Introduction

Journal #6, Faham

Almost everyone you know is lucky. Almost everyone you know has everything they need. But almost no one has everything they want. This is who we are, this is what defines us. Our race is a race in which we strive on things we want, and we pay no attention to what we truly need. It is only when a person goes through hardship without anything they need, do they realize how lucky they were. Before all this happened we had a normal live in which we used to live through every day. Each day we wanted something for ourselves, something that would only entertain us. But the things that kept us alive, no one cares for them. When we were on the island we had nothing, we had to do everything ourselves, at that time all the things we wanted before didn’t seem important anymore. All the things we wanted wouldn’t help us in anyway. But the things that we never cared about or in other words the things we needed were the only things that would help us survive. All of us should always be thankful for what we have and what we need. We shouldn’t take these things for granted. Although we should always be thankful that doesn’t mean that we should give up on things we want, all it means is that we should make sure we have things we need first rather than things we want.

On the island there were many moments, some were bad and others were good. Overall the bad things about the island were that it was hard at first to work together since everyone was confused. Also since we had no experience in surviving it was one of the toughest situations of our lives. There was also a time in which one of our group member Darcy started to steal food. This resulted for us having less food and him having more than enough. It took a while to catch the culprit and to make sure that this never happened again we had to make rules. The good things that happened to us were that we all learned to appreciate our lives more since we had gone through such a situation. Also most importantly we learned how to survive when stranded which may help us in the future if a mishap like this happens again.

(395)

Journal #6, Josh

I would like to say that in life, not all people have seen the horrors and face of evil, especially children and those who live in developed countries and have not been expose to these horrors. These days, we live off of the things we basically want… but never look at the things we truly need, things we need are food, shelter and clothing. Because of this, we take things for granted and never consider or care for those who are victims of any sort of horror and never put ourselves into their shoes. In developed countries, we all want our nice looking brand name clothing, make up etc. and these are the things we basically want but do not have any impact to our necessities. Sure you would have some clothes just to wear, but cloths are cloths, when you are dead you won’t take them with you other than the fact that it would probably be given to someone else. In Canada, we are privilege because we do not see any horrors of war, natural disasters, or even evil and when we watch a video showing any of these, we are overwhelmed by the footages and realized how naïve we are, unless you are heartless and do not care at all. All of have to say is “welcome to earth” because this is our nature of a human being and this is truly what we are capable of doing. When you are stranded on an island, you fight for everything and you defiantly do not fight over the fact how pretty you look or your new TNA shirt. You fight for food, water and argue over what seems to be the most stupid thing to argue about ever.

When I was stranded on an island, at first we tried to work together and cooperate but in the end we started to fight with each and did not cooperate by what seems to be almost our last day on the island. I had to dig up holes in the ground just to use it as a restroom, followed by covering them back up when they get full. This was the worst part of being stranded on an island, however it was fun when you go fishing and hunting, and it’s actually quite fun when you are exposed to it. I use to find fishing and hunting all weird and old people do these crazy things, however it was like a sport and you can make it out of a competition as well. If you ever get stranded on an island, here’s a tip for you, try to cooperate with others but at the same time trust no one because they may all not be there to help you.

(461)

Journal #6, Yanko

I was one of the survivors of the recent plane accident. We had gone on a vacation, but our plans quickly changed once we felt the plane drop quickly. The crash happened very fast, and there wasn’t a lot of time to think. As I came out of the wreck, I noticed that it was just me and my friends who made it. We took our time with decisions to make sure everything went smoothly, and had little problems. The only way we would not get rescued was if we had disputes. We salvaged as many items as we could find from the wreck, and were left with a lot of instruments. We used them to our advantage as much as possible. For example, the axe was used to make parts of the shelter, while the hammer and nails were used to keep it together. One of the situations I went through while being stranded was when 2 of us went hunting and me and another friend went fishing. We did not catch any fish, but the hunters were fortunate enough to have found a pig. Even though we were not lucky enough to catch any fish, the meal was split evenly. This was one of the times that we solved problems quickly, and worked as a team. The best thing about being stranded is that it gives you time to think. You learn to appreciate your life and friends more, and learn a lot of valuable lessons. The worst thing about being stranded is not knowing when or if you will even be rescued. But as long as you have your friends with you, you know that at least you have a chance.

