Public Schools (Part 2)

In my school, we had to pay 'las cuotas'. Cuota is an amount of money, about 50 or 70 pesos, given each month. Cuotas are supposedly not mandatory, they weren't mandatory in my school. However, I knew some people in other schools who were afraid of not paying cuotas because they were told that if they didn't pay, they wouldn't receive any official paper needed for the inscription. Besides the cuotas, we also needed to pay some extra money in December and April because of the celebrations (the Christmas and Día del Niño party). Besides, we had to pay for the woman who watched the school entrance's wage: 10 pesos per child. Nevertheless, when the woman's children graduated, she quit working there and the school never hired someone else to watch the entrance. My sister even told me that once, the teacher didn't arrive, and about half of her class left the school. Moreover, we had to pay 'Escuelas de Calidad', to improve the school. Personally, I never saw any change. Well, now they built a roof above the basketball courts, and they fixed the restrooms and the fences.

The building was actually pretty big and old; it has a basketball court, a football field, tiers, about 17 classrooms, two pairs of restrooms, the library, the computer center, la tiendita, the principal's office and janitor's room. However, the building lacked many things. For example, in the computer center, there are only 15 computers; one is for the teachers, and the rest for the students. When I was in elementary school, only 13 computers were available since one didn't work at all, but other computers didn't have keyboard or CPU. And we didn't have a computer class, we only were taken there to play in the Internet and draw in Paint. Some teachers taught students how to use Word, or Microsoft Encarta. The football field was enormous. It was like a sandy, battlefield, kind of a dessert to me. It was the best part to play, as well as a part of the school that we used to call 'la selva', because it had a pretty tall tree and many other little trees. It was a green area. But, the tall tree fell down and 'la selva' became boring. The library was excellent; it had many books, either given by SEC or books we gave to school. It was a comfortable place, except for a portrait of Benito Juárez, who supposedly watched you, and had three eyes when no one was around. Also, some classrooms were well-equiped and had Enciclomedia that is an Smartboard. Ah, this part is pretty disturbing: La tiendita, that was attended by a man and a woman. The man sold candies and junk food, while the woman sold tacos, pizza and food. But, here is the nasty part: They NEVER washed their hands and received the money with the same hands that delivered the food. They never wore a plastic bag or something like that. Once, a kid asked for a taco and he gave her a coin, but the coin fell into the meat's pan. And she just introduced her hand into the pan, got the coin out, and kept serving the food. Also, she always took her baby and when the baby was hungry or dirty, she just closed the tiendita, but never went to the restroom. On the other hand, 'Desayunos Escolares' were a blessing. When the school started to serve hot, just prepared breakfats, it was extremely good for those children who used to wait until 10 am to eat a taco. Even thought the breakfast was served from 7 am to 9 am, they were excellent. They served hot cakes, molletes, oats, cereal, arroz con leche, and others. Also, they just costed 1 peso, while a taco costed about 6 pesos.

Finally, I want to write about the principal. She was very exaggerated; my sister told me that when she visted her classroom, she criticized everything about them and told them that they were the worst group of all the school(she used to tell that to every group). Also, when my sister was in her last year, the principal made a escort with the people who had the best grades, she obligated them to practice like two or three hours during classes, and she gave special attention to the daughter of a teacher. Most of the time, she was complaining about us and used to visit each classroom and ask for money to buy an air conditioner or to paint the classrooms. She never did. Well, she fixed some things in the school only when 'an important person' was coming, such as the mayor or someone from SEC or SEP. She really didn't care about missing classes because she always wanted to meet the teachers during classes. Sometimes, her meetings lasted from 10 am to 11 am (or later). That is a huge problem in public education: Teachers do not worry if students lose classes. When there was a huge event, they took us. Sometimes, it took one day. Also, when the kermess was coming, some students lost classes because they needed to practice what they would perform. It also took about one day. Some teachers did not come sometimes, and the principal never send other person to take care of the group, we just stayed fooling around.
But, after all, I keep good memories. Attending public school made me appreciate more private education.

Public Schools (Part 1)

I really can write about this topic since it is kind of a personal experience. I studied elementary school in a public school, and I can say that public education in Sonora has both advantages and disadvantages.

