Connections to Jal - Blog 4

Dear Jal,

My name is Spencer Page and I live in a city called Toronto located in Canada. As part of my Grade 11 English curriculum I am reading your novel War Child. After completing the book I have learned and imagined the struggle, fear and loss that you felt while serving as a War Child. Your book truly touched me and made me consider what a lucky life I am living. Although we come from two different worlds and it is unrealistic for me to relate my life to yours in a sense of war, fear and loss, there are a few other things that I would like to share with you. 

Your book talks about your hero, and true savior Emma McCune. Although it is not on the same scale I too have someone who acts like Emma. My Hero’s are both of my parents. They have worked so hard and sacrificed so much in order to pay for the education, food, toys, and sports that my sisters and I have the luxury of enjoying. The book talks about how you “Want to be like Emma McCune,” and I feel the same way about my parents. 

The Biggest connection I can make with you is our love for music and how we use it express the way we feel. Music often allows us to show different emotions, tell different stories and teach people things they may not have known. I have listened to many of your songs and I am a big fan. The most powerful lyric to me is, “I lost my father in this battle. My brothers. All my life I’ve been hiding in the jungle, the pain I’m cutting is too much to handle.” Hearing lyrics like this makes me understand and sympathize with what children like you had to live with and experience in your younger years as a War Child. “I believe I’ve survived for a reason to tell my story to touch lives,” is an understatement. I believe that you survived because of hope, heart and a lot of love. Your story that is now known world wide will continue to touch children and adults around the world, just how it did to me.

Sincerely,

Spencer

Blog Post 3 - Community

Emmanuel Jal has been living in some of the roughest times of the Sudanese history, causing him to lose members of family and friends. The hardest loss for him was the death of his mother. It explains in the book at how different his life is without her by his side. She was always very protective of him and the rest of the family, that being said with his mother dead he struggles to figure out who to look upon for advice. Jal is only 9 years old now and he is severely struggling to learn how to live and survive on his own in the Pinyudu Refugee Camp. At the Refugee Camp, Jal is harassed on a regular basis, not just in a physical sense from the SPLA soldiers, but also in a verbal sense from the other children. Jal has an immense disadvantage to the other boys mainly because he is so young, small, and weak. For example Jal was asked by a soldier to complete a set of pushups and was unable to do it so was beaten by an SPLA soldier. Jal was lucky that he had met such a good friend at the Refugee Camp. He grew close and closer with this friend named Malual. Like any children I can relate to, they like to cause trouble which is pretty normal for children around this age (Malual is a little bit older than Jal), except the punishment was much worse for these poor boys as they were beaten.  It is strange for me to think that after reading Jal say, “Love, friendship, pity all weakens you in war." (pg. 88) that he could have developed such a close friendship with Malual.

After Jal had proven himself worthy of being a war child by completing the AK47 task, he was sent out to the battlefield, something he had yearned to do. Once the fighting got to a stage where he just could not handle it anymore, he and some of the other kids decided to run away and escape the wrath of the SPLA. They were on their own and on the move for a long 3 months. Many of the kids died along the way. Once the kids had reached the town of Waat, they met up with a small group of people that separated themselves from the SPLA as well.  In Waat when Jal was just 11 he met a person named Emma McCune who would soon change his entire life. Emma snuck Jal into Kenya where he was able to achieve a dream of education. Emma McCune had made such a positive impact on Jal’s life that he has written songs about how he strives to “be like Emma McCune.”

Jal's Culture - Blog Post 2

The above is a picture I made to represent and connect the cultural beliefs of Emmanuel Jal

Blog 1 - The Character

After reading chapters 1-9 I have learned and absorbed the sort of life Emmanuel Jal has been living, starting in the village of Tonj located in Southern Sudan. Emmanuel had come from 2 tribes; his father was a member of the Proud Neur tribe and his mother was half Dinka half Neur. We have learned thus far in the book that coming from 2 different tribes is similar to coming from 2 different worlds meaning that there are different celebrations, traditions, rules etc.

While reading we learn that Emmanuel was just a young boy at age 7 when the Civil War broke out. His father (often referred to as Babba) joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). His father always told him that the SPLA “is fighting for freedom” (pg 8). This quote is significant because it supports Emmanuel’s reasoning and thoughts for why the SPLA is good. Emmanuel’s mom would say to him that because of the SPLA “one day we will all live peacefully together in heaven” (pg. 8) which made Emmanuel think that the SPLA was out there to promote peace and make harmony. Emmanuel’s mother was a very firm believer in religion and god. After the devastating death of Emmanuel’s Mother, he boldly decided do join the thousands of other children traveling to Ethiopia where they had been told they would receive education. “We’ve been sent to get you; your father wants you to come with us. You’re going to school.” (pg. 39). Once Emmanuel arrived in Ethiopia he was recruited by the SPLA along with many of the other young children who were also told they would be going to school, and were taken to training camp. This camp was located deep “in the bush” of Ethiopia. From the outer look at this camp, it appears as a school, but secretly it was a facility that was meant for training in war combat.

After what I’ve read this far in War Child I am realizing the miserable truth of what can happen to young Emmanuel Jal. I am realizing that Emmanuel’s life can be ended before it really even gets a true chance to begin. War is a serious, remorseful, dangerous and fatal activity that is soon to be a horrifyingly memorable, heartbreaking and dreadful period and part of his life.

First Post (Empathy)

Empathy means the ability to identify and understand another persons situation, feelings and motives. It is important to understand and have an idea of other cultures around the world because the world is an extremely big place and it is important to understand what other people around the world are going through in terms of war, desiease, natural disaster etc...