"Fading Hope"

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal plays a losing match against Swiss star Roger Federer at a tournament in Madrid.

Photo and quote - http://www.time.com/time/picturesoftheweek/0,29409,1900287_1889518,00.html

Rafael Nadal lost one match recently to his rival, Roger Federer, and the media has stated that as “Fading Hope.” Losing one match has made the media state that maybe Nadal is going to lose his spot in the rankings as he isn’t in form.

This photograph and the quotes followed with it send across a message – you must give your best. You cannot give people opportunities that they say negative things about you. It takes a lot of time to build up your rank but by just doing a little mistake (or in this case losing a match) people can start talking behind your back. They forget that you have done many good things (in this case won many matches) and just focus on that one mistake. They start saying that you are no longer entitled to the rank and soon you will lose it, like the media has been stating Nadal’s one loss to his greatest rival as “Fading Hope.” This shows that you have to always give your best and be better than the others.

Sometimes always being victorious is not possible and that one loss starts making people believe that you will lose your spot soon. For some people this becomes a major barrier which stops them from succeeding. The media surrounding the people, which state that, they won’t be able to succeed make the people believe that indeed they have lost their form. And that sentiment then stops them from winning as they start feeling negative about themselves.

This has happened to me many times. When I do really well on a particular assignment I feel that I have done really well. But as soon as my performance is not as good in some other assignment I start feeling negative that I maybe won’t do well on the next assignments either. This goes back to the quote of my blog, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” I realize that if I start feeling negative, that I cannot do better on the other assignments, I won’t do well. But if I think I can, I will be positive and that will make me work harder for the next assignments and surely I will again do better.

"There Is No Heaven On Earth"

“When I think of being alone in America, I don’t even feel like eating. I won’t grow fatter as I will be lonely.”

Sudan has been a country with immense conflict for the past 30 years. The northern Sudan, ruled by the Arabs wanted to kill southern Sudanese men for not being Muslim. Cattle and people were shot dead. Women and girls were raped, used as slaves or adopted by other families. Thus very few girls were able to flee. As the boys were the people who mainly the outdoor chores in southern Sudan (the Dinkas), they were able to flee. About 27,000 boys fled to other countries like Ethiopia and Kenya. Some weren’t strong enough to take the pressure and faced death due to starvation and dehydration. Many died while crossing the Gillo River. The young ones were the prime targets for becoming the prey of lions. After weeks and weeks of travelling by foot, the boys managed to reach refugee camps. They had been forced to migrate from their land and could probably never see their families again. The massive exodus led to many casualties.
In 2001, the U.S sent out a helping hand to the refugees and since 2001 many boys have been resettled there, in hope to make the boys’ lives better. The term “Lost Boys” was coined as they were found without parents.

Peter and Santino, two of the “lost boys” had been selected to go to U.S from the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya. They had been told that they were going to “heaven.” They must finish their education there and help their own people back in Africa – that should be their main goal. They had been warned not to forget their main goal – help the ones back in Africa. They should not act the like the people wearing the baggy jeans.

With the awkwardness of being on a flight for the first time, the boys land in America. The place was new, its people were new and so was its culture. They had to start a new life. Reaching there at first, they were glad and felt welcome. They felt that if the people back in Africa saw them, they’d say the boys have become rich – “they eat 24 hours and still have food left!” They were surprised to see the size of their “new village,” Houston. Life was going great!
But soon they were face to face with many problems. They realised that they would have to leave their African culture behind to become successful in America. They were used to living in mud huts and in America managing a two – storey house was proving to be difficult. With many conveniences such as beds, cooking stoves and cupboards, they simply did not know how to arrange these things. But they overcame the cultural shock. The boys decided to start to clean up and make their house a better place to live in. They quickly realised that the boys could not hold hands in front of public, unlike in Africa, as the Americans would regard them as being homosexual. The boys saw that they were much darker the African Americans and people looked that them unusually. They understood that the others were afraid of them as they thought the Lost Boys would “beat them up.” This made them feel inferior to the others.

