" There are children in the poorest, most abandoned places who, despite their miseries and poisons that the world has pumped into their lives, seem, when you first meet them, to be cheerful anyway." (Page 6)
This always interested me. How a child could be in the worst scenario you could imagine, and still be happy. Those children appreciate all the good that there is in the world, possibly because there isn't much of it for them. What they do have they treasure. Those children make the best of what they have instead of making a wish list of the things that they want. The more a person has, the less happy they seem to be.
"The pastor tells me that the place is known as 'Children's Park.' Volunteers arrive here twice a week to give out condoms and clean needles to addicted men and women, some of whom bring their children with them. The children play near the bears or on a jungle gym while their mothers wait for needles." (Page 12)
This quote makes me tear up. That is so sad. Innocent children are playing near the bears that were probably stolen and put in the tree hanging as some sort of sick joke. All this while their mothers wait for needles, how devastating. Another thing that struck me is that there are volunteers that come to the "Children's park" to give out condoms and clean needles. That is promoting the wrong actions. Especially having volunteers to give them out? I don't understand. Volunteers are people that give their time to help others but to do good. Not to encourage using needles!
Volunteer opportunities (I don't see giving out condoms and needles on here.. just saying)
"I believe that we were put here for a purpose, but these people in the streets can't see a purpose. There's a whole world out there if you know it's there, if you can see it. But they're in a cage. They cannot see." (Page 24)
After reading this I agreed right away. Those people are not living. Without a purpose, one is lost and has no reason to even try. That is what they fell into. Those people cannot see. I think that is why this article is titled Amazing Grace. Here is the verse that connects to the story, the verse those people need..
"Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."
Topic to talk about:
"I think they hate you because you are not in their condition. 'I am in hell and you are not and so I hate you and I have to try to bring you down where I am.' I feel pity for them, and fear, because they're lost." (Page 24)
This is true in many situations. It's from jealousy, they resent people that are in a better situation. Which is a part of human nature. Do you agree? Has anyone tried to bring you down with them?
I have to agree that picking only three quotes from this article was extremely difficult. Children do not take things for granted, like so many adults do, which is sad. It is extremely devastating that volunteers in that community, are handing out needles, which is the biggest reason why so many of the residents are suffering and dying of AIDS. We don't even know if the needles are clean or have been used! I love how you quoted the Amazing Grace song. That gave me the chills and made my eyes fill up with tears. These people are living wretched lives and they definitely feel lost. What makes me even more sad is that they feel that they cannot do anything about it. In my opinion, these jealous people out there need to appreciate what they have instead of wasting time on wishing on what other people have that they don't. Overall, if I can say one thing about your post, it would be wow! Very powerful and made me very emotional inside and out. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, that reading this article was not only hard in terms of picking quotes, but it was hard in respect to just getting through it and coming to terms with the reality of the situation here. And I agree with you that those people are not volunteers, and that passing out needles does not help anybody, but at the same time, I can see the purpose for it. Even though the entire situation is bad, is it not better to have them using clean needles, than using dirty needles and spreading more and more disease?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in saying how difficult it was not only choosing a mere three quotes from this article, but also getting through the article in general. Just reading through this article on my own makes my stomach turn and feel sick, so I can't bear to imagine things like this actually occurring. Overall, I loved your post, and especially loved the Toy Story pic at the end! :D
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your first quote, I thought of something cool! Have you ever heard of the guy who goes around New York and takes pictures of random people and asks them random questions. He post them on facebook and the caption is what they talked about. Sometimes he interviews little children and they aren't living in the best of places and don't have the best life, but they are always smiling and finding the goodness in situations. It also kind of relates to your last quote as well. Really interesting though! Heres the link: https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork
ReplyDeleteHi Christy! I just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed your post, and agree with a lot of what you said. This was a very difficult article to read, and I can imagine only picking three quotes would be very difficult.
ReplyDeleteALSO I DID MY EXTENDED BLOG POST RESPONSE BASED OFF OF YOURS :D
Christy, I really thought that the first quote you picked to share was a really powerful one. It's astonishing how children can seem to be so happy but enduring so much pain on the inside. It is unbelievable to us because most of us have not been in situations where most of these scenarios happen so it is really hard for me to put my perspective in these children's shoes. That was a really powerful quote and I agree with what elaborated on it.
ReplyDeleteChristy, I loved all of the quotes you chose and how you explained them. Your post was really interesting to read because I agreed with a lot of the stuff you had to say. My favorite part of you post was the last quote you chose. I loved how you connected it to Amazing Grazing. In my blog I used that same quote and I didn't make the connection to the song Amazing Grace.
ReplyDelete