Fighting For Girls' Education

“I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.”

-Malala Yousfzai


Why aren’t girls in schools? Women in many countries are seen as inferior or not worthy of an education. Pakistan is one of these countries; there’s even a rule established by the Taliban - a terrorist group - preventing girls from attending schools. Nothing had been done to solve this problem. People were terrified of this group because they would kill anyone who dared to defy them. Malala Yousfzai started to blog about this issue and soon she became a voice of defiance against this group. The Taliban felt threatened so they decided to act, they shot Malala and left her in critical condition. The Pakistani military has launched various operations against the group, but none of them have had a permanent outcome.

Malala had always wanted to be a doctor. She and her friends had always dreamed about one day being successful. Malala felt like a part of her was  being taken away by not receiving a proper education. She created a blog account to write about her feelings towards this injustice. Her posts were being read by many people all over the world and they raised awareness of the violation towards women’s right to an education. Her story became better known and people began writing about her. A New York Times documentary focusing on her life was released, many interviews followed, making Malala even more famous. She became the chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat. Her fight for girls’ education was finally recognized as she was awarded several prizes including the International Children’s Peace Prize. She was aware of the danger she was in by defying the Taliban, but she could have never anticipated what was to come.


The Taliban began to demolish schools, once they heard rumors about Malala’s blogs. "Five more schools have been destroyed, one of them was near my house. I am quite surprised, because these schools were closed so why did they also need to be destroyed?" Malala continued to blog about the issue and kept on thinking about her education. The Taliban’s attacks became more severe and more corrupt rules were established. On October 9th, 2012 a Taliban man shot Malala as she rode the school bus. The bullet went through her head, neck, and ended in her shoulder. Other witnesses were wounded, but not as gravely as Malala. She was close to death, but she survived. She’s in critical condition and is slowly healing from this despicable attack. The Taliban people said she should take this as a warning for they intend on ‘finishing the job’. Malala was later transferred to a hospital in the UK where she’s rehabilitating. The question is...who will stop the Taliban now?


Very soon after the shooting, the Pakistani military launched another large operation against the Taliban. The attack seemed to have worked, due to the fact that it sent some of the group’s leaders flying to other neighbor districts. The Swat had finally settled peace...but not for long. The Taliban group slowly filtered back into the city, terrorizing civilians and bringing harm to the Swat. The group killed various people associated with the Pakistani government. There’s an ongoing battle between the government and the Taliban. A least, now they’re doing something about it. Malala’s blog is what spread the word about the Taliban’s actions. Her work can’t be in vain, the military needs a better strategy in order to permanently eliminate this horrible group and finally bring peace to Pakistan, because how do we know for sure they won’t come back?


Malala is a symbol of courage and admiration, she fought for what she considered important. “We found her to be very bold, and it inspired every one of us.” This shows how a tiny spark like a young girl posting on her blog can make a difference and start a revolution. Even after being shot, Malala is still fighting and so should we. We should finish what she started. It is necessary to finally destroy this group so Pakistan can finally live in peace and girls just like Malala can pursue their dreams and be successful...because that is worth fighting for.

Sources: Taliban gun down girl who spoke up for rights   /   Wikipedia: Malala

Chaeli's Story

Maria Rojas
Humanities Period 1/2
Sharon Peters
October 24, 2012

Standing Up For People Like You

Cerebral Palsy is a disorder that affects over 15 million people worldwide. (Source) It is a condition that causes a physical disability and affects various areas of movement. Most people with this disability  don’t have enough money to attend therapy sessions or buy special devices. Not many people know about cerebral palsy, therefore they can’t give a hand. Fortunately there is someone that has stood up for these children and has given them a voice. Chaeli Mycroft, was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at a very young age, but she has not let that stop her from achieving her dreams. Chaeli created a campaign in South Africa which focuses on providing disabled children with all the gear and support they need. She is also making sure disabled kids are treated equally and that they can be the best they can be regardless of their disability.

