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Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 7:40 am
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Location: Dudley Shoals Elementary
I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I am building a walkway path from my driveway to my porch. As I was digging up the sod to make the path, all I could think of was how the people in the Congo would never understand why I was doing this. And then I felt guility for messing up the ground and then how much money I was spending and how "rich" I would seem to the Congolese. I never thought this class would make me think like this at the oddest times.

Randy


Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:30 pm
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No need to worry, Randy, I can say that you have at least one other person in class with you who has found the same thing happening to them. I wonder if the Congolese would think we are "rich" for some of the things we do, or if they'd think we are nuts for (as you put it earlier) "messing up the ground" or for whatever else we "think" we have to do. I kind of think of them watching me and sort of shaking their heads in disbelief!

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Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:49 pm
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I'm right there with you! I find myself thinking about my actions in a way I never have before. There was a granddaddy (I'm not sure about that spelling) spider stuck on the ceiling today. I didn't want him to fall on my head because that would really creep me out. So I knocked him down and ordinarily I would have squashed him because he would have been invading "my space." But I just couldn't do it. I thought about how he wasn't hurting anything. He was just hanging around. So after I got him off the ceiling, I carried him outside to set him free. I know that many of my ways are definitely taker ways, but I felt good about not destroying this creature as I normaly would have done.


Sun Apr 13, 2003 10:22 pm
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I know what you guys mean about this class making you think differently. I especially think about it when hearing news about the war. The news brief that struck me was how the Iraqi news was reporting all good new for them. The American reporters were saying how crazy it was for the Iraqis to report this. All I kept thinking was "how do we know that our news is right?"

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kristi


Mon Apr 14, 2003 7:39 am
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we all seem to be experiencing the same things. after i talked about cleaning out our stuff, i took two huge loads of things to the habitat for humanity store and the soup kitchen last week. i go thru these "i own too much phases" alot.

when i got back from africa my son moaned " oh no. now we are all going to have to pare down our belongings because mom is in another one of her ' we are too materialistic 'phases, and we 'll eat like ghandi for a month.

well i had a new one hit me wednesday night. most of the diamonds in the world come from africa and sitting here on my hand is a circle of three gold rings and diamonds. what the _____ for? have i contributed to the slave wages paid african workers because of this frivolity? how does this ring in any way represent the feelings and commitment i have to my husband?

i've boycotted grapes and lettuce and tuna for the poor wages paid to migrant workers or the snaring of dolphins in nets. i won't buy minutemaid
pet foods or nike for their political positions on hiring children at slave wages and in unfit conditions. do we ever get down to the true leavers level?
i'm thinking monastic life or the peace corp may be my only answer.( life on an israeli kibbutz is definitely NOT an option).


Mon Apr 14, 2003 12:17 pm
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It has certainly made me stop and think. I am more aware of how I use and abuse things in my environment. I changed over my closet this weekend. I have an old house that has pitifully small closets and I have to change over my clothes to the summer things each spring. I looked at all of my things (winter/summer) and thought, "Good, Lord! I don't need to shop ever again!!" I did weed out and sent several bags full to Christian Ministries.
I think we will all be better for having read these books this semester. Yes, I have complained and whined, but in the end, I have become more attuned to the world around me and the way I treat and respond to others. I guess that is a very good thing!!

DANA 8) :lol:


Mon Apr 14, 2003 10:07 pm
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You're right Randy. It does make you stop and think. I try to recycle as much as I can, but at school we only have a recycling bin for aluminum cans and paper. I had two bottles of water yesterday at school and I would have normally tossed the empty plastic bottles in the trash can, but I found myself dropping them in my bookbag and taking them home to place in my recycling bin. It made me stop and think about how I sometimes toss without thinking. :shock:

Kim


Tue Apr 15, 2003 1:26 pm
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OK Airlie I have to say this. I know that we as Americans have more than we should and more than we need. I know that some of the things we have are the result of others working under conditions that we would not dream of but to boycott all of those places and/or products??? I understand that by doing so you are making your own personal statement but where do you stop? I would bet there would be a reason to boycot everything if we looked hard enough. Nike and minutemaid OK, there are other brands, but grapes and lettuce...???

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Last edited by kristi wietzke childers on Wed Apr 16, 2003 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.



Tue Apr 15, 2003 2:46 pm
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I agree with you guys. Piosonwood has changed my personal views the way Savage changed the way I viewed our school. I remember at the beginning of the year being so upset b/c the air conditioner was too cold. Can you imagine? There are children going to school in delapitated buildings and I was whining b/c I had to put on a sweater or (heaven forbid) open a window! After Savage I knew how incredibly stupid it was of me to be concerned with something so insignificant.
Now, thanks to Poisonwood, I am super self-conscious about my personal life. I actually felt sick yesterday when I poured out almost an entire 1/2 gallon of milk. It sickened me to be so wasteful! I am currently forcing my way through a loaf of bread - just so it doesn't mold b/f I can eat it all. I just feel so guilty about being wasteful! When I think about the people of the Congo (including the Prices - at least the Price children) I know how very fortunate I am.


Wed Apr 16, 2003 2:10 pm
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I have to agree also. The book certainly made me think of all the "extras" in my life and how I take advantage of those.

I kept thinking in the book about adaptations. The Rev. just didn't quite get it, in my opinion. On page 80, there is a passage that Leah states, "My father looked at me with a new face,-strange and terrifying to me for what it lacked in confidence." (This is when he realized that he could not grow the vegetables.) I think this was a realiztion for him, that he might not be able to adapt.


Wed Apr 16, 2003 5:47 pm
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Randy, you are right! After reading some of these books, it makes you question things you once whole heartly believed in. I grew up on a dairy farm. Our main production item was milk. But we also did some crop farming- to sustain our farm as well as sell the surplus. We were trying to help feed the growing population of the world. I guess Ishmael would not have been to happy with us. The Congoles (sp ?) would laugh (or be horrified) at the way we tile our soil and extend our crop fields into the neighboring woods to get "just a little bit more corn". I use to be extremely proud to be a farmer, I felt it was a noble occupation. But now, hmm. Makes yout think.


Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:52 am
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airlie just something to think about. in other cultures children working (in factories or whatever) may not be a negative thing. if you don't buy their products, families may starve due to no money from no job. i am not saying it is right for us now, but maybe its right for them. remember we should not judge what others do. Nike, etc. may not be at fault. These countries make the decisions whether child labor is acceptable, not us. We just provide the products to make. Again, not saying it's right or wrong, just different from our culture.


Thu Apr 24, 2003 12:26 pm
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