Commitments

My short term commitment is to be more friendly and, as weird as this sounds, smile at everyone, friends, family, and complete strangers! i see people on campus extremely stressed and worried about finals this week, and i beleive that if you receive a smile from a someone it can remind you that everything will be fine and well.. its just nice to have someone smile at you. My long term goal is to be part of a charity, i have always wanted to participate and help out, but i never looked into it or anything. Now, all these discussions about peace in the 1311 English class, have really encouraged me to be a part of making a difference in this crazy world.

Inner Peace

I Beleive that inner peace is achieved when you have many problems but you dont let those problems affect the positive things in your life and you dont let them stress you. It is very important to know how to limit yourself as far as stress goes. when feeling stressed you should take your mind off completely off the negatives in your life and focus on the positives. :) i think thats one of the important steps in achieving inner peace.

Egypt

Egypt is undergoing total political reconstruction.  The country has been a republic since 1953 and four Egyptians have served as presidents. Because the last president Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president after several days of huge protests the country is now a republic under military rule. Egypt's cabinet today approved a decree-law that criminalizes any type of protest that can affect the economy.  this obviously created a scandal and it was all over the media. i personally would be against this new law.  It was because of these protests that things are changing in Egypt. Protesters in general where aiming for a non violent revolution.

Fearful Citizens Preventing Peace (opinion piece)

            Ciudad Juarez, Mexico- one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous city. Early in the morning, before the sun rises the city becomes filled with people, and busy streets create chaos. As the sun goes down streets become almost completely empty, and international border crossing to the United States begin to get full of cars and pedestrians forming long lines to wait for their turn to cross as soon as possible into El Paso, Texas.  EL Paso Texas- one of the safest city, according to an article in the El Paso Times, El Paso is the safest big city in the United States. 

            The sun set is seen as a beautiful moment of the day in most places, there is a feeling peace and serenity at that moment.  In El Paso, people are at the park, driving, going out for coffee, enjoying the last hours of the day. The sun set in Juarez is a bit different; people are worried and fearful at this time of day. Everyone rushes to get home, businesses close, and buses stop circulating the streets before the sky turns black.

            The people in Juarez live in fear. And it affects our community because many El Paso citizens have family members that are living in Juarez and they are also living in fear because they are worried for their families. There are so many horrible things that are happening just across the border, but most people instead of trying to confront these things for the better, just leave Juarez and come to America. In reality only the people who do not have the option of leaving Mexico try to put a stop to the violence and injustices in that city.  I do admit that people in El Paso are trying to fight for peace in Juarez as well, but from this side of the border.

            Fear can make people do many things. Gangs in Juarez obtain new members mostly by threatening them to kill them unless they join that gang.  So many businesses around Juarez are closed down because of the fear of being robbed by these gangs or the cartel.  It is extremely difficult to stay in a city with so much violence and conflict, but there needs to be something done in order to give the people who do not have the option to leave, a normal fearless life.  Fear could be the main element that is preventing peace to come to Ciudad Juarez.