The Joy Luck Club

According to the book, which is called "The Joy Luck Club", by Amy Tam. It explains about four women who have formed this club since they moved to the U.S. First, they started to eat and play mahjong together. Then, it became a place that they shared the mysterious, darkness, and happiness of their lives of the old days in China. These women and their daughters form a complicated quilt of what it means to be a Chinese-American, whether born in China or in the United States, and they highlight the difficulties of bridging two cultures. That is why they can’t communicate with each other because of the generation gap. The mother had adopted the customs in China and the daughter had a hard time to understand or explain the mother’s straight actions to the others.

We highly recommend this book for teenagers to read because it is an inspired book that can make adolescences to think about their lives and observe their surroundings.

Members: Heben, Kylie, Kung, Yannie

-=[The Joy Luck Club]=-

[The Joy Luck Club]

(Martin, Yan, Beni, Miyuky)

Reflection:

With wit and sensitivity, Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between these four women and their American-born daughters. As each reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined…

Frase:

“Like the Angel / “Why u don’t like me the way / “Why’d you cook it if you

Of light” / I am? I am not a genius” / knew it was already dead?"

-=[Recommendation]=-

“funny / serious / diverse / beautiful”

-=[go and buy it!!!]=-

Red Azalea

This story takes place during the Socio Cultural Revolution in China. Anchee Min tells her personal experience during this time. This book reflects a lot of emotions and while you read this book, you can easily feel a deep sympathy with the character and all the things that she goes through as a child and later as an adult. While you read this book, you will feel that you are inside of this story with Anchee Min; you will go through her suffering and even cry with her situation. Therefore, if you are looking for an emotional book and want to study more about history of China, this is the right book for you. For that reason we recommend that you read this book. We expect that you will follow our advice and consider this book as you next option when you go to the bookstore or borrow this from one of your friends. Go get this book and read it.

The tears of the giraffe

We are recommending the book“The tears of giraffe” because everyone in the group loves it. We

even recommend you to read the whole series of “Detective agency” which has nine individual books in it. “The tears of giraffe” might be little slower than “The no.1 Ladies detective agency” but is more touching and deep. Are you wondering about the name of the book? If you read the book you will find an answer to your question. Also you will find about Mma Ramotswe’s engagement to Mr. Matekoni, their two kids, and how she solves unfaithful wife’s, missing American’s and more and more interesting cases. The book has lot of useful vocabularies and it has lot information about many South African countries. So hopefully you will read the book and

we guarantee that it will be GOOD!!!

Manda, Zoe and Maria.

Read the book " Funny in Farsi" !

“Funny in Farsi” is a book written by a growing up Iranian in America, FIROOZEH DUMAS. Group members Sandy, Sammie, Juan and Wence have read it and found it very interesting. We would like to recommend it for several reasons. First, this book is rich in vocabulary and, at the same time, easy to understand. Especially English learners will meet, when reading it, a lot of new words to use in their current life. In addition, the book “Funny in Farsi” related real facts that happened in the life of the author and her immigrant family in America. If every immigrant must write their stories, there will be so many books to read that we won’t even be able to read them all. Therefore, immigrants should just read those who have already written. That way, they will learn from those immigrant writers’ experiences, and be aware of diverse situations they may encounter in their own life as immigrants. Moreover, the author, FIROOZEH used the funniest styles to narrate her experiences with her family when moving from Iran to America. Definitely, the book “Fanny in Farsi” is one of the most interesting books our group would recommend to all readers, and especially to all immigrants in America. We hope you’ll enjoy reading the book “Funny in Farsi”.

