Making the Invisible, Visible: The first step...

In the last trimester of 8th grade humanities, we as a class are focusing on a current, problematic issues that the world is facing today and discover a solution that the world could be benefited from. There were a list of issues and every and each one us voted for what they feel most strongly, which was Human Trafficking. Human trafficking is a global distress, which is also known as the modern day slavery. Human trafficking targets the people of minority and poverty. Through utilizing the people's devastating needs to have a stable income, the traffickers deceive them into becoming slave trapped forever by the law and the economy.  Human Trafficking is a constantly growing illicit trade, generating seven to ten billion dollar annually worldwide. Although it is currently the third largest illegal trade in the world after the trade of arms and drugs, the professionals predicts that within a decade human trafficking can overtake the the trades of arms and drugs.

The Human Trafficking is haunting our global society by violating the rights that every human deserves. The victims are treated as slaves which they shouldn't deserve. The number of victims increases annually by 600,000 to 800,000. The people of the minority who do not understand how much they are worth are being deceived into being trafficked, causing eternal devastation for them with no development. They will always work,  never realizing their rights and having chance to educate themselves. One fact I was the most unaware of and most shocked was that there are more percentage of women and children suffering from the human trafficking. At first, I perceived the human trafficking as an illegal way to hire people for labor, however it was broader and more disgusting than my presumption. In addition to the labor, human trafficking was industry of sexual exploitation as well. Through learning this information, I became more aware of the seriousness of the invisible part of human trafficking.

The human trafficking makes feel disgusted by the people's greed and what a person is capable of doing merely to earn money. I have found out that to have a stable and eternal profit, the traffickers take the workers' passports away from them so that there is no way they can escape from the foreign land. Furthermore, the traffickers deceive the people in poverty about the bright opportunities in the foreign land and makes them pay for providing such jobs, which causes chain of debts later on. Even to people who doesn't have knowledge on human rights, this should seem unspeakably evil, utilizing the advantage in knowledge to deceive people of minority. Moreover, the trafficked people often get abused  by physically and mentally. Not only that, female workers are forced to work as prostitutes and gets raped. It is clear that the workers are not being treated as humans with equal rights but as animals and beasts. Most certainly, this uncivil, sick actions should be terminated immediately.

• How does learning about this issue make you feel and why?

Stand up for Oil Spill

The largest oil spill in history wasted more than 1 billion barrels of oil, which is sufficient amount to fill up around 48,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Imagine pouring 48,000 Olympic-size swimming pools filled with oil into the sea. The sea will be covered completely in black, with no trace of the natural blue. The horizon will be black and you will never be able to see its end as it will continue to spread and grow into endless blackness. Imagine the animals caked in black ooze, struggling to open their eyes and move their heavy wings, tails, legs and arms. The corpses of the victims are floating about, eternally suffering from the toxic, even in their afterlife. These are the outcomes of an oil spill. When oil spill happens, the environment becomes living hell, and the life slowly fades and finishes. Oil spill is a disaster, deadlier than any other. It ruins the environment, kills the animals, and also hard to fix. Although actions are being taken, I believe that in order to stop the damage on the environment and suffering of the victim animals the oil spill causes, the usage of oil has to decrease to the minimum, taking less than 10% in the global energy consumption.

The contamination that had been caused by oil spills was devastating and hopeless. The sea becomes black and the toxic spreads, harming the nature severely. One of the largest oil spills in the history, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as Gulf of Mexico oil spill and BP oil spill, polluted wetlands, shores and ,of course, the gulf. The quote was said during the recovering of Gulf of Mexico when the damage seemed unmeasurable. "You get hit by a hurricane and you can rebuild. But when that stuff washes up on the white sands of Pensacola Beach, you can't just go and get more white sand.'' Public Service Commissioner Benjamin Stevens. The quote tells us that the damage the oil spill cause can be equal as hurricanes and other disasters. However, the oil spills are tougher to face as the toxic can sink into soils and water and bring about further contamination. Not only it harms the environment continuously, but it is arduous to clean up. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. In the quote,  oil spill is hard to clean up due to the various factors that can be affected, meaning that the restoration takes a long period of time. As a result, an oil spill can surely provide an unmeasurable amount of damage to the environment as it lasts for long and simultaneously threatens the environment.

