Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Blue Bike

It is 7 am in a Saturday morning. I woke up and went down the stairs to eat my breakfast. It was omelet and bacon, it was so delicious. I went upstairs again to take a bath. I wore a blue t-shirt with long dark-blue jeans, my favorite color of all time. I went downstairs and told my mom that I was going around the park and would be back by 9. 

I used my sport shoes, went out of my house and started jogging around. I did not forget to bring my iPod with me. I put my headphones on and blasted music. Going to the park while listening to music calms me down, it relieves me from all of the problems I have in life. 

The park was amazing, it was really beautiful. I could see a lot of birds chirping, big green trees, people laughing while eating ice cream together, children running around and playing with the swing. The scent was very beautiful, it looked really fresh.  Nature is actually really beautiful, but people are just not that careful enough to realize that.

I jogged around until I saw something, something really distracting. At first, I tried to ignore what it was, but I was just so curious. I went closer and closer to the mysterious thing, and it turned out that the 'thing' was a bike, a light blue bike indeed! It was so beautiful, I had always wanted a bike, but I was so afraid of asking my parents to buy one. Plus, I could not ride a bike.

I came closer until I was in front of the bike. It was elegant and delicate in structure. Every angle of it seemed flawless. It had two seats: one for the rider and the other for the passenger behind the rider. It did not have the small basket in the front, but it would be better if it did. And the color was light blue, which was my favorite! This bike was just so amazing and perfect, I wished this bike was mine.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Hunger in Somalia

Hunger and malnutrition are very big and dangerous problems in this world. The people who suffer from these are more than the people who suffer from tuberculosis and AIDS in total. There are millions of people who suffer from these, and most of them are children.  A child dies in every 7 seconds due to hunger. There are a lot of countries that have people suffering from hunger, and one of them is Somalia. 

Somalia is a country filled with poor people. Food is very scarce there, and everyone there is searching for food and also hoping that they will still survive longer. A lot of people lost hope and they said that hunger crushed their dreams in the future. Most people left their children alone because they could not afford to buy food for them to eat anymore. So, the children have to search for their own food, and it is harder to search it now because it is currently summer. Trees died, and everything looked sad and dry.

Alex is a nine-year-old Somalian. He is so small and skinny because he only eats once in every few days. He is also one of the children who suffers from malnutrition. He only has a twelve-year-old sister named Margaret. She is a girl with a black hair, she is not very tall. Both of them were left by their parents a few months ago because they could not afford enough money to feed them.

It was a Friday, when they and their parents went to somewhere dark. Their parents decided to leave their kids, Margaret and Alex. They have planned it for a few weeks, they could not bare it any longer. They lied to Margaret and Alex by telling them to stay where they were and they will find food for them. Margaret and Alex agreed, and they stayed, waiting for their parents to come back to them while bringing food. But, that did not happen. It did not happen the way they thought it would be. They thought that their parents were just late, so they waited for a long time, until they got asleep. When they woke up, they realized that their parents left them all alone. They cried and tried not to remember that horrible incident. Margaret became braver than before, she started to hunt for food ever since. Their lives are very horrible and miserable. They do not even have any shelter to sleep in, they go to other different places everyday. 

"Do you have any food?" Alex asked.
"I have not found any. It is extremely scarce here," Margaret replied, while searching and looking for food to eat.
"I am very hungry," Alex said sadly. He has not eaten food for 3 days, he usually eats every 2 days. This proves that food is getting scarcer and scarcer everyday. 
"Me too, but what can we do now? We have been searching food for a few days."
"I used to dream to be a successful person. But it was ruined by hunger. I start to give up, knowing that it will never happen."
"Do not easily give up, Alex. I know that this is hard to happen because food is elusive here. But maybe, just maybe, there will be a miracle. Stop believing the negative things and start to believe the positive ones."
"You are right, but..."
"No buts, we just need to believe and pray to God."

Mr. Newton is the head of the "Feeding The Poor" organization. He is a tall, 30-year-old American, who is very rich, but he is a kind and generous man with a heart of gold. He does not boast, instead, he helps poor and hungry people by visiting their country to help them. He is a Christian, he believes that he was sent into this world to help other people and change the world into a better place for living. Instead of being a missionary or a pastor, he decided to stop living life while partying, and started to build an organization which helps people from other countries.