First, let's talk about education itself. As in every school, there is a variety of teacher: The one who does everything she/he can to help the children, the one who never is with the group, the Christian one, the one who reads newspaper instead of giving her/his class, the strict one, the old and bitter one, among many others. Fortunately, I always got the strict teachers and that is why I did good at Taes and Tec. But, what happens to the children who got the other teachers? For example, my little sister went to the same elementary school and in her last year, she had this teacher who was about to retire, but never NEVER attended the classes. Well, a couple of classes, but it was only to sermonize the group, and my sister had a friend who sometimes didn't wear the school uniform (which is not obligatory at public school), and the teacher always threatened with sending her back home. My sister had also this funny teacher who was metrosexual and said weird things all the time, such as that culture wasn't important. He also was kind of obsessed with Bours being a drug dealer, and that Fiestas del Pitic were made to 'move the drugs'. And, she also had this Christian teacher who taught the group Creationism instead of the other theories about how the world was created. We had also a physical education teacher who was very rude. Once, she called 'fat'a little boy.
I, on the other hand, got really good teachers. Especially, I remember a teacher who was truly strict, but I learned many things. But, sometimes she was very mean and rude. "Niños del Teleton"and "Cerebros de hormiga", were as she named us a couple of times. However, I would like to believe she was just kidding.

Feminism: The Radical Notion that Women are People Too

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, together women ought to be able to turn it right side up again." - Sojourner Truth

I found this quote pretty interesting, and encouraging, and I think all women should know it by heart to know what they really are nowadays, to know they can, to encourage them.

Althought this movement dates from many years ago, it got stronger during the 60's and 70's, and a representative image is women going bra-less, since brassiere was a mean of oppression. Feminism in these decades was mainly led by the American women. Moreover, during these decades, the movement saw its radicalization and along with the pill, women's traditional role within the family changed totally. Therefore, women started to go to college and some women started to get jobs outside home that were as challenging as "men's" jobs. However, this laboral change was stronger during the 80's, when tha image of a women became an icon of a multitasking person who could both carry out her job and do well at home. Also, during the 60's and 70's women started to demand equal pay and free childcare provision. Nevertheless we can't forget women's labour during World War (I and II) when soldier men went to war and factories started to hire women and it was amazing to see that they could do it better.

Nowadays, women have undertaking roles in politics and economics. Since it took several years to get the right to vote, and many even gave their life for it, women are taking their opportunities seriously and many political parties recognize the importance of female vote and make an attempt to meet their needs. Unfortunately, there are still several women around the world who live under unfair conditions, being victims of many abuses. Some suffer at their workplace, some suffer at the streets, and some suffer even at home. This needs to change, and that is what tha quote conveys: We as women MUST fight for our rights. But, not only fight for ourselves, but also for those women in other parts of the world who cannot. We can fight discrimination, we can beat abuses, we can do it better. Together, of course we can.

Shame

Recently, PAN cancelled the rights as delegate of Víctor González Ortega, since he was found drunk and with drugs and a gun. But, the thing is that he is not just a simple delegate, he is the president of Congreso del Estado de Baja California.

What makes this striking is that the municipal police recorded his detention, and the tape clearly shows he is totally drunk, with cocaine and a gun, and... DRIVING THE OFFICIAL VEHICLE OF PODER LEGISLATIVO!

The video is funny; it shows this guy babbling and staggering. But then, a policeman tells González Ortega he is in trouble because of the drug. And tells him, 'Imagine the newspaper tomorrow, especially the yellow press, could you imagine the title of the news? PAN Delegate is found drunk and with cocaine in official vehicle, ah no no wait, President of Congreso is found drunk?' And González Ortega says he is right and he is all f***** up because of the drug.

Víctor González Ortega was checked up after this; the police checked his house and tested him, but they found 'nothing'and he was set free. Weeks later when the video was shown in the news of most states,he just denied it. But, we know what we saw, so he admitted he had drunk some beer because it was Sunday, after a cabalgata and asked media to stop it because they were damaging his family, his party and himself. Oh please! Months before, he was also punished because cans with alcohol and vomit, and used condoms were found in his office, so I do not think media must stop 'damaging his image'. He deserves it, and also PAN. Why all the evidence just disappeared? Why he did not go to jail? Why the police did not go further? Obviously PAN asked for it. Its image as a 'serious political institution'was being degraded, so they disappeared all the drug and the gun, sent González Ortega home, took over the anti-doping tests and the policeman who recorded it.