Furthermore, the oil spill terminated tremendous lives through its catastrophic chemicals. As a result of BP oil spill, myriads of animals died slowly due to the oil’s toxic. The toxic gradually crawls into the animals, making them infested with oil. In addition, the oil causes mutations as well, as the chemicals get stacked inside them. Shrimp born without eyes, clawless crabs, and fish with visible tumors are among the "horribly mutated" marine animals found in the waters off the Gulf Coast, according to a new report from Al Jazeera. This shows how the infestations resulted from oil spill can be long lasting. Moreover, it is evident in this quotation that oil spill is as impactful and detrimental as nuclear, resulting death and mutants. Furthermore, The oil spills affect plethora of animals species inhabiting in the area by altering the food chain. "We'll see dead bodies soon. Sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, whales: the impact on predators will be seen in a short time because the food web will be impacted from the bottom up." Marine toxicologist Dr. Susan Shaw, director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute. An oil spill can be threatening enough to wipe out all the animals as bringing an end to a single part of a food chain resulting the destruction of whole food chain. This means that oil spill has dangerously tremendous impact on the environment, having capacity to eradicate all the lives through a simple contact.

Today, people are unearthing more varieties of renewable energy that will soon take over the consumption of oil. Hydropower is one of the most consumed among the renewable energy soureces. The hydropower is gathering the power of water currents, and does not pollute the world and it is eternal. ‘As a clean and renewable energy source, hydropower can help to reduce climate change by cutting our dependence on carbon-based fuels.’ This fact is telling the us, oil consumers, that the hydro energy is the resource that we need to improve on to solve the environmental problems we are now facing. In addition, hydropower is one fifth of the world’s total energy consumption. Since it does not produce any greenhouse gas, which means that it is opposing the global warming. Additionally, Seaweed is a new natural friendly energy source that contains more benefits than any other renewable energy source. The sugar inside kelps can be made into a biofuel.

‘The advantages of seaweed as energy source’

The ocean is a vast and stable environment

No food supply conflict

No need for fresh water

No pesticides

Grow faster than any land plant and are just as productive or more, at capturing CO2

Seaweed are ocean biofilters

The seaweed energy is in the spotlight as the new efficient energy resource. The seaweed energy has dominant benefits. As a biofilter of ocean, it is restoring the environment rather than destroying it, which is an important characteristic, which is one of the plethora of reasons why it is being encouraged. As a result of discoveries of many renewable energy sources, the consumption of oil has to decrease to slow down the global warming and decrease the chances of oil spills.

The oil spills devastate lands and ocean, silently slaughters hundreds of animals and should be prevented with more notion and care. If we do not take actions, and stand up for what we believe, we will never change anything and no one would remember us. However, if the people do stand and fight, we will be the catalysts of change, and our names will be remembered for the influence we had caused, which will affect from the next generation to the very last. Therefore, if we fight for the prevention of the oil spill and join our ideas for innovation with other current organizations and people, we can shorten the time that the oil spill will strike to the minimum. So, what can you do?

Bruani Ndume, Voice of the Child Refugees

“Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die forAnd no religion tooImagine all the people living life in peace...” from Imagine by John Lennon (lyrics007.com). The song Imagine was written by John Lennon in hopes of a peaceful world with no violence or brutality. In the Congo, there has been a war that started in 1998 and which is still going on until now. In general, the number of estimated victims of this particular war is over five million. Moreover, the families were torn apart and the survivors who successfully escaped to other neighbouring countries are living in an unsanitary conditioned refugee camps. Not only are there adults but there are young ones as well. In their childhood where they had the right to see the beautiful things in the world, instead they witnessed the terror and bloodshed. In this chaotic situation, there is one boy who is willing to help others. The fifth international children’s peace prize winner, Baruani Ndume, is offering his best to support child refugees like him. Through his access to radio, he reconnects the orphaned children and parents and shares problems young refugees are facing in Tanzanian refugee camp.

