Born into Brothels, movie review

Born into Brothels is a compelling documentary that follows a group of Indian children who were born in the Red Light District in Calcutta. Zana Auntie, a British photographer, moves into a brothel to learn about the lives of the women working/living there but quickly realizes numerous children also live in the brothel. Zana Auntie gives each child (about a dozen total) a camera and film and sends them off to take photographs. The children become enthralled with the fun and power in taking photos, and Zana creates a photography class to channel their energy. The class becomes more sophisticated as she teaches about technique, composition, and becoming and artist. The photos are surprisingly insightful and come with deft commentary by the kids.

While the children love using the camera and selecting the best photos of each roll, Zana becomes engrossed in her pupils and searches for boarding schools willing to enroll them. She realizes that education is the only opportunity for them to escape the brothel. Many of the young girls are on the verge of being put “in the line” of prostitutes by their mothers.
If you plan to watch the movie, you may want to wait on reading the rest of this.

***

Watching Zana’s determination in advocating for the children reminds me of the work we did creating Sabu International School. Substitute civil war refugees for prostitution and turn the families African instead of Indian and you have the garden of poverty from which Sabu grew. Zana’s struggles to navigate the 3rd world bureaucracy brought me back to the corrupt government officials and the mapless mazes of paper work required to register the school, purchase land, and apply for NGO status.

The children’s faces are the same as well. They convey honest, hard working children whose natural light still shines strongly from behind their eyes. This despite having seen parents and friends murdered; despite having to flee their home on foot; and despite the meager portions of food (often only a handful of white rice after school) on which they somehow survived. These kids were no less intelligent than any other children in the world. They were mature and strong and–with education–capable of anything.

In the end, one must accept one’s limits. Just as Zana found schooling for all of the children–a tremendous feat–only to have parents remove them, we also experienced heartbreaking disappointments. After months of teaching the kids to resolve disputes without fighting and empowering the teachers to discipline students with out resorting to corporeal punishment, I came to school one day to find that the “principal” of the school had beaten two kids the afternoon before. All the teachers had pledged not to beat children, and we had multiple discussions about the long-term goal of equipping Sierra Leone’s future leaders to handle disputes non-violently*. On many occasions, parents discontinued their daughter’s education because they deemed it not worthwhile.

One of the lessons learned from Sabu is that one can clear a path towards opportunity, but individuals choose to leave that path. It is even more heart breaking when parents choices limit their children’s’ options–live removing them from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities Zana Auntie arranged for the kids to study in boarding schools.

No matter what you think is best, or what may actually be best, you are not the parent. One must let the family make a decision. I admire how Zana did the best she could for her photography kids but knew her the limits of her role. I guess in America, those children would be taken from the parents, put into foster care, and remained in school. While I can’t imagine a good reason why those children should return to the brothel, it’s tricky coming into another culture and bringing Western ideas of right and wrong.

At Sabu, the goal was to at least give the students and families a choice. With regard to corporeal punishment, I was always careful not to tell parents how to discipline their kids at home. But at school, we showed everyone–teachers, students and parents–that it is not necessary to hit kids to keep order. While many of Zana’s students were removed from school, I’d bet that when they have children, they will value education more than their parents did.

The raw, freehand camera work of Born into Brothels conveys the immediacy of the story. It brings the viewers into the homes so that we gain a sense of Zana’s experiences and connection with the kids. It is such a treasure for her to have this documentation of her experiences. I have only praise for her extraordinary ability to connect with the students and to fundraise and advocate for them internationally. After the heartache that overwhelms much of my experiences with Guinea, Born into Brothels gives me a fresh perspective on the movie’s subject matter and on my own life.

*After asking around about the principal, we learned that he had a long-term drinking problem and had regressed to beating children in school before. I had a couple of frank discussions with him during which he was sincerely sorry and felt ashamed. One must remember that the teachers and students were refugees. All had PTSD and had suffered deep trauma from the atrocities they had survived in Sierra Leone. After all, Sabu was an opportunity to help the students, parents, and teachers.

Rep. Senator in Alabama punches a Dem. Senator in chamber

The teacher breaks up a fight during recess.
"Johnny punched me," said David.
"That's because you called me an SOB," said Johnny.
David protests, "I didn't say that. Johnny called me a bad name and I tried to walk away, but he hit me."

Put a suit and tie on them and the title of State Senator, and you have Rep. Senator Bishop and Dem. Senator Barron.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart.

Republican Sen. Charles Bishop said Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a [expletive]."

"I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch. (Watch the punch being thrown, senator's explanation )

Barron denied saying that to Bishop. He said the Jasper senator used an expletive to him and he was trying to get away when he was hit by Bishop on the side of the head near an ear. He said he had not decided if he would file charges.

After the punch, Barron went into a closed-door meeting with other Democrats. Sen. Vivian Figures went into the meeting carrying first aid supplies, but she said he was not hurt.

Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because "that's not the way grown men solve their problems," but added that he would not immediately apologize to Barron.

The fight came on the final day of the 2007 regular session of the Legislature. Republican senators were using delaying tactics to force the Democratic leadership to bring up an election reform bill to ban transfers between political action committees.