(288)

Journal #6, Darcy

After the crash we were stranded on a small island in the middle of nowhere. There were no other humans on the island only some small animals. We had no way to contact people to tell them where we were. We figured out quickly that we would have to do everything ourselves which would make us to co-operate. We needed a leader to delegate task to do. We choose Faham because he seemed to be the best candidate for the job. The first night on the island was the hardest for us because there was a storm and we had no shelters prepared. We were able to get some supplies from the plane after the crash. After the storm it seemed to us that we still had most of them but a couple might have been taken away with the storm. For the most part of the time we spent on the island we were able to co-operate with each other but there were sometimes that it was hard to do. For example when we were building the shelters a couple members left to go and have fun. This caused the group a problem because the people that worked on the shelters wanted the people that went off to have fun to also do an equal amount of work like everyone else. We were usually able to work out the problem quickly so the group wouldn’t split into another group. We had to build a lot of things like shelters and waste treatment but we were able to do it together and have some fun doing it. When we were looking for food we were able to catch pigs usually but we were unable to catch any fish. Our main food supply wad made up of pigs and fruit and berries on the island. At some points it was hard to get food which would affect everyone but we persevered and eventually got some food. Some of the food we got we were unable to eat like some berries because they were poisonous. Luckily no one was hurt from the berries because Josh recognized them and told everyone not to eat them. The worst part of being stranded was probably the amount of work we had to do. There was no humans on this island before so were had to start from scratch with everything. The best part of being stranded was probably the amount of things we learned to do and the things we learned about each other. For example I did not know a lot about what things you can eat and what you can but Josh taught all of us what he knew about them and probably helped us from eating poisonous things on the island. The time spent on the island felt a lot longer than the actual time we spent there but it was a time well spent.

(485)

Journal #5 Darcy

Today we found out that we were going to be saved. We saw a ship that was heading toward the island. They saw our signal fire and decided to see what was happening on the island. All of the boys are so grateful that we can now go back home to our families. This will mean we can sleep in our own beds again instead of the ground of the island. I am very glad we decided to have a signal fire because without it we would not be getting rescued. I am also very grateful to the other boys that we stranded on the island with me because without them I might not be alive today. We all worked together and the hard work paid off. There were some problems when we were on the island but we were able to work through them and still be alive long enough for rescue. My favourite part about being stranded was that I learned a lot of new things from the other boys that will help me later in life. Also I have made three new friends while being on the island which was a good thing. The thing that I found was the worst part of being stranded was the amount of work we had to do every day. Every single day we would have to work from when we woke up to when we went to bed. During the day we had to hunt and build different things. Some things took the whole day to do like building the shelters or catching a pig for dinner that night. We never got much time to have fun while we were on the island. When we were stranded it was like the book Lord of the Flies. We were boys stranded on a deserted island just like the characters in the book. I believe that we were the ones who had an easier time on the island because we were able to get more supplies from the plane than the boys in Lord of the Flies. Also we were able to co-operate better together than the boys in Lord of the Flies. If we had been stranded with the boys from Lord of the Flies we probably would not have had do as much work because there were a lot more boys stranded in Lord of the Flies than our situation. There were more boys so the work could be done faster so we could have had more fun during the day. Also I would have tried to get Ralph and Jack to co-operate more together so there wouldn’t have been two groups on the island. This would give the other boys more confidence in the group.