In the beginning, through mobilizing his all of available sources, Baruani reunites families, decreasing the number of orphaned refugees. While Baruani lived in the camp, he witnessed the injustice and hardship the children were facing. For this reason, he always wanted to help in some way the end the concerns of them. In fact, that is when he found Radio Kwizera, an organization that works for kids’ rights in Tanzania. In spite of limited resources, he has succeeded in setting up a radio programme in which he talks about problems and challenges with his peer refugee children (The International Children’s Peace Prize). In these poor circumstances, he still craved to help the others and he was able to fully utilize his insufficient opportunities to help the others rather than himself. As his program’s fame grew, he exploited it to help the young refugees in more various ways such as searching for their lost families. Accordingly, these actions of Baruani had a positive impact on the lives of the youngsters in the camp. In a like manner, he provided them hopes that they will find their parents. In addition, now they had someone to share their problems with rather than suffering alone.  However, before Baruani’s handsome deeds, the children suffered terribly by getting abused daily by the adults. Their circumstances are often more grim as most foster parents are not financially strong enough to provide proper nourishment and clothing for their foster children or to support them in their education (The Kids Rights Millennium Development Goals Conference 2010). Since he have witnessed this circumstances the child refugees were living in, he would have felt a powerful need to save them. In the same fashion, due to being in the same situation, Baruani had definitely had an idea on how to help them in the most effective, possible way. Accordingly, Baruani was capable of bringing up their lives into a higher standard. On the whole, Baruani is bringing hope to the young refugees as he is reconnecting families through utilizing his accessible resources.

At last, being in the circumstances of refugee in an early age, Baruani knew exactly how to help the youngsters who are in the same place as him.  Since Baruani was seven, he had lived in the refugee camp for nine years, experiencing the same as the other children. At first, his life in the camp started with being a foster child of a selfish woman. Correspondingly, he was always beaten up and was denied food and education. By reason of his background, he clearly knew what is was like for others as well. "Boys and girls with stories similar to mine could not easily express themselves and were keeping their pain inside," Ndume said. "Our radio programme makes them feel less alone." (The UN Refugee Agency) In fact, the child refugees probably had no one else to communicate with. As a result of his zeal to help, now they could have someone to share their burden with, and feel belonging. By means of his experience in the camp enabled him to understand the ways provide what they needed the most. As a result, his use of radio program grew successful in becoming a friendly hand to the children and providing them direction they should aim their lives to.  “We as a group of twenty children move around the camp collecting ideas from our fellow children. We normally ask them what are their concerns or problems with life in the camp - in education, in services, in food, in supplies, their protection or other abuses that are happening in the camps.” (PBS Newshour Extra) The children in the camps feel isolated from society which could be due to the division in families and the devastations they faced during their journeys to reach the camp. As Baruani comprehends these ideas by living among them for years, he knows the importance to make them smile and how the smile could appear by just a simple process as talking to them. Surprisingly, these simple steps have enough potential to bring the child refugees realize the positive sides that are concealed behind the sadness. In essence, Baruani was capable of using his knowledge to support the others even though he was not in fine circumstances.

Baruani Ndume is continuing his lifelong mission to heal the scars of the war left on the innocent victims. In the same fashion, he is rejoining the families together, decreasing the number of orphaned child refugees in the refugee camps of Tanzania and counseling the young refugees to place a smile on their faces that got buried deep within them due to the pain that the war threw at them. Therefore, it is clear as a drop of water that Baruani deserves the International Child Peace Prize. His admirable deeds is something everyone in the world should look upon. It is not because he was chosen or outstanding that made him capable of doing such actions. It was his courageous, decisive heart that enabled him. Everyone has the same hearts deep inside. As a final point, we all need to realize it and force it out to action when the society necessitate them and our society will be a better place where there will be no refugees and other devastations.

