1. Response
- Author:
- Leigh Bercaw
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- Last semester I walked to school through one of the toughest neighborhoods in the capital city of Madagascar. Every morning my friends and I passed the same gang of sleeping street-children—honestly the best word for it is puppy pile. They were a shivering, shifting heap of children, and they broke my heart. On the way home from school, they were awake and I was afraid of them. If I walked alone, they would surround me and steal everything in my pockets. They eventually pulled one of my friends to the ground and took her backpack. As a student of anthropology trained to approach multifaceted issues by looking first through the lens of the particular, these kids, for me, embody the complexity of the lives of children living in difficult situations. They inspire our compassion and move us through their vulnerability. Yet, they simultaneously remind us that they are agents in their own right.
- Political Geography:
- Tamil Nadu