Summer reading for Geography, History, and Culture is A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. After reading the book, complete a blog entry.
Instructions
2. Support your thoughts with evidence from the book and historical evidence. You can also add evidence from current events.
3. Please cite evidence from the book by including the page number in parentheses after a quote or paraphrased passage.
4. You are also invited to reply to fellow students' posts. Please keep in mind the need to be respectful in all of our conversations with one another.
We recommend that you write your comment in Drive first, and then post to Blogger, in case of technical difficulties. If you have difficulty posting your comment, make sure you are signed into Google Drive. You can also email Mrs. Blyth or Ms. Ong-Dean for assistance.
Friday, June 14, 2019
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In the book “a long walk to water” Salva, the main character has to face many challenges in order to survive, find his family, and help others in Sudan. He had fled from his village from war where he found sanctuary in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. On 1991 the refugee camp was closing and Salva had been forced through the Gilo river famous for its crocodiles. Many people died either from the crocodiles or by the soldiers that were driving them out. Then he and a few other boys has to walk to another nearby camp with Salva leading them they all had to work together in order to survive, it took them a year and a half to bring 1200 boys safely to another camp. The camp wasn't much good though they all had to work really hard so they moved again it wasn’t much of an upgrade. But one day Salva was chosen to go to California and had an adopted family in New York were he had to learn English a few years later he had received some news from a cousin he barely knew, he knew were his father was! At a clinic in south Sudan his father was having a stomach surgery. And after many paper fees and taxes he went back to south Sudan to meet his father he found out that he had caught guinea worms from dirty water and a few weeks later he was back in America, but this time with a plan. Salva’s foster parents helped them a lot as well as one of their friends: Scott was experienced in the type of thing salva was doing. Along the way he found people who wanted to help but even with a lot of people it took them three years to complete this. In conclusion Salva’s journey had taken a lot of patience, effort, bravery, and a truck load of determination. Many people could of helped him but he managed on his own he had to face mean and cruel people to survive but after all that he managed.
ReplyDeleteUriel Sauceda
Salva’s new challenges
ReplyDeleteWhen Salva reaches the United States, he leaves behind his country for a new life. He believes them to be dead but still misses them. He tries to be strong but can’t help being scared. Everything is new in the United States, especially the language. The author describes how Salva could only recall “Hello” and “Thank you,” but couldn’t understand a word his new family was saying, especially when they spoke quickly. In his new home, Salva also has no one to relate to. The camp he was staying in failed to pair him up with another lost boy, so Salva has no one to talk to with shared life experience. Everyone who was chosen for the immigration program was an orphan. If Salva was paired up with another lost boy, they could talk about their family, their homes, and they could practice English more. I always find learning new things are always easier when I have someone to talk about the topic. I think the community could have helped Salva more with the sudden transition into his new life by pairing him up with another lost boy. That way Salva can have someone to talk to and relate in the same house, school or neighborhood.
Grace Furey
In the book “A Long Walk To Water” by Linda Sue Park we are introduced to a boy named Salva, a boy who has faced many challenges throughout his life and later moves to America facing times of joy and difficulty. Salva was one of the few people picked to move to New York from a refugee camp in Sudan and stay with a family. After a long flight he meets his family, Chris, Louise and their four children. The first few weeks in New York, Salva gets to learn more information about the new language he must speak and his new culture. Fast forward six years later, Salva is now in a collage in Rochester studying in business and one day gets an email from a cousin he barely knew. The email said some news about his father and how he was getting stomach surgery. After reading this exciting news, Salva begins planning his trip to sudan filling out a lot of permits and papers because of the war Sudan was in. It took months before all the plans were in place, but he managed to finish them and hopped on a plane to see his father. After seeing his father, Salva was inspired to start an organization to help out the people in Sudan. Throughout the joy in Salva’s new life he also had a few difficulties such as adapting to his new culture. Before moving to New York, Salva only knew a couple words and letters taught by a girl named Michael (pg 86) but then in New York, he learned way more english. At first he thought it was confusing, for example how the letters o-u-g-h were pronounced different ways (pg 99) or how “chickens“ meant the living birds that lay eggs but “chicken” was the food that’s on your dinner plate (pg 99). One way the community could’ve helped Salva learn english was by explaining some phrases more clearly because when Salva learned more phrases he seemed really confused on why every letter was pronounced differently. For example, rough, though, fought, etc. (pg 99). In conclusion, Salva’s new life was filled with joy with his family and difficulty with his new language and culture.