Chaeli’s Campaign assists disabled children with special equipment, physical therapy and emotional support. When Chaeli first got her motorized wheelchair, she felt so free and independent for the first time that she wanted to give children like her the opportunity to experience that same liberty that changed her life. She deeply understands how irritating it is to need someone to push your wheelchair to go everywhere and how badly you want some freedom. She’s knows how all those disabled children feel and she wants to help them become more confident and free. One of Cheali’s campaign’s main focuses is to provide disabled children with assistant devices to help them move around without supervision or help. She helps over 3,000 children every year to fight against cerebral palsy and bec0me more independent with help of equipment and support.  Chaeli’s work is immensely helpful because many people with disabilities don’t have enough money to go to therapy sessions or buy assistant devices. Chaeli wants disabled children to look up to her and learn from her experience.

Chaeli has also inspired thousands of disabled children to think beyond their disabilities, keep on going and be the best they can be. She believes she can give children like her a voice and make them be heard. Cheali wants disabled children to be treated equally and fairly, just like any other non-disabled child; specially at school, where their disabilities don't interfere with their learning abilities. A child that suffers from Cerebral Palsy should not be discriminated in any way because they have the same learning skills as any other child, that’s one of the main purposes of Chaeli’s Campaign. Cheali believes that a disabled child can do whatever he/she set their mind to and they don’t have to wait for people to say its okay, because if they see a need then they should do something about it”. (Chaeli’s story) Chaeli wants children like her to have a great future and have a long, healthy life, that’s why she gives them hope and helps them overcome their insecurities.

Chaeli’s work has been extremely helpful, she has been a sister to children in need for help and she has given them a voice. She knew kids like her were worth fighting for. Chaeli wants to be an inspiration to children with this disability so that in the future they can also help people like them and continue her legacy. Chaeli decided to stand up for people like her and help them find happiness, which is extremely brave and admirable. What’s she’s done is immensely courageous because not many people can stand up for what they believe, but she did because she knows these children are worth it.

Where I'm from Poem

I am from warm and cozy evenings to chilly and sleepy nights.

I’m from wondering what snow feels like. 

From never ending celebrations and family reunions.

I’m from small, but deeply meaningful, flower filled gardens.

I’m from sour candy and Barbies. 

From Lazy town and Barney.

 I’m from singing in English and having no clue of what I’m saying.

From “Yo porque te quiero tanto?” to “Mi muñequita”.

I’m from Shakira’s home country, where there’s dancing and laughter everyday.

 I’m from listening to church bells and singing birds. 

From where family is all that matters.

Safely kept on my shelve, is a box where all my childhood memories live.

 Where I can hear my grandma’s laughter once again and I can see my parents dancing. 

Those memories are still in my heart because they made me become the person I am today; therefore they shall never be forgotten.

The Feudal System

“Father Francois, you are my honored guest. Please allow me to explain the Feudal system to you before you ask any questions of me. I am but a simple Farmer. In order to obtain land, lords go to king William and ask for some land and in exchange they have to make an oath and give something back, like knights or hospitality. If the oath was broken the king would take back his land and if the lord refused to give it back, the king was forced to take back his land through a fight.”

1066: Who Had The Best Claim?

After king Edward died, there was a battle between three men that desired to become king of England, Harold Godwinson, Duke William and Harald Hardrada.

As we all know only one could take the crown and in the end Duke William became king. In my opinion, Harold Godwinson should have won the battle and become king, he was a pure english man and king Edward himself asked him to be king. I believe that an english man should have reigned England, not some foreigner. Harold was a noble and the head of the English army, he deserved the crown. He fought bravely and smartly in the battle, like a true english soldier; but he was out-smarted by the normans and collapsed. I think he should have been king because he was a strong and clever man and those are some of the qualities a great king has.

Eve Shalen And Her Experience

To think about:

How is ostracism different from other forms of bullying? When does ostracizing or excluding someone from a group become part of bullying?
Ostracism is different from bullying because it means to isolate or exclude someone from a specific group or society, while bullying is when someone uses power to hurt or intimidate someone weaker. Ostracizing can becomes part of bullying when a person is trying to hurt or make the person believe he/she is weaker by excluding them.


