April 20, 2010

  • Images that made me cry

    Giving

    How often do we walk by a street performer and say "I can't give now", "I have no money to give", "Maybe next time"?

    If she can give, why can't we?

    Elderly

    I once encountered a haggard, elderly woman carrying two heavy tubs of salted fish on her slouched back. The foreign tourists around her laughed and haggled, pushing her to lower her prices ever more.

    Why? I wondered.  Her meager prices are pennies to your dollars.

    Grandmas should be at home... not begging foreigners to purchase her goods. I bought all of the fish for less than USD $10 and told her to enjoy her day at home..

    These images remind me of that woman...


    How many more years will she be carrying firewood on her back?


    What happened to social security?

    Wealth


    17-year old boy carries 440lbs of coal on his back; each one-mile trip earns him 1 yuan (USD $0.14)


    For a few yuan


    One yuan at a time... from youth to old age

    Schooling
    The caption reads: "That day, an English teacher came to our village and taught us our first English phrase: I want to go to school."

    This little boy is screaming: I want to go to school! But will he have that opportunity? If he works his hardest, will he succeed against all odds? I don't know.

    What I do know is that, someday, I want to open a school for the most passionate learners.


    Outdoor classroom


    We will continue learning..


    Clutching a "backpack" made out of a detergent box, a little girl skips happily to school

    Images, and some captions, from Veggie Discourse

Comments (6)

  • wow they are strong!

    that's why my parents always say to work smarter, so u don't have to work harder.

  • Yah those images break my heart to pieces too. The distribution of wealth in China is so skewed in having the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. That kind of system needs reform to ensure the poor have access to education and health care. 

  • The quality of life differences between poor and rich countries are quite stark and makes our lavish excesses look that much more deplorable. 

  • @cbr600 - In a lot of foreign countries, there just isn't as much opportunity to work "smarter." :(

  • @SoullFire - Gini coefficient for the world is around .66 ... that's pretty bad

  • @discofleur - it's funny,  when you look at the gini index for china.. it was like .14 during the communist era.. now it's closer to .45

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