Crossing the Wire

I have never shared the strong feelings that many have about border control. People are always spun up about all of the "illegal aliens" in our country, but I think this is an arrogant and rude way to approach the subject of immigration. We do need to help our own citizens find jobs, but the jobs that are done by the Mexican immigrants are jobs that most Americans would not do anyway.  These illegal immigrants are not thought of as people who are just trying to make a better living for themselves and their families. It seems that many think they are not people at all. 

I think the book did a great job of showing the problems and hardships that families in Mexico face, and why they come over here in the first place. It was important for us to see the situations that they live in, and why they are willing to make the dangerous journey to the US to work very hard jobs for very little money. It is also important to see that there are children who make this sacrifice for their families and that they are actually performing heroic acts and not just trying to "take jobs away from Americans". 

The struggle of traveling into the US was very hard to read. I could not imagine ever doing anything like Victor did. Just the distances that he walked alone are unbelievable, let alone the fact that he did not have any money or food. Victor's perseverance and the love he had for his family were admirable. I love my family very much, but I could never imagine being in a situation where I had to walk through unbearable conditions without food or water just to make sure that my family would have food to eat. I think it is important for us to be enlightened on the struggles that people go through just to get into the US. This makes it easier to sympathize with them and realize that they would not do this just for the fun journey and to say they have been to the States. If people struggle through those conditions, they have something that they are fighting for and are just doing the best they can.

I could not believe that after all of the hard work the two boys went through to finally make it to the States, Rico ended up leaving. He was able to persevere all the way from Mexico to Arizona, but did not want to stay around long enough to save up on some money before he went home.  I also could not believe how harsh the Mexican police were on their own people. They seemed to really not want to have people from other countries crossing into the US from Mexico. The police were so mean to Victor, and that kind of behavior from officials would have been recorded on someone’s phone and hit the media until something was done about it in the US.

Sold

Sold, by Patricia McCormick is an amazing, inspiring, and eye-opening book. This book brings light to a major problem that is happening In Nepal, India, and other countries in that area. Although this book is not told by an actual victim of sex-trafficking, I feel that it is an authentic story of actual events that take place. The author traveled to India and Nepal to interview girls who had been rescued from brothels.

From the very beginning, this book was hard-hitting and emotional to read. Just reading about the conditions that the families live under and the daily struggles to survive was heart-wrenching. Hearing about how Lakshmi has had many brothers and sisters who died due to weather or disease is very sad. Her step father gambles away the family’s money while Lakshmi and her mother work very hard to keep themselves, and Lakshmi’s baby brother alive. The family’s well-being depends greatly on the weather. In the dry season the family has a hard time staying hydrated, and many babies do not make it through this time. Then, when the monsoons hit the families are relieved to finally have water. This does not last long though because the floods quickly wipe away their crops and tear down their mud huts. This is so different than the world we live in because even if we have a dry spell there is always water for us to drink. Our crops might not grow very well, but we always survive. On the other hand, when it rains all we have to do is stay inside, and we don’t have any problems.

Although what I have already said is very sad, nothing even comes close to the real struggle that the book is about. It is absolutely terrible that a family can be so poor that they sell their child to go work in the city to make money. What is worse is that she ended up being taken to India to work as a sex-slave in a brothel. It is heartbreaking to hear about this little girl who thinks she is going somewhere to help her family, but then is forced into acts that are unmentionable for anyone to have to perform, especially a thirteen-year-old girl.

As I read this book I was thinking “how can they let this happen? Where are the police? Can’t someone help these little girls?” Then, I realized this is something that happens in our own country. If sex trafficking is able to occur in a country that has many laws and regulations, no wonder that it can happen over there. I do not mean that to sound like our country is better, but it seems that we have more laws that are enforced to help diminish this practice. It breaks my heart that even the police, the people who are supposed to help the people and stop these things from happening, can be paid enough money that they would ignore such a terribly criminal act. 