How Diversity Visa Changed my Life

How Diversity Visa Changed my Life
There was a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea before I was born. They fought for seventeen years. At that time the government was socialist, so a social party forced people to join the army. It was the worst period of history I heard because a lot of people died and were hanged on the street. After that period, the war was over and these two countries separated in each other. Their separation made everything different. For instance, people got peace and freedom, education, and an opportunity to travel outside of the country, such as U.S.A, which is called diversity visa (DV). The diversity visa changed my life in profound ways, and helped my dreams come true.
After the government changed, everyone could get the diversity visa. It was a big opportunity for Ethiopian people. Also the diversity visa helped people to live and work legally in America. The visa comes in a three page form, so people had to fill out the form and send to America with two passport size photos. The American Embassy selects the form randomly like a lottery. And then they send it to Ethiopia. Every year my father and my siblings sent applicator. They also filled out the form for me and asked me to sign it. One day, I was doing my homework and somebody knocked the door. When I opened the door, I saw my father’s face delightfully. After he entered in, he hugged me and said,” Congratulations!” I could not even say a word. Finally, my father told me he got diversity visa for my siblings and me. The reason my father filled out the form just for the test because he did not trust that the government would give an opportunity for people to travel outside of the country. That is why he did not fill my mother’s name. However, he never felt any regrets because he had a big dream to send us to America, for he believed we can get better life and education in the rest of our lives.
Even though my diversity visa made me excited, I felt sad about leaving my mother, my friends, and my country. That is why I thought I wasn’t going to see my mother for a long time. Most of people think if their family move to other country, they will feel they are not going to see each other forever. In addition, people think about leaving their country could change their life. I am the youngest child in my family, so my mother thought I am not old enough to change my life. Finally, I accepted everything was going to be good; especially my dream of living in America gave me a big hope about my future as long as I work and study hard. Beside that, I felt sorrow to say goodbye to my mother. When I saw her, my tears came on my cheeks. She was crying every time until I left her. The situation was complicated to decide to leave or stay with her. Finally, my father explained to me leaving my mother is not the end of the world; I can see her any time I want.
I thought I live in America for good, for everything seemed confuse in the beginning. After a month, I started school. I was fascinated to learn the English language, but I had a hard time to understand English easily. Gradually, I could communicate with people and make new friends. Also I was participating in extracurricular programs. That helped me to improve my language skills and my grades for all classes. In addition, I participated in different kinds of clubs, which helped me to get a job. Until I graduated from high school, my father was supporting me even though I worked at school. After I graduated, I got a job. My job helped me to live better life and made me to think as a grown up what I have to do in the future. Moreover, I would realize everything is going to be improved day after day even though I live in America in the rest of my life.
In general my diversity visa changed my life. It helped me take care of myself, my family, and my mother by sending some money to Ethiopia. I thank my father a lot because he sacrificed many things for all of us. Now things are getting improved as I expected before. My diversity visa helped me to live and work legally in America and make my future brighten.

Repression of Innocence

Between 1973 to 1978, communism had spread around Mongolia, killing almost everyone who had power and intelligence, leaving all the women and children at home. Moreover brainwashing them. Communists thought that only rich people had all the power. The communist’ motto was “everything equal to everyone”, so they tried to even everything out, if someone rebelled, they just shot them without a word. At that time my grandfather owned a big hotel, so he fit into the rich and intelligent people’s definition. In 1976, communists closed my grandfather’s hotel and put him in jail, leaving my grandmother with 6six kids and no money. My family is one of those innocent families that had faced unfair life since those years, and it changed our lives forever.

My grandma’s and her children’s lives changed forever after the night they took my grandpa into prison. My grandfather hid some money somewhere and told my grandmother to leave the country with all the kids, but my grandmother refused. Instead of using the money to escape, she used it to help her husband. Unfortunately, at that time, there was no one to help him. My grandfather could not take the constant beating and starvation, and he passed away in prison. It devastated my grandma, and a year later she also passed away. The oldest of the six kids was only nineteen, and she found a job in factory and took her brother with her. Two children’s salary was barely able to feed six mouths. Then she married to a communist officer, yet I always wonder if she married him out of desire or if she sacrificed herself for her siblings. I think we all wonder, but we never ask.

Another person’s life that changed forever was my father’s. When the tragedy happened, he was only ten years old. When his sister married a communist soldier, he and his two brothers refused to live with him, so they stayed in their old house. His older brother worked every day, and it was his job to take care of his younger brother. My dad and his brother went to school, and when they come home, they had to cook and clean. Everyone used to call him “mommy’s boy” because he loved his mom more than anything. When his precious mother was gone, nothing mattered to him. He started smoking at thirteen and dropped out of high school. He started little business. I remember my dad come home drunk, which was very unusual because he never drinks, and told me that “my two little girls never have to go through want I went through”. I did not understand what he was referring at that time, but now I understand it. I can only imagine how awful it is to grow up without your parents, and I am so proud of my father that he didn’t let me and my sister to go through hard times.