ReplyDelete-Sophie Stover
Salva’s New Challenges
ReplyDeleteWhen Salva reached the United States, he experienced many new things.
With everyone speaking English, Salva could have missed important details and gotten lost. The aid worker tried to speak slowly and use Arabic words, but it was still very hard for Salva to understand.(15) I didn’t realize how hard it is to speak English. All those words, such as rough, though, fought, and bough, are spelled the same but have different sounds. Also, saying chickens with an “s” meant living breathing birds, but chicken referred to the meat ready to be eaten.(16)
Salva could have gotten lost in the airport or gotten on the wrong plane. He could have missed the time of his flight and have to go somewhere else with less privileges. I think they should have had somebody there to make sure he got to his new family safely. The aid worker left him before he reached his destination. Salva didn’t know much English so he couldn’t ask for help. But luckily none of this happened and he made it safely to his new family with a new life.
Alexis Herndon
Throughout the book, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, Salva Dut endured and overcame several hardships that, in retrospect, truly drove and motivated him to keep going, to keep walking. Hate and pain is by far the most powerful incentive, and along Salva’s journey, he was exposed to the real world, a world of hate and pain. This new perspective of the world was integrated within Salva’s mind, incessantly reminding him of his loss on his trip, although he never allowed this pain to consume him. When Salva flew to New York, he encountered a series of challenges such as a drastic change in climate, a new family to adapt to, and a new language to further learn and refine. However, Salva overcame these obstacles as he did in Sudan. He acclimated to his new environment, began to trust and care for his new family, and persevered to master the English language. In fact, one of the greatest joys that this opportunity to fly to America presented was his new family. Salva had spent approximately half of his life without a true, genuine family. This gave Salva support in his transition and provided him a family he could trust and lean on for help and advice. This family was pivotal to his success later in the book when Salva established a well for a village in Southern Sudan. Salva made an incredible amount of progress since being the small, impetuous boy in the village of Loun-Ariik, although he still had much to learn in America. When Salva flew to New York, he seemed to have had a difficult time acclimating to the difference in weather. The group in the community who organized and donated to fund this trip could have determined a better time to fly him to America in order to provide a more gradual transition. In the book, it states, “The frigid air hit Salva’s face like a slap. Never had he felt such cold before! In the part of Africa where he had lived his life, the temperature rarely dropped below seventy degrees. When he inhaled, he thought his lungs would surely freeze solid and stop working. But all around him, people were walking and talking and moving about.” - (95-96). This is just one example as to how if he had the chance to prepare to such harsh conditions, it would have aided it the transitioning process. He would have felt a sense of cordial welcome opposed to a cold, frosty strike walking out of the terminal doors. Nonetheless, Salva prospered in America and even commenced a project to construct a well in Southern Sudan, as mentioned before, to allow clean water for the inhabitants of that area.
ReplyDeleteCaleb Harrison
In the book, A Long Walk To Water, by Linda Sue Park, Salva faces many new challenges when he reaches America. One of these new challenges was an obvious one, the fact that his English was very poor. Salva, coming from Sudan originally, was taught some English at a refugee camp in Kenya, but once Salva reached New York, the only words he could recall were words and phrases such as “thank you”, “hello”, and “goodbye”. This challenge was quickly fixed in the time he lived in America, and he learned how to speak basic English. He still faces issues with his speech though. For instance, Salva had a hard time understanding the different sounds of the letters “o u g h” in words such as tough, cough, and though (pg. 99). The family that took him in could have helped him with these things, but never did. Another thing that Salva had trouble understanding was that “chicken” is something you eat, but that “chickens” are literal birds that lay eggs. Though Salva faced many challenges making his way to the United States, he managed to get there not only safely, but also bearing the knowledge that his parents were safe too. This made Salva feel so much safer and better in a completely foreign country. Salva went through so much to make his way to America, and to learn that his parents were okay, but the rest of his family was not. This was a terrible situation for Salva, but no one was there to comfort him. Salva proves he is a strong character, but sometimes, the community should help him out more.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Ludwig
In the book A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park Salva faces a number of both joys and challenges when he arrives in his new life. When Salva arrives in America, he feels a rush of new smells, sights, and sounds. Salva is instantly is greeted by his new family with welcomes and words that he does not understand. Along with all the joys of a new opportunity comes the work and hardship. The most important example of this is when Salva arrives in America, he has to learn how to read, write, spell, and speak. And although Salva had a little help from Micheal at the refugee camp, it’s still a whole language. But as I said before, there were joys that Salva faced as well. These include being loved by a family, having a roof over his head, and exploring his new surroundings.
