12/17

i wasnt in school because i was sick...

12/16

today i wasnt in school because i was sick.

12/15

today i wasnt in school today because i am still sick.

12/14

today i wasnt in school because i was sick.

12/10

today in class we got assigned a project...

12/9

today in classs it was mr schicks birthday ! we sang to him and then we finished watching slum dog millionaire.

12/8

today in class we continued to watch slum dog millionaire.

India - Slums or Glamorous?

Although India occupies only 2.4% of the world's land area, it supports over 15% of the world's population. Almost 40% of Indians are younger than 15 years of age. India's population is approximately 1.17 billion  people, compared to the world it ranks 2nd. One reason why India's population is so large, and continuing to grow is because of child marriage. In some parts of India more in the rural parts, children are married as young as 13 and have many children in their lifetime. Another reason is their religion. In many countries around the world it is still considered to be a blessing to have a large family. In India, and most rural countries, they lack the required education to make them aware of how a large population will affect them in the long run. Some families also think that the more children they have the more money they will bring home.

        Poverty in India is a major issue. Rural Indians depend on unpredictable agriculture incomes, while urban Indians rely on jobs that are scarce. Since its independence, the issue of poverty within India has remained a prevalent concern. As of 2010, more than 37% of India's population of 1.17 billion still live below the poverty line. More than 22% of the entire rural population and 15% of the urban population of India exists in this difficult financial problem. One reason for poverty in the rural areas of India is agriculture. Rural populations primarily rely on agriculture with is high dependent on rain patterns. Inadequate rain can cause low, or in some cases, no production of crops. Since 1970, the Indian government has implemented a number of programs designed to educate the population and has some success with these programs.

        Asia's largest slum Dharavi is located in Mumbai. Dharavi has now turned to the sub city which was earlier the marshy dumping land. In the slum of Mumbai, there are 10,000 people crammed into a single acre, making it one of the most densely populated areas of the world. In Mumbai there are other slums which are beginning to rival Dharavi in size. In a city of 15 million people, almost 60% live in slums or in over the 2000 "slum pockets" across the city. Dharavi is located between Mumbai's two main suburban railway lines. To the north flows the Mithi River, which empties into the Arabian sea. Both its location and poor drainage systems make Dhharavi particular vulnerable to floods during the wet season.

        The worlds movie capital is not Hollywood  but Bollywood. Bollywood is the nickname for the Indian film industry located in Bombay. In Bollywood, movies are three to four hours long, they include dozens of songs and dances and include an intermission. Fourteen million Indians go to the movies on a daily basis. Although American-made films have been edging into India, only the blockbuster Titanic has ever made India's top five list.

         India faces many problems with human trafficking. Human trafficking is when people are recruited, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery. This is pretty much like a modern- day slavery. Men, women, and children are held in bondage and face forced labor working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture and embroidery factors. More than 1.2 million children in India are caught up in the human trafficking as child prostitutes.

        I think that the movie displays India realistically. The movie is about the slums of India. It's told from a kids point of view. However, they do show the Taj Mahal which is in the more higher end of India. Almost 40% of India are slums or shanty towns so the movie has show the "not so nice" parts of India. They also show the inside and outside of Latika's house which is a very nice house! Definately not in the slums! It's showing the right thing and not a self made portrait not linked with the real image. All those things and activities are really happening out there. While I think they could've shown more parts of the glamorous parts of India, the movie is a reflection of the main realities challenging millions of Indian children each day.

Citations:

http://www.indianchild.com/population_of_india.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/life-in-slums-of-mumbai.html

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/mumb-j13.shtml

http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/bollywood.htm

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/slumdog-millionaire-tells-the-truth-does-not-glamourise-poverty-ngos_100146163.html

12/7

Today in class we wrote wrote an essay.

Studying India.

        India faces many problems with human trafficking, child exploitation, and forced labor. Human trafficking is when people are recruited, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery. This is pretty much like a modern- day slavery. Men, women, and children are held in bondage and face forced labor working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture and embroidery factors. More than 1.2 million children in India are caught up in the human trafficking as child prostitutes.

        At least 12.3 million people around the world are trapped in forced labor. Forced labor takes place in many different forms, including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. The victims most vulnerable are women and girls, migrants in debt bondage, and farmworkers.  India has emerged as a key destination and transit point for global trafficking of women and girls. Women and children and trafficked within the country for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage. These women and children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to richer ones. Approximately 20,000 or 20% of women in prostitution in Bombay are under 18. Every day, about 200 girls and women in India enter prostitution, 80% of them against their will.

        Child labor in India is an extensive problem. Children under the age of 14 are forced to work as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agriculture workers. Some have even been used as armed combatants by some terrorist groups. The government of India reports about 20 million children laborers while other non- governmental organizations estimate the real number to be close to 50 million! Children under 14 years of age, some as young as 4 or 5, are working hard just to get a meal.  An estimated 14% of children in India between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labor activities, including carpet production. To end child labor it would cost $760 billion over a 20 year period.  Some children are forced to work up to 18 hours a day, sometimes not even leaving the confines of the factory. Two out of every three working children are physically abused.

Cites used:

 http://pangaea.org/street_children/asia/carpet.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Women-trafficking-in-India/articleshow/1975539.cms

http://freedomcenter.org/freedom-forum/index.php/2009/05/india-epicenter-human-trafficking/

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/22/slide-show-1-over-60-million-child-labourers-in-india.htm

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

12/3

today in class we continued to watch slum dog millionaire.

12/2

• Compare the motion picture industry in India and the United States.
• The Indian motion picture industry produces way more movies than the United states. In India they produce about 2,000 per year. In the US they produce only around 500 movies per year.
• What are the names of the three main characters (the "three musketeers") in Slumdog Millionaire?
• Jamal, Salim, and Latika.
• What is a “chai wallah”?
• Chai Wallah is an authentic Indian spiced tea made with organic Fair Trade certified tea and certified organic spices.
• Tell us five things we must know about the Taj Mahal. Include a fantastic photo
• Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in the day and changes its color to golden in the moon light.
• The pillars surrounding Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.
• it is a beautiful mausoleum at Agra built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (completed in 1649) in memory of his favorite wife
• it took 22 years, and 22,000 workers
• it cost 35 million rupees to build.

12/2

today i wasnt in class because i was sick.

12/1

today in class we continued to watch slum dog millionaire.