(458)

Journal #5, Josh

The morning awkwardly silent, Faham and Yanko would not talk to each other since yesterday’s incident. We spent half the day on the island until we spotted a helicopter, luckily the helicopter had spotted our signal fire and headed towards it. That was when we started running wildly towards the fire, we were so happy to be rescued we didn’t even bother to grab our stuff from our campsite. Finally we reached the copter were a man came to great us and ask us questions such as “are you alright?”. I was really glad to be rescued I don’t even know how to describe this feeling I am feeling, I suppose this feeling is a mix of happiness and liberty. Well there were some pros and cons about being stranded on an island. My favourite part was probably fishing and building shelters since it’s my hobby, what I basically did not like about being stranded on the island was dealing with anger and fighting. This is referring to especially yesterday when Yanko and Faham went crazy on each other like they never had before. Another thing I did not like was having low food supply as well as dealing with the waste treatment. This book really reminds me of a book called Lord of the Flies, it was a book I had read in grade 10 and it was very similar to the situation I was in (stranded on an island with a group of people). The story was about a group of boys who were heading to Australia for refuge and their plane was shot down that left them stranded on an island. In the end they discovered this evil within them and how they had used it to harm others as well and it also shows how barbaric human nature can be. I suppose this is similar to us because we were also barbaric because we fought over food, shelter and all sorts of things that no human would usually fight over. I think that in the book Lord of the Flies, the little ones had it better because they do not know the situation they were in and often slacked off to go and play, this is really similar to me as well. If I was stranded on an island with these boys, I would have tried to not lead any arguments and not hurt people’s feelings as well. This usually causes tensions and most of the time it leads to separation among others, I would also try not to jump into conclusions but instead ask before jumping into conclusions. Being stranded on an island sort of gave me a glimpse of how a third world country must look like.

(458)

Journal #5, Yanko

Now that rescue is in sight, I feel as if my life has turned for the better. All the time spent on this island has certainly changed me. The way I see my life, and how I feel about things. I’ve developed a new thirst for life after realizing how precious it is. We are so lucky just to make it through every day. I feel blessed to even be staring at the rescue coming our way. My favourite part about being stranded, apart from being with friends, is that I learned many lessons. I learned how important it is to live with a purpose, and how important it is to hold onto your hope. No matter how slim chances might seem, or if everything seems to be going against you, hope must never be lost. The worst part about being stranded is disputes. Thankfully, we did not have many, and kept our heads straight when it came to problems. Compared to the boys in Lord of the Flies, we had it better because we were able to keep our cool, and stick together. If I was stranded with the characters, I would have worked very hard to keep the 2 groups from separating, and I would make sure everyone was happy so no problems would occur. The problem with their thinking is that they let the evil get to them. They were very weak when it came to their common sense and decisions. The boys in Lord of the Flies put themselves first, instead of the group. This is what lead to the vast difference in opinions, the splitting of groups, and ultimately, the death of some of the boys. If I was in their position, I would not repeat their mistakes, but instead teach them that 2 heads is always better than one.

(305)

Journal #5, Faham

After what felt like a hundred years we saw a Ship coming towards us. It was a sight I have been yearning for days. As the ship was coming closer we all got together on a hill that was closest to the ship and started yelling just in case they didn’t see us. In my opinion we were yelling because of all the happiness that was inside us. Now that I was leaving I thought about all the things that were good about this island. I learned leadership, patience and most of all survival skills. I intend to keep these skills so that in the future I may be able to use them when needed. With all the positive experience’s I had in this island there were also negative ones. This was the hardest time I have had in my life and know that nothing worse can come. I understood that even when we need to work together there are some people who will come out to be deceiving, greedy and violent. When I come to think of it our past situation matches the book Lord of the flies. Such as the way we had to survive by hunting for pigs, making shelters etc. In my opinion I think that the kid in Lord of the flies had it harder for many reasons. The first was that they had too many kids that were still immature and could not help but made it harder for Jack since they started the rumour of a monster. Second was that no one died in our group but in there group because of Jack 2 people had died and another died in the starting. If I imagine myself in that group I would take control and make Jack my right hand and keep him under pressure so that he would not ruin everything. Also with that kind of group I would be forced to become more autocratic and make sure that everything would be in order. But since luck was on my side I didn’t end up with a group like that.

