https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j Made with mirth en-us 2019-01-11 13:40:55 UTC 2019-01-30 23:36:28 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Balance.png ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323021532 American students tend to get to a point in their lives where they “check out” or no longer feel the need to try their hardest to succeed in school. This can happen a student’s senior year when they’ve gotten into a college and no longer need to impress anyone in the form of transcripts. It can happen when a student feels a lot of pressure to do well that they just freeze up and can’t get back on track. It can happen later in a student’s educational life, or it can happen earlier on like in middle school. Being that kids in America are forced to go to school until a certain age makes it easier for a student to fall off the rails. ]]> 2019-01-22 15:08:24 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323021532 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323024197 In Burundi, a very small population of people and children actually have the opportunity to become educated. Gilbert and others in this schooling system are more likely to succeed because they are thinking of their higher education and their futures earlier on, whereas American students are not. "In October 1983, when I donned my school uniform for the first very first time, I was bursting with excitement. Stepping into the stiff khaki shorts and shirt, I felt like I was entering another phase in my life. Though it was one that offered less freedom of movement, fewer chances to slouch through the days as I had with my friends and cousins, those losses were offset by increased opportunities for socializing and a chance to become as prosperous as my uncle Eliphaz." (Tuhabonye, 46). This quote shows that even in the early stages of his educational life, Gilbert had a goal early on unlike many students in other countries where education is a requirement and not a luxury]]> 2019-01-22 15:12:24 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323024197 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323034420 When growing up, it’s normal for kids to tease and make fun of each other. In the US, teenagers tend to make fun of others for how they look, dress, act, how wealthy they are, what grades they get and even what their names are.  ]]> 2019-01-22 15:26:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323034420 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323038247 At Gilbert’s school, it happened pretty often that other kids poked at him for being a Tutsi. They also poked fun at him by saying that he was not yet president because he was so smart and spent a lot of time studying and valued his future, and for how his life as a Christian was different from his peer's. "No, no. Gilbert will not like that. Then Gilbert will worry that his family will have to milk the cows in the dark. He will have to go home so they will know the right." (Tuhabonye 6). "As a joke, my friends would call me whatever suited them on a particular day -- sometimes it was Jean-Baptiste, sometimes Jean-Claude, sometimes Peter.Friends who had gone off to other schools wrote me letters addressed to Tuhabonyimana Jean or whatever other schools wrote me letters addressed to Tuhabonyimana Jean or whatever other name they felt like calling me whatever other name they felt like calling me. I took the joking in stride and kept everyone guessing about what my chosen Christian name would be. In some ways, I was sad to lose the attention. On the Saturday night prior to the Communion and confirmation mass, I was baptized along with a few others, and only then did I reveal my choice of name. Of course, I took a bit of abuse from my friends about my somewhat unusual selection, but it was worth it -- I was glad to be baptized and to have a name that was as uncommon as Gilbert." (Tuhabonye 88).]]> 2019-01-22 15:31:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/323038247 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/324976119 There is a normative when it comes to families in the US. There’s a perfect family aspires to have. Two parents and a few kids of each gender. The parents work and get the same amount of power in the house, the kids go to school and they can all have whatever they desire. ]]> 2019-01-28 15:33:26 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/324976119 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/324977388 Gilbert’s family is a bit different from my family and my friend’s families. He for one has several siblings but not the easiest living situation. All of the family members have to work together to get dinner ready and just to deal with everyday life. All of the “luxury” would go to the father. (i.e. largest portion sizes)
"One of the other things I learned was it was good to be a male in Burundi... Yet no matter where my father was, we always felt his presence. We would never eat our evening meal without him. Even if he was away from home hours beyond the customary dinnertime, we would not begin until he arrived. Invariably, he was the first person my mother or sister served, and he always had the largest and the finest portion." (Tuhabonye 29).  ]]> 2019-01-28 15:35:40 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/324977388 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325221298 Kids in America have some pretty basic chores. Things, like making the bed and setting the table, is all you will do if you’re lucky. Kids are more unmotivated to do chores because as young kids they didn’t have to do anything. Then all of a sudden their parents need the smallest bit of help and the kids refuse to do it. Simply because they aren’t used to it. ]]> 2019-01-29 02:28:18 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325221298 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325221441 Gilbert was used to doing chores at a very young age and he was aware that he didn’t have a choice in the matter as well. His chores consisted of fetching water in a pale and bringing it back to the house. "With no electricity or running water, we always had work to do in order to cook or clean.... Each day, one of us was responsible for heading down the mountain to fetch water..... I also wanted to be able to help my father and Dieudonne chop down trees for cooking feul." (Tuhabonye 15).]]> 2019-01-29 02:28:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325221441 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325928548 Luxury is very much so taken for granted in America. Luxury is considered having a mansion, using all apple products, driving a very expensive car and having people work for you for your everyday tasks.]]> 2019-01-30 16:57:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325928548 ggagliano https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325929203 In Gilbert’s life, he talked about how his family didn’t have access to the luxuries of life. Gilbert grew up without shoes, books, TV, and cars. These are all things that people in the US have access to very easily. Shoes and books are considered a necessity. "Though I did not grow up in a house surrounded by books, I was eager to learn to read." (Tuhabonye 45). "Without cars, we went everywhere on foot." (Tuhabonye 24). ]]> 2019-01-30 16:58:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ggagliano/l4tm8d1l575j/wish/325929203