Tag Archives: apartheid

The Hardest Puzzle In The World

So I know what ya’ll were probably thinking when you first heard the title, “What’s so important if there’s a hard game that tests knowledge?” Except this post is about something totally different and more serious. I’m talking about Autism, a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. Also about special needs, a  particular educational requirements resulting from learning difficulties, physical disability, or emotional and behavioral difficulties. Yes, you’ve probably heard before, “Every kid is special in their own way,” but what does it actually mean when people refer to special needs children. “This means any kid who might need extra help because of a medical, emotional, or learning problem. These kids have special needs because they might need medicine, therapy, or extra help in school — stuff other kids don’t typically need or only need once in awhile.” You may be thinking, “So what? I know what that is, but what more should I know?” Yes, you may know what is is, but no one I’ve ever met has ever had a full understanding of it unless they have a connection with someone who has it. However, whenever I touch this sensitive subject it’s as if people want to avoid it or just leave it out of the picture, but the truth is you can’t.

Again I know some of you reading this know not to tease or think less of the special needs, which means you were taught right. On the other hand, some are less fortunate to not have. So, when they see someone talking differently or having a helping teacher they point and laugh, but once they find out what they have they immediately stop. That’s the problem no matter if they have specials needs or not they’re human. They’re just like us and all they’ve ever wanted is to be treated the same way as everyone else. I know it may seem like I’m ranting on and on about a subject you may not care about, but I do. Why do I seem to care a lot about this matter? Is it because I want a good grade, or is it because my parents forced me to? The reason I care so much about this matter because all my life I’ve lived around special needs.

So what’s the point of this ongoing blog post? Well it’s me telling all of you to become friends with a special need. Please don’t let them wander the halls, eat alone at a lunch table, or to find that all the people they thought were their friends made nasty jokes about them behind their back. All I want is for you to open your heart to someone who needs it truly. Now is that too much to ask? I’m not asking you to dis all your friends, but to simply to make them feel accepted or hang with them with your original friends. If you think it’s too much of a risk because you might be judged by your friends,  then I guess you gotta ask yourself this question, are you hanging around the right kind of people? Another question you might want to ask yourself if you would get embarrassed being seen with a special needs kid is, what kind of person does that make you?

~Tammy

Remembering Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013.  Nelson Mandela was a great man and the world is still mourning his death.  He died from a recurring infection.  Even though we are still mourning his death it is a time to remember all the great things he has done not only for South Africa but for the world.  He fought against a system called Apartheid.  Apartheid was a system of segregation in South Africa.   The government had divided the country along racial lines.  One part was White Africa and the other half was Black Africa.  He was sentenced to life in prison for fighting against the system in 1962.  He was kept in prison for 27 years, but was finally released in 1989.  While he was in prison along with other leaders of the ANC (African National Congress) other civil rights fighters still tried to rebel against the government. The apartheid government finally came to an end in 1990.  Mandela became South Africa’s first chosen black president in 1994.

I find his Nelson Mandela very interesting because his story is very inspirational and he has done wonderful things.  Upon his death, I became more interested in learning how his life has had such an impact on the world.  I am also impressed by how he acted when he was finally released from prison.  He didn’t hate his captors, but instead treated them with respect and forgave them.  There aren’t many people who have had such a large impact on not only their country but on the world.  Some people have even compared him to Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Abraham Lincoln.  I’m very impressed with how determined he was to help South Africa end Apartheid.  In his early days he tried to end Apartheid with some forms of violence against the government and military.  He stated that he wanted to overthrow the government and reconstruct South Africa with freedom, democracy, and most importantly, equality.  He wanted all people to be equal so badly that he said “It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.  But if needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”  The most impressive part of his life was that his long imprisonment made him more in favor of a peaceful solution.

~Luke

South Africa’s Hero: Nelson Mandela

 

On July 18, 1918, in Transkel, South Africa, a hero was born and his name was Nelson Mandela. For a lot of his childhood, he grew up in a village that had mud huts with grass rooftops and the earth as their floor. Mandela was the first of his family to attend school, and this led him to work towards his law degree in Johannesburg. Mandela then joined the African National Congress. In 1962, Mandela was put on trial for inciting strikes which sentenced him to five years in prison. A few months later, he was accused of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. This then sentenced Mandela to life in prison. A glory day then came on February 11, 1990, when he was released from behind bars. Four years later in May, Mandela became the first black president of South Africa and ended his term in June of 1999. On his 80th birthday, he married his 3rd wife named Graca Machel which brightened his world. Starting in September of 2013, Mandela had a lung infection which impacted his life a lot. On December 5, 2013, Mandela died at the age of 95. Mandela will be missed very much so by his people, and will be long remembered for his struggles against injustice.

For 27 years of Nelson Mandela’s life, he was thrown in the jail for trying to overthrow the government. When Mandela was accused, I think it was a mistake. All Mandela was trying to do was make South Africa a better place and get their government back on track. If Mandela was never put in jail, just think of how far their government would be now. It would then govern themselves well and it would be a whole lot farther along now than it was earlier. I also think that when Mandela was accused of trying to overthrow the government, they should have let him explain himself. If they allowed him to do this, they might have realized that what they were doing was wrong. This would have saved many years of Mandela’s life. These are some of the opinions I have about Nelson Mandela’s life story.

~Natalie