Brewster Kahle - Module 10, Question 2

I wanted to jump up and shout "AMEN!" at the end of this Ted Talk.  What an awesome idea!!  If only  people were perfect, Creative Commons would work, and Brewster would have his free library.

If only.

But backing up, let me show you what people need first:

The Boy from Assam

Monday, September 22, 2008 5:38:06 PM

Always something to surprise you here in India.

Meet our new guard:


His name is Anil. He is 18, born in 1988. (You do the math. Funny how that works, eh?) He replaces Sadeek, the man with two wives, who went back to Orissa to tend to one of his father-in-laws, who is ill.

So the guard company sends this young soul out to us. Anil speaks no Tamil, no English, and his boots are too big for him, making him walk slightly knock-kneed. Everyone likes him because he will do anything they ask without arguing - once he understands what they want. Fetch the pot, get the tea, be the replacement for one of our guards who is chronically late.....you get the picture. He's the low man boy on the totem pole.

After a week I can't stand it anymore. Even though I didn't hire him, it's killing me to be a party to child labor. If I fire him, he's out a job and on the street; and the guard company will probably just send me another boy. Besides, he claims to be 18. I need to be more creative. I had Mr. Fixit, who speaks passable Hindi, ask him about his schooling. He's been up to the fifth grade. He doesn't know the English alphabet, but he can count in English - up to 18. The teacher (and mother) in me rose up and demanded action - I sent out some workbooks that Levi has outgrown and told the head guard to tutor him. After all, they do virtually nothing all day. Within two days, Anil had the English alphabet mastered. On to phonics.

Side note:  Anil left after about two weeks.  I had given him an English picture dictionary and asked if he was willing to let me tutor him, but he was too embarrassed.  Anil was from a little orphan state in northeastern India, Assam.  I call it an "orphan" because if you look at the map, it lies between Bhutan and Bangladesh, nearly completely cut off from the rest of India, and right in the middle of an area that is known for its extreme poverty - even by Indian standards.  Plus, there is that pesky 50+ year-old border dispute with Pakistan, to keep people busy fighting and dying.  First, water; then, food; then, shelter; then, safety; then, maybe, education.

My driver, whom I call Mr. Fixit in this blog, told me that Anil was homesick.  Maybe he was.