A Traveler

A Traveler

Last night

on the way to Ublistan,

I met a traveler on his way to Ashad.

By the time our discussion was

exhausted,

the darkness of the night was

extinguished.

I declared to the hazy morning stars,

“Brother, how fortunate that we

should both hap upon this tavern tonight.

Our paths crossed,

like kite strings twisted and twined

by the wind.”

Come daybreak,

we followed the length of the river

‘till where it diverged to two--

one right to Ublistan.

one left to Ashad.

The traveler pointed left,

“This is as far as I can walk with you.

Take care, my good friend.

Perhaps we shall meet again by

the ocean!”

And so laughing, he strolled down the left fork.

I rose a hand in farewell,

but his figure had already dissolved into grey shores,

the silence of his departure

unnoticed

by the crashing waves.

Road to Redemption

This image represents Amir's road to redemption. After Amir witnesses Hassan's rape and fails to intervene, he harbors immense guilt, represented by the dead mass of twigs in the bottom left corner. As Amir grows older, Amir still feels guilt. However, through his journey in Afghanistan, his guilt is slowly alleviated, shown by emerging specks of greenery, contrasting with the dead bush. He is slowly repenting through doing kind actions. For example, he leaves money for Wahid's family under the mattress. Finally, this all culminates in his rescue of Sohrab and his fight with Assef, represented by the large fern, his ultimate act of redemption. While his inaction is represented by the dead bush, his fight with Assef, something he feels he should have done long ago, is a large fern. When Amir gets beaten up, he states he finally feels at peace and alleviated of guilt, stepping out the shadow and into the light.

Aid: Does it really help?

The gap between developed and developing countries is striking. In Africa, “over 40% of people said they went without clean water or food at least once or twice in the past year. 49% went without medical care, 38% without cooking fuel and 74% without cash income” (Parke). In response to these conditions, foreign countries have contributed to Africa in the form of aid. While some have attributed improving conditions of living in Africa to foreign aid, others criticize aid for showing no visible impact on the lives of the people (Thompson-Odoom). Overall, foreign aid has benefits but also severe detriments.

By allowing developing countries to invest in transformative infrastructure, foreign aid could potentially boost economic growth (Abugre). In Ghana, the government received $547 million of economic aid from the United States and used it to increase the quality of agriculture through improving efficiency along the production chain (Worthington and Yohannes). As a result, Ghana saw agriculture output increase 5% annually since 1983 and poverty drop down by a half (Worthington and Yohannes). Furthermore, a researcher from the United Nations University, McGillivray, analyzed trends in aid given between 1960 to 2002 to Sub-Saharan Africa, and found that aid lead to increased economic growth, whereas absence of aid led to higher levels of poverty.

Economic aid can also improve the political structure of a country because “aid involves the transfer of...policy advice…and spread[ing] new ways of thinking about governing” (Goldsmith). Thus, as a result of interaction between donor countries and African countries, Goldsmith, Professor or Management at University of Massachusetts Boston, notes that today’s political discourse is far more liberal than several decades ago. Furthermore, aid makes democratization more likely because it contributes to stability. Without aid, many countries could descend into “warring fiefdom” (Goldsmith). Indeed, Goldsmith’s study concludes that increased aid correlates with increasing levels of democracy and economic liberalization (Goldsmith).

However, foreign aid also has potential drawbacks. Foreign aid given to corrupt regimes does not increase democracy, but rather, leads to the deterioration of political institutions. Often, dictators, as in the case of Mobutu Sese Sekou, use aid instead for personal gain and to repress the population. Thus, aid given to dictators allows them to stay in power for longer, as they feel they have support from donors (Goldsmith).

Moreover, other studies have found no economic growth as a result of foreign aid, and some even found declines in the economy (Abugre). When aid is given to corrupt governments, the aid is not used to improve the economy but misused by unscrupulous governments (Thompson-Odoom). Aid also corrodes a country’s economic infrastructure due to dependency. As governments start to rely on foreign aid, they have no incentive to reform their own economic system, and develop the “capacity to raise revenue through direct taxation” (Goldsmith).

Thus, while foreign aid could potentially deliver economic and politic benefits, aid can also exacerbate the same problems it is intended to solve. With such instability and poverty in Africa, it is clear that something must be done in order to improve the lives of the people living on the continent. Whether that solution is foreign aid, however, remains to be seen.

Works Cited

Abugre, Charles. "Why Foreign Aid Is Important to Africa." CNN. Cable News Network, 13 Aug. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
Andrews, Nathan. "Foreign Aid and Development in Africa: What the Literature Says and What the Reality Is." Journal of African Studies and Development 1 (2009): 8-15. Academic Journals. Academic Journals. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
Goldsmith, Arthur A. "Foreign Aid and Statehood in Africa." International Organization 55 (2001): 123-48. JSTOR. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
McGillivray, Mark. Helsinki: World Institute for Development Economics Research. Feb. 2005. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Parke, Phoebe. "Africa Is No Longer 'poor', but Differences Remain." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
Thompson-Odoom, Jemilat Kike. "The Effects of Disbursement of Foreign Aid to African Countries: A Case Study of Ghana and Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire)." UNLV. University of Nevada. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.
Worthington, Samuel, and Daniel Yohannes. "Foreign Assistance, Even in Tough Times, Is a Good Investment | Daniel W Yohannes and Samuel A Worthington." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

The Coat is not a Coat

Sijie uses the symbol of the sheepskin coat to represents the Little Seamstress, Luo, and the narrator’s hunger for knowledge about the ideas of love, passion, and desire illustrated in the western literature, more specifically Ursule Mirouët by Balzac. The new ideas in the book exposes the characters to different aspects in life that they have not been exposed to before. The book introduces a new way of life different to their own which they strive to “reenact” in real life amongst each other.  

“I decided I would write directly onto the inside of my sheepskin coat. The short coat, a gift from the villagers when I arrived, was made of skins with wool of varying lengths and textures on the outside and bare hide on the inside”(58).

“‘She ended up putting your wretched coat on (which looked very good on her, I must say). She said having Balzac’s words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent”(62).

Yield

Yield

The willow bends.

And when the wind blows

it yields and lives.

The oak stands stiff,

And when hit by the wind,

its branches crack and come falling down.

That which stands straight and tall,

will tumble from its former glory.
Winning can be losing.

What can yield and bend

can survive all that is it faces.

Thus, to lose is to win.

Propaganda: What are you told to believe?