(348)

Journal #4, Darcy

Well today was an unpleasant day today, it all started when we divided ourselves into two groups in search for food. Darcy and Yanko went for hunting since they are strong and Yanko has hunting experience as well. Faham and I went for fishing since he knew how to fish and he was also experienced at it. We spent almost the whole day in search of food but in the end we just didn’t find… or I suppose I should say that we didn’t get any food at all. I feel really bad since it was unfair for Darcy and Yanko, I was pretty angry at the same time. I also feel pretty guilty as well because I slacked of about half way through the day of fishing. Oh boy you should have seen the look on their faces, they also gave us the biggest verbal abuse ever. I have never seen Darcy and Yanko so angry in my life before… well Yanko I have but Darcy, he never was the kind to go around and yell at people. I suppose he is just tired and hungry just like the rest of us, so the argument got to the point where it involved physical activity. Faham and Yanko were at each other like they wanted to kill each other badly, I had never seen this among us in my entire life. It’s as if they are strangers to me and a side that I had never seen from them before, however in the end we decided to share and split the food. However, I don’t think Yanko and Faham would get along too well in the future and I hope this doesn’t lead to anything bad.

(291)

Survival Guide

The survival guide has been posted please check the link on top to see it.

Journal #4, Yanko

I was in the group that went fishing. We spent the entire day waiting, and caught nothing. The hunters, on the other hand, were much more lucky than us, and managed to get a pig. I’m not saying this because we caught nothing, but we are just as entitled to have a piece of the meal. Even though we didn’t catch anything, we still spent just as much time and effort as they did. If we had caught something and they didn’t, we still would’ve shared it. When we are stranded on an island like we are now, there is no room for selfishness. When we cook the food and serve it, there will be an equal share for everyone. Seeing as how it is an entire pig, it will be food for more than one meal, as there is just four of us. If the hunters feel like they should get more, then they are being very selfish. In a situation like this, we must be aware of how others feel. If the hunters took all the food and let the fishers just watch them, then this would not go unforgotten. When the day comes when we catch something and they don’t, the same scenario would occur. We would eat, while they watch. Since we know that working together is the only way to survive, we will not act like this. Instead, to fix the situation, we will say that we have worked just as hard and as long, but were not as lucky. And when the time comes when we catch something instead of them, we will be more than happy to share it.

(276)

Journal #4, Josh

Well today was an unpleasant day today, it all started when we divided ourselves into two groups in search for food. Darcy and Yanko went for hunting since they are strong and Yanko has hunting experience as well. Faham and I went for fishing since he knew how to fish and he was also experienced at it. We spent almost the whole day in search of food but in the end we just didn’t find… or I suppose I should say that we didn’t get any food at all. I feel really bad since it was unfair for Darcy and Yanko, I was pretty angry at the same time. I also feel pretty guilty as well because I slacked of about half way through the day of fishing. Oh boy you should have seen the look on their faces, they also gave us the biggest verbal abuse ever. I have never seen Darcy and Yanko so angry in my life before… well Yanko I have but Darcy, he never was the kind to go around and yell at people. I suppose he is just tired and hungry just like the rest of us, so the argument got to the point where it involved physical activity. Faham and Yanko were at each other like they wanted to kill each other badly, I had never seen this among us in my entire life. It’s as if they are strangers to me and a side that I had never seen from them before, however in the end we decided to share and split the food. However, I don’t think Yanko and Faham would get along too well in the future and I hope this doesn’t lead to anything bad.

(291)

Journal #4, Faham

Today was our big day, since we were going to hunt properly and get good food after a long time. We had spit ourselves into groups of 2. One group Darcy and Yanko went hunting and the other me and Josh went fishing. For us fishers it was hard to catch anything since we didn’t even have experience with catching a fish. However we almost caught one before it got away. A few hours later the hunters came back with a large pig that looked as if it had struggled before getting caught. Me and josh were relieved to see that at least someone had gotten some food. But it was Darcy who was not happy. First he told me and Josh that we wouldn’t get little to none of the pig and that it was our fault we hadn’t caught the fish. While Yanko didn’t have any objections with us sharing the food equally, but he said nothing and stayed out of the conversation. After a lot of arguing and reminding Darcy that I was the chief and that if was him who had stolen the food I convinced him to share the food equally. While we were eating I realized that Darcy was full of anger. Each time Josh tried to speak he would shut him up by using swearwords and emphasising the point that he didn’t collect any of the food and that he was lucky to even eat. After being rude to everyone Yanko spoke for the first time since they came back and in a pressuring voice he told Darcy that he should stay quiet and stop bullying Josh. Darcy gave him a dirty look and threw away his food and went to sleep without saying a single word.

