Dream On!

Soul Surfer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeOjBCi3c4&ob=av3e- Soul Surfer Trailer.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to loose something you can't live without? Have you ever thought about what happens to a person when they loose that one thing that made them their own person? What if everything you knew, was suddenly taken away?

Bethany Hamilton thought that she had her entire future planned out. She was going to become a famous surfer and spend all her time riding waves with her best friend Alana. That was until she lost something that could never be replaced. On October 31st, 2003, Bethany was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark. Her left arm was bitten off leaving only her shoulder intact. She was 13 at the time, my age. Bethany thought that her life

was over because she could not surf anymore. She felt like she had no future and that everything about her previous life was gone.

After the attack, Bethany tried to get back in the water which is a big step after being attack

ed by a shark. If it were me, I would never go near

the ocean again. Bethany tried surfing but it was kind of hard with only one hand. I'm a surfer and I know that sometimes you need two hands, to get enough power to push down so you go under waves and to balance yourself. Even though she failed the first few times, Bethany kept trying to pursue her dream with the help of fans all over the world. Bethany was inspired to continue her dream when she received mail from kids all over the world saying how much they admired her and her courage.

Bethany knew she wanted to be a surfer since her first surfing competition at the age of 8 years old. She won the competition and that was when she knew that she had fallen in love with something new. The attack changed her life forever

because it showed her and the world that even in the hardest situations, you never, EVER give up hope. Bethany wrote an autobiography highlighting the events of the shark attack and her life afterwards. Her book was published in 2004, only a year after her attack. Her book was made into a major motion picture in 2011 starring Annasophia Bobb, Dennis Quaid, Carrie Underwood and award winning actress, Helen Hunt.

Dreams are worth fighting for because if it is really important to you, you will work your butt off to make sure that your dream comes true. Bethany Hamilton fought many obstacles in order for her one dream to come true. One minute you think that you have your entire life planned out and the next it is just taken away from you. So here's the question that's really important, would you fight for what you want, or would you give up hope? Bethany was our age when this happened to her and she fought so why can't we, it's not like we are missing an arm.

Citations.

http://bethanyhamilton.com/about/timeline/- timeline of Bethany's life

http://bethanyhamilton.com/about/- Bethany's Biography

http://bethanyhamilton.com/- Bethany's website

I got all my images from Google images or Bethany's website.

Love and Kindess Makes The World Go Round

" Treat people the way you want to be treated"- Almost Every Parent

The way that people treat each other is amazing. Walking through the eight grade hallway today, I heard two girls talking and i don't think they saw me because they were talking about me. They were saying some really mean things about me that really hurt my feelings. Little did I know that they were both two girls that I thought were my friends. I try to treat everyone with kindness and I must admit that sometimes I don't succeed. It was really funny to me today because I tried so hard to be nice to these girls and then they repay me by talking about me behind my back.

Kindness is worth fighting for because if people were kinder to each other, then there probably would not be as much conflict in the world. A few weeks ago, we had to write pledges stating what we would do to try and make the world a better place. I pledged that I would be kinder to the people around me. It is a small step but hey I'm a small person. I have been a lot kinder to the people around me lately and most of them have been kinder in return. I treated people the way I want to be treated and today I felt like all the time I've been taking to make sure that I was kind to everyone around me was a complete waste.

Kindness is worth fighting for because it is an important way of life because without kindness, then there is nothing for me to look forward to in life. I need kindness to survive because when I see other people being mean to each other, it makes me feel so sad because I know that people are not naturally mean people. So why do we treat the people around us so badly?

Disguises: Found Poem

Is it wrong to believe in what you say?

Is it wrong to challenge society?

Is it clever to disguise our opinions?

Is it tragically uncool to speak your mind?

Is it wrong to have determination?

Is it wrong to be uncertain?

Why is it that we never question authority?

Why do we fear speaking with a declarative tone?

Why have our lives been infected with the evil ways of this aggressively inarticulate generation?

No it is not wrong to believe in yourself and what you say,

It is not wrong to challenge society,

we are just to afraid to do it.

We are always afraid of what people will think of us that we loose our selves to the society

We always let others lead our lives for us without even knowing it

it is time for the people to speak their minds without being scared of what people will think.

My poem represents a dystopia because it symbolizes that people are afraid to voice their opinions and they are afraid to challenge society. The reason i chose to format my poem like this was because the questions I asked in my poem are actually always running through my mind and I think I finally understand why people do the things they do. It is because they are afraid of what the society around them will think. This is a dystopia because the people live in fear of the society.

People Who Fought For What They Believed In.

