Child labour is very common, and can be factory work, mining or quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents’ business, having one’s own small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as waiters). Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive jobs such as assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store’s products, or cleaning. However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in the informal sector, “selling on the street, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses — far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media scrutiny.”

Poor families often rely on the labors of their children for survival, and sometimes it is their only source of income.
According to the International Labour Organization, there are an estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 in child labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labor.

What does “childhood” mean? Are all children “children?”

How does childhood in other parts of the world compare with my own childhood?

What can I learn about myself from studying children of other cultures?

“Know and understand are not synonyms.”

(Wiggins and McTighe)

“Only a person who has questions can have knowledge.”

(Gadamker)

What do you think these quotes mean? Give good explanations and examples.

Give me an example in your own life when you were judgmental and made preconceptions.

What would you do differently?

Groundhog Day or Groundhog’s Day is a holiday celebrated in New York and Pennsylvania on February 2. In weather lore, if a groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, marmot or ground squirrel, emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow, it will return into its burrow, and the winter will continue for 6 more weeks.

What would YOU do if everyday was the same?

How did Phil learn from his mistakes? Was it hard for him to change his ways?

A long article in the British newspaper the Independent says “Groundhog Day” is “hailed by religious leaders as the most spiritual film of all time.” What is the lesson of this movie?

Belgium is located in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Geographically and culturally, Belgium is at a crossroads of Europe, and during the past 2,000 years has witnessed a constant ebb and flow of different races and cultures. Consequently, Belgium is one of Europe’s true melting pots with Celtic, Roman, Germanic, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Austrian cultures having made an imprint.

Belgium is divided ethnically into the Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, the 70,000 residents of the eastern German cantons, and the bilingual capital of Brussels. The population density is the second highest in Europe, after the Netherlands.

If you have any questions, please address them to my good friend Andree. I first met her when we were in Taipei, Taiwan when we were students. Since then, Andree has been working for the Belgian foreign service living around the world. She is especially knowledgeable about Africa.

The Wailele and Wailani class of 2015 are excited to communicate with Andree.

What were MLK’s main ideas?

How did MLK change the world today?

What techniques did MLK use to persuade the world that his ideas were important?

The American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination of African Americans.

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were black men who had a dream, but never lived to see it fulfilled. One was a man who spoke out to all humanity, but the world was not yet ready for his peaceful words. “I have a dream, a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed… that all men are created equal.” (Martin Luther King) The other, a man who spoke of a violent revolution, which would bring about radical change for the black race. “Anything you can think of that you want to change right now, the only way you can do it is with a ballot or a bullet. And if you’re not ready to get involved with either one of those, you are satisfied with the status quo. That means we’ll have to change you.” (Malcom X) While Martin Luther King promoted non-violence, civil rights, and the end to racial segregation, a man of the name of Malcom X dreamed of a separate nation.

Do you feel breaking the law is justifiable in some cases?

What type of laws do you feel justifiable to break? Give examples of past laws?

How would you break the law if you felt there was a need for change? Do you agree with how Martin Luther King wanted change or Malcolm X?

Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favor tradition and gradual change, where tradition refers to religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs. The term is derived from the Latin, com servare, to preserve; “to protect from loss or harm”. Since different cultures have different established values, conservatives in different cultures have differing goals. Some conservatives seek to preserve the status quo or to reform society slowly, while others seek to return to the values of an earlier time, the status quo ante.

Some aspects of being liberal are:

• Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
• Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
• Favoring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.
• Free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.

Please give specific examples why you think you are conservative, liberal, or both.

What were your thoughts and feelings listening to Imaculee at the Chapel?

For many years people thought of wetlands as yucky, soggy, useless land. It would be much better if this land was drained so crops could be grown, or filled so people could build on it. It even seemed a great spot to use as a garbage dump because then you could both dump and fill.

Now people are trying to save and protect wetlands because we understand why they are important.

• Many animals depend on wetlands for some part of their life cycle, like fish, frogs and mosquitoes.
• Wetland plants are very productive and support a rich web of life, from simple molds to mammals.
• Wetlands provide shelter and food for fish.
• Wetlands provide flood control by soaking up the water that falls as rain. Wetlands also slow the spring snow-melt run-off.
• Wetlands make the water clearer and filter out things that make the water impure, like chemical pollution.
• Wetlands are a wonderful place to visit, look, and listen, learn and experience life.

What will be the impact if wetlands were destroyed?

Does it really matter if the wetlands are not protected?

What can you do individually to help save the wetlands in
Hawaii?

On January 14th, we will have the opportunity to listen to Immaculee Ilibagiza speak at the Bishop Memorial Chapel.

She was a 22-year-old college student, home for Easter. She and her family were Tutsi. At the urging of her parents, she fled to the home of a local Episcopal priest–a Hutu–and hid with seven other women in his 3’x4’ bathroom for three months.

When they emerged 91 days later, it was to discover that almost all their friends and relatives had been murdered, hacked to pieces by the machetes of their Hutu friends and neighbors. Ilibagiza lost her parents, grandparents, and three brothers.

But instead of letting rage, grief, and a desire for revenge take over her life, Ilibagiza reached inside herself and found only forgiveness. She is nominated as Most Inspiring Person of the Year for forgiving the unforgivable–the murder of her family, friends, and fellow countrymen.

Why do you think it is also important to learn about the terrible events of history as well as the inspiring aspects?

What type of paradigm would cause a genocide to happen?

What can you do individually to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again?