the past and you can never change the things that have happened to you. Change is good, and change helps you grow.
ReplyDeleteThe two videos that I watched were both on Ishmael Beah. The first interview with John Stewart, it started with John questioning how someone could ever come back from experiencing the trials the Beah had been through, and I just thought it was incredible how much he has accomplished. He's an active member in UNICEF and trys to relay the message that there are things that you can do to avoid being caught in conflicts as soldiers, and wants children affected everywhere to know that there is a place to go and people to talk to that can help you, and that there is a way to come back from scarring experiences. Like Beah said, he wants people to think "If this guy did it, then we can do it as well." He doesn't wish for people to think that his story is a guide, but rather his story is of his story of how he thought his way out of the situation, and that others can do it too, whether you've lost your humanity or not. It just takes determination and perseverance.
ReplyDeleteThe Comedy Central interview with Jon Stewart and the CNN interview were the two videos that I watched. In the interview with Jon Stewart, Jon asked '' what was the more difficult journey? going into the madness and becoming a killer,or coming back out and becoming a human being again?''. Beah responds '' Its actually very easy to turn a human being into a killer and a boy especially that has lost everything they know.but Its returning back, regaining your humanity, because you have to trust in yourself and you have to have people trust in your faith again as another human being and its very difficult.''. Beah's response to this question was what stood out to me the most in this interview. In the CNN interview Beah talks about his trip to America and becoming a UNICEF ambassador advocate for children affected by war and conflict. He has done a lot to help children affected by war and conflict and to bring awareness about children soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThe two videos i watched were of Ishmael Beah. The first one was the CNN one and that was more formal like an interview. The second was kinda laid back and had more jokes but still had a serious tone to it and that one was also on Comedy Central.they both really focus on how his life began as a child solider and more importantly what hes doing now and how he was able to recover from his horrific past. He's a member of the organization called UNICEF and trys to give out the message that there are things that you can do to get away from becoming a child solider, and wants children to know that there are places to go and people to talk to to help them recover from their past. Just like Beah himself he can joke around still like he did on Comedy central cause he knows that there is room for recovery just like he said Human beings regardless of where you are, are capable of true evil and equally capable of regaining our humanity, and triumphant over whatever life brings us."
ReplyDeleteThe two videos I watched had been about Ishmael Beah. The first video I watched was the CNN interview and the second video I had watched was the interview with Jon Stewart from the Daily Show. What I took away from the first part was when Ishmael met the professional story teller named, Laura. Laura said to Ishmael, "I am a story teller." He was surprised to hear this from her a white women because in his culture that was a big claim to make out about oneself. I thought it was admirable to see how attached he has gotten to Laura and to see how she adopted him. What stuck out to me about the interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show was how Jon was so amazed at how Ishmael was still in high spirits after going through everything he has gone through with the rebels. I love how Ishmael said, "I try to make my experiences into something positive." He lived an "idealic" life as described by Jon Stewart that was so true it would make your heart hurt if you had lived through the mess the villagers and Ishmael had lived through. Ishmael shows such compassion and humbleness as he said that he doesn't want to be the set forth example of how child soldiers should be like in the end. Ishmael is just one example of overcoming the battle.
ReplyDeleteI watched two videos from Ishmael Beah's interviews. I chose to watch more on him because I wanted to know how he spoke about his book and his experiences in person. The first video I watched was the interview with NPR, from this interview I gathered that people can change. Beah starts talking about how everyone thought that child soldiers needed to be rehabilitated from any and all memories of the war. Beah states "sometimes, actually, the very things that you've learned - for example, surviving - to survive requires a remarkable intelligence. Also, being able to know that when one is selfish, what it does to society when one wants everything for themselves - knowing that and not wanting that to repeat itself - also knowing how to just resist people trampling all over you as a human being and dehumanizing you. Some of these things can be used for positive force."I also gathered that people tend to stereotype not only to other cultures, but also to their own. Beah talks about how young children can't walk around with machete without scaring those who cross their paths. The second video I watched was the interview with CNN. The most important thing I learned from this video was that you need to learn and grow from your own experiences and try to make a difference in the world with what you have learned. Beah doesn't dwell on his past experiences he tries to make a difference in other children lives. Beah helps to free other child soldiers still fighting in the war.
