National Geographic is one of my all time favourite channels and I am just obsessed with watching various documentaries, however, today I was watching one that crushed my heart. It was about this slum in Dhaka and was explaining how important education is to the people who live there, it is so important that they would pay whatever they had. Education was a way out of their world of poverty. It provided a road out of their slum dwellings by giving the opportunity for them to get a job and earn their own income. What really hit me was the fact that these people were so pleased to get a job as a cleaner or a construction worker and here I was worrying about whether I would get accepted into one of the top 10 universities in the UK. Although I have been brought up in a different society to these people, it really taught me to appreciate the little things in life. Now whenever I complain about having to get up at six am in the morning to attend one of the top schools in South East Asia, I just remember that this is a dream for some people. Whilst applying for universities and such, I just need to remember that no matter where I go It is up to me to work with that degree and help those who need.
Our A2 Geography syllabus consists of a topic called Development. We were showed a video where Paul Collier was explaining the two extremities in the world. He explained that initially Europe and America were the rich and healthy countries (population of 2billion) and there were the transition Asian countries (China) and then countries such as India and sub-saharan african countries which were the poor and sick countries. Those living in the 'rich and healthy' countries wanted a car, those in the transition countries wanted a bicycle and those in the 'poor and sick' countries just wanted a pair of shoes. I had never thought about it like that and really wanted to point out how drastic these extremities in society are; the very rich and the very poor.
Now whenever I feel like moaning about my work load or those extra hours of swim training, I remember that I am living a dream compared to so many out there.
So remember, just think about all those things you do have before you complain.
Ciao!
