Pies Descalzos Fundation (Barefoot Foundation)

Proudly, one more of our colombian singers, who is recognized internationally found a foundation when she was only 18 year-old.  She understood many people live in very bad conditions, especially many children.   In 1990, Shakira compromised herself to help children and their families to give them a better quality of life, education and a better position on the society. Shakira used the name Pies Descalzos because many people have to live in this conditions for the poor conditions they face in our country, a underdeveloped country with violence struggles every day in places where mostly poor people live and loose the few things they have, including mostly their lives.  Besides this, this name also represent for her the music album that sent her to be known internationally as an artist, a colombian singer, and helped her to find more contributions for the children the foundation helps.

Fortunatelly, the foundation has opened five schools in Barranquilla, hometown of Shakira, Altos de Cazuca, and Quibdo, places that have been strongly affected by the violence, foced movement of people to big cities, and where more than 4000 children can receive education, food and psicologic treatment.  Besides this, more tham 30000 people and their communities are help by the programs the foundation offers.  This is one more reason to be proud of being Colombian, not because of the violence, I feel proud of my people, because they are strong to face those problems and restart their lives, and other to help those to continue among the adversity!

Mom at Home

 

Since two years ago I don't see my family in Colombia. They came in 2009 to stay with us and wait for the birth of my niece.  Since that long, I couldn't see them in person, hug them and kiss them.  I miss them a lot, so my mom decided  that this year she could travel to USA to visit to us. My sister and I were very happy to heard that, so we prepared to receive her at home.  We move some months ago to a new apartment and it it very nice, and we really like it.

We received my mom and she has been sharing all her time with my niece because she saw her when she born, then when she was one year old in Colombia, when my sister travel to visit my father who was sick in that time.  Now, when my niece is almost two, we thought maybe she would be distant, but since the first day they started to be very close.

Now, we are planing to send my niece to Colombia with m mom to visit my sister and father.  They couldn't travel because my father is still weak of the illness he faced, Cancer, but he is now cure, or at least that's waht doctors say. I hope they get very excited when they can see my niece Camila dancing, singing, and playing as she does now...I will love to go to visit my family also very soon, maybe next summer! So I could visit my family, friends, and places I love. I miss my country with everthing it envolves about my life! 

A Hustler's Wife

A Hustler's Wife is the book I chose to read in my Reading and Writing IV class. This book introduced readers in a love and drama story, and really liked to find a interesting book to read. It tells the story of a 15 year-old gilr called Yarnise, who was a daugther of a well-know woman of a old-fashionated society.  Yarnie, as family and friends called her, met a guy, who was a hustler. They got married when she was still 15, and against of her mother disagreenment.  Her husband got in jail for a crime he didn't committed,  but she waited for her real for for the 10 years he spent on jail.  During all that time, Yarnie's husband, Des, allowed her to live her life in a free way because he did not want her to wait that long for him.

She started her own life dating with boys and hanging out with friends. She met a guy who loved her and whose she loved. One day she went to jail for 8 months to cover him of a gun the police found in hid car, and lost the big opportunity to go to the law school, which was her biggest dream. When he had the opportunity to return the favor, paying to get her free of a kidnap, but he left her for dead. With this she understood only Des would be the one to be loyal with her. She faced many street problems in her own skin, while her mother was always trying to help her. Ten years later, Yarnie could be mature enough to help her man to get out of the jail with the help of her mom and her law firm job's boss.  She promessed her mom to go school again and give her grandchildren, after she got married with Des in a very formal way, far away of the hustler's world.

Tips for Pronunciation

In my Speech Communication 68 class  we learned about the sound of the words, voiced and voiceless consonants, among other things.  Wit this class I  could get better in the pronunciation of some words that we usually use, but we never pay attention on. My teacher taught us that voiceless consonants are P, T, K, F, TH, S, SH, CH. On the other hand, the rest of the consonants are voiced.  Besides this, we learned which part of our mouth use to make the perfect sound.

For example, to pronounce the 'TH' sound, we have to blow air between the top teeth and the flat tongue, so 'Thanks' is not pronounce as 'Tanks', 'Zanks', or 'Zenks'. The blowed air let us pronounce the the word 'Thanks' we want to say. One more thing we learned is that words, such as could, would, and should omitt the 'l' sound, and the 'ou' sounds as a short 'u'.

