Thank you... Now Back to Reality!

 “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

~ Mohandas Ghandi

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to the stalkers for bringing attention to my blog.  The more you gossip and complain, the more traffic I get. I say this without an ounce of facetiousness... because it's time to bring my blog back to what it was intended for: educational purposes instead of being turned in "the crying game".  This week my students are starting on their Service Learning Projects and are partnering up with several key organizations, all of which deal with either human rights or medical awareness.  I often share with them the human rights organization which I am very passionate about. As I have mentioned in my earlier blog posts, I am a domestic abuse survivor, so human rights and abuse prevention are my main focuses in bringing awareness to the general public However, the IRC or International Rescue Committee is an organization that I gather information and gain knowledge through about human rights and supporting women in countries where their human rights are being violated.

We are pretty blessed to live in a country, though not completely equal, but much more equal than in other countries.  One of the math professors that teaches in our general education department, often talks about her quest for education living in a Muslim country as a young girl.  She is especially passionate about teaching female students to love math and science. The reason why I personally, admire her so much, is that even though she is a tough instructor, she has a soft heart.  Part of this is because of how she was raised, but also how important helping women achieve educational freedom is to her as a human being.

Science is my passion with education coming in a close second.  When I took classes in college, many of my classes were male dominated.  Likewise, depending on what MOS you choose, the military is also male dominated.  However, I didn't let this sad statistic hold me back.  In fact, most of my good friends were males because I realized that in order to get the education that I was paying for, I needed to ask the hard questions and not be afraid to speak my mind.  This is where I often do not do well with other females. Many want to talk about trivial aspects, gossip, or generally stir up trouble and I honestly despise and detest that.  However, I have a few strong women in my life, who like me, appreciate my communication style and I, theirs. I tend to stand my ground and not back down, which is what I needed to do in order to receive an equal education in higher education. I have no problem being blunt and honest. This is skill I learned by having male professors that generally quit listening within the first 20 seconds, if I wasn't blunt and straightforward.  I also don't tend to sweat the small stuff because there are bigger problems in the world than whether or not people like me. As my students have often heard, it is not my job to make anyone like me. But how many girls and women in other countries are even able to have a voice? I think this is a freedom that we take for granted.

For example, when I started on this journey, I made all the necessary decisions regarding my health, from deciding what procedure I wanted, to how I was going to do things thereafter.  I signed my Living Will, my advanced directive, and whether or not I wanted a DNR order.  No one but me, made that decision for me.  I also think about other aspects of my education.  In some countries I would have never have been able to attend school at all.  However, here I am working on a terminal degree and the highest degree attainable. I don't worry about my daughter getting an education or having to go to another country for her to be able to attend school. I also am able to wear what I want and not be covered from head to toe in a birka because my family dictates this.  I also have a say in any body modifications that I have made from piercings to tattoos and plastic surgery.  I have a choice in this and have not had to endure female genital mutilation, being sold into slavery, or generally overlooked because I am a woman.

Often times, I wish when people complain about this that and the other, that they would take the time to realize how good they actually have it. From personal experience in going overseas and to South America for humanitarian missions, I promise you that we are absolutely the land of opportunity.  No where else is there as big an obesity problem, people living outside their means, or worry about this that and the other. There are countries where people only make $12 a year, which is what some people spend on lunch alone. From a personal perspective,  and seeing first hand how human suffers has made me a lot more appreciative for health, money, and education.

One person and a collective group of people can make a difference.  Many times people think that they cannot influence this or that, but even something as simple as spreading awareness, can make a huge difference in how people view certain issues.  I also note that every issue, whether we want to believe it or not, has the "trickle down" effect. None of us is perfect or immune to various social issues.  At any given time, we can become or know a victim of some social injustice, but many of us are afraid or even too lazy to act.  I often wonder what has happened to empathy on a global scale... Is it really gone, or have people become desensitized to the fact that being empathetic is an important aspect of understanding people as a whole.

However, there is a glimmer of hope because parents, teachers, community members are bringing to light human rights issues and suffering.  We are becoming more and more aware of what human rights actually are. Many people are surprised to know that this concept is not a new concept. In fact, the UN has a Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was drafted and adopted in the 1940s after the atrocities of the Holocaust and the Geneva Convention sanctions. In fact, one of the drafters was Eleanor Roosevelt (I gave my daughter Chloe, Elleanore as one of her middle names because I admired this famous First Lady). Above is her address to the UN.

This is still a problem and since a majority of my readers are women, please be aware of how this affects you and the women in your life... including your daughters... But this isn't just a female issue, this is a human issue.  I challenge you to do what you can to educate others about how wide spread human rights violations are, even in our own towns and cities, and is most recently seen as human trafficking. According to the IRC: 1,152 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo EVERY day,  every day, millions of women walk miles just to get clean water, women do 66% of the world's work but own only 1% of its property, millions of women confront daily threats to their safety, health, livelihoods & dignity. Looking at these statistics, we are incredibly blessed to live the way that we do.

So I end this blog post with a few thoughts.  Yes, there are some people in the world who use their time and abilities to harm others, yet there are those who do what they can to bring awareness to human suffering and need. Which one are you?

IRC Video

For more information please visit the IRC Website here.