Life on the River

The Justice League after reading 'Life on the River' by Cushla Mahoney compared our lives in Auckland and the lives of the children who live on the Mekong River in Vietnam.

WALT - Compare and Contrast

How did you get to school today? If you paddled in a boat you probably live on the Mekong river in Vietnam. Life on one of the longest rivers in the world is very different from our lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Travel to School - Kalani

Both children who live on the Mekong River and live in Auckland have to travel to school. On the Mekong River (Vietnam) the children have only one way to get to school, they jump into their boat and paddle straight through the waterways. This may look easy but is very hard because you have to paddle against the current. Whereas children in Auckland get to school in lots of different ways like getting driven by our parents, going by bus, walking to school if we live nearby or riding our bikes. Sometimes people get to school with their scooters. In my opinion I would rather travel the way that I do in Auckland because if I paddled to school it may waste some of my energy I need for learning.

Homes -Arav

In Vietnam they build their houses on stilts so when the water levels are too high it won’t

effect the houses and they won’t float away. In New Zealand we have houses built on grass or concrete not rivers. In my opinion living in a house on stilts would be a little scary because the water would keep rising and you wouldn’t feel safe.  I prefer to live in homes built on solid ground because there is no possibility of my house floating away.

Producers - Chantelle

In Vietnam many people produce products ranging from pineapples to rice these products are grown in an area called the bread basket. Once some fruits are picked they can be carved into animals and shapes. These animals and shapes are not able to be sent overseas but are sold to local people. Whereas in Auckland we produce a lot of products that are packaged and are able to be sent overseas.   

Play Areas - Dev

Both New Zealand and Vietnam have play areas. In New Zealand there are playgrounds, pools, beaches and fields. In Vietnam their playground is the river. Children jump and swim in the river. I prefer to go on on New Zealand play areas because they are a lot of fun to play on and safe. Whereas the Vietnam children have a river as their playground. However the water of the river looks very dirty so it will probably make you sick and if you can’t swim you may drown.

Fame - Sherlyn

New Zealand and Vietnam are both famous for different reasons. Vietnam is famous for the Mekong River because it's one of the famous rivers in the world. Auckland is famous for being the largest city in New Zealand and is also famous for being the home of Eden Park and the Sky Tower. In my opinion I would rather live in Auckland not Vietnam because we are known worldwide in a good way for being clean and green whereas the Mekong River looks a bit dirty.

Conclusion - Priscilla

In my opinion I would rather live in Auckland instead on the Mekong Delta river in Vietnam. One reason is I would not like to play on rivers because they seem dangerous. Another reason why I would prefer to live in Auckland is because we don’t need to jump into a boat to go to school or other places, it is much easier to walk or be driven to school. In the future the people of the Mekong River may choose to move away from the river and build their houses on safer solid ground. Also the people of the Mekong may work on trying to clean the river by making sure no more pollution goes into the river.