Getting Help from the Little Guy: Elephants in Need

Drew Guggeis

Ms. Bennett

WLH 1

Getting Help from the Little Guy: Elephants in Need

In Africa, the elephant is a symbol of power and beauty. But the elephant may soon become a tale of the past like the dinosaurs. As the population declines, severity rises. the elephants represent an important piece to the ecosystem and food chain, and if the world continues on the path it is going, that chain may suffer. While the poaching is an upsetting topic, many people from Africa and around the world are aiding to fight for the gentle giant. From ivory banning to local donations and protection services, great strides are being taken to protect the elephants.

Politicians from around the world are intervening to help the cause. It is well known that China holds the largest ivory market in the world, with value in the expensive ivory carvings and figures that can be made out of an elephant tusk. However, in a grand effort to aid the elephants and Africa, China announced that it will close the ivory market by the end of 2017 (Africa). This will surely pare down the amount of poachers and ivory traders threatening the population.  This gesture, especially coming from China, shows great promise for the future of elephants and the environment as a whole. Not only China, but also those of the EU are partaking in the effort to end the poaching. The EU recently had a convention and discussed whether to also shut down their domestic trade markets and began a petition to do so which gain over 100,000 signatures (Kairu). An astonishing amount in such a short time shows the impact that the elephants and their poaching holds in the people in Africa, and the world. While many outside of Africa are aiding in stopping the trade of elephant tusks, a tougher fight is taking place in the land of the issue.

Local groups are also taking on the task of protecting the elephants from poaching as well. In a major national park in Gabon there is a large population of elephants whose population has dwindled by 80% . This study took place at Duke University and was led by John Poulsen who said, “the loss of 25,000 elephants from this key sanctuary is a considerable setback for the preservation of the species,” (Bennett). In an effort to slow this reduction, the Gabonese government has elevated the status of the elephants to fully protected. This means that they will protect the elephants even more from the poachers which will hopefully save the population. This is a significant step to the protection and to the future of the African elephants and the African environment. Similarly, in Rwanda, the government is using revenue from tourism to fund national parks in the hopes that they will use it to protect their animal including elephants (Mullen). This is a very generous donation considering the other profitable possibilities for that income stream. With more and more contributions arising, the fate of the elephants are looking up.

Although elephants are enormous creatures, every once in awhile they may need assistance from someone smaller than their own leg. The elephant population has been declining for decades, but people are taking action to try to save the beautiful elephant. Even though many ivory are extremely intricate and extravagant, they may no longer be circulating the market. Some would even argue that ivory looks even more beautiful attached to elephants.

Dayu Zhang, Jethro Mullen. “Booming Illegal Ivory Trade Taking Severe Toll on Africa's Elephants, Groups Say.” "CNN", CNN, June 2012, www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/world/africa/africa-ivory-elephant-slaughter/index.html. Accessed Mar. 2017.

Bennett, Abbie. “Duke Study: Poaching Drives 80 Percent Decline in Elephants at Central African Preserve.” "Newsobserver", Newsobserver, 2017, www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article134572679.html. Accessed Mar. 2017.

Kairu, Pauline. “Africa: Pressure Shifts to EU Over Ivory Trade.” "AllAfrica.com", AllAfrica.com, July 2017, allafrica.com/stories/201702100212.html. Accessed Mar. 2017.

Anonymous. “Africa Lauds China's Move to Close Ivory Market.” "Xinhuanet.com", Xinhuanet.com, 2017, news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-01/14/c_135980968.htm. Accessed July 2017.

Overcoming Education Challenges For Girls in Africa

Overcoming Education Challenges For Girls in Africa

Can you imagine never having the opportunity to go to school? Needing to stay home to cook and take care of your family? Not being able to read or write a single sentence? This is reality for millions of girls in Africa, 28 million of them ages 6-15 are not in school and never will be.(Costin, Montoya, Mundy). Education for women would lead to lower infant and maternal mortality, less child marriage and overpopulation, and a more educated country in general with improved treatment of women.(Jordan) While there is support and promotion for women’s education in Africa, it continues to be hindered by outside forces.  

