[Chat] Boys of Baraka

[Emil Volcheck]

Last night, Kathleen and I saw the movie "The Boys of Baraka" at
The Charles.  It was interesting, but we were a bit disappointed.

The movie is an independent film that has the feel of something
between a documentary and a TV reality show.  It follows several young
boys, ages 12-13, from Dunbar Middle School during their year of study
at the Baraka School, a boarding school in Kenya, in East Africa.  It
shows how they and their families cope with poverty, drugs, and crime
in East Baltimore.  Each year, about twenty boys from Baltimore are
selected to attend the Baraka School for two years.  The boys travel
to Africa, and we see the beautiful outback surroundings of the
school.  They have no television reception, and electricity is
sporadic.  The boys miss candy, soda, and chicken boxes.  The school
is run by an all-white American staff of principal, headmaster,
teachers, and counselors.  During their year at Baraka, the boys
receive a lot of individual attention with their studies, help
developing communication skills and managing anger.  The boys thrive,
becoming more fit, more mature, better students.  It's wonderful to
see what careful attention and tender loving care can do for these
young boys.  They return to Baltimore for summer vacation after their
first year.  However, when the US Embassy in Mombassa is closed due to
terrorist threats, the school is closed for security reasons.  They
boys return to their old zone schools.  Some thrive.  One makes it
into City College.  Others go back to their old ways, losing interest
in school and slacking.

The movie was really about these boys and Baltimore.  Kenya was
irrelevant.  The boys had very little interaction with Kenyan people
or culture.  They were in kind of an American enclave.  A similar kind
of camp or school could be set up in the Ozarks, or even northern
Baltimore County, and you could expect similar benefits for the boys.
The important element seems to be rescuing them from East Baltimore
and providing time and attention from caring people.  It almost seems
as if the movie misses the point of what happened for the boys.

The movie moved kind of slow at times, a bit pedantic.  The production
quality was lower resolution, more like TV or miniDV, probably
reflecting the tight budget of an independent film.  I thought it
was educational, but it wasn't moving or insightful.  For me, it
underscored the fact that we are missing opportunities every day
to make lives better for young citizens of Baltimore through
proper education.  That is kind of depressing.

--Emil



-- 
Emil Volcheck
volcheck at acm.org
http://acm.org/~volcheck