Connected

Sitting in this classroom

Waiting for the speeches

This club meeting isn’t like the others

In an unfamiliar room with three unfamiliar people

I wait to hear their life story

The ones that will remind me of my brother

For my brother and them are connected

Woven together by

the holes and scars

on their body

Connected by the pain they have suffered

By the endless hospital visits

I planned my future in order to help those

who are

connected

My plans have not derailed but they have gotten more opaque

The hospital has become like a  second home

To me,

And I have gotten use to explaining my brother’s

Condition

It isn’t as painful now as it was

So many years ago.

Everything has become so commonplace

And with that the fight I once had

Died a little.

As I listen to the people standing in front of me

Whose stories sting my soul

I think of my plans.

I soak up every word being spoken

The future doesn’t seem so far

My help doesn’t seem so hopeless

As the last person sits down

Everyone in the room applause

Their stories have awoken my passion once again

Their stories have moved me

With their stories in mind

My future plans are again in reach

I vow to help those

who are

connected

Eobla: The Unstoppable Virus

We all have heard about the Ebola pandemic that sent a wave of terror throughout the world. In the hopes of containing the virus fights were shut down, trade stop and Africa was isolated. We were the lucky ones to only have eight confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States and only one of which have died. However, in West Africa from 28,500 people were infected and 11,300 of the infected died (Sternberg). The virus originated in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon and soon became one of the largest and most serve Ebola outbreak since it was first discovered in humans thirty years ago(GIC). The virus was able to spread so quickly because of the lack of preparation and knowledge the people of West Africa.

These countries had never been exposed to the Ebola and because of this they were extremely unprepared to handle the virus (Krutzman). The hospitals and containment center were only built to main a level three outbreak whereas Ebola was a level four bio hazard. This caused a lack of necessary equipment and Ebola screening devices(GIC). The lack in these basic supplies scared away the health care professionals and volunteers in fear for their own safety. And for the ones who did stay there were little to no safety protocols in place. Since these countries were so unprepared there was no offical security borders meaning that infected bodies when being transported without proper documentation and infected people were able to slip pass security check points spreading the virus throughout the different regions(GIC).

Another reason the virus was able to spread quickly across West Africa was because there was a lack of knowledge among the people. The health care professionals were so uninformed about the virus that they started treating it as malaria or other well known disease in that region (GIC). This allowed the infected people to go around spreading the disease without knowing. Without guidance from the government or other world wide health organizations the people kept on living their everyday lives taking no precautions. They continued to hunt for the majority of their food unknowingly consuming the virus(GIC). And for those who did want to learn more turned to their cultural or spiritual leaders, taking this option meant staying away from containment centers even if you were infected because it went against what they believed in. The traditions burial rituals done by these leaders also posed a threat to the people. Before the outbreak they would sanitize the bodies before they were buried but since they lacked the proper sanitary supplies the virus could be spread throughout this process (GIC).

Now two year after the start of the Ebola outbreak Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon are now declared Ebola free. However, the World Health Organization says that "There is a risk, and this outbreak is in a critical phase right now where we are moving from case management to management of risk”. Right after that announcement was given there was a new case of Ebola in Liberia. And since they all went Ebola free there have been ten more cases of Ebola throughout these countries (World). So just because the outbreak is not in the news as much doesn’t mean it has disappeared permanently.

Work Cited

"GIC | Article." Elina Ignatius. African News Service, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

Kurtzman, Laura. "Understanding Ebola." UC San Francisco. The Regents of the University of California, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

Sternberg, Steven. "West Africa's Ebola Epidemic Is Over." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Locked In or Locked Out?

"For the first time in his life, he was suffused with happiness. He refused to go out to work in the fields. Instead, he threw himself heart and soul into the solitary search for mountain folk songs" (64.)

"'Me too. Loathing for everyone who kept these books from us.' Hearing myself utter this last sentence frightened me... Such a remark, casually dropped, could cost several years in prison" (99.)

Sijie uses this symbol of a locked suitcase to illustrate the nature of concealment and a repressive environment as well as hope for the future. The hidden books became a source of hope for Four-Eyes; they allowed him to take an opportunity to escape, but he had to conceal them to keep that hope and opportunity alive. When they read the books, Luo and the narrator grow angry at those who concealed the books from them, but they're not angry at Four-Eyes; they're angry at the government officials who burned and confiscated the world of literature from the eyes of the people.

Peace

Everyone longs to find peace

From the poorest peasant to the richest business man

The prospect of wholeness drives the most wicked man to God

And the holiest man to Sin

Yet the only way to find yourself is to first find the Tao

The only way to bring about peace is

to bring about Yin and Yang

A man must travel through Hell to

march pass the pearly gates

In the same manner a wise man must walk with Yin

in order to relax with Yang

Connected