It is unfair, PAN is demonstrating that it is a double-standard institution that only looks after its own interests.

Hypocrisy

Recently, I have been wondering why leaders of labor unions are so hypocrite; why they snivel and claim for better working conditions and then go to parties with people from the high society and bosses of the companies who abuse of workers, why they think they represent the whole syndicate with thousands of workers who are truly poor, but they live in large houses and eat caviar. Why?

One example of these 'glorious leaders' is Elba Esther Gordillo, one of the most powerful Mexican politicians. Yes, that woman that can provoke nightmares just with her face. She is the leader of SNTE (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación). Since she is the leader, many of her relatives work there and she demands about 120 million of dollars to support the syndicate. It is said that she uses this money dishonestly for her own benefit, and it is reported that she owns a house in San Diego, worth $5 millions of dollars. She is also very involved with Mexican politics. First, she belonged to PRI, but they turned her out: time ago, there was a controversy involving both her and Roberto Madrazo. Long story, but the thing is that now she supports PAN and even helped Felipe Calderón to win the federal elections, and because of this, she is linked to corruption since she used teachers and the syndicate to arrange the elections. What a teacher!

Other example is Joaquín Gamboa Pascoe, leader of CTM (Confederación de Trabajadores Mexicanos). And here is a lovely quote from him, '¿Qué, porque los trabajadores están jod... yo también debo estarlo?' Aw, that is so cute. This man is much known for being stupidly rich and collecting luxury cars. And, this fact is very interesting: He never was a worker, he only was a consultant, and then became leader. Since he is the leader, the amount of available money has decreased, which is very weird since he asks for moneys to other syndicates affiliated to the CTM. Moreover, he is a very conservative and traditional person, who basically has sort of frozen the syndicate with his attitude. Even the workers have said they do not feel represented by him, because of his glamour. Nice!

And last, but no least: Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, leader of Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana. You must know him. Yeah, he is the guy who did not pay Cananea miners the money from Grupo México. He owes them $55 Million of dollars: The reason of Cananea problems. This man, as well as Gamboa Pascoe, never was a miner, and for just being leader of the miners, he is very rich. When Cananea mine was sold, Grupo México's intention was to pay the miners, but Gómez Urrutia never paid them. As he did not find any excuse and the police was chasing him, he moved to Canada, and now is neighbor of Pamela Anderson. The most representative of his leadership is the amount of strikes: 200 in 8 years. Because of this man, Cananea economy is totally collapsed. Bravo!

I do not mean that labor leaders must be poor; they must be humble and thoughtful. There are thousands of teachers, workers and miners who live in unfair conditions and these leaders are doing nothing, but stealing. This must change. They are supposed to be the representatives of the workers, and they are just becoming dishonest leaders and politicians.

Invisibility of Racism: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

I found this pretty interesting book named, "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" As its title says, this book is about how learning history mainly depends on books and how the government and other institutions, such as the church, ask to delete some information. This chapter named, "Invisibility of Racism" is about how politics and society have treated minorities, especially African-American, badly.

First, it talks about how some American Presidents such as Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, and Wall Street was the marketplace where rich people could buy slaves. Ironic, isn't? It also says that slavery was one of the main factors that led to Texas War: Crockett and the other people fought for freedom...The freedom to own slaves.

While in politics, white people were so racist that one of the Democratic candidates won, because the Republican candidates attempted to guarantee civil rights to African Americans. By 1921, African American people were considered as second-class citizens and people used any chance they had to make fun of them, one example is that newspapers published cartoons degrading black ability, such as how black people were happier on the plantations than in city since they were not "competent".

History books show Ku Klux Klan history and that once, they dropped dynamite from an airplane onto a black ghetto, killing people and destroying homes. But, the truth is that it was not a “black ghetto” but one of the most sophisticated black areas at that time known as “Black Wall Street”. Here, people were wealthy, and well-educated. There were a lot of businesses: stores, cinemas, pharmacies, libraries, among others.

What is going on with people?

Since the year when Calderon became president, I have been wondering, what is going on with people? Why do they complain of the national situation but still vote for mediocre candidates? WHY?

