Fidel

Living in Miami and living with a Cuban parent and grandparents, I must say that my ideas and perceptions of Cuban history have been shaped by the stories I've heard. All my life I've heard stories about Castro, and the impact he had on Cubans. I've heard about the destruction he brought to thousands of families, about the thousands of families he separated, and about the thousands of those he killed for going against what he thought. I also heard the story of my grandmother's family run pharmacy being taken away and given to the government, and how my grandfather had to leave the University of Havana because he didn't believe in what Castro was doing. I've heard the story of my grandparents having to start a new life in a new country, completely from scratch, with a new language, and people looking down upon them because they were immigrants. To me, Castro, and the Cuban government took so many things away from my family that its hard to look at a different point of view and think that maybe theres a different side to the story or that maybe Castro had a point in what he was doing. In watching the movie in class, however, I was able to see what Cuba was like pre-Castro, and the things that went on prior to his regime. In the stories I've heard, I never knew what went on before Castro and for me, seeing this movie is like a mini history lesson that was taken out when my grandparents were re-telling their story. It's good getting all your facts straight for a story, but watching this movie, for me, doesn't change what Castro did to my family, and the thousand others that suffered through Castro's regime.

Not your Ordinary Lesson Learned

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same"

My high school, Lourdes Academy, has sponsored a poor orphanage/boarding school in a small town in Ecuador for ten years. Mindo is located about two hours away from Quito, the capital city. Two years ago, the woman responsible for taking a group of girls every year came and made an announcement in one of my classes. She passed out applications and said that only 12 girls would be picked. I went home that night and discussed it with my parents, and although they were a bit skeptical because I was traveling to a third world country without them, they decided it would be a worthwhile experience for me; and that's exactly what it was. I filled out the application and got picked! When we drove into the school and stepped off the bus, a bunch of kids came running towards us, hugging us, and grabbing all our luggage. All these kids had dirty clothes, some of them didn't have shoes, and yet they had these huge smiles on their faces. You may be wondering why I started off this blog with this particular quote. On that first day I was there, me and this other girl form my school were playing with a bunch of kids in their playground when a little boy came up to me and asked me to push him on the swing. After that, John and I became inseparable, and I spent the remainder of my 10 days there with him. Although he was poor, he had this amazing smile on his face all the time. Every time we would find each other to play, he would run up to me jump onto me, and give me a huge hug. Leaving him on that 10th day was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Luckily, Spring Break of my senior year I was given the opportunity to go back to Mindo. I was so excited see John, and all the other kids I had made freinds with the summer before. Reuniting with John was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had in my life. We again, spent every day together, and I really don't think I've ever loved someone like I love John. He taught me something that I don't think any other seven year old in the world can teach me: materialism isn't everything; money isn't everything; and being truly happy does not require these things. When that last day came, I knew I had to face something I really didn't want to: saying bye to John. I just wished that I could take John home with me, and give him the life that I thought he deserved. John came up running to me, as he usually did, but this time, his eyes were full of tears. I began crying, and he hugged me, and then he whispered into my ear, "Daniela, te quiero." This broke my heart, and one of my friends had to pry us apart because our bus was leaving. Although I do not know the next time I will see John, we've talked on the phone on occasion and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him, or the lesson he taught me.

Darfur

I must agree with the fact that there are many social issues going on in the world that many of us know nothing about. It wasn't until my senior year in High School that I became aware of the genocide going on in Darfur. Darfur is a region of Western Sudan, a country in Africa. Since February of 2003, there has been a tribal conflict in this region. Due to many years of drought and oppression, two rebel groups, the SLA/M and the JEM, challenged the president of Sudan. President Omar al- Bashir's retaliation was nothing less than brutal. The president increased arms and began giving money to a militant group which became known as the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed is composed of Arab balck African Muslims. With the help from the Sudanese government, they have used methods such as rape, displacement, organized starvation and brutal massacres to wipe out entire villages. According to the United Nations, as of right now, the highest form of death is due to organized starvation; because villages have been destroyed, people have been mal-nutritioned and therefore die. The UN estimates that 450,000 have been killed from violence and disease, 2.5 million have been displaced, and on an average, 5,000 Darfurian men, women and children die per month. Although the UN has placed sanctions on Darfur and has sent peaceful orginizations to Darfur, this is not enough; the genocide continues. Some may question, "What can I, a collge student, do to help Darfur?" I think the best we can do is bring awareness to other college students who may not know about this issue. Last year, in my High School, a group of senior students formed a club called "Revolution." This was centered around bringing awareness about social issues going on in the world. One main issue they concentrated on was the genocide in Darfur. In many creative ways, they brought awareness to students like me that knew nothing about the situation in Darfur. I must say, what gets me the most out of this whole situation is seeing picture of small, innocent children with looks of hunger, confusion, and sadness in their eyes. It is for this reason that i want to bring awareness of this issue to my community.