A Healthy and Peaceful World

The world has been in dire need of peace for many years, as soon as we are done with a war we start yet another one. If it is not some war we have some economical crisis affecting every country and the world market. All of these things seem far too complicated for any one person to try and fix. We do not need to fight for world peace when we can simply bring peace in small pieces to our own community.

            My short term goal to improve peace is helping those who are poor and are in need of warm clothes, shelter and food during the winter. There are so many people out there that pray to have something to eat once a day and hopefully make it through the holidays. I would like to volunteer not only during the holidays but throughout the year by donating food, clothes and help feed the homeless. Make a small change in our city that will create a big impact not only in our city but in other cities. This will create a trend that will make others want to help as well and make the life of the needy a bit better.

            For my long term goal I would love to target a very serious and growing problem, obesity. Everyday hundreds and thousands of people in America are diagnosed with diabetes or other diseases related to obesity. What is most unfortunate is not only that adults are becoming obese but children as well. Children from all ages are adapting to their parents sedentary way of life, picking up all the bad trends that America has out there especially fast food. It has already been predicted that by 2050 about 45 to 50% of the U.S. will be overweight and obese. My career will be focused on training athletes as their strength and conditioning coach, but I will focus my attention to this problem which is far more urgent. I want to go to schools and help students realize that eating fast food all the time, processed foods, not exercising at all and sitting at home watching T.V. will affect their lives in the future.

            I will do anything that I can to make a difference in everyone’s lives especially children because they are the ones that need it the most. My dream is to have a country with people who are conscious of their eating, staying fit and helping their children grow the same way. The healthier everyone is the less the government will have to spend on “sick care” which will obviously leave more money for the government to spend on other things.

India's seat in the U.N.

             Obama has announced that he is backing up India in terms of getting India a permanent seat in the United Nations. He is clearly trying to promote favoring alliances for the U.S. and trying to establish peace with them. This was obviously a very surprising move as he wants to reform the United Nations into an efficient, credible and legitimate body. Helping India have a permanent seat in the U.N. will bring not only the U.S. economy to an improvement but the world economy as well. This is a very smart decision from Obama as it has already been predicted that India will eventually become a major world power.

Nelson Mandela who worked so hard for peace in his country also focused on improving outer alliances with other countries so they could improve their economy. He knew that the only way to get South Africa out of poverty was to involve themselves in the market economy from the U.S. and the world. One way he also managed to improve it was by promoting Rugby in South Africa so they could get more publicists.

Based on today’s society and what has transpired in India with President Obama, Mandela would have called this a very smart play. If Obama is able to establish good relationships with rising powerful countries it will improve the U.S. economy. Not only will it improve it but it will guarantee us not falling into such a big recession. Nelson Mandela might have been under a bit of different circumstances because his country was in complete poverty unlike the United States, but their goals were exactly the same. They used similar strategies, Mandela asked the U.N. to lift the economic sanctions after he took office. These sanctions were put there because the apartheid regime was in charge, this obviously limited South Africa’s economic growth. After Mandela got help from the U.N. the economy from South Africa increased dramatically.

Obama and Mandela both have used the U.N. to strengthen their countries economy, even though Obama’s has a more worldwide view than just his country. Nelson Mandela faced all the similar challenges our society is facing today. He faced violence, war, discrimination, injustice and economic problems. Yet he was never afraid to step up to the plate and do whatever it takes to get his country to prosper. He truly believed in peace but not as much as other peace activists, he tried to never use violence but there were times where violence was needed to settle extreme levels of chaos. Yet even though Obama tries to settle things with peace and take action as the President of the U.S. he can’t really make any changes because he worries too much about politics and what people will think.

            Mandela would have gone up to the U.N. just like Obama did but present a much powerful and honest argument. Instead of giving one long speech about it and being gentle he should have been more aggressive and strong. This concerns not only the economic status of the most powerful country but rather the economy of the majority of the nations around the world. Mandela would have made all of these politicians and U.N. representatives open their eyes and realize that making alliances and establishing a good relationship with a country that is rising economically is not such a bad idea. In fact it is probably the best thing these politicians could do, they are always complaining about a country that needs help with money and so we lend money or we borrow money instead. Nelson Mandela went through hell and back throughout his life in prison and in South Africa as a child, fortunately this did not break him as he learned from this experience what it is needed for success. This is why he would have left no question in anyone’s mind that giving India a permanent seat in the U.N. is a crucial step for improvement. The strength that he would have delivered in his speech would have been much stronger as he would have never cared how this sounded or how this might have made him look.