First, I want to write about Sonora. Before the tragedy of ABC, everything was alright; Elías Serrano and Pano Salido were the favorites candidates, all indicated that they would win the election. But then, suddenly a daycare named ABC burned down. People not only in Hermosillo, but also in Mexico were concerned about the babies and how to heal the surviving babies. But then, I am not sure of the stupid guy who came and told that relatives of Eduardo Bours were the daycare's owners, and about IMSS and that it was their fault and bla bla bla. And all people started to chase them until they went to jail. Only a few people still were concerned about the babies and how to send them to a hospital specialized in burns in the United States. Even though it was actually their fault, Elías Serrano, Pano Salido and us did not have to pay for it. People in Sonora started to think that the two candidates were just like them and among other things. But, are they the same just because they belong to the same political party? I don't think so. I still keep thinking if Sonorenses are so spiteful that they prefered to vote for two guy, who actually look like thieves, than to keep their decision, to be strong, to move forward. "But, is that the tragedy of ABC was a crucial factor." Not true at all. The old governor did many good things for Sonora, and he made some mistakes as well. HELLO, HE IS A HUMAN, TOO! But, did he do something when their friends and relatives went to jail? He did nothing. However, I wonder why people didn't think twice before voting. Now, they complain about tandeo and that they barely have water when they need it, but they mainly complain about insecurity and all the crimes that have took place in Sonora in the past months. Where is your wonderful and fabulous Guillermo Padrés Elías? What has he done, besides taking your water away? Has he solved any problem? What about the economic crisis? Does Sonora have enough jobs? Are people staying here, or they prefer moving to the US? I'm not writing about the bald guy who is supposed to be our mayor, because I don't really know what he has done. I think his wife has done more things, but I really dislike her, and I'll explain it: My mom is a teacher in kindergarden that is located in Olivares, before Javier Gandara won the election and the daycare burned down, this "high-class lady" came by and told the principal of the kindergarden where my mom works, that they would build something else there because she pleased. Oh please! Her husband hadn't won the election yet, and she was already planning. I wonder why people complains if they were the ones who made that happen.

Family Planning and Economics

Today I watched a pretty interesting video in YouTube. It was about how planning a family can help you save money. Moreover, it was hilarious : a condom with a shrill voice was explaining it.

The video started with a couple (Hank and Debby) in univeristy as an example. They were very in love and decided to take their relationship to the next level. Then, the narrator explained that some universities in the United States provided condoms in their vending machines though students are not buying them. This results in loss for the universities. For example, Brown University loses $6 per each condom that is not sold. Later, Debby got pregnant and the narrator talked about the marginal cost; a 3-pack of latex condoms is about $5 and abstinence is pricelss while early pregnancy abortions unfortunately can cost from $350 to $600, but if it is a late second trimester procedure it can cost up to as much as $3'000 and going through with having the baby and raising the baby , it would cost at least $410, 848 ! Now, $5 does not seem like much money, does it?

Now, if they decide to have the baby, and Debby leaves school, she is giving up the opportunity to continue in her education to earn a degree and become a successful doctor or whatever she wanted to be. Therefore, she won't have a enough challenging job. If she had not quitted school,had finished university and had found a good job, she could have earned (in average) $22, 218 per year.

Furthermore, a country's economy may be improved as well with the production of any birth control method. If people started to think beyond and decided to spend $5 in condoms, they will save a lot of money and time. Also, if some teenagers had not quitted school because of pregnancy, the world would have more prepared people to contribute in many jobs, there would be more competition and people would try hard to do more and be the best they can be.

China and the Human Rights

I think this picture is very funny because IT IS TRUE. China is one of the countries that executes as a punishment for criminals, as well as in many other countries. However, China is the leader country in death penalty.

In China, people in the death row do not have the right to a fair trial, which attempts against human dignity and rights. Moreover people in jail, live in inhuman conditions.

Chinese laws punish about 70 crimes with death penalty and some of these crimes are non-violent crimes, such as crimes that have to do with selling or consuming drugs.

Amnesty International thinks that the crimes punished with the capital punishment must be reduced and people in the death row should be allowed to have a fair trial and good lawyers and to receive visits from their families. In my opinion, China should not kill criminals. Killing is not the solution. And we can notice that; since the beginning of times, governments have killed criminals in order to punish them and make the others see what would happen to them if they commit the same crime. But, does that stop them? I firmly believe it does not. People keep commiting the same crimes over and over again, they seem to do not fear death. Death penalty has not reduced the number of criminals. I think that criminals would suffer more in they stay in jail for the rest of their lives than if they are executed immediately.

