Painful Cries

Painful cries being heard every day

Yet no helping hands are there for them

Skies are filled with shadows of gray

Outside help doesn’t come because it’s not where they’re from

Bodies of women are being torn apart

Hearts and souls left to die

This has been happening from the start

Abused body and a black eye

Cries of children that witness these crimes

They’re being scarred since year one

Have watched this happen millions of times

Being forced to run around with a gun

When the Taliban was gone they gained some hope

But promises are meant to be broken

Their mentalities went down the slope

Millions of horrors left unspoken

When they thought it got better it just got worse

Bags of promises filled with air

Women left with the silent curse

No answers came for her prayer

Painful cries fill the air

Women have no answer, except to take the violent affair

Children left to no ones care

But as they say, life isn’t fair

Amir and Soraya

The lockers themselves represents nostalgia. They are a key symbol of high school. They would remind any past graduates of their student years when one day stumbled upon while walking through the hallways of Los Altos. Nostalgia is incorporated between Amir and Soraya because to Amir, Soraya shows similar traits of courage, kindness, and loyalty that he had known Hassan for. For that, he finds love, and happiness in their relationship. It nurtures him through the hardships he goes through throughout the years, by filling in a sentimental longing for affection that he'd once shared with Hassan. The individual lockers have identical structures with the same color and dimension measurements. Each locker is apart of a structure that aligns, and stacks two rows of other individual lockers together. The two lockers in the photo represents Soraya's and Amir's marriage. The lockers are identical and apart of one structure, just as Amir and Soraya are apart of one commitment, one sacred bond. A marriage. Even so, Soraya is an open locker. She has revealed her past to Amir. A past which requires honesty, and trust. Amir on the other is a locked locker. He doesn't wish to reveal his past about Hassan to Soraya. He's uncomfortable with speaking about the wrong he's done to Hassan, causing him to lock up feelings of guilt and shame. What differentiates the individual lockers are their own locks.  Although the silver, metal locks are similar in structure as well, they have different their own individual codes. Soraya and Amir have their own locks, or in other words opportunities to redemption. In Amir and Soraya's case, redemption would be revealing a shameful past. Like, Soraya, in order to reach redemption one would have to use their own "lock code", or in reality courage and honesty to open up feelings of guilt and shame.

Living Scars

Living Scars

The painful cries of women all throughout Africa is heard as a result to AIDS. Every day hundreds of women in Africa get infected with this virus, and it’s almost impossible to keep track of all of them. Many don’t even know they’re infected, and the ones who do ignore the fact that they are. The AIDS crisis is slowly taking over Africa, and the women in particularly are suffering the most. The female population are more susceptible to AIDS, because they have close to no education on the subject, and they have to suffer through gender-based violence

Although AIDS in women is caused by many things, the lack of education in Africa is one of the primary factors that leads up to the infection of AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa the poverty levels are so high that 80 percent of the women living there have not completed secondary school and a third of them can’t even read (Board). This is a huge contributor to the growing numbers of women that fall victim to AIDS, because they aren’t getting the necessary education that prevents them from getting infected. A lot of the women aren’t even aware of what the virus is, and what could be done to stop them from getting infected, in fact around 28 percent of the women in sub-Saharan Africa fit into this category (Women). If a woman doesn’t even know what a condom does, what is the likelihood that she will use it? The lack of sex-ed doesn’t allow women to have a voice, to say no, and to have knowledge about how a sexual encounter can affect them.

A second factor that contributes to the infection of AIDS in women, is the amount of gender-based violence that takes place in Africa. The communities have come to accept the male behaviour that promotes their power over women, which most of the times ends in violence. Actions that show male dominance have also come to be accepted by the women, which means that the lines between right and wrong have been blurred along the way (Fustos). Due to the lack of knowing what is right and what is wrong, women aren’t even aware that what their partner is doing is not morally and physically correct. Most women think that it is normal to be denied the use of condoms, or to be forced into sex just because their partner feels like it. This forced sex is one of the main contributors to AIDS found in women all over Africa (Cullinan). Gender-based violence has damaged the chances of women even having a chance of being healthy and happy. It has ripped the rights that these women fully deserve, and in it’s path it has left pain and suffering.

Nonetheless, charities and foundations are being formed to help these women. They’re working on providing women with a good education that gives them awareness on this subject, and they’re trying to make people in communities be aware that what they’re doing is not right. Improvement has definitely happened throughout the years, and a better future could be seen for incoming generations. Women can start healing and they can start trying to forget the horrors they’ve lived through. However the scars and pain that AIDS has left on these women will never disappear. It’ll be kept alive as long as the women that have suffered remain living. These living scars will be permanent and no amount of foundations and charities will be able to remove them.

Works Cited

Board, Editorial. "Helping Women in Africa Avoid H.I.V." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Cullinan, Kerry. "In Africa, AIDS Often Has a Woman's Face | Africa Renewal Online." UN News Center. UN. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

Fustos, Kate. "Gender-Based Violence Increases Risk of HIV/AIDS for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa." Gender-Based Violence Increases Risk of HIV/AIDS for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Women and HIV/AIDS | AVERT." Women and HIV/AIDS | AVERT. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

The Sole Truth

Sijie uses the symbol of the Little Chinese Seamstress' pale pink shoes to illustrate the personality of the Little Chinese Seamstress, namely her openness, determination, and her purity of mind. The shoes, described as homemade and simple yet sturdy and eye catching directly reflects upon the character of the Little Chinese Seamstress. As she grows and matures, she will grow out of both her shoes and the values and beliefs attached to them.

"The princess of Phoenix mountain wore pale pink canvas shoes, which were both sturdy and supple"(21).

"There was nothing out of the ordinary about the cheap, homemade shoes, and yet, in a place where nearly everyone went barefoot, they caught the eye, seeming delicate and sophisticated" (21).

Yin/Yang

Yin and Yang can't be apart

There is no Yin without Yang

There is no Yang without Yin

Yin and Yang are interdependent on each other

Two puzzle pieces that form a whole

One can't work without the other

Both form an intertwined soul

Yin and Yang can't be rushed

The day flows into the night 

The night flows into the day

If you want one you need both

You can't just take one because it destroys the other

Taking the other doesn't allow growth

You can't just choose it another

The Yin and Yang chooses itself 

No one has the right to decide otherwise

Can You Handle the Truth?

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