1.What’s familiar about the incident Eve describes?
What's familiar about Eve's story is that I've been through this as well and it is very annoying and confusing when someone dislikes you for no reason at all. I've learned to evade those people and stick with my own friends.

2.What surprised you?
What surprised me the most was how frequently we try to make the 'populars' like us and try to blend in with them even though we never really liked them or the things they did, and soon we start forgetting who our true friends are. I say this because I have seen this happen and I have been that true friend waiting.

3. How does Eve’s story relate to bullying? Was she bullied? Did she bully? How would you explain her behavior? (perpetrator/bystander/victim?) Make sure you justify.
Eve's story relates to bullying because the elite group constantly hurt a couple of girls on purpose just to show them that they were superior. Eve sure was bullied at some point, she got picked on by the 'popular ones'. She also became a bully herself without her realizing it. She was invading the other girl's privacy and we all know that truly hurts. I would say Eve was both a victim and a bystander. Victim because she was being harassed in the beginning and a bystander in the end because she didn't try to stop the harassment towards the other girl when she could.


4.How did Eve’s need to belong affect the way she responded when another girl was being mocked? Why does her response still trouble her? How do you like to think you would have responded to the incident?
Eve was desperate to fit in and belong that she forgot that the girl they were mocking felt the same way she had felt when they bullied her. After thinking it over she realized that her actions had been despicable and she truly regretted it because she realized that she would feel horrible if they did that to her. I would like to think that I would have tried to take the diary from them and given it back to the girl because I would have known how it felt to be picked on and I wouldn't have wanted anyone to feel that way.

5. Eve concludes “Often being accepted by others is more satisfying than being accepted by oneself, even though the satisfaction does not last.’ What does she mean?
What Eve means is that you can't make people accept you, it just happens. She was trying so hard to be accepted that she forgot that it was not true acceptance and that it was just momentary, it was never for real. If you want people to accept you for who you are, then you should accept yourself first.

Values & Choices

1. Think about a time you witnessed bullying/ostracism/peer
pressure/exclusion/discrimination/violence. How did you respond? How you wish you had responded? What stopped you from responding that way?

I have experienced pressure in my last school back in Colombia. There was a fight going on between my two best friends. They couldn't stand each other and I was forced to chose who I will be friends with. I didn't want that, so I decided to be friends with both of them. It was very challenging because both of them would talk bad about the other and I they were not the same. I just decided to take a break and let this all get better by it self but it never did. And soon they both hated me for not being on their side. I had lost both of them. I wish I had tried to stop their fight and try to fix things but instead I just stood by and watched our friendship collapse. What stopped me from responding that way was that I was scared that they both would go against me and that I would lose them as friends.


2. Where have we seen examples of bullying/ ostracism/exclusion occurring in texts studied so far this year- factual as well as fictional?

In the boy in the stripped pajamas there was clear ostracism towards the jews. In the Hunger Games it gets a bit tricky, I think there are examples of exclusion towards District 12 because they are considered to be weak and not so important. And in the shadow of the Minotaur, the boy (I don't remember his name) was being bullied by Adams.

The Courage of Le Chambon

The story I got was 'The Courage of Le Chambon'. This short reading is about the people of Le Chambon and how they turned their community into a hiding place for jews from all over Europe. They didn't call themselves heroes because they believed that it was something they had to do. They knew having the Jews there was a big risk but they still did it and they all refused to let the Nazis go in. I was really amazed by how a group of people could be so courageous and say no to the Nazis. It makes me think that that always happens, there are always good and bad people and you decide who you want to be with and of course who you want to be like. The people from Le Chambon didn't have to help those Jews, but they still did it because they believed that we are all brothers and we must help each other in good and bad times.