"Feeding The Poor" is an American organization made by Mr. Newton in 1999. Its main goal is to educate poor people so they will know how to grow their own food and build their own shelter. This organization is currently doing a research, and found out that Somalia is the country with the worst hunger and malnutrition problem. Mr. Newton directly decided to go there as quick as possible with his team so that Somalians can still survive before the time comes for them to die. They decided that they will stay there for a year. 

"We should stay there for a year to teach the Somalians. We should also build a few schools and hospitals there. Everything should be free. I really do not care about the money. I care about their lives," Mr. Newton said.
"What should we do now?" one of the team members asked.
"We should provide helicopters for a faster ride there. The people are in big danger, if we are too late, they will die," Mr. Newton replied.

Mr. Newton asked his team members to invite doctors, architects, gardeners and teachers, and to provide a few helicopters, enough food for them to eat for some years. Everything is already prepared well. They all went with the helicopters to Somalia. They hoped that they will be in time to save and rescue them from the edge of their deaths.When they reached Somalia, they decided to divide themselves into teams to help them to track the location of the hungry and poor people faster. After 45 minutes, they found the locations of the hungry Somalians, and they started to help them. Some of the team members helped the doctors to check all of the Somalians' health. Some members also helped the architects to build schools and hospitals. The rest of the members distributed the food that they need. It will be the teachers' job to teach them properly, gardeners' job to search the area good enough for plantation and teach them how to grow plants and crops, and the doctors' job to make sure that they are healthy.

Well, unfortunately, not all Somalians survived. Some of them were dead even before the team arrived. But, Alex and Margaret survived and were there too. They were checked and fed by the team members. Mr. Newton found them interesting. So, he decided to interview them.

"What are your names?"
"My name is Margaret, and this is my younger brother, Alex," Margaret replied.
"Ah, great names! How do you feel right now?"
"I felt really happy that we got food to eat. We are very grateful," Alex replied happily.
"Yes, we have a difficulty in finding food, it is very elusive here. We would like to thank you and your team for doing this," Margaret said.
"It is a pleasure to help you, kids."
"If you did not come, we would have been dead by now. So, thank you so much. You truly are a hero to all of us," Margaret said.

A year has passed. Since then, Somalia becomes a better place for living. People now can grow plants and crops, they also have their own houses. Every child is sent to school, most of them are very smart. Everybody is happy. But, it is time for Mr. Newton and his team to leave. 

"I'm really going to miss this place. I still remembered a year ago, when Somalia wasn't a good place to live. But now, it is a very good place to live in. Everybody became happier than before. Time flies so fast," Mr. Newton said.

He and his time bid farewell, and went home with their helicopters. They felt happy that they saved and rescued the hungry Somalians. Their mission is completed.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Hunger and malnutrition are big problems in this world. A child dies in every 7 seconds due to hunger. There are a lot of countries that have people suffering from hunger, and one of them is Somalia. 

Somalia is a country filled with poor people. Food is very scarce there, and everyone there is searching for food and also hoping that they will still survive longer. Most people left their children alone because they could not afford to buy food for them to eat anymore. So, the children have to search for their own food, and it is harder to search it now because it is currently summer. Trees died, and everything looked sad and dry.

Alex is a nine-year-old Somalian. He is so small and skinny because he only eats one in every few days. He only has a twelve-year-old sister named Margaret. Both of them are left by their parents because they could not afford enough money to feed them. Their lives are very horrible and miserable. Margaret is the one who searches for food everyday, but she cannot gain much, because food is very elusive.

Mr. Newton is the head of the "Feeding The Poor" organization. He is a tall, 30-year-old American, who is very rich, but he is a kind and generous man with a heart of gold. He does not boast, instead, he helps poor and hungry people by visiting their country to help them.

"Feeding The Poor is an American organization made by Mr. Newton in 1999. Its main goal is to educate poor people so they will know how to grow their own food and build their own shelter. This organization is currently doing a research, and found out that Somalia is the country with the worst hunger and malnutrition problem. Mr. Newton directly decided to go there as quick as possible with his team so that Somalians can still survive before the time comes for them to die. They decided that they will stay there for a year. 

"We should stay there for a year to teach the Somalians. We should also build a few schools and hospitals there. Everything should be free. I really do not care about the money. I care about their lives," Mr. Newton said.
"What should we do now?" one of the team members asked.
"We should provide helicopters for a faster ride there. The people are in big danger, if we are too late, they will die," Mr. Newton replied.

