Acceptance- Islamophobia

Muslims and their Religion.

This semester as a Freshman in college, I realized many things. I realized how the real world really is.

I used to think that things would always be solved for me and that problems would go away if I just stayed away from them, but thanks to an English teacher I had I had an eye opener to this. Not only did I realize that "world peace" is solved by itself but I realized that if i wanted something done I had to do it myself. As my last project in my English class I had to make a video, my group chose how Muslims were discriminated and that really opened my heart and made me want to change, because personally whenever I would see people with Muslim or Islamic features I would freak out. So as one of my goals I feel like it is only right to inform people about who these Muslim people really are and what they stand for. I hope to change peoples mind in being prejudice. In the future, I hope to not only get the word around UTEP but also to let others in the community know what is going on. It is not an easy task, but little by little maybe someone will see an informative flyer laying on the street and pick it up and at least take the time to read it. Some people might think it is pointless what I want to do, but I find it to be the best way  to start to inform people. You have to start somewhere and that somewhere is from the bottom of the ground. 

War & Violence just 5 Miles Away.

Currently there are wars going on around the world as well as other corrupt things like unfair governments and what not. Gandhi was a big advocator for fixing problems like wars and unfair governments. Unfortunately, there are not too many people like Gandhi. Yes, some do exists such as Rigoberta Menchu and Oprah Winfrey, as well as others. But those are only three mentioned out of the 6,882,937,248 people that live in the world. 

The United States of America has five basic problems which help the country. The basic principles are: equality of all persons, fundamental worth, majority rule minority rights, and the necessity of compromise.

Let’s look at a certain matter more carefully. The United States is currently fighting a war near the Middle East. A couple of weeks ago, current President Barack Obama said he was pulling the troops out. One thing he did not mention was that he was pulling out the troops from their current location to transfer them to another location in the Middle East. Although the United States government might not be as corrupt as others, it sure is deceiving. 

If Gandhi were alive, what would he do for this conflict of war? Protest is what he would do. If he lived he would probably have inspired more than half of the world to end such useless war. Now how could a skinny old man move the hearts of perhaps half of the world’s population? With his technique that he used was no violence. Sometimes using neither power nor force has people fall into just stopping and get to thinking about what they are doing and the reason behind it. Gandhi led by example and would right now have the world as a different place.

Worldwide governments to me are always seen as corrupt and liars. Why? It takes a lot for people to trust one other and be able to rely on their government. Once the government deceives you, your thoughts of your government changes drastically. Now you say, how so? It is common knowledge that once someone or something hurt you and break your trust then they are no longer worthy of your time unless you permit them to. I believe in my opinion also that governments are able to maintain a very good balance for everyone and the economy, but there is more to than just regulating the amount of money there is the Federal Bank or checking different things.

With all this being said, you might ask yourself. How can I trust my government again if I do not trust them anymore? For that, sometimes the governments have to regain your trust by doing something that is in your favor. Like for example, pulling troops out of war or making more jobs for people around the country. Like they say, “Trust is like a vase…once it is broken it can never go back into being the same again.”

Now the solution for this worldwide problem. How can we control our government and what they do with money and with what they do when they think of either pulling out the troops for Iraq. I think and believe that we need more that advocate for the peace that we want. If we make it known world wide and put it in the media and show it either on shirts or bracelets or anything I think that could make a difference. Like I stated earlier, people like Gandhi are needed. Now recently in Guatemala, there is a lady named Rigoberta Menchu who has fought for many years to get justice from her oppressed government and well I think she is a perfect example to follow because if she can accomplish defeating her government and the government’s ideas then citizens of the United States can also do it. The only thing is that if we do not have the heart to change things that we do not like then we will not obtain what we wish for. So while you read this, you should think about what we can do for a change because obviously what we have done to this day has not been working, so it is time for a Plan B.

Killings in Juarez. Is there a solution?

     During the weekend, fourteen people were killed at a birthday party in Juarez. Why? The killers were looking for a kid that was not even at the birthday party. Poor children did not have any idea that that was going to be their last birthday party they would be going to. I question myself, why would a person make such a massacre? Personally, I do not think that these killings will ever stop. If people can kill another person without having any guilt in their conscious, what makes us think that they will suddenly stop. A miracle would have to occur for all of these immoral killings to stop, I think that as well as others I have lost hope for this to stop. If the government can not stop nor the police, then what can? 