           

Peace for Human Rights

There are so many people around the world that have been abused, harassed, have had their rights as citizens violated and nobody ever realizes how much help they need. The truth is men and women are at constant risk of being abused by their local government, government officials, law enforcement, criminals and sometimes terrorists. The ranges of illegal acts go from racism, infringing upon human rights to violence and killing. These deeds always go unpunished; people are afraid to stand up for themselves and remain silent, because of this no one is able to know what is happening there. Innocent people are being treated in the most inhumane ways around the globe, yet no efforts are made by other countries or the United Nations because they do not want to get involved and decide not to look into it.

The Human Rights Watch was made with the sole purpose of protecting people, they focus international attention where human rights are abused, and hold law breakers accountable for their crimes. This organization has decided to take action by doing investigations if crimes are committed against men, women and children. They have more than 280 staff around the world, which includes a wide variety of human rights experts such as lawyers, journalists and country experts. They publish more than 100 reports and articles about conditions in over 90 countries and generate media around the world. This human rights group is mainly focused on educating people around the world than offering actual services. This organization uses all types of discourse to communicate with people around the globe such as internet, email, newsletters, reports, journals, documentaries, and photo essays. By publishing articles and reports they are able to get the attention of the United Nations, U.S. and countries in Europe that can provide strong legal help for the abused people.

This international organization has had many successes including a recent documentary about the violence that emerged in Northeast Congo in 2009. Before the documentary the attack had been unpublicized and after it was released it caught the attention many countries and was even on the front page of the New York Times. This publication clearly caught the attention of the U.S. and of President Barack Obama. The Obama administration has agreed to help end the violence by putting the criminals to justice, work with local authorities and develop strategies on how to protect civilians. Human Rights Watch focuses mainly on human rights abuses. Examples of these cases are abuses by Chinese security forces in Tibet and government failure to provide relieving care with pain medicines for children in Kenya.

They also focus on gender discrimination, including a case of a degrading rape test in India where they give victims of rape the “finger test” to see if they regularly have sexual intercourse. They also do many reports on war topics. An example would be a report they wrote about a recent bombing in Uganda that killed 76 people. Human Rights Watch has demanded that the culprits be caught which are believed to be linked to Al Qaeda. Human Rights Watch has done an amazing job at bringing peace within countries and with countries as well. They have worked for thirty years on it and will keep trying to bring justice around the world. They have offices in various countries; this ensures that everyone can get the help they need. This relies on donations that people make which helps them send researchers into the field, apply tension and pressure on governments, corporations, and rebel groups. Finally, their website provides detailed information on how anyone can take action and help them put pressure on governments and policymakers in different countries.

"An enemy is a person whose story we have not heard."

We often believe that every person out there cannot be trusted, because we do not know anything about them. Immediately we assume the worst of them based on their appearance, rather than focus on their personality. If we do not know what story lies behind them doesn't mean they have to be our enemies. If we get to know each other we will immediately realize how wrong we were about that person. This I believe is the reason the world is in such chaotic conditions. Nobody wants to take their time getting to know someone inside and out. If this behavior could be changed the world would be a much peaceful place, not only people could be changed but countries as well. Finally, I believe that having the courage to meet new people and try to get to know their story would make each one of us a better person.

Building Peace

Peace can only be achieved by providing help to other countries and becoming close friends with them. Improving education in the Middle East is crucial to allow the people become more educated and more efficient for their country. We become closer and closer if we teach these people the skills and techniques that will help them be more successful. Both boys and girls should be allowed to have education not just men. There are people from America who are going to these remote villages to teach kids and adults how to read, write, use computers, etc. The documentary Building Peace clearly shows us that we can learn from each other’s cultures. They provide help to the people in many ways; this is a positive step on making sure they do not turn into our enemies. Becoming friends and allies is crucial to improve our relationship with their country and other countries surrounding them. This will ensure that another war doesn’t break out by acts of terrorism.