It also affected my sister’s and my life. My mom said when we were young, we always asked why we had only one grandparent when other kids had two. She could not explain anything, but pointed at the big picture of two people we have in the living room, and said that is them, but they live in a country far away. My sister and I didn’t know the story about my grandparents until few years ago when my mom told us. My mom also told me that we have to love dad extra because of that. I cried the whole night, thinking over and over again, how my father grew up. I was so mad, and I wanted to blame someone for not seeing and not knowing my grandparents. Also for my dad’s harsh upbringing, but I find no one to take the blame.

Now all the six kids live healthy and happy lives. My dad once said that he loves and respects his oldest sister like god because if it was not for her, his life wouldn’t be the same. Every day my parents light a candle in front of my grandparents’ picture, and pray them to look after their innocent six kids from far country. They are just six out thousands of innocent children who lost their parents during the repression time. After the 1990’s revolution, government gave some amount of money for repressed people’s relatives like that money would cover and pay for everything that they went through, but again there was no one to take the blame.

Town of Epidemical Disease

                        

" The increasing of infected patients has hit a higher number" said a news reporter on TV.  Everyone was frightened during the epidemical disease "SARS" when it had spread in Hong Kong.  SARS is another terrible type of pneumonia.  The symptoms of SARS are coughing, fever and even vomiting blood in serious cases.  SARS can be found in infected domestic fowl and birds.  It was proven that, the first patient who was found infected had eaten raccoon meat while he was on a trip in China.  There are none boosters or vaccines to resist SARS in today's medical technology.  The government convinced the citizens not to be afraid of SARS, and created several steps to provide a better environment for its citizens.  All we could do against the virus was maintain better lifestyle, living environment and face the problem positively.  It had affected people's lifestyles, the sense of sanitation, and the image of the city, but it also united the government and the citizens to protect the society.

 

Therefore, everyone n Hong Kong had changed their lifestyles to prevent the disease.  The government convinced the citizens that they needed to maintain a clean, zero infective environment against SARS.  The legislative department accessed the related law strictly such as not allowing people to throw garbage anywhere except garbage cans.  The penalty which is still in place is up to $1500 Hk dollars.  I paid much attention not to drop anything on the ground in public place because I would have been caught and had to pay a fine.  I also wore a mask everyday to decrease the chance of being infected.  The healthy department of the city also installed disinfection stations in every mall and in public transportation center.  They provided free mini tests to examine the body temperature and send anyone who was infected to the hospital immediately.  People also attached the importance of their health such as the dietetic hygience, like avoiding eating any fowl or any animals.  People motivated themselves to do aerobic exercises, so they could retain a stronger body for resistance, I tried to walk instead of taking buses if in a short distance.  The Government and citizens were keeping up to rebuild a healthier environment to save the society.

Furthermore, the relationship of government and citizens had become tight and compact. Everyone tried to unit together and protect our society. The government proposed some strategies against the disease to stop the increase of infected people, to heal them and suppress the fear of citizens. They figured it was unnecessary to conceal the problems from the people because they can't solve the problems by themselves. Then they promised the citizens that they would never hide and be honest to everyone if any incident happens. The attitude of public servants who worked on the frontline such as doctors, nurses and Ashmans were highly honored. They even made sacrifices to the society to save people's lives. Some of them died because they got infected when they were on duty. Moreover, they could have had a choice to avoid infection but they didn't give up. The behavior of everyone against SARS showed us that we need to be united to save our society.

Moreover, the image of Hong Kong had been destroyed when SARS spread. The title of Hong Kong in the nation had been changed to " the town of epidemical disease" and no one wanted to visit Hong Kong during that period. The decrease of tourists caused economic problems to the most likely tourist business city in Asia/ China. We didn't even want to stay in public area , so we wouldn't get infected by accident. Then the income of many stores suddenly got dropped in a straight line. SARS also spread fears to other nations because anyone who entered or departed from Hong Kong need to be separate from the public for ten days to examine if they were infected. For example, my mother forbade my sister who was in the U.S. to come back to Hong Kong during that period. The visitors who wanted to come to Hong Kong also refused to visit in that time. All of the above had ruined the reputation of Hong Kong, and government needed to overcome the barrier to rally the society again.