One of their biggest challenges was to be able to communicate their thoughts properly. They spoke very basic English which limited their speech. Enrolling for the boys into school was extremely difficult as they did not have birth certificates to prove their ages. Yet, Peter joined school; he was taken into an ESL (English as a Secondary Language) class where he learnt better English, along with other classes. This allowed not only to communicate properly but to also find better jobs. But life wasn’t easy. He attended school, then worked, finished his homework and cooked food. With so much to do and earning so little, the boys realised that U.S wasn’t “heaven.” They slowly had money to buy a car and live a decent life but yet they weren’t satisfied – they couldn’t succeed in accomplishing their main goal, help the ones back in Africa. They realised that there was “no heaven on earth.”

They tend to adapt to America’s culture over a period of time as they are wearing baggy jeans and shirts. They use more slang words while in a conversation like “man.” They make new friends and have lunch with them and slowly move out form one house into different places of the U.S. they have realised that “you have to make it yourself in America,” unlike in Africa where the depended on each other. They hope to live a better life.

In my opinion, the Lost Boys adapted the American culture rather than adopting or rejecting it. This can be proven as when Peter calls back to the refugee camp, he still speaks Dinka along with speaking the slang English in America. If he had adopted the American culture, he would have completely forgotten speaking Dinka. Another instance that proves that they still love Sudan is that all the refugee boys came to the Sudan Liberation Day function. Also when asked would you go back to Sudan - they said that if they get the same opportunities, they would.

"The pain won't last LONG!"

Today’s after school, the 16th of December was going to bring thrill into a dull and boring school day. Dreaming about my best friend’s birthday treat, even a monotonous Social Studies class was fun. The bell rang; I jumped out of my seat and headed towards the canteen, our group was going to meet there. Rushing, excitement of the day ahead pumping through my body, my legs buckled. Crashing face down, I felt pain sear through my body as my nose crunched on the hard unforgiving concrete.

Trying to pull myself together, I was glad to see no one surrounding me asking, “Are you okay?” That is the most embarrassing thing to face, at least in my opinion. I pulled my heavy bag from the ground and was just preparing to walk towards the canteen that I came to a sudden halt - I saw a huge wet red blob on the plain gray concrete, right where my nose had crashed. I felt goose bumps appear from the top of my shoulders all the way to my toes. A slow but steady shiver went down my spine as I sensed that something was wrong. A warm fluid was trickling down my nose, to my chin and then into my uniform. I slowly rolled my eyes down to my shirt – it was already wet and red. I had to believe after all these evidences that I was bleeding awfully. I dashed towards the bathroom. I quickly rinsed off the dirt form the cut and washed away all the blood from my face. But the blood wouldn’t stop. I gaped in the mirror in horror. My face was as pale as a chalk with a mini waterfall of fresh blood oozing down my nose. In such a horrifying condition, I had to get home. That was the main priority. I had 3 minutes left to catch the bus.

Managing to get on the bus, it took me forever to find a decent seat. Sitting down, I was totally aghast that as soon as I would reach home, I will be taken to the hospital for a Tetanus INJECTION! I was not scared of lizards sticking to walls, spiders building their webs or even cockroaches roaming in kitchens. My biggest fear was getting an injection. Preoccupied about all the horrors that I would have to face today, my stop arrived. I ran upstairs to my room, my hand covering my nose and my bag covering my shirt.
“What’s wrong?” my mom asked.
“Nothing, just a bad sneeze,” was my fake reply.
I thought that I lied quite convincingly. I shut the door and looked into the mirror. I looked no better than a ghost.
“Ahhhhh!!!!!” my mom screamed.
She had seen my face and was shocked, maybe a bit scared. Dragging me downstairs, she asked a thousand questions, “HOW….WHEN…WHY...”
She applied an antiseptic lotion on my cut. “Ouch!!!!” was my painful response.