ReplyDeleteThe book takes place supposedly in 1985 which is the time that the First Sudanese Civil War took place, hence the story’s plot. We can’t imagine the hardships Salva went through in order to get out of the war zone. As Wikipedia states “Roughly two million people died as a result of war, famine and disease caused by the conflict. Four million people in southern Sudan were displaced at least once (and normally repeatedly) during the war. A way that I think the community could have helped Salva better was the aid workers. When Salva arrived at the refugee camps, the service workers never stopped to ask the refugees how they were. Michael was an acception and made Salva feel less alone. But most of the community just passed by which could had made Salva feel alone and scared. Wouldn’t you be too? Not knowing if your family was alive or when you were going to get your next meal. No one was there to comfort Salva, even his new family knowing that he had lost his family. In conclusion, although Salva throughout the book showed perseverance, strength, and hope, I think it could have made Salva’s life a lot easier if someone was there for him.
-Adam Fox
When Salva arrives in NY, United States he experiences some difficulties as well as some joys. Salva was coming from a refugee camp that felt like a prison in northern Kenya. He stayed there for five years alongside people who had lost their homes and families because of the war. In Ifo, his second refugee camp, there was a list that had names of people who were selected to live with a family in America. After a while Salva was chosen to move in with a family in Rochester, New York. Salva’s experience of going to America was partly a blur, it did not help the fact that Salva spoke Arabic and knew very little English. Most of the trip to NY Salva was too excited to sleep, which made him too tired to grasp everything that was happening, as stated in chapter 15, pg. 91. The community could have helped him by preparing Salva for the new changes that were to happen. The aid workers explained some important information about what would occur during his move to America. The woman spoke mostly English, making it quite difficult for Salva to apprehend the words she spoke. When Salva eventually arrived to Rochester, NY, he is handed many layers of warm clothing. Salva no longer has an empty stomach unlike in the awful refugee camps where there was never enough food to go around. He is greeted by a new cheerful family who takes Salva to his brand new home. His unfamiliar life in America keeps him busy, “The first several weeks of Salva’s new life were so bewildering.” (Chapter 16, pg. 98) Salva faced a new challenge of learning English, “Sometimes he wondered if he would ever be able to speak and read English well,” (Chapter 16, pg. 99) It took hard work, dedication, and time for Salva to comfortably speak English. Through the difficult experiences and challenges Salva faced, he also had a number of joys in his new life.
ReplyDeleteChristina Karim
Salva, the main character from the book, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, faced many hardships back in Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya - from having to leave his village of Loun-Ariik to escape war, to walking tens of thousands of miles in the desert, to being forced out of a refugee camp, and to running for safety from his place of refuge as well. He got through all of it with perseverance and determination, eventually being chosen for a new life in America. Salva is overjoyed when united with his new family, where he now had new parents and four new siblings. More than half of Salva’s life had been spent without a support system. Being back in a real family that supported him, and helped him transition into his new life brought relief and a sense of security and belongingness to Salva. Everything excited Salva - his new family, siblings, clothes, electricity, snow, and even learning English. The transition wasn’t exactly smooth, but riddled with challenges. While in Rochester Salva had to adjust to the cold that he had never experienced before. He also had trouble learning English, especially pronouncing the letters o-u-g-h (pg99)! I think a way that the community could have helped him would have been to assign him a mentor or translator to help him communicate with, and understand others. His family too could have helped him by probably changing a little bit of their house, or at least his room, to have images or security objects to remind him of his cultural roots, birth family and home! When Salva went to college, he had found out from a distant cousin that he barely knew, that his father was still alive in Africa, and was about to undergo stomach surgery. He took a trip back to Sudan and saw his father after nineteen long years. Salva then found out from his father that his mother, his sisters, and one of his brothers, Ring, was alive! (pg106) Adversity builds character! Salva is a true example of that. I think the hardships that Salva overcame turned him into a hard working, appreciative, and compassionate person. And boy, did it pay off!
