Photo Essay- Victor

Opportunity for the Disabled

In South Africa there are 1704 disabled children. These children are looked down upon and not given equal educational opportunity.  However, there is one disabled girl who fights for these children. The girl’s name is Chaeli Mycroft. Chaeli was born with a disease called Cerebral Palsy, which limits the movements in her limbs. Because of this, and the educational discrimination towards disabled children like herself, Chaeli is fighting for hope and fair opportunity for disabled children in South Africa.

Chaeli is fighting for hope for disabled children in South Africa. Her friends and herself started to save up for a wheelchair when she was nine so she could move around. In the end they found out that they raised more than enough money for the wheelchair, so Chaeli decided to help others with the extra money. Ever since, Chaeli has been helping other disabled children get what they need, this sparked the idea for the Chaeli Campaign. The Chaeli Campaign is an organization that goes around to disabled centers and helps other children by getting them the resources that they require. The program also provides counseling with the message that disabled children are no different than normal children. This gives the children a fresh look on their lives and a renewed sense of hope.

        Chaeli is also fighting for opportunity for disabled children. Chaeli’s organization, the Chaeli Campaign, fights against educational discrimination in South Africa. This is because where Chaeli is from, disabled children are looked down upon and not given the same school opportunities, if any at all. Chaeli doesn’t believe that educational discrimination is right, so she stands up against it. She fights not with words, but with actions. Everyday Chaeli stands up to discrimination by going to a normal school with everyone else. She needs help going up and down stairs, but she still goes to the same classes as normal kids her age and learns the same things as the other kids. Chaeli helps other kids like herself get the education that they need through her campaign. She believes that we should all be given the same opportunities no matter what our race or ability.

Chaeli may have been looked down upon at a time, but now Chaeli and her cause are known internationally. Chaeli has provided hope and opportunity for disabled children everywhere in South Africa and she should be regarded as a true role model for humanity.




Sources-

"KidsRights." 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.kidsrights.org/>

"Childrenspeaceprize: Childrenspeaceprize powered by KidsRights." 2006. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.childrenspeaceprize.com/>

"Children's Peace Prize winner Chaeli Mycroft in South ... - YouTube." 2012. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24zQ13hQfKI>

Poems/ reflection

Where I'm From

I’m from the plains and the lake,
to the street where we knew one another.
I’m from the walks in the park
the boiling heat and the chilling cold.
I’m from fox news sundays and baseball in the yard
I’m from the NFL sundays and the MLB mondays,
My dad yelling at the TV “Are you stupid?!”
I’m from the summer reunions.
The stories of Pepe’s training and Momo’s cop days
And Momo yelling ¡CADA DE WAY VATO!
I’m from tamales on christmas
and the taco tuesdays
and Wendy’s wednesdays.
I am from many places around the globe,
but these are the things make up my home.

List poem

Uneven eyes, with the right slightly higher than the left.
A lazy right eye, that lets the eyelid droop down.
A black pen, fairly used, clipped firmly inside my shirt.
My shirt, White as the whiteboard no traces of just to be found.
My watch, a black watch purely electronic with a green interior and buttons.
Hands, Wide and strong yet with wounds never fully healed.
Cargo shorts that hold in one pocket a midnight black wallet in
the other holds a unused thumb drive.
My legs are long and strong, but covered with memories of the past.
Socks plain and white, not much to see.
Yet shoes, old as may seem, are still young, but have seen the miles
only can be seen by dedication.
Myself, a man of many words yet all encrypted with their own meaning,
each one a story with many to be told.

Personal Identity

Personal identity is worth fighting for because it is what we are made of. What makes us human is our experiences. That is why people say, 'No two people are alike.' It's because no two people have the exact same experiences. Every one is different. That's what adds color to life. Without variety and differences the world is black and white. Because of our differences and memories we all learn different lessons, we all bring something new to the table. If that personal identity is striped from us then we are empty inside. If we don't fight for originality then we would be robots, not humans. We would be born to die without our identitys. Our identity shapes us. It determines our friends, our careers, and our lives in general. It is our creativity, it is our lessons and morals, it is our values. That is why personal identity is worth fighting for. It is worth the effort because creativity and values are worth fighting for. And most importantly, our friends and family are worth fighting for. That is why personal identity is worth fighting for.