As soon as my dad came from work, I was driven to the hospital at the speed of light. I was rushed to the doctor. To my absolute horror, I was attended to as soon as we reached. He examined the cut for some time, made some notes and arrived at the conclusion that I needed a Tetanus injection! I wasn’t at all astonished; after all I had reached that conclusion 3 hours ago. Alas! No one would listen to my fears. As my dad says, “If the doctor says so, it has to be done.” I restrained from shouting during the complete process of me seeing the doctor pierce the injection into my upper left arm. I had achieved a whole new feat! This was the first time I hadn’t shouted while I was getting an injection. I stumbled across the hospital floors into the back seat of our car realizing that it was over. I had faced it; I do not need to be scared anymore.
“It is fine; the pain won’t last long,” were the sweet consoling words from my mom. I tried to believe in them. But I knew that the pain would last extremely LONG before it would be over. I rested my arm on my lap. It wasn’t that bad. I slowly opened the door of the car and attempted to get out. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t lift my left arm form my lap! It was swollen and a searing pain shot every time I tried to move it even a centimeter! The pain had started...it would last very long.

Photo - http://www.wga.hu/art/b/backhuys/distress.jpg

Colonization to Exploitation

Photo - http://www.capitalistocracy.com/images/Exploitation.jpg

Colonization to Exploitation – for materialistic profit

When foreigners take over another land without the approval of its residents is called colonization. There are many reasons as to why people colonize other lands. Colonizing a land ensures that the trade and commerce of that land in under the hands of the colonizers. Richard Hakluyt, in his book Reasons for Colonization, wrote that the British colonized – "to plant Christian religion, to traffic, to conquer or to do all three." This shows that colonization often begins with the thirst to gain power or spread one’s religion.
Many countries colonize to show other colonizing countries that they have more power than the others do. An example of colonizing due to thirst for power is King Leopold II’s colonization of Congo. His comments in 1860, “I believe that the moment is come for us to extend our territories. I think that we must lose no time, under penalty of seeing the few remaining good positions seized upon by more enterprising nations than our own,” clearly showed the thirst of power that the colonizing countries had to prove themselves better than the rest. Often such colonization that has been done only to gain power leads into exploitation. Exploitation means to take advantage of the other’s helplessness. It means to forcefully take away the property of others or use it in a brutal way.

By bringing Congo under his control the king could take over the rubber and ivory trade. He became the ruler of over 2 million sq km and 30 million people by betraying the trust of the people – he hired the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley who made corrupt treaties (cloth and trinket treaties) with native chiefs of Congo. The treaties were in favor of Leopold. In many cases the chiefs not only gave away their land but also promised to provide workers for forced labor. Under Leopold II’s rule, the indigenous tribes of Congo faced massive killings. He referred to land where no European lived as ‘vacant’ and encouraged people under his employment to exploit it. To receive the set rubber and ivory quotas from the locals, he called an army (FP) to mainly terrorize the people. Villages were burnt, locals were tortured, whipped and their hands were brought back so show the white officials that the soldiers hadn’t wasted their bullets. The hands were cut off to make up the shortage of rubber. Instead of carrying baskets of rubber back, the soldiers carried baskets of hands back. Often the soldiers “cheated” by cutting of hands of live people. A Danish missionary wrote after seeing a native being killed, “…the soldiers were paid bonuses on the basis of how many hands they collected.”
The brutal regime of King Leopold II for 27 years led to the genocide of Congolese people. The death toll varies from 3 million to 30 million.
The political cartoon, “In the Rubber Coils,” clearly shows the pain suffered by the Congolese people. The snake symbolizes Leopold and the man symbolizes the common Congolese people. The snake is shown to be crushing the man to death and the man is helpless, he can’t protect himself as he has no weapons with him to kill the snake. It tells that out of helplessness the people of Congo had to follow the orders of King Leopold II and if they couldn’t satisfy him, the result was their death.
This colonization which led to such a massive humanitarian disaster was the result of the exploitation by King Leopold II. He had colonized Congo not to help the Congolese people progress but just for merely gaining power in any way possible - by abusing his power.


