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AOW – Joseph Kony

 This article, “Joseph Kony On The Move As Manhunt Steps Up” by Louis Charbonneau, UN Envoy Says   by  talks about how the Kony 2012 campaign really helped impact the people all around the world. I  was very happy to hear that they have finally started to track Kony down, in the big Uganda. The UN  could tell that Kony was nervous himself, because he was moving every other day when he moved after  one to two months. However, I can’t believe the campaign started to really impact people after 10~20  years. K0ny started his own military exactly 31 years ago. But, the UN just started to help find Kony  and let out their own military to find any one related to Kony’s military.

I just can’t believe Kony did this kind of thing and just ran away, hiding himself. If I were Kony, I would  have been embarrassed and I would have turned myself in to the police. How could he even think of  running away? I know he took hundreds of lives away from children and the children’s family. I just  can’t even imagine a human being doing that. Even though he was greedy for power, and he wanted to  make his own army, he didn’t have to go that far. I think he was just crazy over power. If he just apologized or turned himself in, he wouldn’t have been remembered as an abominable person.  However, he does have fault, and it’s his responsibility to make sure the children get their freedom and  rights back.

I think this article just made me more passionate toward child labor. This can be also called child labor. Because he is taking children away from their family, forcing them to be in part of his army. I am pretty sure that they will be living under unfair conditions. I really wonder how scared the children would have been without their parents, without protection, and without knowing the future. I think the children really brought sympathy toward us. They really made us worry and wonder about their emotions toward Kony and their lives. They would have to live the rest of their lives worrying and always in fear. I wish these kind of situations never happen again in any countries.

AOW – Child Labor in Philippines

This article is about child labor that is happening in the Philippines. This 14-years old boy, Dante, works in the fields of sugar canes and pulls weeds. The surprising fact is that he only gets $3.50 for a seven-hour work day. And of course, the reason he works is for his parents and survival. Another boy is 13 years old, Alvic, who dropped out of school when he was in the first grade. His reason of working was similar to Dante. His family didn’t have enough money to eat. However, the companies that use child labor, are blaming their parents for begging the companies to use their sons and daughters.

First, I don’t understand why they use children instead of adults. There are a lot of men out there, who are unemployed, looking for jobs. What are they doing with those people? Those people should be used instead. They would work much faster and they would be much more stronger than children. Also, those adults have given up their life, and are waiting for their death. I’m not saying I prefer adults because they will die soon. I’m just saying, it’s better than using children who would have to  regret all their life and being jealous of people living a fair life. If we stop child labor right now, we would also have a better economy later on in our future. Because right now, the more child labor we have, the less intelligent people we would have to lead the world. Then, we would just have to live as an undeveloped world.

As I said in the summary, the companies are trying to blame the parents. They say, ”The parents beg us to include their children to work.” If the parents really say these things to the companies, then it is the parent’s fault. But, why can’t the workers say no to the parents? Why can’t they persuade the parents? Lead them to a better choice. Some people would say those parents don’t even have the right to keep their children. I disagree. How hard would they have been, they would try to make their children work? They could have been thinking the wrong idea. Maybe they were just too tired of their living, they were out of their minds. If I were one of the workers that are working in a company where parents come and begs, I would never accept them. I would just say, “Get out of my office.” However, the companies didn’t do that. They accepted the children, and make them work.

After reading this article, it completely changed my thought. Before, I was greedy, like all people. Always wanted more and more, couldn’t be satisfied with what I had. I always wanted to eat what I wanted to eat, I always wanted to buy what I wanted to buy. Also, before, in the dinner table, when my mom said to eat everything that was on my plate, I ignored her. She would make a speech about children who die by poverty and how some children die by thirst. Sometimes, I would listen to her, but because she says that everyday, I wasn’t even a least interested. However, not anymore. Now I think to myself. Do I really want to buy this or is it just me being greedy? Is this something I really want to it, or is it something I am just greedy about. After all these thinking, I just walk by, or I really make a right choice and eat it, or buy it.

