Presenting in the Global Issues Forum - a constant learning experience

GIF is starting on the 15th of September. It will be the first GIF of the year, and the first ever GIF for the Class of 2011-2013 to Li Po Chun United World College this year. We are presenting on "fair trade vs free trade" I decided to look at how developing nations view fair and free trade. Something that was stuck in my mind was how free trade was not possible for many developing countries like Pakistan. I am not exactly sure why I was so convinced but I think it had something to do with reading newspapers of terrible working conditions, employees firing workers because they asked for higher pay, and hidden production going on in the name of 'fair' trade to get more revenue from goods. I had planned to include this in the presentation to give a completely different view to the idea of 'fair' trade, and how ethical it is. In Pakistan's case, it did not seem ethical at all to me, and instead seemed to make matters much worse. However, in GIF, one needs to include both sides of an argument, and that is the beauty of it. Even if sometimes we as human beings becomes biased, which I think is our natural instinct, experiences like GIF help us to mantain an open view towards issues, and to try not to lean towards one argument. Thus, while reasearching, I came across this website: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/producers/dried_fruit/mountain_fruits_pakistan/default.aspx It is the example of a company in Pakistan called Mountain Fruits (Pvt) Ltd. and how fair trade has been very successful in Pakistan and for the labour. I am often too critical, and I know I will not take this information to be completely true immediately. I will try to find out more about this and whether it is wholly true . I guess that is something that TOK teaches me: to constantly question knowledge in search for the truth. However, it provides an alternative view. It gives me hope. For myself, for Pakistan, for Pakistan's future. I can see fair trade working, or at least some sort of improvement in the working conditions for workers. However, I do not know the answer yet. There is a dilemma attached to this issue. It's like the dilemma with giving money to beggars. If I don't give money to the children beggars, in the short term they might just die on the roads with no money to buy food with. However, if I don't give money to the children beggars, they might die, and in the long run their parents might get convinced that beggary will not work and that they need to work, and not use their children to beg and earn money for them.

Is it unethical? Does reason wipe out ethics? It makes me think... For now, I will continue to research, and hopefully somewhere along the line, I will get answers..

The Power of Now?

Two years ago, I was given a book called 'The Power of Now' by Pakistan's Member of National Assembly, Marvi Memon. It was on my two-day trip to Islamabad, a reward for winning the Athlete of the School award, which actually seemed like 10 days to me. This was partly due to the amount of work that I did on those two days, and also because it was the first time I had left my home, my parents, and had gone to live, to eat with and practically live Marvi Memon's life. At the end of the journey, I knew I had my home to go to, where the old sofa in the living room, my brother's brilliant paintings on the wall, and my mother's parathas were waiting for me. I had precisely recorded each detail, each conversation to the best of my abilities at the end of each day and could not wait to get home and share my experiences with my long-lasting friends and family.

I got home with my hair smelling of rain, the mud of karachi stuck on my Bata shoes, and my dupatta lurking behind me. I started reading the book "The Power of Now" which basically focused on explaining... well.. the power of Now! Tolle asks us to focus on the moment which is now, and not to dwell much on the future and the past. He emphasises how the moment right now, this very instant can be used to shape the future, so one must always concentrate on the present.

September 4th, 2010: Arrive. Hong Kong Airport. Next stop: Li Po Chun World College of Hong Kong. Thrown into a mixture of cultures, races, ideas, perspectives, cultural evenings, Global Issue Forums, Canteen dinner conversations, the brilliant Orientaton Week. School starts. Subject choices. Quan cai choices. A completely different system: O levels GCSE to a system many of us struggled to spell: Internation Baccalaureate.

Pause.

Family.

The rain. The Pakoras Reading the Sunday newspaper on the couch in the living room while sipping on my mother's chai My four siblings going in and out of the three rooms at my house in Karachi.

You know, no matter how much we try to keep ourselves in the now, the mind does wander. We are made to remember. Remember the memories, the good times I had, to remember the love for the country and to never let anything get in the way of that. I can try very hard to focus on my Theory of Knowledge essay right now, but by writing this blog I think about all the hard work that I did, how much my parents sacrificed, how much my friends taught me, how much my country gave to me. It allows you to put things in perspective. It keeps you focused. It makes you work towards that goal, to not give up just yet.

I love the people at my new school.

I still hope to be reunited with my four siblings, my wet hair from the rain, my couch, and my brother's paintings, my home.