Just Breathe

So, I thought that since this journal is technically for Anre's class, I should probably incorporate some sort of blurb on race/poverty/Africa/etc.
But first, I'm going to start off on a slightly different, but nevertheless related note. So, one of my biggest (and many) pet peeves is when people claim to "understand," to "know what you're going through." A lot of times when people say that, they have no idea what you're going through. Yes, they're just trying to be nice by claiming empathy but really, sometimes I just want to tell a ho to shut their trap. So, we're walking through the townships and I overhear a few people make side comments, probably without really thinking, about this experience allows them to really know what it's like to live in poverty. And here I am wanting to scream, because they have no idea! Now, maybe I'm a little too particular with words, but when people say that they finally understand, to me, that just shows how little they understand. We're walking around these townships for a few hours max. We don't get to go inside any of the homes; we don't get to really see the kinds of lives these people live beyond the exterior walls. Most of all, we have no actual concept of what it's like to live there. I started thinking a lot about Nicaragua and how a lot of the people had similar comments. Again, we live there for a week, we work in the village, but we know that in a week we'll be going home to our posh suburban mansions and four cars. So how much are we really understanding? How can we ever really know what it's like to live in poverty? While I would say that it's possible, I would also say that it's incredibly extreme, radical, and dangerous. It would truly require one to give up absolutely everything for the sake of understanding, a step that 99% of the population is not ready to take (I definitely include myself in that group). I'm not trying to criticize these people, because again, I'm one of them, and what we are doing as teenagers is more than what most Americans will ever do in their lifetime. I just hope that people will be able to recognize their experience for what it truly is, and not for any more.

Sincerely,

Jason