(294)

Symbolism Guide

The symbolism guide has been posted you can view it by clicking the link on the top of the page

Journal #3 Josh

After getting my food stolen, cooperating with the others is getting really hard since I don’t seem to trust them. It also seems that I wasn’t the only one that had my food stolen, everyone else seems angry when they woke up. For some reason they seem to suspect me however I didn’t steal and food at all. I don’t feel so great about this situation I am in, as a matter of fact I don’t like this situation one bit. When searching for food this afternoon, we all seem so aggressive like kids in elementary school who have been given a cookie but do not wish to share. I’m afraid that sooner or later we all go on our separate paths because of this incident and unable to work together. For now I plan to find the culprit behind this issue and catch him, I’m not sure what I am going to do afterwards but I suppose I should address him to the leader after this. After all he should know what to do with those that break the rules we have created. This would also ease the suspicion and lack of trust as well among the others. I don’t really have a good plan at the moment but I suppose I should set up a trap of some sort… but when the time comes I’ll know what to do exactly. This mission would have to be done silently and make sure no one catches me when I gather my resources and set it up.

(261)

Journal #3 Darcy

Today the group discovered that more of the food has been stolen. I have been stealing some of the food during the night but not all that has gone missing. Someone must have gone after me during the night to take the food. I am not sure who the other person who is taking the food but I think some of the guys suspect me. They have been asking me a lot of questions and have been watching me all day. I don’t think I will be able to steal anymore food till they find the other person. I hope they find him before they figure out I did it or I will get blamed for stealing it all. It will be hard to work together now because no one can trust each other. Even people that have been friends from when we first came to the island can’t trust each other. Our plan for finding the person stealing the food is putting the food in a place where our leader Faham only knows about. If someone is still stealing the food we will know it is Faham because he is the only person who knows where it is. If I do find it I may take some of the food so everyone will think Faham is the person that is stealing the food. Faham said that when we find the person who is stealing the food he will have to do more work and will get less food until everyone trusts them again. So if I make everyone think he is the one stealing the food they will impeach him and I could become leader. Everyone likes Faham right now but if I can make him look bad everyone will think that I am a better leader for our group.

(304)

Journal #3, Yanko

After discovering our stolen food, I am still wondering how to respond to the situation. Of course, they probably had a reason for their act. Knowing this, we will not punish the person, but instead have a meeting. We will talk with each other and try to resolve this issue. Hopefully, this will not happen again. If it was because the person was hungry, I can understand… but if they were greedy, that is a different story. Now that this has happened, I am sure that we will still act normal around each other. We might thing differently of the person, but this is only temporary. After all, we must work together in order for us to survive. Petty problems such as these cannot get in our way. We will still be able to work together, for it is our common goal. As soon as we forget about what our priority is, then the chances of getting rescued become slimmer every day. My plan for discovering who took the food is to have a meeting. We will simply ask who did it, and I trust that they will be honest enough to admit it. We will not punish them. There will be no consequences. We will just talk as a team and try to figure out how to resolve this. When we find who it is, we will tell them that this is no way of sharing, and sharing is the only way that things can go around evenly to everyone. If each and every person wanted more and more, there simply would not be any left for anyone else.