AOW – BP Oil Spill

This week, we read an article called “BP Oil Spill Aftermath: Eyeless Shrimp, Clawless Crabs and Fish with Oozing Sores.” This article was written by Casey Chan. It was about how the BP Oil Spill impacted the generations of shrimps, crabs, and other seafood that was living under that water for 3 years. For example, there was shrimps found that was eyeless or crabs that didn’t have the appropriate number of claws. However, the governments is refusing comment on what was happening right now in the Gulf. They are saying to their citizens that the seafood are safe to eat now. The people trusts their saying and are eating the seafood that the markets sell. Even a fisherman says that they have been pulling up oil in their nets. The scientists right now are continuously investigating about it.

First, I want to say I was very upset about what was happening. The oil spill was an accident, so we can’t blame the people that spilled it. However, it was humans that were trying to transfer oil, and we are the ones who destroyed the seafood. They didn’t do anything wrong. We are the problems. We are making them suffer. They can’t even stand up for their rights. Where are the animal rights? Don’t you think they are equally important as human rights? At least we can fight for ourselves and stand up for what we believe and what we do. But they can’t. They can’t do anything, just receive what we give them and what we do to them. I think this is a huge problem that we need to think about. Even people who like seafood should help solve this problem. The seafood are ‘extincting’ in our world. Few years later, we might not have fish or living things inside our water. Who knows?

I think this article made me reflect on myself. This article made me think how I treated the environment. As I discovered more and more animals extincting, the trees that are being cut, the glaciers melting down and much more, I just feel guilty. Even though I don’t know it, maybe I have done something or I am doing something that would harm the environment. I can’t say I didn’t do anything to myself because I am sure that I did something that would have harmed the environment. Then I start to think is there something that I can change easily? And the answer was yes. I can if I am just passionate about it and I have the confident to prevent environmental issues. People do say even though it’s one person that starts, it ends with hundreds of people. However, it wasn’t that easy. It has become too much of a habit to buy things and use plastic bags, to throw trash, to throw away paper that isn’t fully used. It has become too much of a habit that you do it without even noticing. But, if people give me a hand or a solution that I can help out with, I would be glad to!

AOW – Dhaka Slum Dwellers Live Under Threat of Eviction

This week, we read an article called, “Dhaka Slum Dwellers Live Under Threat of Eviction” that was written by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood. It was about people living in Dhaka’s Korail Slum had to face a conflict with the government. The conflict was happening because the government had bull-dozed over 50 feet of the road without permission. The government had told the people that the families only needed to go off 10 feet of the road. However, they ended up bull-dozing 50 feet. This impacted the families by some families being injured seriously, some families even getting crushed underneath the bull-dozer, and some families losing all they had. This made thousands of people living in rental shanties made out of mud. The people sat on the airport road blocking all the cars to tell the government that they are not getting away with this and they stated that they will move after the district administration announces the eviction would stop.

I understand how the people might have felt after seeing their homes being swept away. They would have felt  furious and very disappointed toward the government. We can say that this is the government’s fault. The government clearly said that they only had to move 10 feet away, but the bull-dozer went through 50 feet of the road. If they knew that was going to happen, they should have stopped at 10 feet and tell the people that they needed more feet. If they had told them that, the people would have moved with no words. It was because the government didn’t warn them, which meant the government didn’t care about the people. In the article, it said, “They say many people were injured and one young girl was crushed under a bull-dozer during the forced evictions, although this has been denied by the district administration.” I mean it was harsh enough to evict them off their homes, but they even killed a little girl. How cruel does a person have to be in order to kill a girl that was in her home knowing nothing about a bull-dozer going over her home and herself? I really don’t understand what they were thinking while they were bull-dozing over all the houses.

I think this article really wakes us up. It really shows us how cruel a person can be. It tells us how we can’t judge a person by its looks. It teaches us how we should not trust people so easily. For me personally, this article just made me realize how cruel, devastating people can be or turn into. Right now the news is full of these things, and is full of stories how a mom killed her own baby, or a father sold his own daughter. I just don’t understand why people do that kind of things. I really want to know what those people think when they decide to cause those problems.

Free Write 4

Pink and beautiful flowers

Dancing with the wind

The branches are gently

Following the rhythm

The mountain raising his neck

To see this beautiful scenery

The clouds have come to see

The sun has come to see

However, the time has come

People passing by

Stepping on the flowers

Spitting on the ground

Kicking and punching the tree

The beautiful flowers ripped and crumbled on the ground

Crying with the wind.