Accordingly, people who live in Hong Kong have learned a precious experience of the maintenance of the society from the appearance of SARS. There are positive and negative effects of this incident. Some people suffered by losing their relatives, loved ones or their support on everything. In addition, SARS also affected the habit of everyone's lifestyles. In contrast, we learned a new lesson from the relationship between people and the society. Even though some people had paid the extreme cost for this lesson, we eventually experienced the value of this incident, which is that people from the same place need to be united, so they can be stronger to protect themselves.

Reform and Opening in China

Reform and opening has been an important policy in China. In 1980, one of the Chinese leaders opened the door to outside world. His name was Deng Xiao Ping, and he made a huge contribution in China. He practiced ther reform and opening policy, recoccupied HongKong to China and Chinses economy. The most important thing was reform and opening. It changed China from a laggard country to a developing country. China followed this policy to develop the new Chinses features. Otherwise, this policy also affected me because it enabled me to have a better life. Reform and opening had an important influence on my life.

First, reform and opening have affected my family's assets. In 1949, China disengaged from wars, the first chirman Mao Zedong who had a different management. He pushed a policy that all teh property should be communal. In that year, there were no private assets, and all the assets were controlled by government. People could not go aboard to find a job. If people wanted to have a job, they only could have one in government businesses. The salary was low because it could not support a whole family. When Chairman Mao retired, Deng Xiao Ping was the second chairman in China. He overturned the communal system, and he suggested that everyone could have their own assets. In 1980, reform and opening policy practiced by Deng Xiao Ping. Thus, my family could have our own assets. My father wanted to change my family's life, so he opened a small business. Even though it was a small store, it could support my whole family. According to this policy, my family's business was better and better, and it helped me have a better life too.

Second, reform and opening helped me have a wonderful childhood. If China had never reformed and opened, I think my life would be different now. I would not have learned drawing, dancing or calligraphy. I wouldn't have a lot of imported toys and clothing, and I wouldn't have able to watch cartoons during my childhood. My parents were born before reform and opening, and their childhood was poor. In that year, China closed the door. The people in China didn't know the outside world. They didn't have colorful clothes, and they didn't have foreign language education. They couldn't learn something even if they were interested. If China had never reformed or opened, I think I would never have immigrated to America, or gone to the university. My parents put all their hope on me that they wanted me to have a higher education.

Third, reform and opening policy enabled me to have more opportunity to go to school. In 1975, China had a cultural revolution which prevented people from having knowledge. The highest education that anyone would attain high school, so my parents only had high school degree. The first chairman in China didn't advise people to go to school. He focused on agriculture; thus, he suggested peole's self-dependence. When Deng Xiao Ping was the chairman, he overthrew the revolution because he wanted people to have more education. He practeced nine years compulsory education because he hoped everyone at least would have a high school education. Accordingly, I had more opportunities to go to school.

In conclusion, the reform and opening policy had an important influence on my life. It affected my family's assets, enabled me to have a wonderful childhood and have more opportunities to go to school. This policy did not only affect my family and me. It also affected China. Today, I have immigrated to United States, and have a better life. All of this was due to Deng Xiao Ping and his reform and opening policy. Moreover, I know why most Chinses people admire Deng Xiao Ping as a hero because he made a huge contribution in China.

My Family Treak to the Holy Land

For decades, the USSR was separated from the western world. No one knew what was happening inside, and no one could know about the life outside of the USSR. However, everything changed in 1989. The year 1989 was the fall of the iron curtain. Each of the fifteen Soviet Republics became independent states. Mikhail Gorbachov left his position of the chairman of the communism party and the president of the Soviet Union. On the other side, each of the head of Soviet Union Republics became over night a head of an independent state. This collapse had a major effect on my family and me.

The fall of the iron curtain allowed my parents to renew correspondence with our family in Israel. Before that year we did not get all their letters, and they didn’t get ours. As a result it was very hard to communicate. After the fall of the iron curtain, people from abroad started to come to the Soviet Union. My aunt also came for a visit from Israel for the first time since her family had left the Soviet Union in the 1970’s. My family was happy to hear about the life abroad from her. People were excited by her stories about the life in Israel and especially about the availability of products in the Israeli stores. It this time in the Soviet Union, there was not only no variety of products in the local groceries, but there were almost no products at all. In fact, this was a first piece of information about the better life abroad.