Nepal/India and Sex-Trafficking

Around 10,000 to 15,000 young girls from Nepal are estimated to cross the border into India each year and are forced into prostitution. These girls range from seven years to twenty-four years old. Usually they come from poor families who live in villages. The families sell their daughters so they can go work in the city, or are promised into fake marriages. Once the girls cross into India and reach the Brothels, the girls learn of their fate. Most of the girls are virgins. Virgins are considered valuable because having sex with a virgin is said to cure HIV.

Girls are brutally introduced to the brothel to intimidate them into submission. Many are gang-raped, beaten, and kept in cages. These young girls are forced into having sex with up to 40 clients a day to pay off their debt. They constantly live under threat of beatings and torture. Many extract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and then are left out on the streets. If the girls make it back to their village, they are often not allowed back because of what they have done. The girls are then back on the street and are forced back into prostitution to survive.

There have been a couple of laws passed that were supposed to help with the problem of sex-trafficking. One law was to help escaped girls find their homes and identities. Another law was supposed to help stop the travel of these girls and their “escorts” before they reach the brothels. Neither of these laws have had a noticeable effect, and many law enforcers are not even aware of the laws.

The border between India and Nepal is 1850 kilometers which makes it very difficult to control. When crossing the border into India, the Nepalese girls are not required to show passports or anything. Once they are in India, they either stay there or use forged passports to get into other countries. There was also a peace treaty signed in the 1950s that allows migration from India to Nepal and vice versa. This is another factor that makes it easy for the girls to be taken across the border. Nepalese women are found more attractive to Indians because of their lighter skin color.

Although sex-trafficking is the most recognized, girls and women from Nepal are also trafficked into other positions as well. The demand for cheap labor in India is a major reason that the women, and even men are brought here. Men are usually referred to as migrant workers even though they are paid very little. Lack of education and poverty in Nepal also play a major part in the girls being taken away from their villages. They hear that they will get to work in the city and earn lots of money, or that they will be married to a good husband. The families believe this because they are not aware of what really happens to these girls. It is thought that selling their daughters or wives will help make the whole family some money. 

Museum Display

I chose my phone as an artifact because it really represents the time in which I am living. American culture is not the same as it was thirty years ago, and this has greatly to do with technology. Social media and cell phones allow our generation to be constantly connected to one another. This shapes the way we communicate and the expectations we set. If someone does not answer his or her phone we get upset because they should always have their phone nearby. This idea of accessibility has become a big part of the ever-changing American Culture.

Books represent my culture because reading is a big part of my life. My family is big on reading and it is something that is done every day. Books also represent the importance of education to not only my family, but most of society too these days. An education is required in order to get most jobs these days, and I think this is a big part of our culture. It used to be that going to college was optional, not essential, but now it seems that most people go to college after high school and are looked down on if they don’t.

I chose a picture of me getting my black belt because this is a subculture that I belong to. The culture of martial artists is different than any other that I can think of. Tae Kwon Do has influenced my life greatly because it is really empowering. It makes me feel strong less vulnerable. This culture is important to me because it is not a very large one, and it takes a lot of work to become a part of it. This culture allows me to identify with people from all around the world. Even though I might not speak the same language, I can still have a lot in common with people from a bigger culture.

I chose a picture of my dad making light of a bad situation. When I was a freshman in high school my dad got sick and lost his left arm. Although this was a really hard time in my life, this event has helped shape me into the person I am today. I try to make light of situations even if it is very difficult. I see my dad struggle with daily tasks, and yet he has such a positive outlook on life. Any situation can be made better with a positive attitude. This has become my life motto and part of my culture.

I chose a picture of my family because without them I would not be who I am today. My family has had a great influence on my opinions and overall outlook on life. My family would drop anything to help each other and I would do the same for them. This attitude toward my family has transcended into how I view my friends as well as everyone around me. Like my family, I care about the people around me and try to help to the best of my ability. This is a subculture that I am proud to be a part of. 

