Windowless Cellar; the lives of women in Afghanistan

Children Who Do not Exist... What is Francia Simon Fighting For?

Children Who Do Not Exist

“The United Nations Children's Fund estimates that approximately 41 percent of all births each year in the developing world (excluding China) go unregistered, denying the rights of over 50 million children to an official identity, name, and nationality.” (Source) Francia Simon is a girl who lives in the Dominican Republic and fights for the right of children to registration, name and nationality. Earlier in her childhood, Francia found herself faced with possible exclusion from education in the Dominican Republic, she knows what it feels like to be in that situation, so she decided to take action and carried out extensive research and pursued her own registration, then she decided that she wanted to help others fight for the right of children to registration, name and nationality therefore leading them to a better education and providing them with hope.

Because there are so many children who do not have birth certificates, Francia has been fighting for the right of children to registration, name and nationality. "Francia wants all children to have the right to be registered, and to have a name and a nationality. Many children in the Dominican Republic, and in particular children who have fled neighbouring Haiti, do not have a birth certificate. Officially these children do not exist. As a result they cannot go to school, use health facilities and they have difficulty getting a job later in life,” (Source) Now that she has been successful in registering herself, she is now trying to help other children gain their rights to registration, name and nationality by using some of her prior knowledge of when she herself was fighting for her right to registration. “Since then, Francia has been using the knowledge and strength she acquired during the complicated registration process to help other children without birth certificates to obtain state recognition.”(Source) These children do not have many people helping them to gain this right that can lead them into a brighter future. Francia’s efforts of helping children gain this right has already helped over 130 children to receive an official name and nationality.

Because she herself, was once almost excluded from education, she is now fighting for the children to have the right to registration, name and nationality in order for them to get a good education. As stated before, Francia herself was faced with the possibility of being excluded from education because she did not have a birth certificate. “Francia found herself faced with possible exclusion from education. In response, she carried out extensive research and showed great perseverance in pursuing her own registration. She succeeded and gained lasting access to secondary education.” (Source) Without having a birth certificate, Francia was almost excluded from education. Francia used to be like them, she understands what it is like to go through all that desperation. “It is my wish to go around the world looking for children without a birth certificate, to help them get it, so that they can achieve their goals of becoming engineers, architects, etc. I hope my story spreads around the world.” , “campaigns for the right of children to registration, name and nationality – both for children born in the Dominican Republic as for refugee children from Haiti. It is only after official registration that children can gain access to essential rights such as health care and education.”, “In response, she carried out extensive research and showed great perseverance in pursuing her own registration” (Source) Francia has been fighting for these children by campaigning and researching. These children need Francia to fight for them to have the right to registration, name and nationality in order for them to get a proper education at least up till secondary school.

Because she was once in the position of the children who do not have the right to registration, name and nationality, she understands what it feels like. The desperation, the hardships, that these kids go through. “Francia found herself faced with possible exclusion from education. In response, she carried out extensive research and showed great perseverance in pursuing her own registration. She succeeded and gained lasting access to secondary education.” (Source) She succeeded and now wants to spread the hope. She wants them all to not give up and she is leading by example. She didn’t give up. She researched and researched and pursued her registration. “By doing this, Francia increases the children’s own self-esteem and gives them the chance to lead a more secure and fulfilling life.” (Source) Francia has been increasing the children’s self esteem levels as well as giving them hope.

After succeeding with registering herself and getting her right for education back, Francia Simon’s work has helped over 130 children to receive an official name and nationality. Although she has only helped 130 children out of the 50million+ children, by fighting for children to gain their rights to registration, name and nationality, she has given them a lot of hope and for those 130 children that she has helped already, she has given them a better education.

Sources:

"Migration Information Source." The Migration Information Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=888>.

"Dominican Francia Simon Wins International Children's Peace Prize." Dominican Francia Simon Wins International Children's Peace Prize - DominicanToday.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/poverty/2010/11/30/37800/Dominican-Francia-Simon-wins-International-Childrens-Peace-Prize>.

"2010 International Children's Peace Prize Winner." N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://www.kidsrights.org/Portals/1/downloads/2010_KidsRights_ICPP_Newsletter.pdf>.

"Childrenspeaceprize." 2010 Francia Simon. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://childrenspeaceprize.org/childrens-peace-price/prize-2010/>.

Our identity is definitely worth fighting. Because that is who you are and you need to express that. You shouldn't have to change how you look or what you act like in fornt of other people because it isn't you. It means that you're constantly having to change in fornt of people and it's a lot of work. One day, you might even forget who you are, changing your life completely.