Blood Diamond: Sierra Leone Case (Continue)

"Diamonds are forever" it is often said. But lives are not.We must spare people the ordeal of war, mutilations and death for the sake of conflict diamonds." Martin Chungong Ayafor, Chairman of the Sierra Leone Panel of Experts.

After years of conflict, the government in Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) signed the the Lome Peace Agreement, which stated the stopping of aggression, the disarming of both parts and the development of one government.
Then, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was established by political organizations. This organization watched if both parts could accomplish with the agreement. Nowadays, it is one of the main peacekeeping forces in Africa.
Currently in Sierra Leone, the Government monitors the trade of rough diamonds. Now, in order to import diamonds from the country, the diamonds must have a Certificate of Origin. Arms have been monitored as well. Government has seized weapons and is watching carefully what the members of the rebel groups are doing.
This case is being studied by a group of experts (Sierra Leone Panel of Experts), including people from other countries such as India, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, among others. They state how the agreement is being fulfilled, and other social issues in Sierra Leone.
However, the diamond trade is still considered as the main factor of the conflict in this country. Even though some people are getting involved in campaigns to help others, children (mainly) and the society are still very damaged and concerned for this issue, since they are the ones who suffered the most.

Blood Diamond: Sierra Leone Case

Blood diamonds are diamonds originated in areas controlled by forces opposed to the current governments. They are used for insurgent groups to fund war, which means that with the money they obtain, they buy weapons and gun and do other illegal activities. It is stated that these precious stones (also known as war diamonds) are a crucial factor that makes brutal wars in Africa last longer. In Sierra Leone, conflict diamonds continue supporting rebel groups, such as Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which acts totally against the will of restoring peace in the continent.

People in Sierra Leone deserve a good life, but these groups are making it impossible. These groups invade the villages and maltreat people; they kill children and men, they injure them, they rape girls and women, and many people have been taken from away their families by rebel groups to work in the mine, and if they try to rebel or even tire, the soldiers hurt(like the boy in the photo, he lost his hands to the rebel's machetes) or kill them. More than 4 million people have died mining blood diamonds. This is a huge social issue in Sierra Leone because of the people suffering during mining these precious stones.

The horrific atrocities in Sierra Leone have caught world’s attention and people have realized that it is needed to stop the trade of these precious stones in order to cut off the sources of the rebels so wars can be shortened.

Catchy but Trashy

Few days ago, I was at home listening to the radio and I coud not avoid noticing all the trashy songs. Miley Cyrus, Lady GaGa, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, among others. Though they are catchy, they are still trashy. Lyrics about partying so hard that girls do not know where they are, or that they brush their teeth with Jack plus a kind of techno/pop music does not result well. I know that not all their songs are about having fun at parties, drinking alcohol or having sex. I know that, for example Miley Cyrus has songs about being the best you can be and stuff like that, but COME ON, teenagers prefer to listen to songs about partying hard.
Whenever we ask ourselves, why youth is so messed up, we must remember what these "singers" teach us. Whenever we ask ourselves, why girls get pregnant when they are just 16 years old, let's remember Rihanna's "Rude Boy". Whenever we ask ourselves about violence against women and why they are still treated like things, let's remember Alejandro Fernandez, "Unas Nalgadas", which caused a great controversy by the way, and all the girls in bikini dancing in music videos.
Most of the songs we listen today are bombs; they actually tell us what to do, how to behave, how to live...But that's media, there is not much we can do, we can't really run away. The only thing we can do is to promote better songs (and TALENTED singers), to be more exigent with what we listen, to know what we are actually listening to and to not listen to singers who are always drunk, in jail or taking pictures of themselves naked because they are role models for the little ones and the only thing we get when we buy their discs or go to their concerts is to increase their fame and when this happens the youngest ones always want to imit them and be exactly like the most famous pop singer or rockstar.Moreover they stop thinking by themselves. But, is it right for a 12-year-old girl to take pictures of herself with a wet shirt? Is it right for a 14-year-old boy to smoke? Of course it is not right at ANY AGE. But that is what we promote with 3 minutes of "music".