ReplyDelete~Yuvraj Anand
In the book A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Parks, the main character Salva overcomes many challenges. Life back in Sudan was a nightmare for young Salva. He was forced out of his home and separated from his family. Salva gets the opportunity of a lifetime. He is able to move to Rochester, New York and live with a new family. Salva loves his new family but misses his old one. He struggles with the english language. “Sometimes he wondered if he would ever be able to speak and read english well.”(Chapter 16, page 99). He was going to college and decided to study business. He had been in America for more than six years now. It has been 19 years since he had seen or heard from his family in Sudan. He gets a shocking email from his cousin in zimbabwe saying, they found his father and he was about to go under surgery.( chapter 16, page 100). Salva was ecstatic. He could not believe they found his father. He books a flight to see his father. When he arrives (page 104) his father could not believe his eyes. Salva asks about his family, his father says all of them are ok but, sadly two of his brothers died in war. Salva is happy that almost all of them are ok but devastated two died. I think the community could have told salva about his family sooner. Also I think the community should have helped him find his family while he was in Sudan. Salva is a hard working determined man. All through his life he has faced challenges but has overcome them. This finally all paid off in the end.
ReplyDelete-Chase Matys-Gleason
In the book, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, Salva is overjoyed and happy to be in America. But he also faces many new challenges that he must overcome. Salva’s new family is very welcoming but he is not used to the weather, the language, the white people and all the nice luxuries of America. “The first several weeks of Salva’s new life were so bewildering that he was grateful for his studies” (pg. 98). Salva had so many new things to get used to all at once that it was like his brain was panicked. Even thought his family helped him as much as they could, maybe he could have been introduced to more people and possibly other refugees. If Salva had been able to spend time with other refugees then he could have gotten used to the ways of America faster and felt less scared and lonely. He would have been able to talk with other refugees who were going through the same challenges he was and they could have helped each other because they were all in the same situation. This might not have been possible if there were no other refugees near his new home. But he did have an email so he might have been able to communicate with other refugees. Salva was faced with tremendous life changing challenges, but he was able to overcome those challenges and do something he will be remembered for, for a very long time.
ReplyDelete-Luca Munafo
Salva, the main character in the book, A Long Walk To Water, by Linda Sue Park learns many good and bad things through his travels and experiences throughout the story. At a young age, Salva is forced out of his country due to a war. With no family and friends Salva has nowhere to go except away from the war. None of the groups that Salva meets want to keep him. He is only a child and will slow them down. Being thrown from group to group, Salva ends up with his uncle in charge. Uncle kept Salva safe and made sure they did not leave him behind. With uncle in charge, the group headed to an Ethiopian refugee camp. The journey was long and hard, there was very little food and water to pass around, but eventually they made it. Unfortunately they encountered three terrible men that killed uncle. Soon later the camp closed and they were forced out of Ethiopia. Separated from his group Salva and a pack of boys set out to Kenya. After a year and a half of walking they made it to Kenya. With every last shred of hope gone, Salva heard rumors of boys and men getting chosen to go to America. He could not believe it, no one could, all hope of ever getting out died. But somehow, the rumor was true. Salva waited impatiently for his name to be on the list, and to his surprise… it was. After much time and paperwork they set off. Salva was filled with nerves, but was so excited and happy to start his new life. Salva new family loved him very much and provided him everything he needed. Even with Salva’s great new family, life was hard and he faces many challenges. One of the challenges that Salva faced was, being treated like an outsider. Now the American boys didn’t bully Salva but they did not treat him with complete genuine kindness. The American boys called the group of refugees, “the lost boys.”(pg91) Other than his family, no one spent time with Salva, no one tried to become friends with him. Another challenge Salva faced, was trying to learn English. Since Salva really has no friends, he had no one to study with him. He struggled with many of the sound and started to doubt if he would ever be able to speak and read English well (pg99). Weather was another big challenge that Salva faced. When he arrived it was winter, and it was colder than he’d ever been in before. At first, when Salva inhaled he thought his lungs would freeze. Getting used to the weather would take a long time and surely would be very unpleasant. Salva has a great family that loved him and provided for him, but I do think that there are some things that they, and the community could have done to make his transition smoother. Something they could’ve done that would’ve helped Salva is to set up a group with all the other refugees from Sudan. I think this would be very helpful because maybe, talking to the other boys about their experiences and what they are experiencing would remind him of home, and help him feel less lonely. Another reason I think setting up this group would have been helpful is because they could all study English together. If the boys learned together they could help each other out and come up with ways to remember tough sounds. Through Salva’s experiences, he has learned many new things that he will remember forever.
ReplyDelete-Samuel Reggev
Throughout the book A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, the main character Salva endures and overcomes many hardships that truly motivated him to keep going, to keep walking. Hardships back in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya such as having to leave his village of Loun-Ariik to escape the war, to walking thousands and thousands of miles, tp having his uncle shot and killed by soldiers, and to be forced out of a refugee camp by soldiers. He managed to get through all of this chaos through dedication, hard work, and perseverance. This hard work, dedication, and perseverance helped Salva to later be chosen for a new joyful, yet challenging life in America. Being in America would not only bring him new opportunities to succeed but also bring him a whole different perspective of the world.
