Here is something i wrote towards the beginning of this semester but I still really like:

The Witness

Just like every day before, she patiently waits for the show to begin. Standing in complete silence, only broken by the splash of waves, she deeply breathes in the salty, pristine ocean air while sinking her toes into the warm, soft, welcoming sand.

The entire world is sleeping; nothing and no one are there to disturb the peace and serenity. The calm voices of nature whisper through the tree leaves and murmur in the ocean ripple, anxious for the morning light.

Soft, pink streaks begin to emerge across the endless horizon. Pastel green and tangerine orange appear simultaneously. Colors continue to appear until an entire rainbow of color decorates the morning sky. Black silhouettes of two sleek birds soar across the sky, enhancing the vibrant spectrum spread before them.

The arch of the sun gleams off the water, bright and fiery orange, and the colors painted in the sky subdue as they pay homage to the glowing giant creeping out from its hiding place below the horizon. As the sun continues to rise on its journey to claim its rightful place, the colors eventually bow in submission and fade away into a muted blue.

Unfathomable: habitually similar, yet, undoubtedly unique.

An intruding horn blares, an unpleased car screeches. The world awakens, oblivious to the majestic beauty of the morning. It doesn’t matter though, she will be here tomorrow, as its witness, just like every day before.

MUNSA

We just got back from an MUN conference, MUNSA, in San Antonio. I've been to four other conferences, one in Baku, one in Beijing, and two in Cairo, and this conference was the best run out of them all. At MUNSA, I was a part of the ILO (International Labor Organization). It was obvious that the chairs of my committee were familiar with running a committee using parliamentary procedure, and they knew how to run it efficiently and effectively. The other delegates in my committee were well-informed (well, most of them), and we were able to have a very productive debate. We ended up passing four resolutions: two for our designated topics and two on crisis topics that were given to us at the conference. My favorite topic was the second crisis. The crisis was that there was a fire in a Nike sweatshop and more Nike sweatshops were found in Viet Nam and Indonesia. I was the delegate of Viet Nam, so since I was directly affected by the crisis, I was able to participate heavily in the debate and had a large say in what the resolution was going to have in it. I enjoyed being a key player in the debate. Overall the trip was a lot of fun, and the conference was great!

It's Not Just a Quick Fix

This summer I heard about Mohammed Yunus who started a microfinancing buisness called Grameen Bank inititally in Bangladesh. His believed that the way to help someone out of poverty was to provide small loans, teach the people how to use the loan effectively and lay out a reasonable payback plan. His program had overwhelming success. Grameen Bank is now in more than 100 countries worldwide. There is even a successful Grameen Bank called "Grameen America" in New York City. He is providing the means for people to work themselves out of poverty.

I was intrigued by this idea. Charitable aid has proved to be problematic in many cases. Giving a person a lump of money may seem like a good way to help someone without money . However, this turns merely a quick fix many times. The focus of alleviating poverty should be on the long term, which is exactly what Mohammed Yunus' plan was doing. I think it's genius.

I am definitely considering working for a microfinancing company one day, but i really wanted to do something now. I was thouroughly excited when i found a program that made that possible. "Kiva.com" is a microfinancing website. It allows people all over the world to give loans to small buisnesses. You scroll through the hundreds of profiles and read about all the people who have asked for loans. They have details on the total amount they asked for and how much has already been paid. Once you find the person who you want to help, you choose the amount you want to offer, and you click the button. It's that simple.

The hardest part of the process is choosing who you give the money to. There are too many stories of hard-working people trying to make a living that would love the loan. However, the great thing is that once the total amount of money is completed for the requested loan, the entrepeneur begins to pay the money back. After some time, all the money you lent is back into your Kiva account and you can offer your money to another waiting entrepeneur. It's such an easy and affective way to get involved with allieviated poverty.