Making The Invisible, Visible: The First Step

For this unit in humanities we are doing something called project based learning. We are going to choose an issue that is happening in Malaysia and then we will work towards solving this problem, at the end of this project the goal is to learn about human rights. We chose human trafficking as our subject. Now after a week of research on human trafficking my little bubble on how safe Malaysia is, was broken. There were so many horrible and sad stories that I came across, the things that these people had been through is just horrible and how some of them started to fight against human trafficking. That is bravery because I would expect them to be scared. Article 29 from the human rights:In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. 

This article is basically saying that we as human beings have the responsibility to protect other peoples rights. This is why it is important. We can't let all these bad things happen in the world and expect it to be a better place. We can't just forget about all those people who got trafficked, abused, forced into prostitution and put through forced labour. We can't just forget about them and live our live filled with privileges while they are suffering. If we want to make the world a better place then we have to start stopping the problems. This is why it is important to the community, we want a safe for all community. For people who are less fortunate than us. No matter what, all of us are humans and we need to protect each other. It impacts the victims of human trafficking. 

Of course but also many of the stories that I read about human trafficking went like this. The victims were lured out of their home country with the promise of a job and decent pay and later their passports were taken away and they were forced in to labour or prostitution. If human trafficking wasn't there then job offers will always fall through. Our community will be safer.  I have encountered many surprises in my quest to find out more about human trafficking. I came across a story about a girl named Mercy who as rescued from her human traffickers during a police raid. But then the police gave away her location and her traffickers kidnapped her and beat her again. And when the trial finally came she was humiliated and her traffickers were sent free which caused her to assume a new identity and flee the country. 

Thats what surprised me the police are supposed to be the good guys and yet they humiliated her and put her in further danger. But especially what surprised me was that people could do all these horrible things to each other. This unit makes me feel so sad that people have to go through these things. And that this needs to stop. I know I won't be able to completely demolish human trafficking, no matter how much I want to. But I can help try and stop it. Raise awareness and try and come up with solutions. So it also makes me feel determined.

Curiosity Killed The Cat, Literally

About 17-22 million animals are killed in experimentation every year. Between 10.1-16.7 million dogs and cats are put to death in animal testing (Statistic Brain). Most of these tests are done more out of curiosity than for the safety of our health. Large companies like Chapstick and Colgate-Palmolive Co. still use animal testing. These animals are pumped with chemicals, they are not given medical care to counter-effect the chemicals and eventually die because they lose their body functions. Animal experimentation is still used to test everyday items that we use; many groups are working hard to make people aware of the dangers of animal experimentation. They come up with alternatives for testing and refusing to buy products from companies who use animal experimentation.

Many people believe that doing animal testing is inevitable, but in fact over the past years many alternate methods have been discovered that are cheaper, faster and are a large reason to stop animal testing. Over 200 companies use animal testing even if they are aware of the cheaper and faster alternatives (PETA). These companies are set in their ways. They are not willing to move forward to new and better technology that would only benefit them and of course the animals that they are testing on, they don’t understand that this is unnecessary."Billions are being spent," he said. "Current methods are expensive and not working. We need a new approach." “Billions are being spent. (Baltimore Sun)” when that number could be reduced significantly if they tried to use the different methods. Animal experimentation also adds to extinction since many animals die during the process or slowly throughout the years. “Bolstering the move away from animals is new technology, including tests that use human or animal cells, virtual tissue and computer modeling, said Dr. Hope Ferdowsian, research policy director for the Physicians Committee..(Baltimore Sun)”Moving away from animal testing is just like moving forward and using more advanced techniques. Its like inventing a new iphone, you would just be using something better and more reliable. Using human and/or animal cells are less destructive to animals. Since they are taking a small piece of their DNA. Also if we can donate our blood and our money for charity then why can’t we donate a little bit of our DNA to save animals. This proves that animal testing is not necessary. Alternative testing is one way to stop animal testing. There are many other ways that don’t have anything to do with science.


Standing up for a cause doesn’t always include hands on work, educating people about your cause is also important, by making people aware of the hazards of animal testing would help get rid of it. “Awareness in our society has flipped all types of injustice on its head.” ~Serj Tankian (Brainy Quote), it is true. Awareness would play a huge factor in stopping animal testing.  Even if you can’t do anything to stop animal testing at least you are aware of it. You would be helping just by being aware of the problem. The more people that are aware of the problem, the more supporters the anti-animal testing groups would gain. “..our Campaigns Department gets out the billboards, the bullhorns, and the bunny suits and shouts about these ludicrous, wasteful experiments to anyone who will listen. (PETA)”Although you would probably look crazy standing on the street screaming about animal testing you would know in your heart that you are doing good. You are helping animals right now who are in pain because of products you use on a daily basis. You can’t be fighting for a cause no one knows about. Then  your actions would be futile because you have no one supporting your cause, no one to pay attention to your efforts. It would also attract peoples attention especially if there are billboards and people standing on the street shouting about animal testing. It is just like advertising, the more you do it the more people know about it. You can spread the word. You can tell people about what is going on and maybe they are interested. Maybe they can do something to help. “Animal experimenters want us to believe that if they gave up their archaic habit, sick children and other disease and accident victims would drop dead in droves. But the most significant trend in modern research in recent years has been the recognition that animals rarely serve as good models for the human body. (PETA)”Old isn’t always better. Medical sciences are moving forward so should all companies who support animal testing. Yes, many medical advances were because of animal testing. But doctors have come to realize that animals aren’t always the most reliable. It is not true that if we give up animal testing people will start dieing. Again its been a long time since animal testing has come by. With all the new inventions there were the animal testing alternatives. We don’t need animal testing anymore and I don’t see why we are still using it. We already consume over five billion animals. If we add animals that die during experimentation it would increase considerably. We don’t need to use this barbaric method which is meaningless as people do to appease their own curiosity. If introducing alternatives and educating people about animal testing doesn’t work. Then you can always bring on a stronger form of protest or just make a small donation.