(270)

Journal #3 Faham

It’s been tough in the past few days it seems as if part the food that we collected has been disappearing. It might be an animal but that’s too unlikely. Someone among us has stolen the food. I don’t know who it is but it can’t be Josh or Yanko they aren’t like that but on the other hand it might have been Darcy. In my opinion all the problems come from his since he is to rash and violent. Also he always seems to have a full stomach while the rest of us always stayed hugry. He seems to be the kind of person who would do this but I can’t jump to conclusions just yet. I have to catch whoever it is in the act. I have decided what I am going to do; tonight I will stay up and see who the culprit is. But I won’t face him directly at night I will wait till the next day so that I can consult him properly. For that persons punishment I will make him do extra work and will make him try to get back all the food he had stolen. This will be our new rule that will apply to anyone who steals in the future. But I have make one thing for sure is that we won’t break apart as a group after finding out who this person is. That’s why I will have to make his crime look as if it was out of immaturity not greed. We need to work together if we are going to make it out of this island. If we don’t we may be stuck here forever and never make it out alive.

Day 2

I stayed up all night until I heard someone, it sounded as if someone was rushing and was against time. I looked outside my tent and to my expectations I saw Darcy. He was taking the food to the forest and every five minutes he came back and took some more.

Island Sanitary

We have made plans of where to place our waste. It is on the waste treatment page.

Journal #2 Darcy

Today we were working on the shelters when a couple of the guys just walked off. That meant that the rest of us guys working on the shelters would have to work even harder to finish by the end of the day. We just came to this island so a lot of things still need to be done. After we have finished them we can have fun but not half way through a project. We do not have many people that can build things in our group so when two members just walk off to go swimming it hurt us. We were able to finish the shelters but it took us longer because we had less help. When the two guys came back from swimming our leader Faham decided that we needed some rules. I believe in most of the rules because they will help us in our survival. One of the rules Faham made that I agree with is work now play later. This will allow us to get everyone’s support and will help us finish faster. Thus when we complete a job everyone can have fun not just a couple of guys. Another rule that I believe in is if you’re not sick/ dying you are going to have to work. It does not matter what you are working on but if others are working you should be working too. I think now that the rules are in place we won’t be having anymore incidents with people walking away from a job that is half way done. Together we can finish our tasks quickly and survive or we can work as individuals which will never finish all of the necessary jobs. (286)

Journal #2 Faham

We had built the shelters but they were not as good as they could have been since two of the people who were supposed to help had left to go swimming. This was a sign that I needed to make some changes and that meant that I needed to make rules. So we held a group meeting and in that meeting I told the people who had walked away from their duty of their fault and told them not to do it again. Also I made a rule that if we are working to build something and if I told them that they needed to work with me there is no excuse that they should leave and not help. But if someone was sick they would get the permission to leave and stay in the shelters so that they could recover properly. Other than that people in the group had to get permission from me to stop doing there works. These were the rules that we had created at the moment later there would be more rules. It made me feel angry that everyone did not work equally but I understand that this was there first time and that this would not happen again. To motivate my group in the future I would have to make time slots in which we could play such as work for the first part of the day and then later play. Or it could be that for every 2 hours we got an hour to play. But it would be more realistic to use the first idea since we need to get things done and not delay them. By using this idea people in my group would have the feeling of a prize if they work and that will make them more motivated to work in the future.

(304)

Journal #2 Josh

After our first adventure on the island, we decided to make rules since we discovered how dangerous things are on the island, especially when my food supplies were stolen from something… or someone. Some rules we made up are staying together all times, share, given shifts for certain things like rescue beacon and days to clean up our waste and get food etc. basically these are all important rules because it makes work spread evenly towards us. So far I find that our group has worked really well for now that is. We have started building shelters and planning things out throughout the island. Our shelters are being built close to each of the nearest factors we have discovered. We have located our food sources and their habitats, especially the pigs that live on the other side of the mountains. We have also discovered a fresh stream of water from the top of the mountain. We have also started making a waste treatment about 1 km away from the shelters; our shelters are built on a wonderful location. Our group has worked really hard and we did not take any breaks from doing all the work we need. We took shifts for breaks and some of us slacked off due to the hard work and the hot sizzling sun. To encourage us to work harder, I believe our leader should give us more food rations to motivate us. By doing so it would make us get even hungrier when working and we would be satisfied by the meal.

(263)