Kampung Boy

Kampung Boy was a great book to read to learn about the culture in Malaysia. The fact that it is a story that someone wrote of their own experiences growing up there really helps to authenticate the experiences that are illustrated in the book. Reading about Malaysian culture on the internet like I did for my last blog does not even come close to exemplifying the actual way people live, the way a real-life story does.  Reading Lat’s story in the form of a graphic novel really helped to give me an understanding of the story he was portraying.  Although the words were helpful and important in this book, it’s like the saying says, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this book had many pictures.  

When reading Kampung Boy it was easy for me to see the differences between our cultures, but looking back there were also some similarities. I think I did not notice the similarities at first because it something is the same as my own culture I do not think anything of it because it is “normal”. For example, I noted that the circumcision ritual that Lat undergoes in his tenth year as being very different than what we do in America. I did not notice that Lat was adventurous and did things that he should not as a teenager. This is the same in American culture, but I did not even notice because I saw that as normal.  Also, Lat’s family wanted him to do well in his studies, but he did not take them seriously at first. When he finally listened to his family and started studying, he passed an important examination and was admitted to an impressive boarding school in the capitol. This also reminds me of American culture because we always study hard to be able to get in to colleges and move away from home.

When doing some more research on Kampung Boy, I discovered a couple of facts that interested me about this book. First, Lat wrote this book to remind himself, and many others of their lives in the Kampung. He, like many others was living in the city and wanted to refresh his memory of his roots.  Kampung Boy was such a hit that it was adapted into a cartoon series. The show aired in 1999, and was made up of 26 episodes.

Kampung Boy did not undergo very many changes to be published in the United States. There were page numbers added in a font based off of Lat’s handwriting. The language was also adapted from British English to American English. There are some Malaysian words that have been left in the book, but they are easy to figure out using the context clues of surrounding words and the pictures. 

Malaysia

Recently, there was an airplane that disappeared near Malaysia...Just kidding.

Before this assignment, I did not know anything about Malaysia. I did not even know what continent it was located on (although I did suspect Asia because the name says Asia). I especially found the government and politics, and culture of Malaysia to be interesting. 

Location

When researching Malaysia, I quickly realized that I should first find out where the country is located in the world. Malaysia is located in Asia, and is separated into two similarly-sized regions by the South China Sea. Thailand and Indonesia border Malaysia, which also has maritime boundaries with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capitol of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur, and it is also the largest city in the country. 

History

In the first century AD settlers from China and India moved to Malaysia, and in the second and third centuries set up trading posts. Hinduism and Buddhism became popular religions in Malaysia, and there was a strong Chinese and Indian influence on the culture. The British arrived in Malaysia in 1787 and had a hand in the ruling of the country until they claimed their independence on September 16, 1963.

Government and Politics

The British rule of Malaysia explains the similarities between the two governments. I read about the government of Malaysia before I read about the history, and just from their system of government I could tell that there had been some sort of British rule in Malaysia at some point in time. Malaysia has a federal constitutional elective monarchy that closely resembles the Westminster parliamentary system (a result of British presence in Malaysia). The head of state is known as the king, and is elected to five year terms. Although there are 13 states in Malaysia, only the nine states with hereditary rulers vote for the king in the elections. Not only are these the only states to vote for the king, but the king is also selected from one of the rulers of these states. Although there is voting for the leader of the country, it is not like the United State's voting system. The people do not take part in voting and the nine rulers of the "important" states pretty much just rotate every five years. 

Culture

Malaysia is part of the United Nations along with other international organizations, such as the Asia-pacific Economic Cooperation, the Developing 8 Countries, and the Non-Aligned movement. The official language of Malaysia is Malaysian, and although the National Religion is Islam, the country experiences religious freedom. 61.3% of Malaysians practice Islam, 19.8% practice Buddhism, 9.3% Christianity, 6.3 Hinduism, and 1.3% practice other Chinese religions. An official Malaysian culture was established by the government in 1971, which said that "Malaysian culture must be based on the culture of the indigenous peoples of Malaysia, that it may incorporate suitable elements from other cultures, and that Islam must play a part in it.". This law has made many non-Maylays feel as though their cultural freedom is inhibited.  

Fun Facts
Now for the most important piece of information about Malaysia...They drive on the left side of the road!