Finally, the English language has three different endings for the past tense of the words: 'T', 'D', and 'ED'. We only need to follow three rules to know which one to use in each word.

1. If the base word ends in a voiceless consonant (P,K,F,S,SH,CH) except T and TH, the past tense is pronounced as a 'T' sound.  (asked, laughed)

2. If the base word ends in T or D, the past tense is pronounced as a 'ID' sound. (minded, lasted)

3. If the base word ends in a voiced sound, except D, the past tense is pronounced as a 'ID' sound. (followed, changed).

Gay Adoption

 Every day we get surprise for the changes in our society that make us think sometimes the world is getting crazy; however, some of those changes are consequences of what we do at home and how we face life. One of the most controversial topics to talk about is the gay adoption because many people have many reasons against of it, mostly the reliogious community. On the other hand, many other people have reasons in pro of this, as personally I do. I think every human being is free to live life in the way we think is better for us if we don't affect anyone else.

In this special case, many people think gays are not a good example of a citizen at any place on the world, even worst that they are not a good image for a child who is growing up close to them. Well, I think that if we respect their rights as citizens and they keep rising children with love, education and a home where they have whatever they need, they deserve to be parents.  Every day we can see at the news how many "mothers" or "fathers" abandonate or kill children because they dont want them, because the don't have the facilities to rise them, or because they are inmerse in drugs and alcohol. For myself, parents are not who make you, parents are the people who give you happiness and love, and many gays have this for many foster children who need it.

Mi Sangre Fundation

Juanes is a Colombian singer, Juan Esteban Aristizabal, who started singing with some friends in the city where he was born, Medellin. With the time they started a band that sang Spanish Rock and became famous in our country. The name of the band was Ekhymosis. They were together for many years, but once they decided to disolve the group.  After this, Juanes became a soloist and his career grew up fast. Now he is a excelent and famous artist know all over the world, winner of 17 Grammy awards and a social leader, know for his big philanthropy sense and proximity to the social and humanitarian conflicts in the world, especially in Colombia.

As many people know, my country lives a ongoing war between the guerrillas and the militia, but not only them suffer the consequences: hundreds of innocent people die every day victims of the violence, but many others had to face the violence with a trace on them for their whole lives; children and adults every day fall down as victims of landmineslosing their lives or loosing a tip body, such as a leg or arm.

All this situation motivated Juanes to stablish a foundation in 2006, where he could help people affected by this violence in any way, and is here when Fundacion Mi Sangre (Por los hijos de tus hijos), or  My Blood Foundation (For the cildren of your children) in English, born to contribute to children to be the main characters at peace making.

This foundation works as a link between the local community and the national and international community investing economic and technical resources for social investment. Its outstanding work is based on to identify, formulate, manage and monitor high impact projects, and their rigor and transparency in resources management.  To visit his website and check it out go to http://www.fundacionmisangre.org/ .

Freedom Parade

Everybody know that Colombia has having big narcos who have broken our image of a good country for the whole world.  All of us also know we have "guerrilla" or militia groups that go against of the government and have their own rules. They were suppoused to protect the people from the unfair treatment from the government; however, they have been hurting innocent people more than the militia they were suppoused to fight against.

Those groups have killed, raped and kidnapped thousand of people, and worst, they ask money to save or return individuos to their families.  Many countries may think people don't fight against of them, but they are very strong and powerful. Nevertheles, people and government have taken the control of the situation eliminating the biggest head that lead this big team, made of many others groups lead by little people that follow the big leaders.

Before to come back to the United States in July, 2008, there was in Colombia a special parade that make us feel proud of where we live. The parade was thought for the people that was tired of this criminals and want kidnapped people to return home with their wives, children, husbands, parents... That day, July 20, was our independence day, and we decided to march for the independence or freedom of those groups.

My two sisters were in this country and they couldn't go with me, but I found a good company in my peruvian friend, Andres, who went to meet me personally to Colombia after almost five years chatting online, and before I returned to the USA. I also went with some cousins and friends to protest for a good cause. That was an historical day where the country had the biggest demonstration of love for colombians and the rejection of militian groups that whant to hurt innocent people.

July 20, 2008, was one of the days that I firmly felt proud of being a Colombian Citizen!!