The Senate had just taken a recess Thursday afternoon when Bishop approached the chair where Barron was sitting. Moments later, security officers and others rushed to separate the two senators.

The Senate later considered censuring Bishop and expelling him from the chamber for the remainder of the day, but Bishop said that wasn't necessary and walked out of the Capitol, saying he was going home.

"I love every one of you. Most of all I love this chamber. I'm going home, and you all have a good day," Bishop said. more>

Blitzer is a tool. Take off the gloves and have a debate that matters.

I pine for the days when a debate meant an actual debate. After the infamous Dred Scott decision (which among other things stated that blacks are not US citizens)the country drew close to a boil on the issue of slavery. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debates face-to-face as they campaigned across Illinois for the Senate seat occupied by Douglas.

According to Peter Irons in his book The People's History of the Supreme Court,

During the twenty months between the Dred Scott decision and the 1858 elections, Lincoln and Douglas spoke to hundreds of audiences in Illinois and around the country, and they discussed the case in almost every speech. The seven formal–and now famous–debates between the two senatorial candidates focused largely on the Court's ruling and its consequences for national unity, as talk of secession grew louder in the South.

I wish two candidate would have a direct debate on the prominent issues (Iraq, health care, immigration, energy) rather than always having to be so careful about their image and every word. When we see the best athletes operating at their profession, we can watch them play. We see Michael Jordan make a game winning jump shot, and we see him miss foul shots. But with politicians, any slip of the tongue will be exaggerated, and thus, we get few candid moments. I wish the final two or three presidential candidates would give multiple public debates around the country with the focus on the issues and the audience rather than the TV viewers. What's wrong with the candidates having 10-15 debates in front of thousands of people?

Just Imagine
I ache for the opportunity to see Lincoln and Douglas debate on stage with no mics and no video cameras. The only real debate in this country comes from political analysts who are trying to boost ratings. It's rude to debate heatedly with friends, family, or company. And politicians can't afford to have their mistakes broadcasted around the world. We should be able to look to the "professionals" to help us think through the issues and debate the other side directly and thoroughly. That can't happen in a two-minute statement or even in a 10 minute interview.

One difference with the slavery debate, is that people can debate it without needing special knowledge. It is a moral issue. Well, I guess the "fire breathers" would say it was primarily an economic issues as well with economic implications for the South. Anyway, it's hard to have a debate about Iraq without being an expert in middle east relations or military occupation. A debate on energy can go only so far without both parties knowing about each type of alternative energy, the energy ratios of each, the latest technology, estimates for future energy demand, and the economic implications of weening the population and economy off oil.

Wolfe Blitzer
Regardless of how complicated issues are, the media led debates, especially the recent Democratic debate, are not working. If the moderator is going to ask yes/no questions or ask candidates to raise their hands to answer, just get them to do that ahead of time and post a grid on the screen. Get the candidates talking and challenge them to answer questions. Give the candidates the floor to make their case to the American people.

You have your own show. We do not tune into debates to hear you talk.

Washington Mutual charges credit card interest before the due date

Yesterday, I called Washington Mutual to cancel my credit card. I wanted to pay the $16.98 owed on the card by June 17 and then close the account. Well, it's not that easy.

The rep said I had to pay $20.00 because I may owe more than my account shows and if $20 is too much, they will reimburse me with a check. I asked her why I had to pay more than the amount on my last bill when I had not used the card since my last bill. Without getting a straight answer, I pressed her and learned that the company charges interest by day and that the contract I signed consented to interest starting after the due date. "Well it's not after the due date, so why should I have to pay interest." She said I "may" have to pay interest as it can accrue before the due date of the bill! This really lit me up. Do your credit cards charge interest before the due date?

What's more, if I paid on the phone, she'd couldn't close the account until the payment posted. Then she told me it would cost over $14 to pay on the phone! So I had to create a username and password to access my account online. After paying it, I have to call back after the payment posts to have the account closed. After I set up the password, the password would not work. I got frustrated and quit, hoping it would work after a few hours to let it filter through the system. I am having to go through 3-4 steps to pay and close my account.

If I just pay the $16.98 and WaMu charges interest on that, then I could owe $2 or so on my next bill. Then if I pay that $2, there will already have been interest charged on that balance, and I'd owe $0.23 or so. This would go on ad infinitum until I acquiesced and paid more than I owe. At that point, WaMu has my money and will reimburse me in 3 months! If I don't like that, I can call after I cancel the card and ask for an expedited reimbursement.

I know credit card companies do all kinds of stuff like this, but this is the first time I have heard of charging interest before the due date. That forces you to over pay your balance and then rely upon the company to issue you a check. You also have to remember they were supposed to issue a check and follow up with them 3 months later if they don't send it. Such bullshit!

What I have been doing is just going online a couple of times a month and paying off my balance. That way, interest does not accrue during the month before my due date. i also have one card I keep long term with a high credit line (to improve my credit) and I switch from card to card as I get 0% offers in the mail. Usually I can get a 0% card for 12 months. If I forget to pay a bill on time, I can usually call Chase and ask them to wave the late fee. They will do this twice.

Keep extra vigilant of the credit card companies, and don't use Washington Mutual.