All around the world today, people are fighting. They are fighting for what they believe in. Usually people fighting or what they believe in is very iconic however their are some people who take their fight to far. To me everyone has something different to fight for. Some people fight for independence and peace while others fight for equality and perfection. Some people spend their entire lives fighting for what they believe in, some even die trying. Fighting for your beliefs is important however some peoples belief lead great consequences.

Adolf Hitler believed that the perfect world was possible. He fought what he believed in which sadly led to the deaths of millions of people all over Europe. In Hitler's eyes the perfect world consisted of blond haired, blue eyed, fair skinned and mostly Christian people. This was the reason for so many deaths in Europe. Hitler thought the only way to make the perfect world was to exterminate all of the imperfect people in Europe starting with Germany and Austria. The reason for his actions was because Germany was in a downward spiral and the Germans believed that Hitler could help them out of it so they voted for him in all the parties and once he started the Nazi organization, the votes for the Nazi's were much higher than that for any other political party. As the Nazi's rose to power, the Jewish population was slowly dropping. Using all sorts of propaganda, the Nazi's managed to turn most of the non Jewish German population against the Jews blaming them for the country's problems. This was when he began to make his hopes of a perfect world become a reality. His first victims were the Jewish of Germany. He then began to conquer the rest of Europe firstly eliminating the Jewish then turning to the more imperfect people of his territories. I don't believe that Hitler was fighting for a good cause because humans will never be perfect, it's part of what makes us human and the fact that he had to dehumanize these people and murder them just because they were different was proof of that. Hitler later killed himself for the crimes he committed and even though he took his own life it will never make up for the millions of lives he destroyed.

Many people die trying to fight for what they believe in. Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example. He fought for the civil rights of African-Americans most of his life. He even won the Nobel Prize for his efforts and had all the money donated to the civil rights organization. King believed that it was the right thing to do to fight for equal rights for African-Americans because it was the right thing to do and the fair thing to do because everyone deserves to be treated equally and everyone should have fair rights. On April 4th 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his Memphis motel room preparing to lead a protest march. Unlike Hitler, Martin Luther King's belief was worth fighting for and even though the laws were passed, there is still room for improvement in equity among people around the world today and that is why what Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for was so important. Martin Luther King Jr. died for nothing because if he lived a little longer, I am positive that his work would have reached out to millions of people all over the world.

People have all different beliefs and I believe that everyone of them is worth fighting for however some people think that the only way they can make their belief possible is by bringing harm to others cough cough Hitler however others die because of how hard they fight like Martin Luther King Jr. Millions spend their life fighting for what they believe in and everyone believes in something different and sometimes you might not understand why some body believes in something but every one deserves a chance to fight and even if they loose their battle, they know that they tried. Some people do take their fight to extremes which could be a danger to them and to the people around them but the fact that they have the courage to fight for their beliefs is iconic and more people should stand up for what they believe in because one day it could make a huge impact on the world and help millions of people.

Hope For a New World!

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."-Albert Einstein

Equity- The act of being fair and impartial. Sameness.

In the new world, I hope for equity among the people because even today, people around the world are treated differently based on their race, gender and looks. In the new world people would be treated fairly no matter what.

My mom always tells me to treat people the way you want to be treated and in return they will treat you right. She, I am sad to say, was wrong. I see it all the time at school during the day, there are these kids who feel like they have to be mean to others because they are superior when the truth is, all humans are equal. We all want the same things and I believe that that is happiness. However being happy means different things to different people and it sometimes means that making another person feel bad makes somebody else feel great about themselves.

Dalai Lama "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

The quote above states that you should be kind to people whenever possible and that it is always possible. So why don't people do it? Why do people feel the need to treat others differently based on biases when they don't even take the time to get to know the person. I find that people nowadays are so rapped up in their own worlds that they don't even consider the other people around them. My great grandmother was telling me that wen she was young, children were alwys so polite and kind to one another and it is completely different today because kids could not care less about the people around them.

I would wish for equity because that is what would make me happy. Evveryone wants different things and this is one of the things that I want. And I hope that one day, on this world or a new one, that it is possible.

Sudan: What's going on and why we should care.

Right now in Sudan, the people are voting. They are debating whether to separate into two parts, the aboriginals and the immigrants, or if to stay together. The people in southern Sudan , the originals, found oil on their land but the people in the north, the immigrants, wanted the oil. This vote took place because the people in the south decided that they had had enough. They didn't want to be pushed around by the immigrants, this was their land and they decided that they should have it. So Sudan voted.

How did the vote take place?

The voting began very early or at least people lined up early. There was definite excitement in the air but there was also a cloud of insecurity or fear. Because the many of the southern Sudanese can not read, these symbols were written on small pieces of paper and the people circled which one they wanted. The people went behind a small curtain, quickly circled which one they wanted and then dropped it into a box and left.

