Coalition for Adolescent Girls Memo

Living in a country where everyone has equal opportunities and where one can be prosperous, it is possible not to be able to recognize that outside of the United States there are many other countries where women specifically are not given equal opportunities. Unlike men, women are not given equal opportunities in education, health care and even freedom as a whole. In developing and in third world countries young girls are forced to marry men whom they do not know at such an early age and because the marriage is not based on love these girls are exposed to physical and sexual violence. These types of marriages force women to take place in sexual intercourse, bolstering the family size and population as a whole, thus reducing the possibilities for a better life style.  Being less than men, job opportunities are drastically reduced for a woman seeking employment. The few jobs that women could manage to obtain, according to a statistic from the Girls Count a Global Investment & Action Agenda, would only supply them with only a dollar or two dollars a day.  The Coalition for Adolescent Girls is an organization that has studied and observed the lifestyles of young girls in developing and third world countries that is promoting a change in infrastructure for them to have a better and a prosperous future. Although there are millions of poor and needed people in the world this organization focuses mainly on girls.  The studies that the organization has made noted that if girls have equal opportunities in education and in health, they will most likely marry at a much later age, if they do marry, she will bear fewer children and she will know how to properly take care of them so that they could be healthy. This organization is successfully running thanks to the United Nations Foundation alongside the Nike Foundation not to mention other thirty supportive organizations. With enough resources and support from these organizations the coalition takes upon many challenges to aid the young girls in need of a better future.  To mention some of the organization’s goals, one of them includes providing schooling for young girls up to secondary school, to achieve this scholarships and money are provided to them if they have no available money. The money is also invested in developmental funding; this means that the organization tries to encourage other foundations to address to the society the problems that young women are facing. Also they also strive to focus investments on the development of the girls, from their basic needs up to their personal interests, and the money would be provided to them at the early age of ten.  Surpassing the years in which they are entitled to marry, aid from this organization in particular does not end, there is further assistance provided for them. To better suite any need that these girls might need in the future, services will remain accessible, private, accommodating and like it was previously mentioned customized. Health benefits such as check-ups, pregnancy tests and other examinations promote a better life style not only for her but for any children she could conceive in the future. Going a step further, financial programs and after-school tutoring are available for the girls so that they could get a deeper education concerning economic assets and any type of financial literacy. To help further generation of girls, current teens are educated about the rights that they have as human beings. They are taught to make the change in the world, enforce laws and policies and protect themselves from any abuse either from a marriage, family or the government.  The Coalition for Adolescent Girls website provides the user with much information. The site provides statistics as to the percentage of girls that are in need of a better education, life style and more. Aside from providing valuable stats, the site also presents to the reader the organization’s plans and agendas for the future.  Last but not least, by sharing the plans, The Coalition for Adolescent Girls gives a broad idea of the changes that could be accomplished if we aid these girls in accomplishing themselves and from escaping their lives of poverty and oppression.

What Is Peace?

First of all peace begins with one self, if we see the world with such negativism: complaining about people, treating others indifferently and being sad for the most part of our lives among other things then obviously we have no inter peace. If we experience harmony in equilibrium, love for our own selves and for others then we do have peace. Another concept I think is fundamental for describing the simple but complex word is wisdom. Many discussions, fights and even wars break out because we are not capable of having a deep understanding of those that surround us or we do not make a difference as to what is wrong and what is right and let ourselves be guided by our own reactions and intuitions without really thinking about what we are doing. This happens all the time in simple discussions we have with one another, sometimes we simply decide not to open our hearts and minds to what we are being told and if something does not seem correct to us we attack it because we do not have a deep understanding of it. Yet another component for the term peace is that we need to be humble. Ambition and desire lead us to act in very strange ways even making us do things that are morally incorrect, depending on the situation. If we are happy with ourselves, with what we posses, with our gifts, talents, family and friends then we seek nothing else to satisfy us. In conclusion, in order to have peace we must love and respect ourselves, have a deep understanding of others, determine what is truly right from wrong and be humble enough.

Documentary

It is quite astonishing to see how just one little seed is capable of transforming itself into a tree to produce fruit as well as to see how one single person can transform himself and the world that surrounds him. The doctor in the documentary is a live example that with dedication, perseverance and conviction goals can be accomplished. At times we limit ourselves to just doing the things we see more convenient to us, tasks where we are not required to struggle as much and we don’t step away from that. He on the other hand went that extra step in order to bring about a change in a marginalized society where poverty and unequal treatment towards women predominate. He had to adapt to an unknown culture and to the standards of living of these Middle Eastern communities within other things, all of this though for a prosperous future. He stated that for a better future education is a must, and I have to agree with his belief. We don’t necessarily have to go as far as Pakistan to see this, in Juarez and even here in El Paso, lack of education in high school and/or college are leading many teenagers to a lifestyle of drug dealing, causing the entire city to regress as a whole. Education, also allows people to have a basic understanding of various things, especially mathematics, politics and health in my belief; understanding that with proper sanitation the risk of ingesting life threatening nematodes/flatworms is greater reduced. If these marginalized people are educated on how the political system runs in their country they can defend themselves and fight for justice and equality. I witness this concept constantly with native people in Mexico, according to the law they are protected and should be granted benefits but since they are uneducated and unaware of this they go on about living without them. At last women, little by little are gaining their rights. It is quite sad to see in National Geographic magazines articles that mention and show pictures of women being beaten and abused because of culture and religion beliefs. But now small girls are put into schools so that as they grow older they will be able to be more independent; so that her children could also be brought up to be healthier. Aside from helping both the poor and the women to get a better education for their own good the economy will be boosted undoubtedly. More people will enter the workforce thus more production and exports will be available for the country’s economy. A single man with good projects to help a certain group of people has brought and will bring about a great amount of change, in a personal and at a larger scale. A single intention can bring about a whole lot of change.