Drum roll please.......*Drumroooooooooooool* *Drumrooooooooooooooooool* I have finally achieved my goal of $45 for my Dare to Remember dare. Yes, with the constant donation, support and enthusiastic attitude that I have received from friends and family, I have done it! I'm overflowing with emotions (I'm not kidding) and would like to thank them for such generosity and kindness they showered me. But my dear Reader, the battle against HIV/AIDS is definitely not over. As long as children are left orphaned, families broken, and whole communities and generations are lost to this disease, it is not over. The little difference that we make as individuals can contribute to the grander schemes of things. We have to fight this battle, even at one family at a time. We have to, we just have to.
MDGProject.........
Monday, December 13, 2010
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
So, it's Monday, that day of the week where we just feel down and sad. Well, today's Monday was different. Last week, we started watching Blood Diamond starring Leonardo di Caprio, a movie that chronicles and unveils the secret side of that "Oh!So fantastic, shiny little stones that we have to have"......This side is rather very dark, evil yet undoubtedly real. Lives of people, innocent people have to be spent for our wants. Yes, even I am guilty of this, not diamonds per se, but other material goods. Homes are burned, people are killed and there is a great, great possibility that those who commit these deeds are children. Children who should be enjoying their childhood are instead turned into some drugged, cruel monster. I'm lucky, very, very lucky and I thank God for it because I have not lived to experience such tremendous and horrifying experience. It is disheartening that some organization or institution would have an indirect way of affecting this crisis of child soldiers, by allowing it to continue and become the norm in a continent most plagued with problems. Is there a silver lining? I do not know, I can't look into the future. But our future and those child soldiers' future lie between our own selves. It is not enough for the issue to be a passing subject, it is an embarrassment to the highest degree. We have to be actively engage for one reason: We are all humans and that is not human. That is the only reason that we need.
As you know 'tis the holiday season and my first semester is just about to end. So, I thought I would enjoy it (the holidays) better if instead of doing one huge blog entry each Friday and Saturday, I'll do a paragraph each day. It's easier for me and I could talk about a range of things concerning current events and my MDG project. Speaking of which, here it is.........
MDG Project Update:
So its been three weeks now since I've last logged in Facebook except for the weekends. It doesn't sound challenging but I really do have to talk my extended family elsewhere especially now that it's the holidays. I miss them very much and it is a way to keep me sane in times of troubles. The dare is going great, I haven't really advertise it to my class because I thought I should keep it sort of for close friends and family. Also, I barely talk to some of the people in my class and asking them for donations straight up is (I think) very much rude. I'm almost at my goal of $50, I just need about three more days to fulfill the dare. I'm feeling kinda ashamed for raising that meager amount (compared to others) but every bit helps!
The founder of the foundation, Stephen Lewis has a wonderful book called: Race Against Time. I've only read two chapters but it is so engrossing that everyday after I read it, I ALWAYS think or remember an excerpt from the book. It is a (beyond) wonderful read.
The winter breeze is here (it has been for a long time..hehehe) and Christmas spirit is burning (in some parts of the world). This week was a very busy week because of one key event: The Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. Our school was involved in a worldwide teleconference with other schools concerning this critical subject. So, in the beginning of the week our class spent time in preparing and educating ourselves about climate change and resource consumption. We also intensely studied individual, national and economical factors contributing to those issues. Before I go on, I should point out that climate change is a natural occurring "event" that has happened in (many) years preceding. Now, that is cleared up things get muddier from then on. Different people from different stances on the political spectrum will tell you that it is either "We're all going to perish and die because of climate change and over consumption". While the other says "Don't worry, be happy, climate change is not real and there are sooo much resources in our Earth. Those that say otherwise are morons." I personally believe that humanity's action and growth has exacerbated the problem.
(Funny take on Global warming, Oops, I mean climate change)
So let's talk one specific factor (there's so much that one could write an epic about it). One huge factor contributing to the warming of the climate and the thawing of the ice caps is the industrialization of the next superpower, China and a contender, India. Both nations have a combined total of 2.5 billion people (I overestimated a little, 1.3 for China and about 1 bil. for India). That's almost half of the world's population. Imagine that. That's a lot of new cars in the road, forests to destroy (for farms) and landfills to fill. I'm not saying that we should stop these 2 behemoths from industrializing but I think we (the west) should put our thinking caps on and give them an alternative choice in industrializing or in the very least develop technologies and laws to lessen the impact on the environment. I mean, the West itself industrialized in the past and it would be hypocritical to say to China and India not to. I mean solar power for me should be further developed with government help (or funds) instead of giving them, in the forms of subsidies, to oil and gas GIANTS.
(Cool isn't it?)
One thing that is bothering me when discussing the environment and climate change is that I think people don't care anymore. I'm not some sort a super hippie, tree-hugger, pacifist person but I think that the environment is a key source for discussion and eventual action because WE LIVE IN IT. Recently, I found news that people are having "green fatigue". I shook my head when I saw that because if the Earth had a "human fatigue" we'll all be not here. We have to control ourselves from over consuming. But MDGProject, what about the economies and wouldn't the Earth eventually restore itself? Yeah, sure the Earth will restore itself but there isn't gonna be an Earth, when WE are done with it. To answer the economics part, how is money useful when you can't spend it on anything. The earth would be a barren wasteland, full of nothingness. To use a comparison, it's like putting oil on yourself and setting the house on fire. It's just plain simple and yet we find incredibly complex, like other things.
Sorry I didn't talk about the conferences (because they never achieve anything) and the behavior of the school that we got for the teleconferencing was just..just..just...........
Ryunosuke Satoro 