If you could finally decide you future for the first time, wouldn't you be excited? But what if, there was someone stronger than you who could just pluck that away because they don't want you to have it? Wouldn't you be scared to say what you wanted? Well that is exactly what happened to these poor Sudanese of the south. They were afraid of the power the immigrants have. They were afraid that if they won, then they would go to war, or even worse. Many people said that they were afraid at first but then realized that what else could they possibly take from them. One lady said to George Clooney that she didn't care if she died because she knew it meant that they had won.

Why on earth should we care?

Well how would you like it if you voted and then your vote didn't matter because it was taken away from you? Wouldn't you want to fight? Sudan is being kept on war watch because people are afraid that if the originals get more votes, that the immigrants will start war against them. We could help them by knowing. Knowing that they are there and helping them. We can't vote but we can definitely keep close tabs on what is going on. It would help them just to know that some people are looking out for them. The UN has sent peace keepers but a few of them were killed. We could help them by informing people. It's not like aids where you can raise money for the disease. It's not like we can vote. All we can do is inform people and the only way to inform people is to get the word out. We can make posters, we can watch the news, we can tell our friends and family when we see them. It is up to us to help them, because we would want some one to do the same for us.

Ayiti the cost of life

Part A: Haiti - Mini Study. Using the photo essays, articles, documentaries and movies. Write a report on the state of Haiti's children after the earthquake.

What human rights are being denied to them?

The Human rights that are being denied to them are the right to proper food and shelter. This is a very big deal because in order to live a healthy life you have to have three basic things, proper food, water and shelter. You have the right to live a healthy life and to have those basic needs.

What action is being taken to address this lack of rights?

Not much action is being taken but the United Nations have sent some peace keepers over to Haiti to make sure that no war or anything is going to break out. However, the United States has sent over money and a few supplies so that the people can build themselves temporary shelters and buy themselves what clean water and food they can.

Discuss the difficulties faced by this country as it tries to recover from the earthquake.

The country was very poor from the beginning and now they have many damages to pay. Also the country wasn't very developed so they didn't have the kind of architecture that some of the bigger countries have that would prevent the buildings from falling down and many of the taller buildings came down all over the place. This country now needs money so that they can rebuild their country and their people. But where do they get the money the need. The question is not how they get the money but who will help them.Some of the bigger countries don't want to give out too much money in case a disaster like this happens to them and that is very reasonable. But what if it did, wouldn't you want help to rebuild your country. I know I would love it if people would come help me rebuild my country or at least give me some money so I could keep my people healthy.

Why can some countries rebuild faster than others, and what is it about Haiti that put it at a disadvantage?

Some countries, like I said before, have the resources and the development to rebuild their countries. Also many have the money. The thing that puts Haiti at a disadvantage is they are so much less developed and they are a small country compared to many, for example, Haiti can fit into the United States about three hundred and fifty four times, yes surprisingly I actually did the math. Haiti is very small and in a region where a lot of people don't know. When I say I am from the Caribbean most faces either go blank or have the look of utter confusion on them. The location of Haiti can play a big role in why it is so disadvantaged. No one really goes to Caribbean for business, they go for a vacation but now Haiti isn't going to pick up any tourist money because who on earth wants to go to a very big garbage can for a holiday. Yes many people now refer to Haiti as a super huge garbage can. How horrible is that, instead of helping the people, you insult them.

Suggest how this country can cope in the forthcoming years.

Well I can't really say. I guess it depends on us because if they get the help they need then they can begin rebuilding their nation but if we just don't care or do anything to help, then how can they cope. I remember when I was younger and I fell down, around the time I was learning to walk my mom would be right there watching and when I was about to fall she would reach her hand out so I didn't hurt myself, she also helped me walk around the room. Basically what i am trying to say is that without your mother and father you can't do a lot of things. Let us be the mother and father to Haiti. We can help them take their first steps to rebuilding. We can be the reason Haiti grows up to be successful, because all you want for your child is for them to be happy and successful. What if WE can do that for Haiti.

Part B: Reflecting after playing the game, ‘Ayiti- Cost of Life’.

Answer these questions. You may either cut and paste them into the blog posting, or write a paragraph that embeds the information.

1. What was it like playing the game?

Playing the game was very interesting because it was one of those games that are fun, make you think and make you want to tell EVERYONE about it. The game made me think not only about strategy but also about how lucky I am to not have to work my butt off to try to make money for my family so that I could go to a good school. It also made me thankful because I am healthy and happy and we certainly don't have to worry about hurricanes coming to this side of the earth. I really enjoyed playing the game and every ow and then after I do my homework, I would quickly play until my mom told me to get my behind upstairs and ready for bed.

