The Story of Aldria
Meet Aldria. She is 17 years old. She lives in the lower middle Gondalow area. Her dad works as a government official’s secretary. She is one of the very few people in this world who gets to see and experience the world through both the lens of the privileged and the underserved. The truth is, she doesn't belong to either group. She is more privileged than the underserved because of her dad’s work, but she is underprivileged for the upper class because her dad is only a helping hand in the government and doesn't have real power to make or execute decisions.
Her family benefits from the leeway and information they have access to because of her dad’s work. They know what to say, when to say it, and how to hide and manoeuvre through the world without being flagged by the monitorization of the government.
Everyday, she wakes up at 8am. She must walk 10 minutes from her home to access a private room her father built for her so that she may receive the same educational benefits and perks of 'schooling' as a child would have in an upper-class family. Of course, she does not actually qualify for such features, but her father knows a few people in the government who have made this a reality for her and her siblings.
Despite this privilege, Aldria and her family struggle from time to time because they are constantly worried about safety and being caught for their crimes. The crime being that her family is fluid and doesn't live life as prescribed in the institution of the current world ‘Everyone must stay within their prescribed lifestyle'. She must keep a low profile and cover her tracks wherever she goes. Sometimes they have steak for dinner, and other times it is just bread, pasta or soup. She gets high-quality new clothes, but not often. She has access to high-quality education systems, but her family can’t afford a car. Her family’s suspicious and inconsistent activities are submitted on the chip, which can be subjected to investigation, for any cause and this puts them in a vulnerable state.
She sees the world through both lenses, and it infuriates her. She sees the social movements and protests being held for equality, but she is scared to partake in them as the fear of compromising her family's safety haunts her. She sees how the government and politicians control the majority of resources and hide the truth from people, but she is unable to speak on the oppression.
She stays quiet and observes from afar. She wonders if there are others like her in this world who also hide their pain. She wonders if they are as hopeless as she is. With the little control Aldria has over her life, she is still passionate about environmental change. Every week she volunteers with the biodegradable committee, she processes and approves materials that can be recycled and reused to eliminate waste. This is her way of giving back to the community and making amends with her conflicted identity.