The former Soviet Union republics had fallen into massive disarray after the collapse of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even the products that were available in the Soviet era had become a scarcity. As a result, it became a big challenge for my family to purchase even basic products. Even the small amount of products that had been in the shops in the Soviet Union era disappeared, and these products were only available on the black market. For example, body soap, the only option to buy it was from speculators who had sold the products that were not available in stores. The price of the products had doubled; in addition, the speculators didn’t want to sell it to everybody since they were afraid that the government would find out about them and prosecute them. At the same time, the lines in the stores were so long that there was no TV channel inside the Soviet Union or in the West that didn’t show people waiting in lines to buy some basic products.

With the challenging living conditions people started to leave the country. Many relatives and friends of the family that had high level positions and were in better economic situation than my parents left the country. They felt that their social life became empty. People around them were fighting more and more for their economic survival. Since the economic situation of people became worse, the crime raised. One of our neighbors got robbed in the middle of the day by several juveniles. Parents were afraid to let children play outside. In addition monuments and tombs were vandalized by people who were stealing and selling heavy metals, all this affected my family’s decision to immigrate to Israel on July 15, 1990.

The collapse of the Soviet Union forced my family to leave the country and to immigrate to Israel. After the collapse, the information barriers had fallen and we got to learn more about life abroad. The decision to leave was hard, but it was accelerated by the deteriorating conditions of the everyday life after the regime change. When we arrived to Israel, this was the first time that my family felt that we are free people. I could play outdoors again, and adults were not afraid to be robbed outside. In addition, I remember my first visit to the supermarket in Israel. The supermarket was full with food, and everything was available for purchase contrast to the situation that was in a country that we just left. Even though my family faced many immigration problems, I am very glad that we made this decision.

The effects of the drug cartel on my family

Juan Carlos Castaneda

There are many events such as wars, natural disasters, political situations, and economic changes. Those are remarkable moments that have positive or negative effects in our lives. Those events are part of our own history, and in some cases it is the unique aspect in our family record. In my family, the violent experience created by the drug cartel in Medellin brought to my family pain and a melancholic memory of a tragic time. During the 1980s, the drug cartel in Medellin created a time of terror and violence throughout Colombia. Murders, terror and taking prisoners were some of the panic that we experienced in that time. The drugs cartel caused a lot of pain in many families, and mine was one of those.






The loss of two uncles was the first pain for my family. Orlando and Jairo, my mother’s brothers, were policemen. Because the cartel had a lot of power and their only weapon was violence, a lot of people died in those events. The military forces were the primary target for the cartel. If they destroy the military, they had free opportunity to continue with their acts. Bombs and attempts all the time in any place were the coward gestures of the cartel. It was one night in February in Medellin, my uncles were in a police station when a bomb detonated and many people died. It was a painful night for all my family because they were excellent parents and great exemplar good people. Even though I was a child when it happened, I remember when they camet home to visit me and brought me presents. Still, I remember how proud they were of being policemen and supporting the nation with their life. They sacrificed their lives not only for my family. Also, they gave their life for the whole nation.







The economic crisis was the second way that the cartel influenced in my family. My father used work in a textile company. Because it was not safe to seem as a wealthy person and having money was a risk in that time, my father decided not do some business that could lose a lot of money, but he had to make the choice because on one side was the money and on the other side was the security of my family. One of the effects was not buying a big property in Medellin. At the present time, the value of that property is high. Of course he decided in favor of my family security. Still now my father thinks that he made the right choice and how different our situation could be if the cartel had not do all this bad things. My father made the right choice when he decided let the business go.


Finally, another situation due to the drugs cartel that impacted my family was that some of my father’s close friends were kidnapped. Some of his friends from the company when he used to work were taken by force just for money. The pain of their families was like as if it was our own pain. We suffered together because they were really close friends. Some of my friend’s parents spent a lot of time far away from them, and it was really sad. Actually the situation waiting for the kidnappers call asking for the money without any guaranties that they were alive was traumatic. Those were the strangest times when the minutes were like hours, the hours were like days and the days were an eternity.





