FACEBOOK, A NEW WORLD!

Some people think that Facebook is bad; other people believe that the social network is a time-waster, because anybody can write anything he or she wants about everything. However other people think that what Facebook have is very helpful and interesting. I, myself, am a member of this New World of those who are using Facebook daily, and I believe that Facebook is important, because, it can be used to keep in touch with friends, It can be used to learn some interesting things, and it facilitates people’s keeping contact with the world’s progress.

Facebook is important, because it can be used to keep in touch with friends, and allow friends around the world to know where they are or what they are doing. For example, Now, I have some friends from Angola, Zimbabwe, Congo, Pakistan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, and Uruguay. I met them when I went to Changchun, in the North-East of China in 2007 for a workshop, so we have become friends. Facebook facilitates me to stay in constant contact with them and know what they are doing, their family, and how they show some picture about their activities. Last year, one of my friends who lives in Canada shared some pictures of his wedding in Facebook; it was very nice to see how his wife and he looked, then ten months later, it was the pictures of his beautiful son that he shared. In this way, we know what each other are becoming.

I also think that Facebook is important because it can be used for us to be able to learn some interesting things about some people or some places. On Facebook, there are some people who talked about bad experiences that they had; I think it is important to read about those experiences, and I am sure that people can learn something very helpful, in order to be more careful in the future. For example, there is a girl who talks about how she lost her first baby and how her husband and friends helped her to lift up. People can learn a lot about this situation and use her story to help someone else, particularly their friend.

At last, I think Facebook facilitates people’s keeping contact with the world’s progress, because nowadays scientific discoveries are going so fast that someone who is in constant contact with technological progress can wake up one day and not able to do anything, for example buy things. In the past if someone wanted to buy something abroad, it was very complicated and it took a lot of time, but now, someone who lives in Africa can order whatever he wants with his credit card. Last month, I wanted to buy a new hard drive for my computer, and then I went online and found which company sold the model compatible with mine, and used my card to order the hard drive. A friend of mine on Facebook had the same problem; he told me that and then I gave her the company website to buy her hard drive. I think someone who does not want to stay behind, knows how this world is changing, and uses this new technology to his advantage will have a lot of problem.

In conclusion, Facebook is important, because first it can be used to keep in touch with friends, second can be used to learn some interesting things about people or some places, and third facilitate people to keep contact with the world’s progress. This New World is interesting; we can use it to withdraw the maximum output with carefulness.

A time in my life

When I consider the ways that God operates in my life, what he did for me, I want to praise him for his great mercy. I want to talk about one of the special moment in my life were I was very anxious. It was before I was nominated to receive a Fulbright scholarship. But God acted so miraculous in my favour. I think that is one of the great testimonies of God’s presence acting in my life. Previous to that let me start by giving a preview of how things were going for me before God acted in my favour. I am graduate student; in my undergraduate program I have studied Rural Engineering. I have worked for some Non Governmental Organizations during one and half year in different places around Haiti (North-west, South-east, and Artibonite). I was offered the possibility to work as an assisting teacher in State University of Haiti for the College of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. I worked there, but I was not satisfied with the Diploma. I wanted to have a Master in my field of study, but there was a problem. The institutions which offer Masters Degree in the field of study I was interested in are foreign universities. During two years I have applied in many scholarship programs in France, OAS, Japan, Belgium and Canada, but nothing seems work for me. Last year I had an admission at Gembloux University in Belgium, but I did not find the support for pay for the study. I felt so bad after this time that I wonder if I would be able continue. It was like, when you are in a hole, you try to get out, but everything you do seem complicated the situation, like things are getting worse. I desired to go abroad to study, to get a Master Degree, to be more competitive in the job market and serve my country. It was in May, a friend of mine encouraged me to apply for the Fulbright scholarship. I applied for the scholarship; however there were many steps before the nomination for the scholarship. The first step was the pre-selection for an English exam, and then the selection for an interview, and the last was the nomination. Believe it or not, I missed the day that I was scheduled for my interview, because there were some problems with our internet connection. Finally, when I read the mail on Friday, I tried to call the responsible and I sent an email to them. In this email I asked the responsible if I could come another day the embassy for the interview. But, I did not wait for a response, sooner on Monday morning I went to the Embassy for the interview. A few weeks later I receive an email from the responsible that told that I have nominated for the scholarship. Some people may not agree, but that is what God did for me, and He can do more than that in your life. It requires one thing belief in God’s power. So, I know that I do not have to worry about my future, because God is my future. He can do the same for you!

