Double entry journal about "The Ninja"

Previously on this blog I wrote about the book "The ninja" by Eric van Lustbader. Now I will go a little deeper into the book, and write a double entry journal about a relationship in the book and an important conflict.  

From the book	Your own reflection
Relationship "It seemed to Nicholas that the other boy hated him almost on sight. Why this should be so he could not imagine. Not until much later. But then he reacted as any boy in any part of the world might do to such unadulterated hostility. He returned measure for measure." Page 100	There are many relationships in the ninja, but I think the most important one is the relationship between the main character Nicholas Linnear and his cousin Saigõ. Nicholas first met Saigõ when he moved from Singapore to Tokyo in Japan. Saigõ was one year older than him and they immediately didn't like each other. The quote that I wrote is from the first time they see each other. You can tell from the start that this will be a bitter rivalry. Both Nicholas and Saigõ train in the art of bujutsu, Japanese martial arts. Even though Saigõ has been training the longest Nicholas is quickly catching on. The turning point in their relationship is when Nicholas manages to beat the more experienced Saigõ in a match. Saigõ is dishonored and not long after that he joins another secret dojo. We later discover that this is when he became a ninja. The relationship between Nicholas and Saigõ is also deeply characterized by their family. Their fathers never liked each other because of both personal and political reasons.  Nicholas and Saigõ also fall for the same girl, Yukio.
Conflicts "'He'll be coming soon now.' 'Coming? Who?' 'Saigõ. The ninja.' Page 492	The main conflict in the book is the conflict between Nicholas and Saigõ. This is a conflict that began when they where kids, and kept growing until the last showdown in the book.  The quote that I wrote is from right before the big showdown. Nicholas has just found out that the ninja who has been killing his friends, among other people, and who has been playing with the police is his cousin Saigõ. He also realizes that Saigõ is now also after him. Their blood rivalry runs so deep that Nicholas always knew Saigõ would someday come after him. When they last parted Saigõ beat Nicholas and left with Yukio, who they both loved. After that Nicholas needed to become a ninja in order to stand a chance against Saigõ. We don’t realize that Nicholas is a ninja until right before the big showdown, and Saigõ realizes it midflight. Based on this we can say that this conflict is a conflict between two ninjas. It is very essential to the book since the entire story is based on it.

Moliehi Sekese

Today, our class had a visitor from Lesotho. Lesotho is a country in the Southern part of Africa. It is surrounded by South-Africa, and it is one of the worlds’ smallest countries. They do not have many resources, and they are very dependent on financial help from South-Africa. This makes the country one of the poorest in the world, where 49% of the population is below poverty line (1999). HIV and Aids are common diseases, leading to a low life expectancy. There are 700 primary schools in Lesotho. Out of these, 18% are urban schools, 8% are semi-urban schools, while 78% are rural schools, situated high in the mountains. In the raining period, these schools are closed due to obstacles on the route to school. Only 4% of the 700 schools have a computer laboratory. Nonetheless, there is an initiative to integrate ICT in the education.

Our visitor was Moliehi Sekese. She is a teacher Mamoeketsi primary school, a school with 700 students and only two lap tops. They didn’t have electricity until one year ago, so the computers were charged from her home. She teaches math, science and English, and she believes that the use of technology creates better and more motivated students. In the curriculum it says that one teacher should only teach 56 students at a time, however, in Moliehi’s class there are 100 students. The classrooms are very small, with a lack of desks, chairs and textbooks. Also, the ceiling is not isolated, making the rooms very cold. Many of the children do not have enough clothes or shoes for that matter, making the learning situation very difficult. However, this does not obtain a dominant obstacle for the children, who come to school every day. They do this because they know that it is their only chance of getting a better future trough education. The only resource the learners have is their teacher. In addition, all the subjects are thought in English except for their native language. 

Moliehi Sekese also talked about the turning point in her carrier. She initiated a project at her school which is called the “Indigenous Plants Project”. This project involved data gathering, discussion, and outcome. Moliehi contacted the parents and asked them if their children could borrow their cell phones. These were used to take pictures and send SMSs to Moliehi of their findings. The theme was indigenous plants. After individual searches away from school, they tried to find the same plants in close distance from the school. They discovered that many indigenous plants were very rare there, and that the plants close to the urban areas were collected and sold at the market. The class decided on making flyers to inform the local community of this. Inspired by a trip to the biggest botanical garden in Lesotho, the class decided on making a botanical garden outside school, which contained many of these plants. The children also planted some of these at home, because they were eatable and healthy. This project made Moliehi award winner in Africa, making her the representative for Africa in Brazil. Here, she won the award for “the educators’ choice”. This made her project and her students’ situation known, leading to her coming here to us in Norway. 

Listening to her presentation made us realize how lucky we are here in Norway. We have food, clean drinking water, clothes, textbooks, and computers. Her story made an impact considering going to school. Her students showed up even though the class room was cold, and the learning environment was not ideal. She encouraged us to go on with education, and use it to make a difference. John Lennon wrote a song called Imagine. This one encourages us to stand together, and together, we can make a difference. We think this song has some of the same values as Moliehi Sekese.

Last, we would like to thank Moliehi Sekese for her time with us, and her wise words.
“Use it Profitably, learn it Effectively”. 

“You may say 

I’m a dreamer.

But I’m not the only one

I hope some day

You will join us 

And the world 

Will live as one.”



Co-writer: Marie