Walls in the Modern World

How does it feel to wake up in morning and know that you can never see you friend and loved ones? For most of the people in Berlin it was a nightmare. They went to sleep on the night of August 12, 1961 and woke up in the morning shocked that there was a wall separating them from friends and family. More so telephone lines were also cut so communication was also impossible. Whichever side of the border you went to sleep on a person was stuck on that side for decades (http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall.htm).  It has been years since that fall went down but even to this day there many walls separating people. They may not be as concrete and visible as the Berlin Wall but they exist. Naomi Klein talks about some of these on her book “Fences and Windows”. According to her some of the fences that are necessary are braking while those that are needed are being erected.

People in some countries cannot afford education anymore because of poverty. Naomi Klein mentions about Zambia where education is a luxury item and very few can afford it. In the attached video you will see how many organizations are trying to help these children and break the wall that has been erected in schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVWqMmOxRps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l53W691666k

These videos show the “crack in history” that Naomi Klein states. People are trying to help the children in Zambia and in this manner they are bringing hope not only to the children but to the future. History doesn’t always have to repeat itself; we have the power to change things by learning from the mistakes of the past. There is no need for another “Berlin Wall” to be erected.

Refugees

Refugees are person who have to leave their country due to war or who has suffered persecution due to gender, religion, political opinion etc. They are commonly called asylum seekers. Throughout history there were many times that people were displaced due to war, the most recent is from the War on Terror. There are thousands of people that are displaced because of it. People are smuggled through Iran to Europe. Hundreds die in the journey because of boats overturning. The link below tells the story about the asylum seekers in Greece. Most of them left Afghanistan to escape the war, some are from Somalia. Some people are staying in detention camps for months already; some are staying at empty railroads with no water or food supply. They do not know what still awaits them and how are they going to survive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8LX08TF1Nw&feature=related

Interview

I interviewed a woman named Paramjeet. He was born in Punjab, India. She had a degree in Management from a college in India. Her parents wanted her to marry in a good family and for most people nowadays a Canadian based Indian is definitely the best choice. She was then married to Varinder, an Indian guy who was settled in Canada. Her marriage started her journey in Canada. She had to face many struggles to adapt to the new country and to make sure that her marriage won’t break like a piece of glass. After I interviewed her, I realized how brave she was, alone in a country where the only person she knows was her husband. I have always seen as a joyful person, she always stops to say “hello” when we happen to see each other on the street or the park. I realized that every person carries a story about their past or present. People are not always what we think of them. Sometimes only a good ear is needed to hear incredible stories from the people around us. Nowadays, there are many cases like her, where migrant women struggle to keep their marriage and career life balanced. Some succeed but there are also some women who do not. In any relationship communication is very important. This helps in solving or even preventing problems from escalating to nightmares.

India and Pakistan Partition

The partition of India in 1947 is considered to be one of the largest migrations of people and the most violent one. It is believed that more than 12 million people were displaced during that period and the estimated number of death varies from varying from several hundred thousand to a million. There were many women who were raped and murdered and some never found. People had to leave their ancestral homes and friends they have known all their lives. Most people didn’t really understand why they were forced to leave. The panic that was created because of this led only to more violence.

In the story Toba Tek Singh, Saadat Hasan Manto tells us about the exchange of lunatics two years after the partition. The people in the asylum where behind four walls so, they didn’t understand what was happening around them. They didn’t know where they were and where are they going. One of person (Bisham Singh) in the asylum always asks where Toba Tek Singh is now; if it is India and Pakistan. Another person refused to leave.  During the partition of India and Pakistan, most of the people where like this patients, confused and lost. In the end of the story, Bisham Singh was found lying in the border, where it was neither India nor Pakistan. He has finally found Toba Tek Singh. For most the people during the partition it was hard to leave behind everything that they have worked for. For them, it was their home, it was place where they were born and grow up and living these all behind is like losing a part of themselves.

A line in the map was drawn and this caused people to lose their homes, livelihood, loves ones and for some even their lives. The violent nature of the partition left an open wound between the two countries (India and Pakistan) that even to this day have never fully healed.

Water

In the book "The Door of No Return" Dionne Brand says "All beginning in water, all ending in water. Turquoise, aquamarine, deep green, deep blue, navy, blue-black cerulean water." Throughout the history of migration, many people were taken forcibly from their homeland and taken elsewhere to become slaves. Some of this people forgot where they come from and who they are. Just like in the story of Dionne Brand, her grandfather cannot remember what people they belong to and this created a rift between them because she wanted to know desperately. People travelled by boats from their homeland to the new place. In this journey through water there past disappears. The ocean, river, lakes becomes the place for memories that are forgotten forever. One can only wonder how many tales does the oceans hold to share, how many people's identity does hold deep within. To forget where one’s homeland is a common among the slaves that where taken. Where is the land that holds the memories of our childhood? Dionne Brand tells us that there are different colors of the water; this could be that there are different stories that are held by it. The water holds the beginning of a journey and the end of one. There could be tragic, sad or maybe happy stories that are now all forgotten.

Water also signifies a never ending journey. All of us are constantly searching for our own identity. We go though many stages of our lives and we are constantly building new relationships. People are constantly travelling, they migrate to new place for many reasons and dome of them still at times forgets who they are or rather they want to forget who they are. They don’t want to be called different so they change themselves. They leave behind their culture, language and become a new person. Some people don’t even go back to their homeland. Dionne Brand tells us that a “rufous hummingbird travels five thousand miles from its summer home to its winter home. The desire to find its way depends on drops of nectar from flowers.” On what desire does a migrant finds his/her way back home?

LEAVING (Pre-Modern Migration)

When did migration first happened? Where did it start? This are the main questions when starting to discuss migration. Migration started million of years ago with the movement of the Homo Eructus out of Rift Valley (Africa) to Europe. The Homo Sapiens moved out of Africa and spread to Asia and Australia. Then the expansion of the Greek and Roman empires.  The Goths, Vandals, Lombards, Suebi, Frisii and Franks are some of the German tribes that had enormous influence. The next migration was the Arab conquest, Viking and Mongol invasions.The Arab conquest lead to the fall of the Sassanid Empire ( considered as one of two main powers alongside the Roman Empire). The Arab expansion under the Rashidun lead to the conquest of Syria, Armenia, Egypt, North Africa and Cyprus. Under the Umayyads, the Arabs conquered the remaining parts of North Africa, Constantinople, Hispania and Georgia. Later they were able to conquer Crete and southern Italy. The Age of Exploration started in early 15th century under the sponsorship of Price Henry. During these period Europeans stared to exploring and mapping the world. This included Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. This also marked the period when the European countries-Spain and Portugal- began to expand thier empires.

Introduction

Hi.. my name is Karmjit. I'm in the third semester of business management. I am from Manila, Philippines. I completed Bachelors degree in Chemistry back home. I decided to come to Canada to   further my studies and since Canada seems to be a country wherein there is security, opportunities and the government is also stable

Migration started a long time ago but what are the reasons that people decide to move from one place to another. How different would the world be today if the Homo Eructus never decided to migrate. Through the history of the world there have been different kinds of migration. How has this affected the culture of nations.