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.

Learning Profile: A

Last, Humanities class, out class, 3A, had a chance to be with Mr Whiting. He told us about Learning Profile no.2, which we have experienced before in grade 6. Technically, we had to find our dominant parts of ear, eye, hand and foot and follow the guide to discover which kind of person we are. My dominant parts were same as last year when I unearthed that right parts of eye, ear, hand and foot were dominant. Moreover, each of us had to decide or take a test to see whether each one was logical(user of left hemisphere of brain) or gestalt(user of right hemisphere of brain) learner. After all this courses, my learning profile was type A. On the sheet of paper for profile A, there was ways of how profiles like me had to learn.

First of all, I learn best when I concentrate on the details. I believe that is true, because it simple to learn about the details first. The whole picture makes me confused, no where to start. Therefore, I find it easier when I learn a small topic under a huge topic. For example, when we are learning about a country, such as Egypt, I have no idea where to look at first. History? Modern life in Egypt? Inventions? This kinds of thoughts disturbs me. Additionally, focusing on details make me feel comfortable. If I surely know the small parts, it is a piece of cake to understand the main topic. It becomes like a jigsaw as I put my small knowledge of details together. Therefore, I learn best by observing details rather than the big picture.

Next, I need to have properly ordered information. Unorganized facts make me confused. However, sometimes it doesn’t make confusing but irritating. For example, if the facts are all over the place, not in forms of lines, it gets me puzzled, because I have to remember what I have read and what I haven’t. This is the situation when I do not get irritated but confounded. However, when the facts are in line form, but the facts are not organized in order, (time, spatial or in any other way) the sentences gets me crazy, creating chaos in my head, which affects headache. That is why I need informations in sequence.

The one strategy that would help me in my learning are having more enjoyable sensory-motor experiences. Firstly, I believe having more enjoyable sensory-motor experiences will help me to be much more efficient learner. The one reason I think it will support incredibly much is because it disuades me from having more stress, which makes me sensitive and negative. It can also affect my emotion greatly, resulting me to want to be alone, or have a headache. Additionally, when I have a headache, it disturbs me from concentrating harder. Therefore, it will be effective to me to have an positive sensory-motor memories.

Lastly, I would like my teachers to know that if I could not see something that is important clearly, I get easily stressed out. For example, when I could not receive the instructions clear in visual, auditory systems, I feel very nervous and annoyed. It is because when I can not get instructions clearly, I would not know what to do and waste my time and I will have less time to complete. As a result, I want my teachers to know that I care a lot about visual system.

10 memories of my earliest days

Last Humanities class, we had a chance to be in Taylor Mali’s performance show in the library. Taylor Mali was a poet and a teacher. He told us poem was a honest lies. He read his poems he wrote and suggested us to write down 3 earliest memories of each of us. Few went out to the stage and performed. While performing, Taylor Mali advised the performers to have moment for themselves before saying in order to have no non-meaning words, such like ummm.., uhhhh, like... When his meaningful speech was over, he gave us homework to write seven more memories. And they are:

1. I remember drowning like an ant when I was six. Stretching my tiny hand over the surface of water, lifeguard reading his dumb magazine yawning like a hippopotamus. I dashed in the water, which was much slower than in the air, to the ladder and arrogant lifeguard pulled me out as if he had saved my life.

2. I remember having a new shiny bike. How gorgeously and gracefully it went through the woods. How quickly it was stolen!

3. I remember flying a toy plane at the age of 8. A senior boy smashed it and promised getting me a new one. In the cold winter, waiting someone who won’t comeback, I was standing in the middle of the playground.

4. I remember reading Percy Jackson for the first time in my life. It was hard but as much as it was hard, it was fantastic sensation sparking into my eyes.

5. I remember when I was 9, starting school year in Malaysia.

6. I remember planning and preparing to be a cat when I was 3 by wearing cat mask for days.

7. I remember when my aunt got married with a friendly, cheerful man as old as her when I was 9.

8. I remember having first Internet account in my whole life which was fascinating to me.

9. I remember my seventh birthday with a banana cake, which I could never find again and never forget.

10. I remember having nightmares of spies after watching cartoon about spies when I was five.