ReplyDeleteAs Salva reached New York, some challenges were very clear. One of these challenges was the fact that Salva’s English was very poor. Salva, who was originally from Southern Sudan, was taught the fundamentals of English at a refugee camp in Kenya by an aid worker. He only knew the most basic phrases such as “thank you” and “hello.” This challenge was quickly fixed with the time he spent in America, and he learned basic English. Although he knew the basics of English, he still had problems with his speech. In the book, it states, “Like the letters “o-u-g-h.” Rough… though… fought… through… bough- the same letters were pronounced so many different ways!” (pg.99) I think the community, specifically his family, could have helped him with these problems by sending him to English school so his speech would gradually improve. Another challenge Salva had entering America was adapting to the weather. When he arrived, it was winter and he never experienced this much cold back in Sudan. In the book, it states, “The frigid air hit Salva’s face with a slap. Never had he felt such cold weather before! In the part of Africa where he had lived all his life, the temperature rarely dropped below seventy degrees.” This is just one example as if he had the chance to prepare for such harsh conditions, it would’ve been a much smoother transition. Nonetheless, Salva succeeded in America- commencing a large and expensive project to construct a well and to allow clean water for inhabitants in South Sudan. In conclusion, the hardships that Salva overcame turned him into a brave, compassionate, and hard-working young man.
-Kelan Ly
When Salva arrives in the United States, he is immediately overwhelmed with emotions. Salva is joyous because he is finally in a stable environment and is away from all the violence. He is excited because he has never been to the United States and wants to explore everything. But, he is a bit sad because “leaving the airport felt like leaving his old life forever.”(pg.96.) However, Salva faces many challenges when he arrives, such as learning English. “He found the English language quite confusing. The same letters were pronounced in so many different ways!”(pg.99.) Historically, the English language is a very difficult language to learn. According to Oxford Royale Academy, this is for many reasons such as exceptions to rules in grammar. For example, there is a rule “I before E except after C.” English is also very difficult to learn because the order of words is very confusing. It is hard to find which way you order your words because you just have to see which one “sounds right.” The pronunciation in the English language is confusing as well. Such as the word “rough” is pronounced “ruff.” As a result, Salva had difficulty communicating with others. To help Salva better understand English, his community could connect Salva with other Sudanese immigrants. This would make it easier for him to learn because he would feel more comfortable being with people from the same background. His parents could also send him to “The Immigrant Learning Center,” to take an English language classes for immigrants. If Salva had taken these classes he would understand English faster and communicate with his peers better.
ReplyDelete– Katherine Forrest
ReplyDeleteSalva’s biggest obstacle or challenge when he is living in the United States, is adapting. He has trouble getting used to the United States, which is understandable, Sudan is much different than the United States. The United States is more technologically advanced, on the other hand, Sudan is a third world country that is not developing as fast as the United States. Once arriving Salvaa “could hardly believe he was still on the same planet.” (98) And just to make Salva’s situation even harder, he is speaking a language he isn’t used to, even after a few months Salva “wondered if he would ever be able to speak and read English well”. (99) A way the people around him (the community) could have helped him is that they could have allowed Salva to transition slowly, such as talking slower to allow the language barrier to be much of a problem. Although many people did this when Salva arrived in the United States, this did not last long and the language barrier soon became a big obstacle for Salva and the people around him, Salva couldn’t understand them easily if they were talking fast, and if he didn’t understand, they would have to repeat their statement. This was problem for both people.
-Mathias Dahms
When Salva first arrived in the Us he is very overwhelmed. Salva a boy who barely knows how to speak English, Is moving to the US to stay with a family willing to care for him and give him the education he deserves. When Salva arrives he faces a number of obstacles. At the same time he is very happy to be given such an opportunity. “ Thoughts kept looping through his mind. What if my new family isn’t there? What if they have changed their minds? What if they meet me and don’t like me?” (Pg.94). Salva was overjoyed to be in an environment which was stable without violence. When he landed Slava felt as he was leaving his old life behind, of being a lost boy with no one to be there or support him. Salva had a very difficult time learning English especially since he had no one to understand the difficult situation he was going through. I think the community could have been more helpful by providing a special type of class or extracurricular to help kids like him including himself to learn and practice the English language. Salva in my opinion is a very strong person for going through everything he’s been through alone especially at such a young age.