"Victory" By Sonia Weitz

The poem I chose to write about is “Victory”, by Sonia Weitz. This poem is about Sonia’s first and last dance with her father in the concentration camp. It is pretty emotional, the words she used and the way she arranged them give the poem sadness, but also a tiny bit of joy. Joy, because despite all the chaos and horror around them, they were able to have a moment of happiness and love. I really like how Sonia set up the last three lines of the poem. She arranged them in a way that shows how time is running out and that sooner or later her father would be sent to the gas chamber and eventually die. Of course there is not such thing I can compare to her experience but the immense love for her father reminds me of something I have. It gets me teary when I think of how I would feel if that happens to me, first they take my mother away and then after all I’ve suffered, they want to take my dad as well! I wouldn’t be able to take such pain. Her experience makes me think ‘I’m so lucky!’. I have all my family at home, we are not being threatened and we are free, free to live and die when our time comes.

Adolf Hitler's Rise to Power

The question most people ask is 'How is it that Hitler took over Germany?'. Well, first of all, Hitler was a very lucky man. He had many opportunities to brainwash German people and slowly gain more and more popularity. Here are two events that helped Adolf Hitler rise from being a homeless artist to chancellor of Germany.

The German Hyperinflation

German people suffered a lot when they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. First came the hyperinflation. The German money wasn't worth anything, due to the fact that Germany was forced to pay a huge amount of money to the Allied Forces in order to make reparations. Hitler saw this as a great opportunity. He created a political party offering workers work and things he saw Germans would be interested in. His speeches impressed some but the majority didn't take him seriously. Until things got worse and they were forced to look for a solution for their economical problem.

The Reichstag Fire

At this period of time Hitler had already gained lots of popularity and power. In 1933 there was a suspicious fire in The Reichstag. Hitler saw this a great opportunity to get rid of his biggest rival, the communists. He blamed the fire on them and got away with it. Communists started getting arrested and sent to concentration camps. After this Hitler made the Nazi Party the only political party in Germany.

New Nazi Laws In Germany

1) Who could now be defined as a "Jew"?

People couldn't only be identified as a Jew just because of their religious belief, but also anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents. It did not matter if the person was christian what mattered was if they had any bit of Jewish blood.

2) What was meant by "Aryanizing" Jewish Businesses?

What was meant by "Aryanizing" Jewish Businesses was that Jewish managers and workers were fired and then replaced by Non-Jewish germans who then bargained prices that had been fixed by Nazis.

3) How were Jews who were professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.) restricted?

The restriction professional Jews had was that Jewish doctors were prohibited to treat non-Jews, and Jewish lawyers were not allowed to practice law.

4) What did Jewish identity cards need to include now?

Jewish identity cards needed to include a red "J" stamped on it, and Jews also needed new middle names like "Israel" for males and "Sara" for females.These type of cards helped the police identify who was a Jew and who wasn't.

5) What was the "Law of the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People"?

This law requires all engaged people to adquire a certifucate of fitness to marry from the heath authorities. These certificates were refused to those suffering from "hereditary illnesses" and contagious diseases and those attempting to marry in violation of the Nuremberg Laws.

Targeting The Communists And Other Social Parties

1) What are Civil Rights? What are some we have?

Civil rights are the rights of the civilian, in other words the rights you have for leaving in an specific country. Some rights we have are the right to vote and freedom of speech.

2) Why might some of Hitler's measures in abolishing personal freedoms and Civil Rights be seen by some as a positive, or necessary move?

I think that perhaps some of Hitler's measurements in abolishing personal freedoms and civil rights might have been seen as positive by some due to the fact that they were in crisis and they believed that Hitler was going to get them out of there so they wanted to stop anyone from interfering in Hitler's plan to bring them back up.

Was The Treaty of Versailles- fair or unfair?

There are many ways to look at the treaty of Versailles, but the way I see it is in a fair way. I believe that the Germans deserved their punishment after all the chaos they caused. They didn't only start the Great War but they also forced Russia on an even worse punishment just a year earlier. In my point of view, punishing Germany was a good thing, but there's also a bad side to it. Because Germany felt so humiliated and betrayed after the treaty was made, they wanted revenge which then caused WWII just twenty years later. Of course that Germany's punishment was pretty harsh but they deserved it somehow. They are guilty for being the first country to start the Great War and should take full responsibility for it.