30 Days: Living on Minimum Wage

In my gifted and talented class as part of our war, poverty and hunger unit, we watched an episode from the TV series 30 days. The host, Morgan Spurlock, and his fiancee challenge themselves to live a different lifestyle for 30 days. In this episode, the couple challenged themselves to live on minimum wage for 30 days. After seeing the show, I was asked to respond to a few questions.

1. What surprised you when watching this episode?
What surprised me the most was how much the couple began to argue. They would get so angry with each other, over a few dollars. When the kids came to stay with them the two became even more angry and things were heated.

2) Do you think this was a realistic portrayal of living life on minimum wage? Why or why not?

I actually don't think this was realistic. First of all, many people living in poverty have kids. Also, the real experiences can't be shown in a TV series. For example the couple rented a house in a bad neighborhood. But you never got to see how truly bad it was, when in reality people who make the minimum wage might live in bad neighborhoods where bad stuff happens. In the show I feel they had to make it safe for the cameramen and whatnot.

3) Overall, what did you learn from viewing this episode?

I learned how difficult it really is to live in poverty. It is so strenuous on not only the mental health of the people, but on the physical health of them too. People are worn down by living in poverty, and it is so incredibly difficult to make ends meet. I learned that I should appreciate what I have, and not waste anything.

ASL

Today I am just practicing the signs that I have already learned, and am working on my song!(:

ASL

When learning a new language, there are a few types of vocabulary words that one learns first. For example when I learned Spanish, we started off with greetings. Now that I already know a few common words (colors) and the alphabet, I can begin to learn how to actually communicate in ASL.
Also while I'm learning all of this vocabulary, I am continuing to learn a song in sign language! The name of the song is a suprise though, so you'll have to be patient.

COMMON GREETINGS:

Hi / hello:

http://lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/h/hello.htm

Hey:

http://lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/h/hey.htm

Good morning:

Good night:


Goodbye:
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/g/goodbye.htm

How are you:


Whats up:
The sign for "what's up" uses a modified "5" handshape on each hand with the middle finger is bent forward from the large knuckle. The fingertips of the middle-fingers are placed on or near the chest and then the hands are flipped so that the middle fingers are pointing upward and the palms are facing up.

See you later:
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/advanced-signs/see-you-later.html

Thats all for now!

Poverty in Photos

Also in our war, poverty, and hunger unit, we also look at "photo essays." These are high quality pictures with a brief 2-3 sentence description underneath. The photo essays we have been viewing recently are about poverty in other countries. The essays featured in my blog came from boston.com's Big Picture. The website for this is at : http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

This is The Big Picture's description of the picture: Two Afghan refugee girls and a boy make their way through a muddy alley, following a rainy night, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Jan. 16, 2012. The Pakistani government and the United Nations refugee agency reached an agreement in March 2009, to allow some 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to continue sheltering there until at least 2012, thousands of them still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press)

I saw this picture and I immediately thought of World War I. As abstract as that may seem, this picture makes me think of the movie, All Quiet on the Western Front. In the movie the main characters spent time in trenches, which look very much like the scene in this image. In both places the walls and floors are made of mud. It reminds me of how the people in the trench used to get "trench foot,"  and how that could possibly occur here. I didn't know that some people literally live in the mud. I am shocked to see this.

The Big Picture's description:
25 Gold miners pass mud along a human chain in an open pit at the Chudja mine in the Kilomoto concession near the village of Kobu in north-eastern Congo, February 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)

This is another picture where I am shocked to see people living in the mud.  It seems like terrible work, I could never imagine working in the mud all day, and being covered with it. It really makes me think, "are there jobs in America like this?"

The Big Picture's description: Children walk along a road above a camp for people displaced by violence near Minova in eastern Congo, February 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)

In this picture I can really see how poor this area is. There are so many people living here, but it seems almost in the middle of nowhere. The closest city or town is probably miles and miles away. And the types of houses here aren't even houses! They look like tents. I've never seen an area as poor as this. It really shocks me.

Waste Land

Recently in my gifted and talented class we have been studying war, poverty, and hunger. As part of this unit, we watched the movie, Wasteland. Honestly it's hard to watch that movie and take in the reality of the video. I've know about that lifestyle, but I never saw it in picture and video. This video makes me wonder if there are people in the United States, even people around me who live a lifestyle like this. It's truly disgraceful. I knew what this movie was going to be like, from beginning to end, but just the images shocked me. My opinion didn't really change that much, I knew what the video was going to b like. I suppose the video actually "hit home" a little more than what I already thought. I think Vik Muñiz gave these people more than any amount of money could. Sure, in the end he did end up giving these workers thousands of dollars, but he gave them more. He opened the door for them, which is the best thing he could do for those people. Vik really showed these people what the real world is like. He showed them the opportunities that were out there waiting for them. There is a saying, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, feed him for life." Vik did exactly that. He showed them their own potential, which opens them to anything.
This made me realize how much I throw out into the garbage. After watching this video I will be more conscientious about what I dispose of, and how much waste I produce. I'll try to limit how much I throw out. Some other cultures that could benefit from Vik Muñiz's work are people who generally live a poor lifestyle. For example, some people (not everyone, but there are some) out west live in a poor lifestyle. I'm not trying to be stereotypical, but from personal experience I know some people in Western America have a tougher time. One time when I went to South Carolina my family met a man who taught in a school in a western state. He told us about the lifestyle of the people there. He told us how the children went on a class trip to a restaurant, but most of them had never been to one before. That really shocked me. I thought that people would go to a restaurant at least one in their lifetime. In fact, my aunt and uncle eat out every night! I think that Vik's projects would also benefit these areas in America.