Refusing to buy products would bring down markets and companies stocks would go down. That is not good for business. The company would do anything to get on the good side of the public including giving up animal testing. 38,000 animals are used every year for animal testing (Animal Facts). All that pain the animals go through just so we would be able to buy a new shade of lip gloss or add another shade of nail polish to our collection. “...save animals from suffering and death in experiments by demanding that our alma maters stop experimenting on animals, by buying cruelty-free products, by donating only to charities that don't fund experimenting on animals...(eHow)”Protesting, on a violent level is not good. But it is still a very powerful thing that on a long-term basis may stop animal testing. By supporting companies that have given up animal testing would help make companies who refuse to do so realize that it is bad for their business to continue to use animal testing. Their stocks would go down. They will help themselves by getting rid of their outdated ways and embracing the new more efficient methods.

I just listed three things that you can do to stop animal testing. There are many more things you can do. Making people aware is probably the best thing you can do because then more people will know about it. Yes they will have their own opinions about it but at least they know what it is. Protesting would also be very effective. All you would have to do is find out which companies use animal testing and stop buying from them. If you want to present alternatives then you would have to be fully committed to stopping animal testing. You would also need knowledge on medical science. By protesting I think we will come to a point in the future where everyone knows about animal testing and somehow we will stop it. What many people don’t think about is that animals feel pain just like us. They are not inferior to us and they do not deserve to be treated as such.

Voices Of Hope

There are 2.2 billion children in the world, about half those children live in poverty (Statistic Brain). They don’t have enough food, water or adequate shelter, all of which we take for granted. There are 450,000 Congolese refugees fleeing from the violence and war in their home country, seeking asylum in neighbouring countries (Refugees International). Their human rights are completely ignored. Everyone has the right to be free and the people from DRC don’t get the freedom that most people have. Out all these people, there is one boy who fights for his rights and the rights of his peers. Baruani Ndume is a boy who has lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania for over 9 years. After losing his family, 2009 Children’s Peace Prize winner Baruani empathizes with the other refugee children, and believes all refugee children should grow up safe and with their families. As a result, Baruani now helps the children serving as a counselor and a unifier for families through his radio show.  

Children in refugee camps have gone through many trying times, creating a radio system and talking about problems, Baruani and his peers face makes them feel less alone and more cared for. Children in refugee camps are neglected due to their large numbers. Children are left to care for themselves and look after each other. Baruani fearlessly united children throughout his camp using his radio station to bring together more than a 100,000 children. “It is also a way for refugee children to make their voices heard...Our radio programme makes them feel less alone.(UNHCR)” Living in a refugee camp is not easy. Children feel alone. They feel like they can’t ask for help because no one can hear them. Owing to the fact that rules in the new country state that refugees be isolated from society, Baruani’s radio program provides a way for them to openly discuss their problems and ask for help. Most refugee children are orphans and don’t have anyone for a family. This radio program provides stability and a way to let out your feelings. Similarly, it is like going to a therapist after keeping all your feelings bottled up inside of you for a long time. It is a relief to talk about all your troubles because in a refugee camp you don’t have the luxury to worry about yourself. “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)” You can even find up to 10 people living in a small house. Sometimes, if there are too many people you are denied the right to have food, or go to school. Sometimes the food you are given for the month doesn’t last for the whole cycle, you have to get food in other ways or starve. However you can’t say anything due to the fact that everyone else is going through the same problem. Since many refugee children don’t always make it with their family intact they are assigned houses, if you are abused in the house you were given you can’t complain provided that many other children are facing the same thing. Hence going around camp and asking the children about their own individual problems and then discussing it, is a great way to try and make their lives more positive. It is also efficient because many children might be facing the same problems. Baruani had also felt the pain of losing family.

