Isabella City was a highly populated territory in urban areas of Latin America. The place had worn-out housing units with incomplete infrastructure. Some residents, including my parents, had professionally built houses; however, due to the absence of high-quality maintenance, the dwellings’ conditions had deteriorated. I chose to write about this place to narrate the challenges I experienced and how I overcame them by having an enduring hope. The situation of the area is comparable to the life lived by Trevor Noah in Soweto. Moreover, we lived in Isabella City hoping for a better transformation of the territory, and it, therefore, relates to the Emily Dickinson poem –“Hope” is the thing with feathers.
Isabella City residing made us experience many challenges such as inappropriate clothing, an unbalanced diet, and improper shelter. As a young child, living in Isabella City was not easy. My parents, who had no source of income, never provided us a balanced diet. My siblings and I were forced to work in a nearby sugar plantation to acquire some money for survival. However, I was stranded on how to use the little income I received. Should I pay the tuition fee? Should I buy food and lack education? These are some of the questions that lingered in my brain. We bought items in small quantities, and purchasing more than two kilograms of rice, sugar, or maize floor was like a dream. My life in Isabella City was similar to Trevor Noah’s experiences in Soweto. The same way we could not afford to buy items such as eggs in ample quantities is the same way Trevor and everyone in Soweto could not.
As residents of Isabella City, we bypassed hardships, tough times, and harshest situations. We passed through moments of disillusionment, from covering ourselves with the palm of our hands on cold nights through sleeping on hungry stomachs to waking up early in the morning to look for food. It is ironic how both parents and children worked tirelessly and received an income that could not feed a single stomach in a day. However, we hoped that challenging moments would change, hard life would change, and disillusionment situations would change. Our concerns compared to the poem Hope is the Thing with Feathers. The poet illustrated the expansive power of hope that wields over people. Hope becomes sweater as the problems get mightier (Dickinson, 3). The poet deems that no challenge can sway away hope. As an Isabella City resident, I had an adamant attitude of hope, and I believed that no matter the challenges, a fantastic day would shine over us and change our lives for the better. It was our best time, it was our worst times, it was our age of suffering, and it was our age of happiness. Similarly, in Trevor Noah’s experience, he narrates how they lived like poor people in a two-room house with his grandmother, sleeping on the floor. Still, today, he is a television host, comedian, and writer.
In Isabella City, there were several shops, small bars, and kiosks where some people earned some income for livelihood. My grandparents and some other residents had shops where they bought items wholesale from the bigger cities and sold at retail prices. Though struggling to make a living, these individuals were termed as the wealthiest people in the territory. This situation is similar to Trevor Noah’s hometown Soweto. The only difference between Soweto and Isabella City pertains to a black-market economy in the former. Although Soweto’s residents had informal grocery stores, Trevor claims that some people operated businesses from their own houses.
The worst situation in Isabella City that I experienced was increased crime and violence. Numerous people, fundamentally the youth and young adults, indulged in criminal activities from drug traffickers, street gangs, paramilitary mafias, and rebellious groups. Thieves would still in my grandfather’s shop and cause him to make significant losses in his business. My elder brother was also smuggled into the same territory by unknown people. Criminal violence had increased in the region, and death took most innocent souls. Due to increased poverty in the area, people opted to participate in illegal drugs, armed robbery, and smuggling. This problem contradicts the situation in Soweto from Trevor Noah’s experience. According to him, there were limited or no crime and theft cases despite most people living in abject poverty. Although he says that Soweto was a prison developed by their oppressors, it created self-determination (Hurt, 4). This scenario contradicts my experiences in Isabella City, where most people had lost moral values and participated in criminal activities. I hoped that the territory would change one day for the better, just like how Emily Dickinson conveys her message in the poem- Hope is the Thing with Feathers. The poet uses a little bird to pass her statement by saying that hope burns in the most brutal storms, coldest areas, but it stays present in the human soul.
People viewed Isabella city as a hiding place for criminals and a region where nothing excellent; for example, people can acquire intelligent leaders. However, most students and learners from the area received sponsorship and studied in elite schools. I was among the first students who benefited from Foundation Scholarship in Isabella City. I got the scholarship after a good-hearted person saw the struggles I was going through, from working on a sugar plantation to performing all the household chores. I become independent and tried to eliminate poverty from my parents. However, after becoming prosperous, the worst action was to vacate to the bigger clean cities with a conducive environment without uplifting other poverty-stricken individuals. This situation contradicts Trevor’s experience. Despite Trevor purporting Soweto to be a prison, with no bars or restaurants. He believes that it was not essential to leave the ghetto but instead transform it (Hurt, 4). On the contrary, Isabella City residents focused on bringing their parents out of the area without performing any significant acts to help the community. These mean actions made numerous people view the territory as a poor example.
Conclusion
Isabella City was a poverty-stricken region in America. Most people, especially my siblings and I, experienced inappropriate clothing, unbalanced diet meals, and inadequate shelter. The part had undesirable dwelling areas. This housing situation was similar to Trevor’s in his hometown Soweto. Trevor purports to live in a two-room house with his grandmother, mother, and other extended family relatives experiencing severe challenges. As an Isabella City resident, I faced the same challenges, but I hoped that one day life would change for the better. Our hope can be related to Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope is the Thing with Feathers. Despite the challenges, most brutal storms, and complicated life that the people of Isabella City and I faced, our hope remained still and unshakeable.