Puerto Rican Doctors in Haiti

As we know, Haiti has been needing help, especially doctors. Many countries from many different parts of the world send doctors to the devastated country to help people suffering from disease and injuries. But, the Puerto Rican case got my attention: They created a Facebook group in which they uploaded photos of their patients (without their permission obviously), dead people and even themselves with drink in their hands and guns from the Haitian military.

All started when the earthquake left thousands of injured and dead people, so Puerto Rico decided to send doctors and nurses, who went to Haiti willingly. Being there, they did help people, performed surgeries, among other things that needed to be done. But one day, some of these doctors had the wonderful idea of creating a group in Facebook named: "Salvemos a Haiti (Senado de Puerto Rico)". In this group, they uploaded not only their experiences, but also photos. In these photos, Haitian people appeared being attended by the doctors and even nude in some cases. In others, the doctors appeared in parties with alcholic drinks and guns. When they returned to Puerto Rico, they expected to be praised as heroes and instead, people criticized them and even damaged their properties. And this was known worldwide, since these photos were published in newspapers. Now, the authorities are thinking about removing them their licenses because they broke the ethic code of doctors. Sincerely, I hope they do.

By the way, I'm not publishing photos of Haitian people, but of the doctors. Haitian people don't deserve to be shown all around the Internet. And, now that I'm looking at these stupid, drunk, smiling doctors, I wonder if their patients are smiling as well.

Arthur Ashe

Today, I had an English assignment that was about listening, and I was listening to a radio program about Arthur Ashe.

Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) was an African-American tennis player who was very tenacious, brave and honest. He was, besides a tennis player, a social activist who fought racism, encouraged people, even his opponents, to do their best, helped poor childed and taught people about the two diseases that ended with his life: hear disease and AIDS.

He was born in Virginia, at the time when we was born, American government separated people according to their race (Black people attended different schools and churchs, for instances). He was poor, and his father work all daylong, and his mother died when he was six.

At the age of seven, his father became in charge of the public play space, so they moved there. There, he started to practice tennis and he became very avid, and won a local championship. Later, UCLA offered him a scholarship if he joined the tennis team. He did and he led the team to the victory.

Later, he won the United States, Australia and France Open and a championship in England. Then, he was invited to the South Africa Open. In those years, South Africa was known for being a very racist country, and the government wanted to clean their image to play in the Olympics. Ashe decided to help South Africa, but he played in racially-mixed groups, said and did whatever he pleased. Actually, he became a close friend of Nelson Mandela, who is very known for fighting racism in Africa and going to jail unfairly.

He created foundations to help poor children and taught them to play tennis and golf.

When he discovered he had heart disease, he had to stop playing. But he never stopped; he taught people about this disease, how to prevent it, how to cope with it.

He needed a heart transplant, and he received a new heart, but the blood he received was infected by AIDS and he got infected.

But this encouraged him the most and did not become a burden for him. He also thought the community about AIDS and how to prevent it.

He died in 1993, in the week of his last speech.

Human Rights Watch

Children, gay and lesbian, women, Asians, Latin, black people, elders, people with disabilities. ALL of them are the vulnerable groups of society, the ones who are often left behind because 'they cannot handle everyday's life'or 'they are diferent from us'. All these fallacies are making people treat them unfairly and these groups are moving away from all the opportunities that you and I have.
But the worst part, is that there are people who treat them truly badly. People who feels superior than them, and they think they are all right. But, how can we stop this?
First of all, we must promote tolerance. At home, at school, at church, at the streets. Everywhere. Teach our children that everyone is equal. That skin color, age, sex, preferences, nationalities, disabilities,and others are not a barrier. We ourselves create those barriers that do not allow us see and make us judge before.

Then, we can create a human right watch culture. What does this mean? Human rights means looking after others. If we know of someone who is being maltreated or someone who maltreats, we must report it. We can help many people.

And finally, change our mind. We live in a very diverse world. We are all different, but that does not mean we have different right. We all have the same right and must respect that.

The Pencil

Yesterday, I watched a video of a men who said that everyone contributed to world-wide economy and he explain this with a pencil. He said that many people contributed to make the pencil; in Washington, people cut trees and export the wood, in Australia, people work in graphite and copper mines and export them, and finally people in Brasil cut rubber tree to make the eraser. Then , we buy it and all these people around the world obtain a benefit; the miners, the woodcutters, the factory that makes the pencil, the people who sell it, and so on. We all contribute to economy everyday, whenever we buy something, or pay for a service. This is a pretty simple example, but there are more and more complex examples, such as oil and precious stones. This process is more comlex because they are more demanded products, and have a higher price, so the economy of the country that exports these goods, is very affected.

