Research for my Hero Imagination Project about successful mentor programs for children who have been through traumatic situations, such as Rwanda. What methods did they use? What were their mentors like?
There are thousands of mentors programs connected to the fellowship on mentoring.org. There are twenty on that site just from Richmond. It's amazing to me how many there are and yet how they must not be that effective. I also talked to my aunt who is a "big sister" mentor in New York City. She and her little sister, and girl with a hard life at 18 years old, meet twice a month. My aunt helps her with jobs, taxes, finding people to help sit her kids etc. She says that she has learned so much from her little sister, and believes that the girl has beneffited a lot from the relationship.
I think that the New York City big brother/big sister program is a fairly effective way to mentor. My aunt said it was easy to sign up and find someone she was compatible with, and that they have helped each other survive life in the big city for over a year now.
This week in class:
a) This week in class we talked about Tank Man and Tianamen square. Though I missed a lot of class this week, the sections of the Tank Man lesson I got to see were very interesting. Tank man is a symbol of a citizen standing up to communist China for a voice and better standards of living. In a peaceful protest, he sparked what turned into at first the biggest peaceful protest in China, to the most bloody massacre of the modern age.
B) Learning about China was very interesting to me. The idea of the mass production and focus toward economics is mindblowing. Having entire cities dedicated simply to one industry is effective and efficient, but makes life in China very mundane for its citizens. When the documentary we watched in class interviewed three chinese women between the ages of 17 and 22, my perspective changed drastically. These women worked in a factory where they sewed one line of stiches on to pillow cases for twelve or thirteen hours each day for very low pay. The company provided them with room and board, and so all the money they made was shipped back to their families hundreds of miles away. What a selfless, unfufilling, mundane existence! Why has the world come to this? The other thing that fascinated me about China was the idea that the top students at the University of Beijing had no idea about Tianamenen Sqaure, the Tank Man held no resemblence to them. How does China believe they will shape their new generation of world leaders if they are not fully informed on the issues of the past, present and future.
C) It is a known fact that the U.S government keeps information and government projects from the citizens it watches over. My question is: are we as bad as China if our government does not keep us fully informed? In a democracy, aren't the people supposed to be aware of the government's actions and be able to vote on them at all times? What goes on behind the doors of congress? Is it unethical? I believe that in some ways, yes, it is unethical, but also pratical. It is for the greater good. The confindential information keeps our country safe.
Question for next week:
Find a news article that interests you. What interests you about it? How does it effect the rest of the world?
Sources:
"Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City." Web. 21 Mar. 2011. http://www.bigsnyc.org/index.php.
"FRONTLINE: the Tank Man | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/.
MENTOR. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.mentoring.org/>.
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