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).