Losing his own family members and facing his own problems inspired Baruani to help others like him to find their family members and lead a happier life. Knowing what it feels like to face obstacles alone, Baruani didn’t want other children to go through what he did. “It has helped parents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) trace children they were separated from (UNHCR).” Leaving their country is bad enough. Losing their parents before they could reach safety is worse. Arriving into a new country and living in a camp with so many other strangers. Most children wouldn’t understand why they had to run or why they have to stay there especially since it is an unsatisfying living conditions. The radio program helps. They can talk about the children’s parents. Provide a verbal description of the child is and who the children is, this would help reunite families. “Soldiers gathered my mother and I into our house and set it on fire while my mother and I were inside. I managed to escape through a door, leaving my mother alone and that's probably where she died - I don't know.(PBS Newshour)” Baruani’s father being killed in the war and having to leave his mother in a burning house while Baruani escaped to safety would be traumatizing. Not knowing if your mother died is frustrating. However the worst part would be the guilt of leaving your mother there. Baruani knows what it feels like to lose his parents, forever. His past pushed him to help his peers so they don’t go through the same thing as him. He feels their pain and wants them to have a happier life. His past inspired him to help other people lead a happier future.

Baruani is still helping refugee children by talking about their problems on his radio show, and of course reuniting lost families, as a result of his experience in losing his family. Also facing his own problems, due to the abuse he himself received in his assigned house. Using his radio station to help his peers with common problems in a refugee camp and uniting families, Baruani has made the lives of children throughout the refugee camps more optimistic about their current lack of a comfortable shelter and adequate food, water and education. This is why Baruani is the 2009 Children’s Peace Prize winner; Baruani continues to use his radio system to stand up for the 450,000 refugees (especially children). Despite the limited resources Baruani persevered and used his own way to help his friends. Baruani is an inspiration to all children who have limited resources or are going through trying times. He has set a great example that you can always do a little something to spread the love around. Everyone should be safe, with their family with proper homes and enough food and water.

Tales Of 14 Years

I’m from power-cuts.

From one AC and loud crows crowing early in the mornings,

I’m from the streets outside my house, littered with cow dung

I’m from the juicy Guava and the stolen Jambu

I’m from cold-coffee and lost retainers

From the fascinating myths my grandparents told me

I’m from “come and get me” and “no one cares!”

From “turn that music down!” AND “what do you want?”

I’m from a BIG pink dog, who till this day remains unnamed.

I’m from Dragon Tales and The Beatles, listening to the familiar sound of my brother’s long forgotten radio

From hours of hide AnD SEEK, a very competitive game of tag

Shoved onto the top-most shelf in my closet, filled from cover to cover with memories of weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, and pictures of me in a bath.

Times before I was born and after.

And some blank pages waiting for me to fill in with my own memories.

Growing Up Together...They Hated Me

"Differences between us did not cause hatred; hatred caused differences between us." This quote had a huge impact on me. It took me back to all those times when I thought I hated someone. Someone I just loathed, maybe because they were annoying. Maybe because they were too clingy. I don't every little thing that made them seem somewhat alien, that made me not like them. Is it because I just started hating them, so that became our difference? All these questions rose into my mind. It really made me think about myself as a person. Did I just do what my friends did, hate who they hated. Then the moment I started hating them it became the difference between us? It forced me to look deeper into not only myself but into my friends. Do they make hatred the difference between their enemies? Soon I came to the conclusion that not everybody is perfect. It is human nature to want to fit in. To want to please someone. So you try to be like them so you can have a group of people you can call friends. But I know I have done this; I have made hatred the difference between some of my enemies. But other times I stood up for people and only used my own opinion on whether I liked them or not!

Stuff

My Black Messiah

The Holocaust, a time of great darkness in the history of humanity. The time where thousands were hurt and millions slain. When even your closest friends became enemies. When you would whisper help but no one would hear. The pain and suffering and no mercy to the weak. Only the rich and the Aryans survived. Sonia Weitz was unfortunately a Jew during WW2. And yes she went through the concentration camps, starvation and torture. She had most of her family taken away from her, only her and her sister survived from her family. So we watched a video where she was talking about her experiences and she read us a few poems and the one that touched me the most is 'My Black Messiah'.

First of all 'Messiah' is known as the savior of humankind for the Jewish religions and the Christians. I could really connect to the parts of this poem. I cannot say that I know what it felt like to be in her position because I have not gone through all the abuse that she had been through but I can connect to being in pain and after a long time a person comes and saves me. When I was little I would be the youngest in the house so I would get lonely because everyone had something to do and didn't want to play with me. So I would go out to the balcony, sit down and watch all the people walking by. Then I would stick my head in between the rods on the balcony. It would fit in easily but after a while when I wanted to leave my head got stuck. I pulled it back and my head got squashed and it really hurt. I started to cry. After what seemed like hours my grandma came rushing and gently took my head out. So I kind of understand the relief although mine would not have been as great as hers!

When she was reading it out in the video I wondered what the soldier must have felt when he walked into that cabin. "A flood of devastating pain, his innocence forever slain." What he must have felt when he saw all those people. There stick thin bodies, eyes gaunt. Their bodies gone through months of exhaustion, beating and starvation. More than half of them sick, slowly wasting away. All cramped into such a small space in such gruesome conditions. The pain he must have felt for those people. The guilt that his country let this happen for so long! What had gone through his mind, what did he think of Hitler or the Nazis? And when he locked eyes with Sonia, the girl who is half dead just trying desperately to stay alive for her sister. Those big sad eyes and what did he think? What emotions did he feel? What did he see in those eyes? It just makes me wonder!