Sources - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo, In the Rubber Coils, http://www.religioustolerance.org/genocong.htm, http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html

Apology to Australia's "Stolen Generation"

Apologies play a very important role in our society. Many conflicts occur which leave people in pain and hurt. By saying a genuine apology, the people could be consoled. Though and apology would never make the people who suffered forget their past, it would at least comfort their feelings that the other side feels sorry and wants forgiveness. It would make them realize that the other side is concerned about their welfare and does not support the deeds of their side.

Most people in Australia, even in the 21st century thought that an apology wasn’t required. The ex-Prime Minister, John Howard had denied from saying sorry to the aboriginals and got the support of the majority of Australians. Kevin Rudd, the current PM of Australia was the first person who said a formal sorry to the Aborigines. In Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the aboriginals and their lost generation, it is evident that he does not support what the colonizers had done by separating the aboriginal children from their families, in order to wipe out their race. By apologizing for something he hasn’t done, he shows sympathy towards “The Stolen Generation” and their relatives. He conveys the message that the “past mistreatment” of the aboriginals was unjust and they didn’t deserve that. He refers to that time being the “blemished chapter in national history” which shows that not only does he feel that it was unjust but also feels guilty. By calling the aboriginals as “fellow Australians” he gives them equal status and respect unlike of what the colonizers did. This proves that he clearly disapproves what the colonizers had done. By saying sorry for the “indignity and degradation inflicted on the proud people and their culture,” he turns a “new page” in Australian history. He showed sympathy and affection towards the colonized people in his speech, and disagreed with the views of the colonizers towards which led to the ill treatment and torture of the Aborigines. The main mission of the colonizers to breed out the Aborigines was to give them equal respect in the society. By apologizing to them, Kevin Rudd has proved that they do not need to be bred out, they do have equal respect by being the way they are.

The painting done by Mandy Nicholson, “Assimilation,” clearly shows the intense sufferings of the Aborigines and the decline of their culture. In the very symbolic painting, the English were represented by the Grim Reaper, cultures waiting to come from behind and destroy theirs. The painter represented the churches as the horse with a frail body and a strong head which tells about its false attempts to 'help' or 'civilize' them but all it did was slowly destroying their identity. The painting tells how the English came and slowly over took the land of the Aborigines and destroyed their culture. By Kevin Rudd apologizing to the Aborigines and their “Stolen Generation,” the Aborigines probably feel better as they have been given equal status and respect in the society.

Though the apology wouldn’t erase the pain and hurt the Aboriginals suffered, at least they would erase the scars. It would make them realize that they are no longer inferior. Also the successors of the colonizers, now living in Australia, would feel light-hearted as they have at last repented for their actions.This apology would definitely help Australia to progress with a stronger bond with the Aborigines as the misunderstandings between both the groups should have decreased and thus could work together peacefully.


Sources - Kevin Rudd Apology (video), Assimilation
Photo - fromyouflowers.com

I think I can

The quote by Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right,” says that it depends on the attitude of a person to achieve a goal. If a person thinks that they cannot achieve the goal they set, they’ll never achieve it as they gave up hope from the start. But if a person thinks that they will achieve their goal, they’ll definitely achieve it. It all depends on whether a person takes a challenge positively or negatively to reach a goal.

This quote reflects my personality as I always try to take things positively. I try and try but never give up until I reach my goal. After reaching my goal I try to go further if possible and improve even more. One such example is my Humanities grade. At the end of the first trimester, my grade for Humanities was a B. I wasn’t very pleased with my grade and set a goal to get an A in the second trimester. I worked very hard and tried to put my best effort into every assignment. At the end of the trimester, I had almost achieved my goal, I had an A-. If I had given up thinking that getting an A is too tough for me, I would never have achieved an A-. For the third trimester I will try to reach my goal and have an A beside Humanities in my report card.