ReplyDeleteThe two videos I watched were both about Ishmael Beah. The first video I watched was the Comedy Central interview. In this video John Stewart makes a few jokes but the rest of the interview is about Beah's story. Beah talks about the use of boy soldiers were on both sides. The government troops weren't the only ones to tell the boys the rebels are the blame and you must fight. The rebels troops did the same. This is really important to know because it shows why so many boy were involved in the fighting on both sides as they thought it was for revenge on the other side. In the second video I watched it was Beah interview with CNN. The one difference in this video there really wasn't any jokes like in the Comedy Central which is good because this interview suppose to be more serious. In the very begin of this interview Beah points out the reasons that boy soldier were used. The reason were the boys were cheap, easy to manipulate, and wanting to belong to something after having nothing left in their lives. Later Beah talks about how the UNICEF took him away from the war. He was angry at first when he was taken out and says, "I didn't know what else is possible for me. This was all i knew". This is important beacuse it shows that the war had became the only thing Beah had to live for. With all the boys in the government troops this was Beahs new family. The whole point of the UNICEF was to bring boy soldiers and rehabilitate them back in society. Beah is an example of a boy who was successfully rehabilitated.
ReplyDeleteThe two videos that were on cnn and comedy central were interesting that were about Beah. I like how in the video on comedy central, Ishmael Beah explains that a person is definitely capable of doing evil and terrible things, but with the right support and to show what good is. A person can be a good person. This sorta related to the theme in my paper. In the CNN video I think its cool how he became part of the UNICEF and it showed video clips of him visiting camps of the child soldiers trying to give hope and motivate them to find their special talent. He uses his past experiences to reach out to these kids to show that there is still hope. I think this is a great way to make a change in the world. In Beah's rehabilitation it shows that there is hope for these children. It should be seen as a bigger issue in the world and these children should be given everything a child deserves which is education and a good childhood.
ReplyDeleteI watched two videos of Ishmael Beah. The video on comedy centrak is the video I liked the most! He shows people how bad a person can be and turn into a better person. He tells everyone all the terrible things that he did in his life. I was suprised that he was able to admitt that to everyone knowing they could all think of him so differently. I also like how he tells them how he was like an evil person and changed to become a better person. Ishmael wants to help people now which is such an improvement from where he was to begin with. I really loved the qoute where it says "I didn't know what else is possible for me." I loved that because he didn't know what else was out there in the world, but now he knows that the world is not all evil. You can make good things come out of bad situations.
ReplyDeleteI watched two videos on Ishmael Beah because I wanted to learn more about him and his life now. I like the fact that Jon Stewart had him on its awesome to see a person like Jon Stewart acknowleging a person with a past like Beah's. I also like how he uses his comedy to lighten the mood but to also show the importance behind Beah's story and bring a real topic and problem to the table. From some extra googlking ive done I have seen there is still child soldiers all over the world and this is something that should be more heard of and recognized. Child , NOT Soldier.
ReplyDeleteI watched a video on Ishmael Beah from CNN and the one on YouTube about Sandra Cisneros. Beah and Cisneros both talk about how they want to be able to inspire others and be the examples that those people can hold onto. They want to help be the motivation needed to change their lives. Beah talks about how he was actually able to go and talk about these experiences with boys that were just pulled out of the war like he had been. He was able to feel their confusion and relate to them. I was surprised when he said he never actually planned on publishing his book.
ReplyDeleteCisneros writes in a different way compared to Beah. She creates this childhood world from her own real life experiences into Esperanza’s perspective. The part that stood out most to me was when she says why she thinks the younger generations can relate to her story. It allows you to recall the isolation, loneliness, and longing felt from an adolescent that is changing into an adult. She says, “Adolescence is a period of great solitude, a period you don’t know where you’re going to go, and what choices you want to make.” I couldn't agree with her more. You reflect on the world around you as you grow up. You have to discover who you are and what kind of person you want to be.