Short & Long Term Commitment Toward Peace

       A short term commitment that I would commit to would be based on the smallest things, such as, smiling to people that cross my path, I think that is an act of amability and it can make a person feel good, special or maybe even make their day, and I would have that feeling that I made someone feel happy and made them forget about that thing that was bothering them, and just on simple smile can make someone forget the bad things.
       For a long term commitment, I think working for a charity or opening some kind of shelter for eihter animals, homeless people, abused women, or orphans, can bring peace to a person because it would be something that you know it is right and its a kind thing to do for others and you can have that feeling of satisfaction of helping those people that are vulnerable,  and feel good about yourself to know that they feel safe and that you somehow  brought some piece into their troubled life and made them forget their struggles. 

Inner Peace

         Inner peace is when you feel that you have no worries, you don't have anything pending in your private or work life, when you do not have anything left to do but just relax, enjoy your own time and get both mentally and spiritually in peace. But at the same time be strong in mind to not let anything bring you down or streess you out. To stay in peace with yourself there are many things that you can do such as practicing yoga, meditating, or like in some religions praying can be quite helpful. In my opinion, if you are a person with a job that stresses you out and has a busy life, you have to find that little time that you can possibly have to relax, and maybe if it is desired practice another religion such as Buddhism or Hinduism, sice their traditions is to meditate, pray to find the peace you need and to know yourself and find out who you really are and what you want.

Op-Ed, Audience: English 1311 Students

            There are many elements that prevent the world from having peace, for example, greed,

lack of morality, ignorance and the lack of education, and poverty, but the main problem is war,

the thought that everything can be or has to be solved with violence. Under this huge problem all

the above mentioned falls right under it. War prevents having peace in a nation or globally when

there is constant fighting about something that can be fixed in a less violent way, maybe with

words but not with weapons. Even people who live in war regions cannot be in peace because

they can’t live in a place where violent acts rule and therefore cannot live a stable life in any

single way.

            In the case of México, the president declared war to all Mexican cartels and the war has

not stopped, there have been dramatic increases on the number of deaths. The government has not been able to win this war they declared and its citizens have to deal with the fear that every day they feel. The war in México has mainly have to do with the greed of each cartel’s leader(s) or Capos who want to control more regions and get rid of their rivals, but also we deal with the greed of some members of the Mexican government who are corrupted because they agree to help this cartel’s or accept bribes from this men just to have more money in their pockets. This people have no morals and could care less about what is wrong and right, and their ignorance is the cause of why many people are suffering every day. It is because of them that so many people have been victims of acts of violence, have witnessed an act of violence that  hurts them their victims, their town, and their country. Many of this drug cartel members might not have any other options but to join them because they are poor and need money, but also some lack an education. A possible solution to end with this is if every person had a chance to have a better education and that way they could have better jobs, and somehow reduce the poverty levels, and not have people have the necessity to feel that they have to work on an illegal act, for example in this case drug trafficking to win fast and dirty money . Without an education we are nothing, but with an education we can change so many things that will help improve our world.

Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

         Standing up against homophobic bullying is the best way to help those people who are being discriminated for being homosexual, lesbian, bisexual or transexual. A person who stands up not only helps the discriminated person but helps the bully to open his eyes and show him that whatever an individuals sexual preference is doesn't mean that he has to make that person feel less, ashamed or degrade him/her because there is nothing wrong with them. They are just normal people, and the people who should feel ashamed are homophobic people.
 “I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes the target or the potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed with themselves.”
                    -Harvey Milk, on a tape he made to be played in the event of his assassination

Libya

Right now, as we all know countries from North Africa are going through major problems, for example in the case of Libya they are facing if we can say a civil war, Libya's president is attacking his own people, those who are against him and want him to leave the presidency. Qaddafi does not want to leave his power and he has said lately that he would have no mercy against those who stand on his way and this could turn into a very bloody war if other countries get involved. In my opinion, I believe this president is insane, and the way he thinks and says it just looks like he is not in a stable condition to run a country, to me he appears to be somewhat like Hitler, he would kill anyone in order to get or achieve what he wants no matter what the consequences or results are going to be. I believe that he should just accept that no one wants him as a leader because he is hurting Libyan citizens, he's affecting his country, and no leader should do such things if they want their country to be a better place. But this situation and everything else that is going on in North Africa and the Middle East is not only affecting those regions but as well as other countries around the globe.

Memo

To: 1311 English Class

From: Estefanía García

RE: The Coalition for Adolescent Girls, Poverty Ends with Her

This organization is very interesting because they focus on educating girls from developing countries in every aspect; education plays an important role in the life of these girls because they will end generations of poverty. The organization was founded by the United Nations Foundation and the Nike Foundation in 2005. More than thirty leading international organizations such as the int’l Women’s health coalition and the int’l center for research on women, including its founding members have joined the coalition for adolescent girls. The goal for this organization is “to unleash the untapped potential of the developing world’s six-hundred million adolescent girls by raising awareness and driving action.”

Millions of girls in third world countries get married being underage. These girls are not fully developed and are definitely not ready for marriage and for pregnancy. Being a teenage mom and not being physically mature enough her body may not withstand childbirth or she may just not be able to take care of her baby’s health. By eliminating marriage for girls under eighteen and let them mature can prevent health risks caused by an early pregnancy and disease such as the HIV/AIDS. It is important to educate girls through a comprehensive sexuality class to let them know on how to prevent diseases, but it is also more important to work with men and young boys to make them change their behavior against women.

Greg Mortenson

       The video had an interesting and important theme which was education. Education is very important because knowing about many things can lead us to reach or do very importatnt things that can leave a mark on our society or in someone elses society. For example, if we are well educated we can help others by teaching them so many things that they are not aware of, just like Greg Mortenson did on the video, he found himself with a group of people who had nothing and where the children were eager to learn, he decided to help them fight against ignorance so he built them a school where there would be dedicated teachers who are willing to do good for the children. In my opinion, Greg Mortenson did  a great thing by building this institution and I believe there should be more people that are willing to help others from other societies or cultures that are ignorant and that face racial and gender discrimination and can't get the right or the complete education they need to grow as a person and feel food about themselves, and maybe one day those kids can do the same thing Greg Mortenson did for them.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word Peace?

        Peace, when I hear the word peace the first thing that comes to mind is when there are no political and social conflicts that lead to war or that lead to violent riots that turn deadly and disastrous. But besides all of this, another thing that comes to my mind is when a person is in inner peace with themselves, when they are free of stress and anxiety and don't have anything to worry about. A person in my opinion can be in peace with themselves by performing some kind of exercise, for example yoga, etc., that helps the body relax and get all of your frustrations out and the stress just flies away and you feel free and relieved.