Monday, May 12, 2014
Now Is STILL the Time for Running
I've been reading Now Is the Time for Running, and in it, a boy named Deo and his brother Innocent are driven from their home town when soldiers supporting the president gun down the village because people voted for the "wrong person". It didn't seem like the village was in good quality, since it was mentioned that there wasn't a lot of food there. In the year 2000 in Zimbabwe, there was a very rapid decline towards economic and social breakdown, and consequently, children have suffered, some infected by HIV or AIDS. Many children are orphaned and lack education, caring towards their health, and even basic daily needs for survival. It's pretty much not looking good, right? The economy is in chaos, there are infectious diseases running amok, and the education is in a bit of a bind. HOWEVER, all of this is being worked on by the Save the Children Development (bit of an un-creative name, but who knows, maybe they were in a hurry). Save the Children is helping many of the poor and orphaned children in Zimbabwe to get a quality education, working to help them get basic needs and sanitary environments, and providing child protection services. So, even if things have seemed to be looking bleak, there are still acts being done to help the harsh scenario there. If you were in Zimbabwe with hardly anything to help you live, what would you do?
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ReplyDeleteIf I were in Zimbabwe in such harsh place I would probably just do anything to survive. What I mean is if there was a little food today I would save some for tomorrow. You know something along those lines. The Save the Children Development is trying to help in those conditions especially with HIV/AIDS. I am not reading this book (I'm reading Boys Without Names), so I decided to look up some information on HIV. HIV is a virus that attacks your white blood cells. Your white blood cells are the cells that keep you strong and defend your immune system. This virus pretty much weakens the immune system. Sadly though there is no cure, so once you have the virus it will never go away. If you were in Zimbabwe under such poor conditions and had the disease that would be very bad. Luckily the Save the Children Development is doing everything it can to help them. What would you do to help these children in Zimbabwe?
Before commenting I should probably note that I am reading the same book as Noel. In the story, the villagers in Gutu were killed by the government of Zimbabwe for voting for the wrong person. This means it had to have occurred in the 1980's or more recently. It probably happened during the 2008 elections due to where the World Cup was noted to be located next. There have been some attempts to stop killings like this since then, but there hasn't been to much action. The main thing people have been doing is trying to provide food, education, and medicine to people who don't have access to them in Zimbabwe, especially children. The Save The Children Development is a great example of people trying to help Zimbabwe. Overall the country has many problems when it comes to human rights, but people across the world are trying to help.
ReplyDeleteNoel, this is an excellent post. Very meaningful, and has a great "flow" to it. You have a talent for writing!
ReplyDeleteI should add...a couple of excellent comments as well! Nice job!
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