Mr. Newton asked his team members to invite doctors, architects, gardeners and teachers, and to provide a few helicopters, enough food for them to eat for some years. Everything is already prepared well. They all went with the helicopters to Somalia. They hoped that they will be in time to save and rescue them from the edge of their deaths.

When they reached Somalia, they decided to divide themselves into teams to help them to track the location of the hungry and poor people faster. After 45 minutes, they found the locations of the hungry Somalians, and they started to help them. Some of the team members helped the doctors to check all of the Somalians' health. Some members also helped the architects to build schools and hospitals. The rest of the members distributed the food that they need. It will be the teachers' job to teach them properly, gardeners' job to search the area good enough for plantation and teach them how to grow plants and crops, and the doctors' job to make sure that they are healthy.

Well, unfortunately, not all Somalians survived. Some of them were dead even before the team arrived. But, Alex and Margaret survived and were there too. They were checked and fed by the team members. Mr. Newton found them interesting. So, he decided to interview them.

"What are your names?"
"My name is Margaret, and this is my younger brother, Alex," Margaret replied.
"Ah, great names! How do you feel right now?"
"I felt really happy that we got food to eat. We are very grateful," Alex replied happily.
"Yes, we have a difficulty in finding food, it is very elusive here. We would like to thank you and your team for doing this," Margaret said.
"It is a pleasure to help you, kids."
"If you did not come, we would have been dead by now. So, thank you so much. You truly are a hero to all of us," Margaret said.

A year has passed. Since then, Somalia becomes a better place for living. People now can grow plants and crops, they also have their own houses. Everybody is happy. But, it is time for Mr. Newton and his team to leave. 

"I'm really going to miss this place. I still remembered a year ago, when Somalia wasn't a good place to live. But now, it is a very good place to live in. Everybody became happier than before. Time flies so fast," Mr. Newton said.

He and his time bid farewell, and went home with their helicopters. They felt happy that they saved and rescued the hungry Somalians. Their mission is completed.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Stopping and Ending World Hunger

Vanessa Vania
29 January 2013
Jakarta, Indonesia

To the editor,

I've seen a lot of people, adults, children, kids and babies who suffered from the world hunger. There are a lot of people who waited and begged everyday and every hour, just to get a little food, there are also people who got disease for eating raw food, and every 7 seconds, there are a lot of people who died from world hunger. While we are here, safe and sound. We get food so easily, but we don't appreciate every food we have, and instead of eating it, we throw it away. It's because we never suffered like they did, we never worked for our food. Also, for some people, it's because they're so rich, and they don't mind at all. They waste food everyday, not thinking that food is precious in the hungry people's eyes.

At first, I also wasted food, never knowing that it will one day run out. But after I knew that there are millions of people suffered from world hunger, I realized that what I did was wrong. I immediately thought and realized that we should end the world hunger and change the world into a better place. I am very sure that I'm not the only one who wants to end the world hunger.

I know, I am still too young to go to other countries with poverty, but I can begin with tiny, little steps, that maybe can slowly change the world, because it's never too late or early to help others. I believe that other Indonesian students also can get involved in helping world hunger too. 

The first thing we can do as students is to stop wasting food and appreciate what are given. We should not complain for getting food that we dislike or hate. We need to be grateful to God and our parents, because we don't need to suffer like others. I'm 100 percent sure that every student in Indonesia can do this simple step.

The second thing we can do is to spare a little money, so we can donate this to others who are in need of our help. Just imagine, there are millions of us in Jakarta. If each and one of us spare at least Rp. 5,000 from our money, we can have at least Rp. 5,000,000,000! Just a little  money from our pocket makes a lot of difference. 

The third thing we can do is to support organizations that have the goal to stop and end world hunger, such as UNICEF. Or maybe we can put up posters about stopping world hunger everywhere and every time we can. Maybe some of the people who passed by the poster got interested in donating and helping to change the world.

There are a lot of things we can do to stop world hunger as a student, even though we're still young. By doing just these few, simple, easy steps, we can change the world into a better place. I hope that by reading this, you will also be interested to change the world and spread this to everyone. Remember, it's never too late or early to lend a helping hand. Plant love, grow peace! 

Sincerely,

Vanessa Vania



Monday, January 14, 2013

Peace Symbol: Nuclear Disarmament

This famous peace symbol is called "Nuclear Disarmament". This symbol of freedom was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts. He, a conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the second World War, explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters (N)uclear and (D)isarmament. He later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater, more personal depth: 
I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.