Chapter 11- So Far From the Bamboo Grove

A major theme that I notice in So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins was that most people tend to go out of their way to help others, even people that they don't really know. For example, Yoko and her family helped that pregnant woman on the train to Seoul. Thet gave her food and water, and Yoko even shared her blanket with the woman. I don't think they even knew that lady's name! Then, shortly after Yoko's and Ko's mother dies, a woman by the name of Mrs. Masuda help them with the burial process as well as offer them living quarters in her family's empty warehouse. Even though Yoko and her family could have saved their food, or Mrs. Masuda, could have ignored them, they chose to be kind and lend a helping a hand.

Amnesty International

As I read the Case Study: Iraq, I felt really bad. I was leading such amazing, pleasurable life compared to those refugees and imigrants! I wanted to help the Iraqi people in Syria and Jordan, where they were saying that supplies weren't enough. I also got rather horrific images from my rather imaginative brain about those peoplle who needed urgent medical care, or were torture survivors. However, my imagination is not broad enough, I couldn't possibly feel the terror and tension these people felt during this time. I could only hope that the US, Uk, and all other states contacted were doing their best to help.