List poem
Messy Poofy Dark Dark Brown Hair
Occasional strands of red hair bleached by the sun
Blue Polo shirt with a panther logo on the top right
Rolled up sleeves under a white, blue and yellow Letterman jacket
Claire on the top right and 14 on the bottom right of the jacket
a purple “I <3 Harry” wristband on my wrist
Pink and Blue Nails saying “ I <3 1D :)”
Some freckles here and there across my arm. and some on my cheeks
Dark Brown eyes.
Short, chubby fingers
Legs longer than my body
Scraped knee
Some old leech bits on my ankle
Little reminders written on my left hand
A little bit of my hair tied back in the middle
Purple hair tie
Black shorts
Nothing in the left pocket but an iPod in my right
Non Pierced ears
Little scars from soccer on my legs
Birthmark on my right thigh
White and blue puma socks
Little short hairs growing on my legs barely showing
Empty back pockets
The blue heart on my 4th finger on my right hand slightly smooshed
White and Blue shoes with a neon yellow shoelace.
THATS ME :D

Where I'm from
I am from singing the sound of music in public to playing imaginary games in secret hiding spots
I am from High School Musical and the Powerpuff girls
From Friends, Disney Princesses and Hannah Montana
I am from provoking my brother to cuddling him at night
I am from Pokemon, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and That’s SO Raven
From the teletubbies, Unfabulous and Ben 10

I am from the Jonas Brother’s, attempting to scare my family everyday and suspenders
I am from falling sick every time it was time for ballet
I am from crying in most movies, giving my brother a zig-zagged haircut and fractured bones
I am from soccer and running around like a maniac
I am from it’s amazing you’re still alive and learning how to spell idiot at the age of 2 or 3
I am from ice cream, popsicles and the breeze of the AC

I am from hot tubs and freezing outdoor pools
I am from plastic snowball makers and snowball fights
I am from the smell of a hotel to the smell of my brother’s farts
I am from hot chocolate and marshmallows, spaghetti and crab cakes
I am from building forts, building sand-castles and building snowmen
I am from One Direction and The Wanted
I am from those moments,
them being pages that make a book of me

OPTIONS!

"Some people say that what makes a person a victim is they have limited or NO options about how to act."

This quote is trying to express that victims either have few or limited options. Is the quote true???

I honestly do not know. I could be true but it could also be false, it just depends on the case. If you use the Jews in World War 2 case, then obviously the quote is true because the Jews barely had any options. They could either emigrate or fight against the Nazi's which was almost impossible to do. They also had to consider the consequences for both the options. If they emigrated then it would depend if the country would allow the Jews to enter their country. If they stayed and tried to fight the Nazi's then they would most likely be killed or be sent to a concentration camp and eventually be killed.

On the other hand, if you looked at a case where you were getting bullied. You could confront the bully, or talk to an adult about it or even ask your friends for advice. The consequences are that if they confronted the bully they might make the matter worse. If they talked to the counselor about it then the bully might get into a lot of trouble and hold a long grudge against you. If you talked to your friends then they might even be able to give you even better advise or make matters worse and tell you that you are a coward.

Analysing Propaganda Images

In the picture, I see a Jewish man on a bright yellow background holding a Communist sign on the shape of Germany. He seems to be holding a whip in his left hand. He is in the middle of the image. The man wearing black really stands out on the yellow background. There are German words in orange at the bottom of the page. The Jewish man who looks scruffy and suspicious also has his right hand stuck out, with coins in it.

The picture is the cover of a book called The Eternal Jew written by the Nazi Party's publishing house in 1937. It was created by David Pinsk. The picture was intended for an older audience: People who could vote, people knew who they wanted to rule their beloved country -- that is, someone who could bring back Germany's pride after their major downfall in The Great War.

The message the creator is trying to send is that Jews are scruffy, unkempt, dishonest, suspicious people. That Jews are Communists and beggars, who steal food. I feel that the message is, "Do you really want to mix with these sorts of people?" From this image, the men, women and children in Germany would stereotype Jews. My evidence is that the man is holding money in his hand and therefore the creator is saying that he is stealing all of Germany's goods, money, food, basically everything -- keeping it from 'pure Germans'. He is a Communist because he is holding a Communist sign in his left hand. I know that this man is Jewish because the title of this image is "The Eternal Jew".

This image is 100% misleading. How could you just assume that all of the Jews look like this or act like this? How could they generalize Jews as communists, bad people? You don't know if all of this is true. But seeing as someone painted this, you would just assume that it is correct. Not knowing any better all they could do is believe in the myth the picture created. This image sends out a very negative vibe about Jews so that Germans would have an extremely low opinion of Jews. The picture was to perpetuate the Germans feeling of superiority over the Jews.