Women´s Identity

Last days, I was looking at the newspapers and I noticed that most women were named like this: "Mrs. María de Perez", Mrs. Ana de Lopez and so on. And, I asked myself, where did her real surname go? Are they property of their husbands? Some told me it was a custom. But, why do women have to do this, why not man? Why a man cannot be named, Mr. Luis de García?

I think women can do it better (I do not mean better than men, I believe in gender equality but better than they are doing today).

What are these all Mrs. de Lopez going to do when Mr. Lopez die, or runaway? They are going to be NOBODY. Ah, I am wrong, they are going to became the widow of Mr. Lopez.

So, women must keep their names, even after marriage. They must make an identity and work it throught the years and finally, make it an important name so people can say, 'Ah, I remember Ana Ruiz, she was an extraordinary women', not 'Ah, I remember Mr. Garcia's wife, she was a very good person'.

UNICEF and DIF's in Haiti

Recently, with the natural disaster that took place in Haiti, many people started to adopt children in Haiti, but is this correct?

Accordig to UNICEF and DIF (Mexico), people must wait. These institutions recognize that adpoting a child is a very noble action, but we must look forward to their well being before anything. These children have been through many awful things; they probably lost their parents, siblings, school and home. They are still in shock. So, UNICEF and DIF agree that first of all, they must be taken to a safe place, with food, clothes, vaccines or any other thing needed. It is necessary to put their rights above all. Moreover, adoption processes cannot be taken as regular since people who do this and their bulidings are not available, and this can lead to children trade and make the situation worse. Taking the children will not help, because many still have parents who are looking for them.

If people really want to help, they can provide with food, clothes and money, but adopting a children, is not a good option yet. We must keep in mind that these children are still going through a hard situation and that it is not fair to just take them away.

Why should homosexual marriage be legal

In the last month, there was a very controvertial topic on the media: Should they legalise gay marriage?
In my opinion the answer is Yes. Why? Because they are people, just like you and me who love each other, just as any other heterosexual couple. We are supposed to live in a tolerant world that accepts you just as you are. Being homosexual is not wrong, it is not a disease and people should not be ashamed of being. However, currently there are a lot of people saying it is wrong. Why? According to these reluctant to change people, homosexual lifestyle is not healthy and it is just as dangerous as smoking or drinking because 'all' of them are infected by sexual transmitted diseases. This is not true. Both homosexual and homosexual are likely to get infected if they do not use a condom or have only one sexual partner. Being homosexual does not mean being promiscous, they love their couple as much as a man loves a woman and vice versa.

Other reason, which I found very implausible by the way, is that God does not love them and He does not bless these unions. But God is a loving fatoher who loves all his sons, ALL OF THEM no matter what and I think He wants their sons to be happy with to one they love by their side. Actually, Associations of Pshychiatry and Psychology have stated that a homosexual couple is just as stable and committed as a heterosexual couple, and that homosexuality IS NOT A MENTAL DISORDER. These last statement is very important since many people today think it is, but it is just a preference.

Gay marriage should be legalised because they have the right to receive the same benefits, rights, obligations and that a heterosexual married couple receives, such as social, psychological, health and educational. Also, legalising same-sex couples marriage will end up with the social unacceptability and people will become more tolerant and start to accept them in society. Also, hate crimes and violence against lesbian and gay will decrease.

AIDS: What can we do to solve this problem?

As we know, AIDS is a sexual transmitted disease that concerns everyone worldwide since it kills millions of people every year. Currently, many scientists are looking for a cure, and ways to extend and improve the life of people with AIDS, but we as society can also help.

First of all, we must be conscious and know the topic well. If more people know about this issue, they can teach the ones who does not know, and when they know they can teach others and so on. Also, we must keep in mind the do's and the dont's, such as having ONLY ONE sexual partner, use condom, making tests before having children, do not sharing needles, respecting people with AIDS, among others.

Politics can help as well, improving education may be the best way to prevent AIDS. Making education available for everyone, especially poor people who are far away from cities, is also a way to help since these people are usually the most affected by AIDS.

There are many ways to help with global problems, we all can do something to help this world to be better place.