2. What was the game about and how would you describe it to a friend?

Well the game is really about life in Haiti after the 'quake. It shows how expensive food and health care are but in a way it is also a hopeful game. It tells us that the people of Haiti are hard working and that they want to have their country back to the way it was. The game is very, very cool and I really enjoy playing it and I am sure that most middle schoolers will. Even tough news of the earthquake will be long gone by next year, you should still have you class of next year play this game.

3. Which ‘primary objective’ did you choose, and why?

I chose happiness because in my opinion a happy life is the bes kind of life. Now a happy life doesn't mean rainbows and unicorns. A happy life is hard work. A happy life to me is having my family around and laughing with friends and not worrying if we will have dinner tomorrow night or if I can still afford to pay for school. That's what i want, that's what we all want. A happy, worry free, life that we can spend with all of our loved ones.

4. What types of decisions did you have to make about the family members while playing the game and trying to achieve your objective?

It was kind of difficult because most of the time, I would have the family run the farm but someone could get sick and then all of them would get sick and I would have to send someone to work so that the others could go to the clinic. I also gave the children an education. An education is key to happiness because if you don't learn about the things in the world then how can you be grateful for what you have. Ever since I started global issues, I have been grateful for what I have because now I know that many children across the world have probably none of the amazing things I have, like proper clothes, and education. It was hard to be happy but i managed to pull through with two thousand goud.

5. What strategies did you use? For example, did you combine work and school, or did you send anyone to school? Which worked? Which did not?

I made the parents work and sent the children to school, but during the summer the entire family worked the farm because that was when they spent most time together.

6. Why would parents choose to devote so much effort sending their children to school?

Maybe because they did not get an education when they were younger and they want their children to be very successful. And they want their children to have a better life than they did.

7. What obstacles did you face in trying to keep the children in school?

Money was a huge problem. Sometimes I just didn't have enough and sent them to work the farm.

8. How do the situations and options in the game compare with those in your own community / country?

Well I got to be in control and decide who goes where and who does what. I have never had o work a day in my life and some how playing this game made me feel like if they can do it then why can't I. It doesn't mean I am going to go get a job but I am going to work harder and study harder and try to turn my work in on time.

9. Why is access to education a huge challenge as LEDC’s try to develop?

They don't have the facilities to teach and they migt not have qualified teachers to teach the children.

10. Why is it vital to a country’s development to educate its people – especially women?

So that they can take control. They can know when there government is bad.

11. Suggest some ways that countries could prioritize education, even for women, even in the countryside. How can they do this?

Instead of farming everyday, take a few ours to learn something new.

12. Think back to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Look at the 8

targets. Look at how Haiti is doing so far. What will the targets be in the next 5 years for this country? Look at the MDG ‘Progress So Far’ website and search for Haiti to get the latest information.

TO have more education, better shelters, less poverty and more money.

3rd world farmer

What are the challenges faced by farmers in L.E.D.C's? The challenges faced by these farmers are that they are desperate for money and food. However, for lasting food and money, they need a long-term solution and right now they only settle for short term resources which run out very quickly. Also when they work and sell their crops, they barely make enough money for one person and they have to help a family survive. These people are challenged because they need help and they just can't get it. Or they can get help but they don't want to wait so they get a portion of what they really need.

What are the barriers to development that they face?

Well, the farmers are not very modern. They don't have many tools that help them. They work out in some of the worst weather conditions and don't even get paid a fraction of what they deserve.

In what ways are farming and poverty linked to development?

Farming and Poverty are linked to development because while you are in poverty you can't really develop and many farmers live in poverty. Farmers that live in poverty don't have the resources to develop. They don't have proper farming tools so they have to do everything by hand which takes a very long. They can't develop because they don't have the education to develop. They cannot afford an education and they simply don't have the time to go to school.

Which SLR does this link to and why?

I think that this relates to thinking creatively because, the farmers need to think of the most reasonable way to do their jobs without over working themselves too much and leaving enough food for themselves and their family but also having enough good produce to sell to earn money.

What did I learn from the resources posted on the blog?

I learned that farming and poverty are all linked and that the farmers on television could be nothing like the farmers in real life. The farmers on t.v. have big tractors and barns, and healthy animals. The farmers in real life don't have that.

How will this affect me in the future?

Well, this could effect me because if the farmer doesn't have enough food and water to support himself and his or her family, that could lead to illness and possibly death. This could mean that there would be no produce for me to buy so that I could feed my family because all work on the field would have stopped. This could result in, as I said before a lack of food which could lead to a reduced supply of food for me and family so we would have less food which might not provide us with the correct amount of nutrients we need to live a healthy life.