There once lived a girl named Monica. She loved to stand on the edge of the cliff to keep calm or she would turn into an evil beast. No one could calm her down but her. One day she was minding her own beeswax when somebody pushed her off of the cliff, but she had
Month: October 2018
Why Trees Roar
If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Of course it does. The tree doesn’t require someone to hear it for it to make a sound. So why do we…? If you pay attention to your thought process when you’re listening to someone,
Education at a Price in Pakistan
In March 2009, the Taliban took over the beautiful Swat valley in Pakistan. Sufi Muhammad, a chief of the Taliban, termed the constitution of Pakistan as ‘Un-Islamic’ and demanded the enforcement of the Sharia law. More than one million people fled Swat. The extremists committed atrocities such as beheading people openly in streets who rejected
Solitary
Pounding droplets beat on the car’s roof, ringing in the silence. Her almond brown eyes traced rain streaking on the glass. In the backseat, she was almost comfortable, though a bit too tall to fit. So, she lay sideways, humming faintly. She loved humming- as if to fill a void where people should’ve been. The girl
It’s Awfully Crowded in the Middle
With the rise of social media, chatbots, artificial intelligence and the media coverage around it all, the spotlight remains on the squeaky wheel which gets the grease. The quiet contributor in the corner, the child who seeks to share, and the person who has learned to pay it forward; these are the listeners. These are
The interview
‘‘Wow! It’s a pleasure, you could take out time to be here tonight’’ Michael the white American CNN host smiled at his guest. ‘‘ Thank you’’ his guest smiled back at him and continued in an enlightened Hausa accent ‘‘it is an honour to be here and indeed to be chosen as the outstanding person
Warshan Shire’s “Home” and the beautiful desperate: A welcome to refugees
The sky was weeping twilight and sunrise the day Amani and I became friends; we built this friendship on sweet biscuits and time spent waiting for her mama and my papa and all the other Somali refugees in upper rooms. We were too young and unaware to know that, above us, asylum-seekers were slowly becoming
Understanding Crime – He who opens a school door, closes a prison door
Education is one of the fundamental human rights and it plays a pivotal role in one’s life. It is the mirror in which life is seen in its perfect sense. Most of societal evils stem from lack of or failure to educate people. It is perturbing and boggling how many reports of violent incidents are
The Torn Lotus
Her eyes haunted me. Black mirrors reflecting my horror and guilt back at me. She was expressionless as a woman fixed her jewellery and clothes every now and then. She had the look of someone whose body was in the present but not her mind or spirit. Like a hollow shell. When Carlos told me
Monster
I am the last. I, Emlyn Parks, am the last person here. I was never meant to be; I was meant to leave, with the others. This part of me – the heart of my pain and loss – was meant to die. It should never have survived. I will not live long anyway. It
The Sunshine
The First Fleet, 16 May 1787 My dear mother, I will never forget the day Lilly and I left your body on the bed and set sail for Australia. I felt as if I was betraying you, trading you for a better life, fleeing from the home we had before the Russians invaded – even
Oblivion Is The Safest Place Of All
The world is a decidedly unsafe place. The decision to procreate, whether people want to acknowledge it or not, is a game of Russian roulette. The extract from Warsan Shire’s poem is nuanced and undoubtedly has merit, particularly when the context is considered. But I also believe that these poetic lines, and the message conveyed
The Power of Institutional Racism
Education is considered the great equalizer. Armed with a good education, a person can achieve anything. In practical terms, an educated person is 3.5 times less likely to be incarcerated than their uneducated peers, making education a significant determining factor in the likelihood to offend and be imprisoned. Opening schools then should, as Victor Hugo
On the Perils of Listening Like a Debater
As a recent graduate, when I reflect on the time I spent at university, it is striking how the pieces of knowledge and experiences that I consider the most impactful are rarely those that occurred in the classroom. Certainly, I did gain several technical skills and background understandings that should, one hopes, serve me well
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
Injustice is defined as the absence of fairness in human interactions. Injustice, wherever it is perpetrated leads to unmerited outcomes and untold suffering to the victims of unfair treatment. There are several causes of injustice today. First, sheer malice is probably the most predominant cause of unfairness and prejudice all over the world. Most of
He Who Opens A Door, Closes A Prison – Victor Hugo
In this paper I will be discussing Victor Hugo’s “He Who Opens A School Door, Closes A Prison”. I will be discussing what I think the meaning of this saying is, as well as whether or not I agree or disagree with this meaning. To me, Victor’s quote “He Opens A School Door, Closes A
The lost art of listening
There was a story I heard about a decision of a soldier caused by misunderstanding the order. The general told the soldier “Kill him NOT, leave him” – the stress was on “NOT”. The soldier was ordered to set the prisoner free. But to the misfortune of the prisoner, the ears of the soldier were
The Human Network of Mutuality
In today’s society, where social media platforms are the order of the day, human beings live in a network of mutuality that is quite inescapable. The bond of socialization runs so deep, to the extent that whatever affects one individual will slowly but surely affect all individuals in the long run. This is all thanks
With the right plan in place, we can’t go wrong
Victor Hugo- “He who opens a school door, closes a prison”. The man that wrote this excerpt was true in so many ways. If seen through the eyes of a healer, a person that wants the world to heal and fuse itself back together with the strength of Zeus. Yes, it starts at the school.
A Walk in the Woods
Usually, a walk in the woods takes about half an hour at most. But today, the thirty minutes turn into an hour. Then two hours. Then two and a half. And then, you’re walking among an unfamiliar batch of trees. But you’re not worried, even though most people would be. You’ve made friends with the