Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro democracy leader in Burma, was recently released from 15 years of house arrest. During her time as a pro democracy leader, she has made many sacrifices and faced many tough decisions to help Burma. I can't imagine having to make as difficult decisions as she has. During her house arrest she could not see her sons grow up. During a brief release of her incarceration her husband was dying and she had to make a difficult decision to stay in Burma or visit her husband. The government of Burma said that if she left the country she would not be able to return and they would not let her husband visit her. Her husband also said that he didn't want his life to interfere with Aung San Suu Kyi's political buisness. She decided to stay in Burma to continue to help her country and I think that this is her biggest sacrifice. Still after going through house arrest and all her sacrifices she says that it's only house arrest and she didn't get the worst punishment like others. She says she hasn't sacrificed anything because everything she has done has been a choice. I think this ties into this year's theme of Heroes and Journeys because there's no doubt in my opinion that Aung San Suu Kyi is a heroine to many.

The picture above shows Aung San Suu Kyi talking to a streetful of her followers.

Reference: http://mthago.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aung-san-suu-kyi.jpg

Identities

Jesus Colon, a black Puerto Rican, was in a train when he saw a woman and her children. He questioned whether he should help because he knew that she was struggling and courtesy was a big thing for Puerto Ricans. He thought about what would happen if he did offer help, he thought whether that woman was prejudiced. Jesus arrived at his destination and he just rushed past her. As he walked out of the station he regretted his decision, thinking, what if the woman was not was not what he thought she was. He regrets that day when he placed that label on that woman thinking that she was prejudiced because he failed to stick to his rule of courtesy and let down that woman. That day was also a turning point in Colon's life as he promised that he would help anyone regardless of how they would take this help. I'm not sure whether his decision was right or wrong as it would depend on whether that woman was prejudiced or not. If that woman was prejudiced and she accused him of something he could have gotten into serious trouble because there was heavy racism in the United States.

James Berry's poem "What Do We Do with a Variation", gives some possible responses to someone with a variation. The lines, "Do we shut our eyes to it" and "Do we move around it in rage and enlist the rage of others", links to Armin Greder's "The Island" because the village people tried to move the foreigner as far away as possible, trying to "shut their eyes to it", but when the foreigner came back to their village they got angry, the only exception being the fisherman who tried to help the foreigner. Colon's story also connects with this poem, "Do we shut our eyes to it" because Jesus Colon tried to shut his eyes from the woman on the train.

'A part of the main'

"No Man is and Island", a poem by John Donne, is about Donne's view on people. I think the most significant parts of the poem are these lines: "Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less", In this part of the poem, Donne says that everybody is important and a part of something bigger. Then going on to say that if someone died, mankind would be less.

"Mankind is no Island" is an award-winning short film by Jason van Genderen. The video shows its messages through a phone's camera using words found around the streets of New York City and Sydney. Tho most important parts of "Mankind is no Island", in my opinion is the ignorance to the homeless and how passers by don't even pass a glance, much less give a donation to someone who needs that kind of help. However, towards the end of the video people stop to take notice to the homeless by talking to them; a simple gesture that could change the way someone felt for the rest of the day. People fortunate enough might take such a gesture as talking for granted but for someone like a homeless person, it could cheer them up.

Both "No Man is and Island" and "Mankind is no Island" play on the same ideas that all are important and no one deserves to be ignored. Though they both tried to deliver around about the same idea I found the video a bit more impacting as I find that a video is more expressive than text. I find that both John Donne and Jason van Genderen are similar to other people we have studied like Aung San Suu Kyi and Fatmire Feka as Donne and van Genderen both have a belief and they are letting their opinions be heard one way or another.