The gardener would come and would say…

“The sun gives you warmth

The wind gives you coolness

The rain gives you water

What more do you guys need?

We need people’s smiles

We need people’s warmth

We need people’s respect

If we received these warmth, respects and smiles

We would’ve been already as big as a tree

AOW – Girls Are Given Away to Settle Family Feuds

This week, the article, In South Sudan, Girls Are Given Away to Settle Family Feuds, by Tom Rhodes, was about families having to send girls away from their family to pay back their crime. For example, if a man killed someone and he had a little sister, he had to give away his little sister to the family who lost their child. This is an tradition in South Sudan that its still processing. In this article, it talked about Aita. It was a girl that was sent away to another family when she was 8. Her brother killed a man over cattle dispute. She even tried killing herself, because she couldn’t handle the suffer. She was raped by the men of the family that she was sent over, had to marry the family’s men. I think this is a unnecessary tradition.

First, I was very surprised. All kinds of emotions were going all over my head. First, I was very sorry for the girls. I understand how they feel about this tradition. I am also a girl and so I can know what they would feel, which makes me more sorry and more upset. I just can’t understand why people follow that. Are they saying that it’s fair for the girl to just be sent away because of a crime that her family has committed that isn’t even her fault? If I were one of the people living in South Sudan, I would be fighting to break this tradition. I would be screaming and rebelling against the people that follow the that tradition. We can call South Sudan, sexist. Why can’t it be a boy that is sent to the other family? The boys are physically and mentally strong enough to handle those harmful things better than girls. The girls would just be suffering and would also be mentally hurt. I don’t think this is a great way of handling crimes.

After reading this article, I again realized how cruel our world was. If I was one the girls living in South Sudan, I would not be existing right now. I would already have given up my life to this cruel world. How can people sacrifice their children to another family? They already know how the girl will be treated from the other family. Also, how can a member of the family commit a crime when they know a girl from their family will be taken away. Yes, it’s true we never when a crime will happen. But, can’t they just be careful and not try to involve in any fight or a bad situation? For example, the cow dispute. Yes, the cow was disputed by another man from another family. You would get mad, and you can feel you want to kill that person. However, if you think of one girl from your family taken away, can’t you just calm down and let it go? There’s nothing good to kill that person. If he did, and in real life he did, a girl would be taken away, the family would be upset, you would feel very guilty. Nothing positive. Just because of your stupid emotion, let’s not lose a family member? I think people in South Sudan should really think before doing it by action. When I see it, nothing’s changing by this tradition. The tradition is just breaking parent’s hearts.

Declaration of Independence Reflection

Last week in our Humanities class, we wrote the Declaration of Independence for ourselves. We read a student’s example and also Henry Patrick’s speech. At first, I didn’t know how to write it and what to write. Everybody’s hands were moving extremely fast, and everybody was enjoying it. I was the only one that was sitting down continuously reading the student’s example. However, Mrs. Richert started a discussion during class about ideas that we can write about. Then, everybody raised their hands and started to say with passion about what they are having complaints for. That’s when my light bulb started to shine!

Even though I had enough ideas, I was worried about my voice throughout the story. First, I wrote students and teachers, but I thought it would not be as much passionate as my own independence. That’s why I decided to change my voice perspective by using “I and me” instead of “we” toward the teachers. After I edited my writing toward me, I was almost satisfied. That’s how I overcame with my weakness and made it a strength!

I am satisfied with my writing! But, if I had a chance to write it all over again, I think I would write it differently. First, I would change the perspectives to my parents and me. I think by writing it this way, the readers can connect to my writing even better, and even our age will love to read my writing. Also, I would use better word choice. Right now, my word choice is not as professional like a real declaration. So, I would try to use professional words that will enhance my writing. Even though I can make my writing better, I am satisfied with what I have and I really enjoyed writing my Declaration of Independence.