ReplyDelete-Amelia Pham
Right when Salva lands at the US, he spurns his nation for another life. He accepts his family to be dead, yet at the same time aches with distress for his misfortune. He tries to be solid yet can't abstain from being frightened. Everything is new in the US, particularly the language. The author outlines how Salva could essentially review "Hi" and "Thank you," at any rate couldn't comprehend a word his new family was communicating, particularly when they talked rapidly. In his new home, Salva likewise has nobody to identify with. The camp he was remaining in neglect to organize him with another orphan, so Salva has nobody to visit with shared beneficial experience. Everybody who was picked for the advancement program was a immigrant. In the event that Salva was united up with another lost kid, they could analyze their family, their homes, and they could rehearse English more. I overall find altering new things are constantly less troublesome when I have somebody to discuss the point. I figure the framework could have helped Salva more with the alarming change into his new life by blending him up with another lost youngster. That way Salva wont be so lonely.
ReplyDeleteSlava experienced multiple challenges both in getting to the United States and learning to live there. One of his biggest challenges is his worry about his future and whether he will be able to create a new life in America. Because he only knows a little bit of English, he worries about his ability to understand what is happening around him. When he is leaving Kenya, “Salvaworried that he might misunderstand something important” about his travel because he couldn’t communicate with his aid worker (91). During the trip he also worries “What if my new family isn’t there? What if they have changed their mind? What if they meet me and don’t like me? (94)” I think this worry comes from his experience in traveling to the refugee camp in Ethiopia when he makes the dangerous trip only to be kicked out later. It is made worse because he is making the trip to the United States without his community. Had his uncle, another family member, or friend been there to support him he probably would not have been so nervous.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to me is how he is able to better deal with his worry after he establishes a community in America. Later in the book, even though he is still nervous about his English, he begins speaking to crowds to raise money for wells in Sudan. The first time he speaks his “knees were shaking as he walked up to the mike” but soon after he was able to speak “to hundreds of people-in churches, civic organizations, and schools (108, 109, 110).” He overcomes his worry because of the support he gets from his American family which his new community and the memory of his old community in remembering his uncle’s words to take “a step at a time, one problem at at a time-just figure out this one problem (110).”
A Long Walk To Water is a book about bravery and perseverance. For both of the two main characters, they have to learn to live with their surroundings. For Salva, that is (in the end of the story) adapting to his new surroundings in America. These new things could be new clothes, new temperatures, new places, and his new family. One of the things that Salva was challenged with in moving to a new country was adjusting to all of the things that were different in America from Sudan. Something that was pretty different and challenging that Salva noticed was the lack of people that looked like him. There were very few black people that he noticed. I don’t know if that was really a big challenge for him, but it was something from him to think about. Even in the airport alone he said that he saw more white people than he had seen in his whole life in Sudan. Another big challenge was accepting and embracing the huge language differences between his two countries. Something that Salva’s refugee camp should’ve better prepared him for was the change from his home language to English. In the book, he expresses difficulties grasping the unfamiliar language. His former refugee camp should have helped Salva learn the new language better. Even if they were really sure he wasn’t going to America, there was a slight chance that he would’ve needed to use the language at some point in his life. In chapter 16: “Now that Salva was learning more than a few simple words, he found the English language quite confusing,” (Park, 2010).
ReplyDeleteRemember to add your name to your blog post.
DeleteIn A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Salva faces many challenges as he transitions into an American lifestyle. He had transited through multiple airplanes to finally arrive in the United States. The flights would have been easier if they had been direct, i.e., from Africa to Rochester, New York. It would have also been ideal if he had known ahead of time that the plane was going to stop abruptly, as he could have held onto the armrests instead of being flung forward. He departed the plane in Rochester, New York which was his new home. In Chapter 15, he had many doubts about his new family, such as if they would change their minds and not take Salva in, or if they never even showed up at the airport to greet him in the first place. His speculations were incorrect, as they were awaiting Salva’s arrival. Salva was pleased when he noticed that his new family had siblings, similar to his original family. His shoulders relaxed as he saw their keen smiles. Although Salva was very happy with his new family, he had a difficult time comprehending all that his new family was trying to explain to him. Although his new family was trying to teach Salva English, they could have made their explanations less challenging by talking slowly and clearly, especially Louise, one of Salva’s new siblings. In conclusion, although Salva experienced different hardships along the way, he was very pleased and excited to see a new country other than his own.
ReplyDelete-Natalie Tehrani