Poverty and outdated family values are believed to account for the biggest obstacles in female education. In many common African households, women are expected to take care of housework for the sake of tradition(Jordan). Fortunately, these customs and expectations are finally changing(Jordan); however, education for girls is still being majorly obstructed by poverty. There is often not enough money to squander on materials needed such as books, uniforms, and fees, and families will often use any small amounts of extra money to send their sons to school(Schuetze). Males are generally held in a higher regard than females in Africa, they receive the best food and treatment(Hunter-Gault). Because of this, they are more likely to get a paid job than women, which encourages families to educate their sons rather than daughters. While the boys are in school, girls are often forced into marriages while they’re under 18 years of age(The Conversation Africa). Child marriage along with underage and often unwanted pregnancies contribute to around 15-20% of school drop-outs in sub-Saharan Africa(The Conversation Africa). Since women are considered as inferior to men, their lives are often viewed as a drain on family money unless the girl can be married off for a dowry to financially benefit the girl’s family(The Conversation Africa). This means that the “education” that girls experience in Africa consists of how to be a proper wife.

There are numerous campaigns and and organizations working to improve women’s education, and while the situation is still dire, many positive advances have been made. Camfed, a non-profit organization devoted to providing financial aid for African girls has caused much of this progress. More than three million students have benefited from Camfed work, and the organization has constructed a network of Camfed graduates working to advise their communities(Schuetze). Other companies such as UNESCO, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Education are also attempting to promote gender equality and provide schooling for women and girls(Mundy, Costin, Montoya). As education for girls becomes a more prevalent topic of discussion, people are finally giving it the attention and aid it deserves. A civil society organization in Ethiopia managed to increase attendance rates for girls and delay child marriages by offering a sheep or cow to parents who promised not to marry off their daughters(The Conversation Africa). As parochial values begin to break down, women are being viewed in a more favorable light, and are given more opportunities.

As Nelson Kaperemera said, “We still have some communities where the value of education for girls is still being doubted, because in the past they were valuing sending boys to school. But I think that is now changing. There's been a lot of social mobilization campaign to try and increase girls' access to education.” Africa’s enrollment and attendance rates, as well as its learning environments are certainly improving, but many young girls are still held back by poverty and tradition.

Works Cited

Africa, The Conversation. "How Schooling Can save African Girls from Becoming Child Brides." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. "The Missed Education of African Girls." NPR. NPR, 08 Aug. 2006. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Jordan, Ray. "The Education Challenges of Africa's Girls." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Feb. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Mundy, Karen, Claudia Costin, and Silvia Montoya. "No Girl Left behind – Education in Africa." Global Partnership for Education. Global Partnership, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Schuetze, Christopher F. "Bringing Education to African Girls." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

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Clouded Vision

Red& Three blood spots in the Headman's eye

"The headman held the violin upright and peered into the black interior of the body, like an officious customs officer searching for drugs (3)."

"Raising the violin to eye level, he shook it, as though convinced something would drop out of the sound holes (3)."


Sijie uses the symbols of Red and Three blood spots in the Headman's eyes do demonstrate a lack of intellectual liberty. The Blood spots in the headman's eyes represent the headman being blinded by communism. Because of the ideas of communism, he cannot see the Violin as a harmless instrument, rather he was so convinced that the violin was dangerous and a threat to communism. This resulted in him searching the violin like a"Officious customs officer searching for drugs". This shows that the Headman was lacking intellectual liberty because of what the cultural revolution had taught him, which was to treat anything that was not related to communism as a threat even if it was clearly harmless.

Wave after wave

Wave after wave

"When he began to sing the wrinkles billowed out, forming little waves that rippled across his tanned and gleaming body." (Sijie 75)

"Every now and then it disappeared into a roll of skin, but just as it seemed lost forever in the tidal flow it re-emerged, dignified and prime." (Sieje 75)

When Sijie describes the Old Storytellers stomach as waves, that always re-emerged I believe he was trying to capture the spirits of the Old Storyteller, Luo, and the narrator. The Old Storyteller has clearly been around for quite a while, and the never ending waves of his stomach represent the never ending waves of his spirit and happiness. Luo and the narrator have both been through so much because of the re-education, and when there spirits and true happiness seem to be fading, they always find a way to make sure neither of those things cease to exist. 