AOW – Trayvon Martin

I decided to read an article about Trayvon Martin. It was my first time hearing about it, but after a brief description by Mrs. Richert, I decided to read and write about it. These are some of the quotes that were used in throughout the article. “…it’s not ethical to judge somebody on just what they wear.” “You judge from the cover of the book, not what’s inside it.” “There are some things that you guys can wear that will trigger certain types of reaction.” First I want to talk about judging a book from the cover not what’s inside it.

My mom always used to tell me, and always tells me not to judge a person from their looks. Usually, we judge people by their looks and I also do that. I look at a person and my mind just tells me if he or she looks like a good person. Then, we look at other things such as personality. Even though it’s a stranger, you still guess by their looks if they look nice or not. I think that’s just the way people’s minds work. They just immediately judge the person. And if they look nice, you keep an eye on he or she. On the other hand, if they look mean or unfriendly, you just step away from that person, and you try not to talk to them as much. Sometimes, our predictions are right. However, most of the times, our predictions are found wrong.

In this case, the man did judge Trayvon by his looks. This was what the police kept while having a phone call with Zimmerman. ”This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something.” He further stated that the person he was observing had his hand in his waistband, was holding something in his other hand, and was walking around slowly in the rain looking at houses.On the recording of the call, Zimmerman is heard commenting “these assholes they always get away.” This proves that he did judge him by his looks. It doesn’t mean Trayvon was on drugs. Maybe it was an affect from the moonlight and the darkness. Maybe it was just Trayvon tried or sleepy. I think the police should investigate this “manslaughter” case a little more. Yes, Zimmerman could be true about shooting Trayvon for his own self-defense, but their are more proof that it wasn’t for his own self-defense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin

Chinese Unit 7 Reflection

In this unit, we learned about market, and about Chinese money values. After we learned about markets, and vocabularies that are used in markets, we did a big project about it. We made a poster that introduces a market, and we orally presented our market to the class. We also had a group that worked all together. It was fun and interesting to learn! Now when I go to China, I know how to bargain in the market. This is the dialogue that you can have in the market in China.

“快乐的商店”

顾客: 很美的小商品市场。我去那个顾客。

商店的人：欢迎光临！我门天天有很多的东西。

顾客: 你今天有什么东西？

商店的人： 我们今天有小灯笼，粉红色的扇子，颜色的草帽！

顾客: 真的？ 好好好！我的朋友喜欢颜色的！五颜六色的草帽多少钱？

商店的人： 一顶五十五块五零六分。

顾客: 很贵~ 一顶五十块。好不好？

商店的人: 不好！不好！一顶五十无块。我的商店很便宜。

顾客: 不好！我去那个商店。再见！

商店的人： 再见。

Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of student events, it becomes necessary for me to cut ties with my teachers and school rules and to become independent, I must explain why I deserve to be more independent to the rest of the world. This requires me, Na Young Kim, to write my own Declaration of Independence for the rest of the world to see and understand why I should become independent from the teachers and from the school rules.
I hold these truths to be obvious, that I am created equal and given my own rights of life, liberty, and to be happy. To obtain these rights, the teachers should enable me to do as they wish. However, when the teachers begin a long train of mistreatment against me that shows they only want to control every aspect of my lives, it is the duty and the rights for me to get rid of the control of the teachers and establish my independence.
Until now, I have been very patient with the teachers, but with such a long history of mistreatment and unfairness by the teachers toward me, it is now the time for the rest of the world to find out what has been going on.
- I can’t go outside of the campus to eat my lunch, even though they don’t have enough food for all of us.
- The teachers don’t let me out of class in the right time, even though the clock says it’s time to head for the next class.
- The locker is too small compared to the textbooks and notebooks I have.
-Tests are all crammed the week of break.
- The teachers don’t let me listen to music during class, because they think it would disturb the class.

After all of these mistreatments, I have explained how we felt to our teachers, and I even wrote a letter to the head of school when I was in Elementary school. Yet, my complaints was fallen on deaf ears, and I have been ignored. I even appealed to my friends, and my parents, but my appeals have been ignored and I must now annouce that I am seperating myself from schools to now become independent. I, therefore, the representatives of the student body, present these facts to the rest of the world. In the name of myself, and the permission of myself, I solemnly write and declare that I ought to be free and independent. And I pledge my life, and honor!