Our G&T class recently finished watching Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days: Living on Minimum Wage. It was when Morgan and his fiance Alex spent 30 days living on minimum wage. They locked up all their cards and money, and started off with a week's worth of minimum wage savings ($5.15/hr), which was around $130-150 each. After that, they moved to Ohio because Ohio has 4 out of the 25 poorest U.S. cities within their state.
I think that something that surprised me the most was the hospital bills, and the minimum wage itself. Both Morgan and Alex had to go to the Emergency Room in the same day. For Morgan, just walking into the hospital was over $500..... And an ACE bandage was $40! How crazy is that. Think about how scary those numbers could get for people in poverty living without medical insurance (which is most people in poverty) For Alex, walking into the hospital had been over $100 and her prescribed medicine was over $20. That was something that really surprised me. Why is there any need for the walking in fee to be $500+!?!? Also, the minimum wage surprised me because it hasn't changed in over 7 years. The minimum wage has stayed at around $7, and there are some states that either have no minimum wage law, or have a minimum wage of less than $7.
I think that this was in some way a realistic view of living life on minimum wage. They had to live in an apartment that was in horrible condition because it was the cheapest one, they had rice and beans for most of their meals, they had to go to the free store to get free furniture and supplies, they couldn't get into the free clinic because they couldn't miss work, Morgan worked 2 jobs, they both got injured and had to pay off medical bills.. Even though some people go through much worse, this was still a realistic portrayal of what some people have to go through everyday.
Viewing this episode, I learned a lot about the minimum wage and the conditions of people living in poverty and on minimum wage. I didn't think it would be so bad, to be honest. I didn't think that people would have to work so long for just $50, and I realized that it's much worse for people with children. During this show, I was thinking about how bad it would have been for my family and me if we were living on minimum wage. It was saddening because it showed small parts of parents and children that were living on minimum wage, and single mothers struggling to provide for their children. It was saddening to see all of this going on in a country that actually has some very rich people and areas. People living like this get ignored everyday, and it's sad. There are free stores that they can go to. Free stores that people donate too, even when they themselves don't have much. In the store, Alex was tearing up saying something like, "I forgot that there actually are kind people like this." And it was sad, because so many people can be helping, yet they don't do anything to try to help these people in need.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Google 20% Project
This is the site I'll be using for my project. I'll try to paint using each technque to learn more about painting, more specifically, watercolor painting.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A Photographic Look At Poverty
I think that this picture really got to me because of the description. This 8 year old war-orphaned boy, Faustin Mugisa, has machete scars all over his head and body. Not only that, but he lost all of his family. In this picture, he is standing at the Kizito Orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo, February 24, 2009. When ethnic Lendu militiamen hacked to death his mother and 7 siblings in 2003, Faustin was left for dead in a pile of corpses. His father later found him alive and took him to the bush to recover. However, his father was later hacked to death by the same militia group. This picture really got to me, because this little 8 year old boy had to go through so much at such a young age. Losing all of the people he loved, being left for dead, and now growin up in an orphanage. I can't even imagine having to go through any of those events at that age.
(REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
I think that this picture got to me because I felt so bad when I scrolled to it. This war orphaned child was sitting in a cardboard box at the Kizito Orphanage. I have younger brothers, so I think this picture got to me because I can't imagine any child to have to be left in a box at an orphanage..
I chose this picture because you can see the bad conditions that this little girl lives in. If you look closely, you can see that her clothes are raggidy, and she only has one shoe. The huts/houses in the back are also not very clean or in good conditions, and her face is spotted with mud and dirt and she definitely doesn't look very happy. The picture also says that she is an Afghan refugee girl.
Waste Land Documentary
As an introduction to our Hunger, Poverty, and War unit, our Gifted and Talented just finished watching the documentary titled, "Waste Land". I thought that this documentary was really touching, and enjoyable to watch. It guided you through the life of the pickers (workers that pick out the recyclable materials), and it focused on a handful of them. The "Waste Land", Jardim Gramacho, was pretty much, a waste land. It was landfill, so it was where all the trash and recylcables were taken to be picked and sorted, and the conditions of course, weren't very good. The pickers created a group called ACAMJG, the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho. Vik Muniz was able to pick a handful of people to focus on and get closer too, and in the beginning, some of those people enjoyed picking, while others despised it and was ashamed to be called a picker. It was amazing to watch the process of taking the photos, then picking and organizing the waste, to seeing those pickers help and become a part of this huge project. In the end, the artworks became very well-known, and it had changed the lives of those pickers. Not only did they receive money, but when they asked the people that, at first, despised being at Jardim Gramacho, they were able to confidently say that they were proud to be a picker and a part of the ACAMJG.
Vik Muniz did not only help the pickers money wise. Vik was able to change the persectives of the pickers. An example would be Isis. Isis hated picking trash. She also felt ashamed to tell people that she was a picker. But after becoming involved with Vik and this huge project, she was able to in the end, say that she was proud to be where she was, proud to be a picker, and proud to have been a part of this project.
This film made me realize that my family and I probably dispose of a lot of things without thinking about who exactly has to deal with our waste. We do however recycle what should be recycled, and try to dispose less. We don't waste a lot of stuff, such as food, and other materials. We use them for as long as we can, and that sometimes causes less waste. I will probably start to be more careful with exactly how much I throw out. Maybe look for items with less packaging. But just because I want to do this, doesn't mean I necessarily will. Most of the time I end up forgetting, but hopefully this can be something that I continue to remember and carry out.
I think that another area of society that could be highlighted is, maybe juvenile "delinquents". In other words, students that act up or get into trouble inside and outside of school. I feel like they could be helped in the way the pickers were helped in Jardim Gramacho, because if they are juveniles that constantly get into trouble, or have issues at home, then this would be a chance for them to get a break from all of it. Although some if not many could reject this sort of thing, I feel that if you tried to show them something new, show them that they could have the potential to do things much more beneficial to them, then that could be something done to their advantage.
Vik Muniz did not only help the pickers money wise. Vik was able to change the persectives of the pickers. An example would be Isis. Isis hated picking trash. She also felt ashamed to tell people that she was a picker. But after becoming involved with Vik and this huge project, she was able to in the end, say that she was proud to be where she was, proud to be a picker, and proud to have been a part of this project.
This film made me realize that my family and I probably dispose of a lot of things without thinking about who exactly has to deal with our waste. We do however recycle what should be recycled, and try to dispose less. We don't waste a lot of stuff, such as food, and other materials. We use them for as long as we can, and that sometimes causes less waste. I will probably start to be more careful with exactly how much I throw out. Maybe look for items with less packaging. But just because I want to do this, doesn't mean I necessarily will. Most of the time I end up forgetting, but hopefully this can be something that I continue to remember and carry out.
I think that another area of society that could be highlighted is, maybe juvenile "delinquents". In other words, students that act up or get into trouble inside and outside of school. I feel like they could be helped in the way the pickers were helped in Jardim Gramacho, because if they are juveniles that constantly get into trouble, or have issues at home, then this would be a chance for them to get a break from all of it. Although some if not many could reject this sort of thing, I feel that if you tried to show them something new, show them that they could have the potential to do things much more beneficial to them, then that could be something done to their advantage.
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