The Nostalgia: things I soaked up along my life until now.

I am from the tales of tigers who smoked,

Where the Wise Spirits of Mountains often meditated,

I am from the square, dusty table covered with my babyhood

when I was happy just by poking holes into,

I am also from the red chili plant that I use to grow, 

watering it as if my thirst would disappear whenever I watered it.

I am from the tiger shaped peninsula,

Where everyone stored their bright red Kimchi into the ground, 

placing lucky charms around to get rid of evil spirits, who, 

were believed to be bringing harms as an entertainment

I am from the coastline crowded with civilization,

 with a hint of morning energy and early laughs, 

behind where the sun was rising, acting shy and reddened.

I am from Doenjang, brownish, 

looking far from attractive,

Flavored with the life wisdoms of my grandma, 

and the smiles of family.

I am from Kimbab, 

who loved to follow me,

 whenever I was going away for a trip.

Inside the shelf enriched by the scent of sea, 
memories that embrace the past, 
which I will never be capable of letting go. 

Victory by Sonia Weitz

Victory by Sonia Weitz provided me a terrific sensation to me. The plot of the poem reflected her genuine memory, where she danced with her father in the execution camp just before his soul would leave his lifeless body in the gas chamber. To me, the inner meaning of this poem was silent rebel against the sorrowful fate and the Nazis. Instead of fearing, he gladly enjoyed his last moment of his life with peace and happiness, which was a quiet denial to the reality, where he was forced to be devastated until his life would end. In the poem, Sonia states that there are no tools to measure love and only the fools would fail to scale your victory. After reading this expression, I had one question that filled up my mind: Is the 'love' related to the 'victory'? If it is, how are they related?

The Degrees of Choice

"Some people say that what makes a person a victim is they have limited or no options about how to act. " This is not always the truth. The possibility of actions are unlimited. The situation one is in supervises and limits the actions to be taken. For example, the Jews who was targeted during the reign of the Nazi government, they had no choice but to sit or to risk their lives to stand against them. For them, leaving was out of the question. All the nations except for one nation closed their gates to enter, which resulted Jews to stay in the Germany and be slaughtered in execution camps. There is another example for the support which happens frequently nowadays: bullying. If often takes place in schools, by a group of students turning back on one. There are variety of attainable actions that can be taken by the victims of the bullying. He or she might tell an adult about it and receive advice to overcome. He or she would still count as victims of bullying, whatever he or she takes action or not, they are still victims. It was unfortunate for the Jews, however, if they were allowed to the other countries and they were albe to escape, it won't still change the fact that they were the victims. Therefore, the limits of ways to act would not make a victim by itself.

"The Eternal Jew"

'The Eternal Jew', by David Pinski in 1937, was one of the Nazi propaganda films posters that was printed during the Nazi era. The purpose of the poster was to rise the popularity and the power of the Nazi government and to dissuade Germans to support communists and the Jews. The poster of 'The Eternal Jew' includes a Jewish man in a black suit in the yellow background. In the painting, he is holding gold coins in his right hand and a whip in his left hand. Furthermore, there is a plank under his left armpit that is in the shape of a border of a Germany and consists the sign of communism. It looks as if the Jewish man is luring people with gold coins and his whip suggest that he is not to be trusted, since the whip is a aggressive weapon. Moreover, the plank with communism sign suggest that the Jew were the origin, the reason of the communism or they are the same. Additionally, This might have discouraged Germans from helping or even having a positive mind about the Jews. Moreover, this could have possibly affect Germans to pressure the Jews in Germany. Therefore, This image is forcing people to have a negative belief about the Jews. This piece portraits the Jews as the source of evil and errors made. By handing a whip, sign of communism and the gold coins to Jewish man in the art, the man is reflecting the characteristics of the ultimate assortment of the Nazi's antagonist.