HW 32- Life in Fear

After reading the assigned pages, I was really intrigued by the way in which they shop for school supplies. Riverbend discusses how her two younger cousins were not able to go along with their parents to shop for supplies this year. Even though it is supposed to be an exciting time, the outside dangers far exceed the reality of fun. Riverbend, her cousin, her cousins wife, and her brother E had to go pick out school supplies for their cousins. Riverbend picked out supplies that she thought her cousins would like, but she was wrong. When she got home her oldest cousin, who is ten loved the Barbie notebooks that Riverbend and E got her but her younger cousin did not like the Winnie the Pooh and said that she was too old for it. Over the past years, the children wake up early and walk to school together but this year it was different. They were not able to walk to school alone. They all had to be escorted by several adults in fear that they would be abducted. This year school started later than usual due to the war and the dangers on the streets. The parents in the community had meetings about how they wished to guard the school, reassuring themselves that the children and teachers would be safe. (Riverbend 94-97)