     Perhaps maybe the United States can help them out, but we tried once and they refused to receive our help. It is immoral that the mexican government refused the help because day by day they are losing people, innocent people. I guess this will not stop until everyone decides to come clean and show who they really are, because I strongly believe that the mexican government has a lot to do with what is going on.

Central Asia Institute

In Pakistan and Afghanistan there are many children living poverty. Luckily, there is an Institute named Central Asia Institute whom helps promote education in areas such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. The number of children that go uneducated in the areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan were immensely high since most children were not pushed to have an education. 

The Central Asia Institute (CAI) is a non profit organization, founded by Greg Mortenson and Jean Hoerni. Mortenson and Hoernis’ mission is to promote and give a community-based education and literacy programs, mainly for girls, in places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Through the years, the CAI has been able to establish 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. With these 131 schools, they gave an education to more than 58,000 students, which 44,000 were females.

CAI offers women centers, schools, clean drinking water, scholarships for students that pays for their studies, many intensive teacher workshops, and also they provided the first health care worker in the area of Zuudkhaan.

The schools sessions is usually from 240 to 260 days a year, with students in class five to six days a week. Every CAI school complies with that country's curriculum guidelines. Classes include Math, English, Pakistan studies-history, Urdu, Islamic studies, and science. CAI added hygiene and nutrition and developed a workbook that covers local culture, tradition, and folklore.

CAI main focus is helping and promoting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They help by building school buildings for places in Pakistan and Afghanistan that are not too popular. Once they finish their project they keep in touch with the village and give support to the school until the school can be on its own feet. CAI also offers scholarships for elementary, middle, high school and for a college education. The students must just apply to be considered. Since their is a huge rate of infant mortality rate they established the case study of Aziza, which is the first health care worker in the area. The water in Pakistan is very contaminated so CAI provided cleaning drinking water and sanitation for the communities to have a healthier community. CAI also provides a Women Center where women can gather and have meetings to discuss problems and there they can also sew and make products to sell in the village. With these women centers the women have a way to support their families.

Their website for the CAI is www.ikat.com. Why Ikat? Ikat is a silk fabric woven throughout Central Asia. Each strand is individually dyed, then woven into stunning, vibrant patterns which are recognized from village to village. Ikat symbolizes the strength, beauty, and resilience of the Central Asia communities that CAI serves.

Many people feel the need to help the organizations such as CAI, luckily there are many means to do so. One of the three few ways is by fundraising either by hosting craft sales, rummage sales, or doing something creative to obtain money for the CAI cause. Another method to help the CAI cause is by the Pennies for Peace. The Pennies for peace is an organization that uses our everyday useless penny and making the most of it around the globe. To donate to the Pennies for Peace you take all your pennies to a bank, have them counted, write a check to Pennies for Peace and send it thru the mail to Pennies for Peace, P.O. Box 7209, Bozeman, MT 59771, or you can donate via credit card on the Central Asia Institute Website, under gift allocation, and selecting Pennies for Peace as the program you want to donate to. These are just two of the few methods to be able to help these organizations, there are much more that might fit the category you wish to help.

Many people around the world need a little bit of help to be a better person. Luckily, all over the world there are organizations that offer many means to be better and to help them with that little “extra push” they need. 

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Always help others

On Friday, September 3, 2010, I watched a video on how an institute named Central Asia got funded. I was really astonished on how this man, Greg Mortenson has done so much for children in Afghanistan. Mortenson hiked K2 and was helped by a village, as a way to repay them he implemented a school. With the school he implemented now the kids in Afghanistan can have a chance to have an education, a chance to learn more about the world around them. 

Many people are selfish and do not take the time to volunteer at a rescue center or to even help feed the hungry. If there were more people like Greg Mortenson in this world, then we would be very happy and peaceful. Someone always needs either a little push from someone else or even sometimes need a helping hand. It could be your boss, co-worker, peer, sister, mom, roommate, or even your aunt. The people from the village that helped Mortenson helped him with the bottom of his heart and they got repaid more than they deserved and that was an Education.