Wednesday 6 June 2012

journey to a new Vancouver

 
(google/vancouvers poorest postal code)
  The downtown east side is much more complex than people see it to be. Although development is being seen, it is taking place in a slow and inadequate form. Throughout this blog process I have first handedly seen and experienced the concept that individuals are obligated to their own opinions; whether I agree or disagree, they have the right to freely express there thoughts upon specific topics. Throughout the development of my blog, I have narrowed my thoughts upon the lack of development in the Downtown East Side specifically towards the government. Although I understand that the government can only do so much, if they do not provide us with “enough” then citizens such as ourselves will lack the resources and funds needed to assist this deprived neighborhood. Recently in my Social Justice 12 class we began watching a film called “Devil Plays Hardball”. This film is revolved around the concept of individuals becoming mentors for homeless citizens in the downtown east side. The individuals that took part in this project ranged from categories of drug users to simply homeless. Throughout this ten month project of mentors attempting to make a change in the life of individuals in the Downtown East Side, they faced several obstacles; mainly revolving around the lack of homeless shelters available, and the lack of access to government welfare. This is proof that citizens are willing to donate there time and energy into creating a “better” Vancouver. The government simply needs to provide more recourse in order to see improvements in the Downtown East Side. At the beginning of this blog processes I was unaware of what to expect from this experience. I didn’t know if I would enjoy having to write a blog post revolving the same topic weekly. In the end I discovered that blogging about issues that need to be spoken about is extremely beneficial. This project allowed me to discover and unwind problems that are occurring in a neighborhood extremely close to my own. Although during the start of this blog project I was aware of the issues occurring in the Downtown East Side, I just lacked extreme interest regarding them. This project has allowed me to truly connect with the issues occurring in this deprived but hopefully area code. The world is a large place, but in my opinion before we continue to assist third world countries, we need to come to realization that in a location so near to us there are conditions that compare to a third world country. We as a society are living in denial; we continue to choose to avoid issues. Soon we will need to realize that the longer a problem is ignored, the larger it gets.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Selam,

    I agree that we can be ignorant of the issues that are right in our own neighbourhood. While it is good to donate to different causes around the world, I feel like sometimes we get trapped in this "bubble" where we are unaware of the issues happening right around us. I know that when I thought of poverty I always thought of developing countries rather than my own neighborhood. At the same time, I think it can be very negative for a country to care only for itself and its issues. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's important to have a balance.

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    1. Mina- Yes I completely agree with you're point on having a healthy balance. The only issue is that in order to assist other countries, we must come to terms with the issue occurring in our neighborhood.

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  2. Hi Selam, I felt the same way. I always viewed homeless people as scaring and tried to avoid them at all costs your blog helped me understand the issues in the area. I also felt the movie "Devil Plays Hardball" was a good movie about the east side. There are always assumptions made. for example, "it's there fault they are on the streets", "they have no education" and "they are addicted to drugs". And this movie shows that is not all cases which I think is a good thing for people to be aware of.
    (fun fact:I was heading downtown and I saw Danse from "Devil Plays Hardball”)

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    1. Hey Emily- Thanks so much for taking the time to connect with my blog. I also agree, “Devil Play's Hardball" really assisted me in understanding the real issues occurring in the Downtown East Side.

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