My family went through bad times, and they shared with many families the sorrow we suffered the consequences of the violence generated by a radical group called the Drug Cartel. Now, the world knows Medellin as the city of the Cartel and the violence. I am glad that that time is almost over; still we have violent problems, but now it has changed a lot. The pain and suffering that the cartel left behind is not gone, but my family learned not to forget, but forgiving the drug cartel always is going to be part not only of my family’s history, it is going to be part of the future of many Colombian families.

the worst crisis that my family lived

Juan Corte

The worst crisis that affected my family


In 1994 there was the worst economic crisis in Mexico. It made Mexican people suffer, and it was hard for people to provide for their families. People had many problems getting their basic necessities. The government decided to take away three zeros from the Mexican money. The goal was that people could handle the Mexican money easily. However, it caused chaos and so much confusion among people. Obviously, many families were forced to work two jobs and save money as much as they could. Consequently, the devaluation of the peso has been one of the things that have affected my family.


My father had to retired from his work because the factory where he was working closed. The factory made cloth, due to of this crisis, the price of material rose. The cloth was so expensive, so the factory did not have enough economic support to pay its workers. For example, that year when this crisis started, the materials to make cloth such as cotton, petroleum and others materials were so expensive, and when the product was done it cost twice as much that the year before. My father was fired the year before he supposed to retired. Therefore, my father had to find a part time job where he works three days a week. Now, my father makes only makes half of the salary he used to make at the factory.
Another effect was that prices for the basic meals rose, and many people could not buy their own necessities. People felt this crisis in their pocket. Their poor salary could not cover all their necessities or their basic meals. For example, staples such as rice, corn, bean, sugar, and salt were over their original price. The most common example was the tortilla. In 1993 the tortilla cost 2500 pesos (2.50c; 2c US), but in 1994 the cost was 5000 pesos (5.00 MP; 2.50c US), so it was double the price of the previous year. Therefore, other thing that caused crisis in my family was when the public services went up such as telephone, water, gas, and electricity; their cost was so expensive and my family had problems pay some bills. The electricity had been the cheapest bill to pay, but in that time it was similar to gas bill. For example, before the economic crisis, my family paid an electricity bill of 50, 000 pesos (50.00 MP; 5.00 US), but during the crisis my family had to pay 100, 000 pesos (100.00MP; 10.00US). It was so crazy. My family had to save electricity energy eliminating some lights and TV at home.
Finally, other effect of this crisis that my family experienced was when my brother graduated as a mechanic engineer, but he could not find job in the field. My brother graduated as mechanic engineer in 1995, he got married in 1996 and his wife and he had their baby in 1997. During those years, many factories were closed because they had to pay higher taxes for leasing, so those companies had to move to other place where they could pay less money. The result of that was that people began to immigrate to the U.S. My brother applied for many companies, but he did not get a job. He decided to come to the U.S, so he had to leave his family, and go to work outside the country. It is a common case in Hispanics families. For example, parents have to leave their families to get a job and the result is family segregations. Now my brother is working in San Antonio, Texas as a mechanic in a small tire shop, but he cannot go back to Mexico to visit his family or see his child because he is not a resident of the U.S. He cannot come back to his job in San Antonio Texas easily.
The devaluation has been one of the experience lived with my family. Many times my parents had no money to buy the basic necessities for us, and many times we were often limited for eating and clothing. I remember one that occasion when I got mad of that situation because those times were very difficult. For this reason I want to graduate and help my parents. My parents have worked all their live for me. Now I have to do something for them.

March 13/2008
ESL 100
The effects of 2nd world war on my family
The war left many tragic results for my family. The effect my family and the entire people in the whole town witnessed was during the war, how the army evaded and took all over my town. Some of my relatives` lost their lives, the country currency was changed also my family had to relocate to a neighboring town to settle for a period of time during the war. At that place we relocated, we were welcomed and treated nicely even to an extent of forgetting our own home of origin to settle over with my family.
First, the currency of the country was changed, and we ended up not having any money and lived in poverty. During that same period, for a family to get money to buy food for the house hold was something you can not talk about. As a result of the currency changed the food items became costly. The producers where not producing much food that could be enough for people because of the lack of capital in their business. As a result of the situation, people were finding it difficult to buy food item and feed their household families due to of the scarcity of food. It came to an extent that people began to beg for food to eat.
Many of my relatives lost their lives. People began to die, especially the little children because of lack of good food, at a certain point people began to suffer what we call {kwashioko} which means malnutrition in the body. The water was so bad; the environment was not conducive and was so dirty. Also, no good treatment in the hospital. As a result of the war the hospital were lacking drugs to treat people. And it became difficult for household families to have better life and good health.
We were forced to live our homeland to another place. It was all because of the 2nd world war that attacked my family and other people. The war was so much to a certain point that we could not bear the shelling and the shooting was so much all over the whole place, there was no hide out for people because the armies well stationed everywhere hijacking and killing people. So fear was in the lives of people at that crucial period. We couldn’t stand it any longer, so we moved to a neighboring place to stay.
Honestly the 2nd world war is not good to share this effect at any time any day! it doesn’t give me mouth to explain or to tell people because of what my family went through . The war was an unforgetful tragedy to be mentioned or food for taught or remembered effect that made people to lost their family members and so many others not to mention. The war left many tragic results for my family and others.