Love

Some people say "Love is not something easy to share". The reason is, sometimes when people are in love, they are hurt or they are misunderstood. Those fact are good reasons for some people who do not want to engaged their life with someone else. Those persons pretend that things will soon become bad, so they do not want have any relationship. I think every man and woman should try to find a reason to live his or her life with love and happiness. I mean, a good reason to leave their bed early to go working, not exactly to earn money, to buy a big house, and to have wonderful vacation, but to earn enough to take care of his or her family. Then, before deciding to ask someone to be your boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancée, I think there are a lot of information a man or a girl should have on the person they are dating. Because marriage is something honorable, everyone should think twice before getting married. The information about your boyfriend or girlfriend are very important, but people still have to focus on more important things than appearance. I do not mean that you should not marry an handsome men or a beautiful girl. The person you want to marry to should have some quality, and you should have criteria to choose someone who you will share your life with. I think people should search for example sincerity, humility, hardworking, wisdom as quality, more than superficial stuff. When you decide to share your life with someone who is sincere, you do not have to be worry about what people could say or will say.Humility is one of the quality that make people very different and solves a lot of misunderstanding between husband and wife, because most of most time is caused by misunderstanding. Nowadays,no nobody wants to provide the everything in a family,an hardworking person is important to contribute in the family's needs.Also,if you are Christian you cannot decide to marry a pagan. Or if do not like people who smoke, to date someone who smoke, because he is handsome or she is beautiful. Love is important, because when someone is in love he or she can hope, even there is distance that separate each other. Without love, life seems nonsense. As far as I am concerned, I am in love with a girl in my country. Because, there are distance between us, we usually talk once or twice a day, specially on this day. I think my love and I are very lucky to meet each other and to share our love.

Population in France

This summary response, written on February 03, 2009, by Barbara is related to the increasing of the birth rate in France, and the reasons for this increasing. Barbara relates births, marriages, and incentives measures, as three factors that could influence the birth rate in France. Barbara concludes that in their country, they could control fertility if they want.

Nowadays, population growth is considered as a problem for the Less Developed Countries. In some countries, like France and Germany, which are More Developed Countries, the birth rate is low. Then, the Government tries to persuade people to have children. Why do they have such an attitude? The reason is first they are afraid of losing their culture, that is to say, their language, and their history. Second is the international role of France, in politics, and in economy. It is important for the French Government to encourage people to have children to avoid losing their culture, because culture is what makes a difference among nations. Each nation has his habits, and his way to clothe. The French are very proud of their fashion style. Another reason is the role of France in international politics and economy, because if they are no French, how can France continue to influence the international politics and markets?

In conclusion, it is important for France to increase its birth rate, first to avoid losing its culture, second to continue its international influence. Survival is important for nations to keep their influence in this world.

Read this article from http://spainbarbie.blogspot.com

Summary Response #2

Overpopulation, a real problem in LDCs

This article, written in the “Australian” on February 04, 2009, by Frank Furedi titled “New King Herods target babies as potential polluters”, is a plea for human life and concerns birth control in Britain, for which some people approve measures. The author compares Jonathon Porrit, who presides over the Sustainable Development Commission and is patron of the Optimum Population Trust, a Malthusian campaigning group, with King Herod. He states that Porrit has joined the new group of those who hate people and life, and he cites Barry Walters, an associate professor of obstetric medicine at the University of Western Australia, who believes that strict control on births per couple is necessary for the continued existence of the planet, and who also considers every newborn baby in Australia as a potential polluter, not only because of the emission of gas but also because of the utilization of the limited resources. The author disagrees with the idea of considering the reduction of gas produced by man much more important than man based on the importance different cultures all over history have granted to childbirth; and the consideration of having children as a blessing. The author also mentions Kelpie Wilson, one of the environmentalists, who argues in favor of abortion as a sacrifice to save the environment and preserve the future. In opposition to that consideration, the author refers to the ancient time and the Western society in the 21st century, which protects human life and takes care of newborn and helps old people extend their lives. Humanity’s progress is the source of environmental problems, and then decrease of the population is the solution. In the author’s view, such demand by Porrit to reduce families’ size in Britain is probably the first stage for the disappearance of the human race on the earth.

Nowadays population growth is considered as a problem, and then, reducing births is a controversial issue. Some people believe that reducing births is the solution for the rapid growth of the population, but others view birth control as an intrusion into their private life and freedom, or a violation of their spiritual beliefs. I disagree with abortion, which is one of the birth control methods, but I believe that birth control is necessary to slow population growth, particularly in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs), because the population growth causes health problems, it causes starvation, and it is source of joblessness.

Population growth causes health problems, because in the Less Developed Countries the number of physicians per inhabitant is low, the health care is poor, and then there are not enough physicians in the hospitals, and people cannot afford the cost of going to the private hospital and receiving the best health care for the reason that it is very expensive. The more children a couple has, the bigger its problems are in terms of health care. The main problem is that without a good health system, transmittable diseases such as tuberculosis and measles can cause a lot of death.

