#105 - Watch a Documentary
Lots of documentaries on Netflix with pretty much any topic imaginable to choose from. I thought about watching the documentary about the killer whale at Sea World or a documentary on pubic education. Instead, I chose to watch a documentary titled "Which Way Home" about children who attempt to immigrate to the United States. It was fascinating and heart-breaking all at the same time. I would recommend this to anyone but especially those that have the opportunity to work with young people from other countries/cultures.
Here is the synopsis from the website whichwayhome.net....
SYNOPSIS
As the United States continues to build a wall between itself and Mexico, Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the United States.
The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call "The Beast." Director Rebecca Cammisa(Sister Helen) tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year-old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow.
They are the ones you never hear about – the invisible ones.
The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call "The Beast." Director Rebecca Cammisa(Sister Helen) tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year-old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow.
They are the ones you never hear about – the invisible ones.
I'm sure that this documentary would pull on the heart-strings of most people but it especially hit home for me. While I don't know of any particular students that have come to the US all alone or in the same way as the children in the movie, immigration is a real thing in their lives. They worry about their parents not having papers. They worry about not being able to go to college because they themselves don't have papers. They worry about their family members who are still back in their home country. They worry about where their next meal might come from. They worry...
Looking back on my life when I was in middle school, the biggest worry I had was whether or not to wear overalls. It breaks my heart to see the struggles and worries that these students are experiencing on a daily basis. Life in middle school is hard enough before the added pressure of worrying about papers, jobs, food, or even where to sleep.
When life seems too hard or my trials feel overwhelming, all I have to do is come to work and look at the students around me. That is when I realize how truly blessed I am and how small my trials are in the big picture.
-Em
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