The Result of Colonisation

As A Result

Like many countries all over the world, England colonized Australia, and French came in Benin, my country, to colonize. In other words, Benin was a French colony exactly the same way the original thirteen states of the United States were British colonies. Like they said, French’s first vocation was to bring “The Good News” of Jesus Christ to Benin. They were catholic, and they were called missioners. They were respected; even kings honored them and made sure that their will was put in action. So, they had the widest lands, the most beautiful houses, and they established their own rules. As their power cropped up, their rules and laws started becoming the nation’s rules and laws. That happened a long time ago before I was born. However, as they had accomplished more than it had been thought, the story remains. My mother used to say “their actions are still working”, to mean that their accomplishments are still producing its effects. I could see how right she was when I was growing up. I realized that my family had foreign names with a different belief, a custom different, from traditional most Beninese’s habit, and that my mother’s language, FON, is less valuable than French.

With those French missioners, most people were converted and baptized, including my grandparents and my parents. I could see how the successful religious mission had seeped into my family. Until my paternal grandmother died, I had lived with her in our village. Then, I noticed that every Saturday

afternoon and early in the Sunday morning, she just disappeared from our house. Where did she go, and how? I curiously figured out that she took a hidden path in the bush to get to the Catholic church of our village. I was a little boy, yet it was not a secret at all that my paternal grandmother was a devoted practicing "VODOUN", the original belief of West Africa, and of Benin. So, all those times she disappeared, she had been being converted. Everyone in the family already knew what was going on. As she wanted me to start Sunday school, she confirmed to me that she had already been baptized. She added, “the news must be confidentially kept" because she was engaged in the biannual ceremony of VODOUN held in the village. If the news became known, she would be treated as a cheater. Unfortunately, her untimely passing before the next traditional ceremony ended the story. Nevertheless, we were visited at home by missioners later on. As a result, everybody in the family had been taught and baptized under new names, except my father, who encouraged his children to go to church while he stayed in the tradition.

It was spectacular how our daily habits had been transformed since colonizers occupied our country. The more we went to church, the more my family learned new ways to behave in the society. For instance, before the colonization, nobody really cared about the importance of being good looking in the society and to have dignity, nor did we give love its real sense. We didn’t care about our neighbors’ difficulties. In fact, all the times colonizers spent in our country had affected my family at a level that we even began to dress ourselves the way they were used to, yet without throwing away our traditional dressing. Moreover, my mother revealed to me that her father had eighty one children, for in Africa in general, having a lot of children was like owning treasures. The more they had wives and children, the better they were considered in the community. Now, as a result of the colonization, all those concepts no longer exist though my family has actually produced the fewer children than many other families.

Beyond the missionary and its load of converting people, there were plans of confusion in identity. I guess the first language that was spoken to me when I was born was FON. Perhaps that’s true or false because FON is the original language my mother could speak, and French is the language that doctors were supposed to speak while they were working. In fact, French has been the official language spoken in Benin, for French colonizers had created the first schools in Benin and taught their language to those who attended. My grandparents and my mother didn’t attend the colonial school; therefore, they couldn’t speak French, another language different to the one they were born in. Then, like most Beninese in the same situation, my family wondered: French could speak their language to be identified like French. Why did they teach us in Benin to speak French also, instead of a native language to be identified like Beninese?

From the missionaries, the colonization had been extended throughout Benin. There were French missioners and colonizers handing the Bible to convert everyone including my family. Though my family had been deeply touched in its tradition, daily habits, and identity, it is obvious that the colonization had both positive and negative consequences. My grandmother used to quote a popular voice: “the good sense is the thing the better shared” and she added: “you may obey what speakers are saying, but not follow what they are doing”.