Population growth causes starvation, because most of the people do not have money to buy food, there is not a good social system to take of those persons who do not get a job, and most of the Less Developed Countries neither produce enough food to take care of the population, nor get enough money to import food to distribute to the population. Those who are really affected by the starvation are the children.

Population growth, particularly no control of birth, is a source of joblessness, because there are more people than the industries and the factories need. Even the well-educated people have to compete to get a job, so it is difficult to find a job, and most of the time people work as part time when they could get a full time job.

Finally, population growth first causes health problems, second causes starvation, and third causes joblessness. Babies are important to replace the people who die and to grow into labor force, but it is also important to be prepared for them.


Furedi, F. (2009, February 3). New King Herods target babies as potential polluters. The Australian . Retrieved on February 3, 2009, from http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/285/

Misunderstand in my life

Communication has many forms of expression, for example gesture, writing, or speaking. Among those forms, speaking is the most common way to make one self understood. As far as I am concerned, I would like to tell you about a time in life there was a misunderstanding between a cashier and I in a restaurant. This fact was happened in Port-au-Prince city, Haiti, in “La Belle Marguerite”, a well-known restaurant. This restaurant prepares some delicious dishes, as we, Haitians, like them. People who are going to work early, for example some businessmen, professors, cashiers, or people who do not have enough time to cook, use the service of “la Marguerite”. One day, I had a meeting earlier in morning with a group of friends to discuss about a big project, I went to La Marguerite. It was 8:00 AM when my friend Ludger and I went into the restaurant, because I wanted to have breakfast. I usually go to this restaurant to have breakfast, or lunch when I am working downtown. Once inside the restaurant, I went to the cashier and I ordered a sandwich, some fruit, and a glass of milk, because I was in a hurry. I paid the cashier in a $100 bill, but I did not check my receipt to see the balance. This morning, particularly because I had to speed up, I asked the waitress, how long it will take to have my order, and then, she told me a couple of minutes. When my friend and I came in and had a seat, I looked my receipt this time, and I saw that I was charged twice for my breakfast. I went to the cashier in order to complain, and to know why I was charged twice for the breakfast. At this moment, he told me that he thought that I ordered two lunches, because of friend who was with me. When I talked to him to refund me the money, he told me he was not possible to have my money back, but if I wanted I can come another day to have breakfast. Can you imagine! For this morning, I had only $100 in my purse, but not only I needed to fill up my car with gasoline but also I needed to go to the mechanic to fix a problem. It was one of the awful days in my life. After this misunderstanding, each time I want to buy something I am more careful about the receipt and my change. Now, I know and I am trying to apply it in my whole life. I check my money, my books, and belongs, in other to avoid regretful those situations in my life. I encourage you, people, when you have to buy something in order to avoid misunderstanding between the seller and you to be vigilant, even though it is something you usually have to buy.

Citadelle Laferriere, Site worthwhile to Visit

Someone said one day: " even inside of a rotted fruit, one can find seeds for next season". But some people disagree with the idea that they’re a lot of things one can learn from each culture. That is to say, that wherever you come from you have something people can learn about where you from. As far as I am concern, I want you to make this trip with me in order to discover to The “Citadelle Laferriere” or simply Citadel. I am from Haiti, island located in the Caribbean, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western third of the island named Hispaniola by Christopher Columbus in 1492, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti has an area of 27,750 square kilometers (10,714 square miles), slightly smaller than Maryland. The capital city is Port-au-Prince. Haiti it is a country with great past history: slave, war. Located in the Northern part of Haiti, approximately 17 miles (27 km) south of the city of Cap-Haitian, and the second important city in Haiti. The Citadel was built between 1805 and 1820 by Henri Christophe, one of the key leaders during the independence war on the 19th century. The massive stone structure was built by up to 20,000 enslaved workers. The Citadel is Perched on Pic La Ferriere (900 meters high). It covers an area of 108,000 square feet (10, 000 m2). In 1982, it was designated as a World Heritage Site and it is the largest fortress in the Western hemisphere. Even though the Citadel was designated Word Heritage Site, only a few people have visited this wonderful site, maybe because they didn’t know. Most of the time, when people talk about Haiti they tend to say that country is Port-au-Prince, the Capital city. I think it is important that people visit and learn more about Haitian’s history and culture because when someone has visited a place he is more convinced by what he saw than by what he had already seen or heard. It is important for people to know a little bit about their surrounding before going to long trip. Visit Haiti, The Citadel and the beaches, not Port-au-prince, in order to have the best idea of what Haiti seems like, not what the news want you to see. I promise you, it will be funny!