Unlocking your Inner Knowledge

"I rubbed the nail against a rock until it became too hot to handle, after which I wiped it on my mud-encrusted trousers, and polished it vigorously until the metal shone like new. When I held it up for inspection it sparkled so brightly I thought I could see my eyes and the late summer sky reflected in it" (91).

"Luo took the rusty nail now transformed into a master-key and moistened it between his lips. The key slid noiselessly into place, turned to the left, then the right, left again and a fraction the other way... there was a dry metallic click, and the copper padlock yielded at last" (98).

KEY ANALYSIS: This quote represents the “key” to the boy’s intellectual liberty, because Luo and the Narrator are creating this key as path to getting their desired books. Their key, which unlocks the padlock, represents the nation’s close mindedness and restrictions of foreign literature, and so by unlocking Four Eye’s door (the symbol of forbidden literature), they are opening themselves up to gain unlimited access to all of these Western classics. In the boy's eyes, when the key “sparkled so brightly,” it corresponds to how they view these Western books; a beacon of light for freedom.

____________________________________________________________________________

"'What is it with you two, always going for stuff that's forbidden?'

'Don't exaggerate,' Luo said.

'You think I'm exaggerating? You want me to show this to the commune authorities? Your old miller would be accused of spreading erotic material. He might even go to prison. I'm serious'" (77).

“‘How could you waste all that precious time writing down this drivel? I can’t believe it. Do you seriously think an official journal would even consider publishing this shit? That they’d give me a job on the strength of this? You must be out of your minds’” (77).

FOLK SONG ANALYSIS: These two quotes summarize Four Eye’s lack of intellectual liberty, as he feels that the Old man’s folk song is essentially garbage, and forbidden. His fear of publishing this song reveals the little range of freedom he believes he has. This lack of intellectual freedom is a response to the Old man’s authentic, playful mountain song, which is a symbol of freedom of expression. The “forbidden” aspect that Four Eyes is talking about correlates to China at the time, and how they felt about songs in general. Songs symbolize expression and emotion, and aren’t always used for propaganda purposes, like Four Eyes hoped. This song in particular, expressed humor, innocence, and the open  essence of country life, and Four Eye’s backlash to the old man’s song shows the intolerance of intellectual freedom present in China at the time.

Chains

Symbolism is present throughout the story in the form of two objects: the suitcase and movies. Both objects show the extent to which intellectual liberty was limited during the time of the Cultural revolution. 

Dai SiJie uses movies to show the propaganda during the Cultural Revolution. The movies show how conformed to Mao’s propaganda,  the intellect of the population were during the Cultural Revolution. Dai SiJie writes, “There were still showing the old North Korean Film The Little Flower Girl, which had moved the four sorceresses in the Little Seamstress’ house to tears (81).” By using the word ‘still’ the author portrays how limited the scope of movies they played in public theatres. The government had ready control over public media and was able to maintain control over the people using specifically controlled movie propaganda. The narrator further details, “By now we had seen three films at the basketball court in Yong Jing. By far the most popular was North Korean melodrama with a heroine called “the Flower Girl”(35). The fact that they have only seen three movies, throughout this extended period, displays the control that the government has over lives of its people. All of the movies contain content which either supports or agrees with Mao’s vision. These two quotes shows the limiting nature of China through the propaganda films. 

The suitcase is symbolizing the locking up of knowledge from western society held in the books, which goes against the popular consensus. Dai SiJie writes, “It was only after an hour’s headlong flight along the mountain path that we finally dared stop.  Luo opened the suitcase. On top of the neatly stacked books lay the buffalo tail: black, with a tufted end, and stained with dark blood”(105). As Luo and the narrator open the books, they were able to freely receive knowledge and information which was banned under the Mao’s regime. Symbolically breaking the chains that held them away from the riches and knowledge trapped inside the suitcase. This idea is further continued as the narrator suggests, “ We’ll help you carry your hod to the rice station, and when we get back you can lend us some of those books you’ve got hidden in your suitcase. How’s that for a deal”(54). This quote shows the extent to which people would go to obtain knowledge. It also further shows the extent to which someone would go to protect their new founded intellect from others.