1066

In the year of 1066 three men fought over the English throne. The names of the three were Harold Godwinson, William the Conquerer, and Harald Hardrada. After the war cleared, William the Conquerer took hold of England and became their new king. William was standing but who had the best claim to the throne? Shortly before the death of King Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson was named his successor as he had no son and his only nephew was too young. Harold was the most powerful noble and the leader of the army so the King believed him to be a worthy successor. Only to add to his argument to the throne, Harold was also an anglo-saxon meaning that he was a pure blood english man therefor he had a good overall claim to the throne.Harold Godwinson wasn't the only king with a claim. The King of Norway named Harald Hardrada also believe that he had a claim to the throne. His ancestor, King Cnut used to be the King of England so Harald believed that this entitled him to the throne. Only, he didn't try to take England alone. Harold Godwinsons brother, Tostig, helped King Hardrada in order for revenge on his brother. In the end they didn't succeed in their conquest. I would say that his claim to the throne was rather poor because he had no one on his side really and had little reason for taking the throne. Overall he had the worst claim. The third and final man to have a claim on the throne was William the Conqueror. William by far had the best claim of all the men. Before Edward the Confessor died Harold Godwinson had visited Normandy. There William the Conqueror had made Harold give an oath that he would help him claim the throne when Edward died. This obviously never happened. So William went to the pope to his approval to invade England. The pope approved of this decision and declared it a holy crusade. In the end William won the English throne but I also believe that he had the best claim to the throne. It wasn't a lot of things to run off of but he had the best claim because he had already been promised the throne by the successor of the king. Therefor the throne is rightfully his.

Values and Choices- Peer Pressure

On multiple occasions did I witness peer pressure. However of the many times their is one occasion I remember clearly and descriptively. This peer pressure forced a friend of mine to commit an action that left her with a physical scar that she will have to bare and remember the rest of her life.

One day my friends and I headed towards the climbing cave as we do every other day. When one of my friends (All names will be kept confidential) climbed up on to the roof of the cave using the nails sticking out along with gripping the side. After a short while my friend got up to the top. "Come on guy's, try to get up!" My friend said. "No, I don't think that it's a good idea." I said. "Don't be a chicken my friend standing next to me said. "No, I aint going up their." I said. "Fine then." she replied in a tone that a little kid would use when throwing a tantrum. With that short conversation she turned and started for the wall. "Don't." I said cautioning her. "If you go up there and slip the nail's gonna cut you." Giving me a evil look, she ignored my words of advice and headed up.

I watched her ascend up the wall nervously. "God, she going to fall." I thought. Palms sweating I continued to watch. Just as she was reaching the top I heard a squeak from her shoe as she lost her footing and began to slide down the ramp. I could only watch as she had brought this fate upon herself. She slid down and on the way had a nail cut her in a line along her left thigh.

Rather quickly she reached the bottom of the short ramp. She was looking at her leg as I was. It was red not bleeding but most of the first layer of skin was gone. I didn't speak a word as she let out a small grunt. I only looked at her. Her eyes were glossy as they screamed in pain. Her eyes spoke but not her lips. Not a word came out. Not a tear dripped from her face. Too stubborn to let out a wimper of word of distress she said nothing trying to hide her pain. Unfortunately and for once in my life, my prediction was accurate.

I still remember that moment vividly. My only regret is that I hadn't been forceful enough. I hadn't even attempted to make an effort to stop her. My only words to her were, "Don't" and I feel as if it is part my fault because as much as it seems I was warning her, deep down I know if I worked at it I could have stopped her and she wouldn't have hurt herself.

The Mysterious Major

When he said that when he crushed the boy he crushed something in himself, he meant that seeing the boy crushed made him feel bad. It probably made him feel guilty for doing such a thing to a boy. (He said, "Sit down you little Jack***!.") He basically destroyed the boys pride, and his courage and took control of him using a tactic of fear. For the rest of the year the boy never spoke again. This is basically what the Nazi's did except they did this to everyone. Crushed their hope and their pride and took control by fear because they wanted to completely dominate germany. If you spoke out against Hitler you were killed. If you told others about the concentration camps, you were killed.

In Memory to My Mother

In class we chose one of three poems written about the holocaust by Sonia Weitz. I chose the poem In my memory to my mother. This poem is about when the Nazi's took her mother away. She used a lot of synonyms and hidden messages. The poem starts with the lines;

Where is your grave? Where did you die? Why did you go away? Why did you leave Your little girl That rainy autumn day? This part is Sonia saying of all the people taken and killed, "Why was it you and not someone else? Why you?" This conveys her emotion of Confusion and sadness all at once. It's like when you don't do your homework and your teacher asks you for an answer, but the emotional intensity is multiplied by ten. The next part;

I still can hear

The words you spoke: "You tell the world, my child."

This part is her memory of her mother telling her to tell others about what is happening. To not let it be forgotten. This was courageous of her mother. She knew that she was going to die but she didn't want to die in vain so she told her daughter to tell others of her death. This was very brave. She died without fear. The next part;

I promised I would
Tell the world...
But where to find the words
To speak of
Innocence and love,
And tell how much it hurts...

About those faces
Weak and pale,
Those dizzy eyes around,
And countless lips
That whispered "help"
But never made a sound...

To tell about
The loss...the grief
The dread of death and cold,
Of wickedness
And misery...
O, No!...it can't be told.

This was probably the most emotional part of the poem. Personally It made me feel sympathetic and sad at the same time. She said, "I promised to tell the wold of the innocence...But where to find the words... And to tell how much it hurts." I know how this feels when someone hurts you or you get so mad that you don't know how to feel. You feel pain, loss, fear, hate, and suffer at the same time. It's unexplainable in such few words. That is what she was trying to say in the last three lines. No one could ever feel the way she did unless you experienced it first hand.