Op-Ed Article "The Right to Education"

Based on this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12640342

The Right to Education

Education may be the most important factor of a country´s development. The kids of a country are the future, and depending on what they are taught they will build a good future, or destroy what is left. Everyone, no matter the gender, race, sex, social class or religion has the right to free primary education. This human right is often violated all over the world, it is problem that involves the entire world, and it is a global issue.  

Every day 7,000 highs school students drop out of school in the US, but this doesn't only happen in the US, it happens all over the world. Some young teenagers and kids have to abandon their education for danger, because of economic issues, because of racism, or because of lack of parent supports. 

Education is connected to almost any aspect of a country that we think of. Health, politics, advancement, development, economy, industry, and even culture are all affected by the education kids are given. A child that was taught about diseases and how to prevent them has a higher probability of staying healthy and avoiding illness as much as he can. Kids, who went to school, can notice problems in government structures and can fight against it to make a better government. Kids who were taught invent new technology when they grow of and make the country develop. An economy of a country is mostly based on the companies and the kids are the ones that will someday own those companies, if they know what has to be done they will perform a much better job. In general all aspects that we think off are related to education. This is why a country should provide accessible education for everyone without exceptions.

Tanzanian girls know that a good education is the only way out of poverty and they risk themselves to be able to go to school. These girls are really brave and they give us an example of how valuable education is. Tanzanian girls have to live in ghetto's far away from their families so they can go to school since the schools are far away in rural areas and there is only one school for each five villages. These ghettos don't provide safety for the girls; young girls are often harassed, abused and even raped. The girls live in fear and since they cannot sleep at night for insecurity they often fall asleep during classes. 20% of the girls drop out of school because of pregnancy and it is believed that many of these pregnancies are because of rapes. These girls suffer every day but the only thing they want is education, they know it is the path for a better future. 

We often say we don't want to go to school, that school is boring and we count the days until the next vacation. We should appreciate that we have a great school and that we have easy access to education because these type of problem is not only happening in Tanzania, it happens all around the world every single day. We live in a bubble, but we need to meet and understand the outside world because many bad things are happening and we need to help. 

Malala Yousafzai Articles

Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan activist, 14, shot in Swat ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19882799 ):

I think Malala is a very brave girl, and I admire her allot. I think she is a great and a very brave person for publishing and saying what she thinks. Speaking out in a peaceful way is a great way for solving problems.    I´m really mad at the man that shot her. If a man is capable of shooting an innocent girl, I can't imagine what else is he capable of. Taking away the education of girls at this point in history is a really bad decision in my opinion, girls can have great ideas for the future country, they are as good as men, and sometimes they are even better, I agree with Malala and the other girls that may be fighting against this stupid rule. I think this girl does deserve the National Award for Bravery and the nomination to the International Children´s Peace Award. I admire her and I will remember her when I have a problem to tell my self that I can do something about it and that I can be heard. I think this story also shows the power of social websites  and social media today. This girl had a blog and she was heard all over the world, she did have bad consequences but she was fighting for a good reason and she didn't harm anyone. We need to be careful with social pages and web pages but we also need to understand their power  and what we can do with them so we can use technology tools in a good way so we can make the world a better place.

Malala Yousafzai: Portrait of the girl blogger ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19899540 ):

I admire Malala allot and she made me notice a very important thing; I should notice and be thankful for the things I have. Sometimes we say we don't want to go to school or say that our country is destroyed. Other people are suffering  and are fighting for the right to have education. After reading about Malala I will try to be thankful for the things I have and I will appreciate everything that I have. 

Persepolis Reading Blogs

The Veil

In this chapter, the main character, Marji is required to use a veil, but I think the title has a deeper meaning.

She wants to be a prophet, but she has to hide it from the world because it is not correct in her society. She has to hide behind a figurative veil that doesn't let her be her true self, and show who she really is. Society is oppressing her; she and other girls her age can't show their true self for fear of being mistreated. A veil doesn't let you be yourself, it keeps you hidden, and it makes everyone identical. It is true that everyone should be treated equally but everyone shouldn't be and act exactly the same. There is a Dr. Seuss quote that I really like “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” With a veil, you can't be yourself, your identity is stolen, and with this veil the society is preventing people from thinking differently which is fundamental in the progress of a country. The government is giving the idea that if you are different you are bad, and if you want to express yourself you need to do it revolting and being violent.

Class photo. You can see everyone looks exactly the same.
Everyone is unhappy too. They don't like the new change.

Persepolis

This chapter kind of reminds me of the book The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas. In this book there is a boy, Bruno, that is son of a Nazi general, and he goes to live near a concentration camp. He can see the concentration camp through his window, but he doesn't know what it is. He sees people all dressed the same way, but he doesn't understand what is going on or why they are there. He is blinded by the innocence of being a child. The same happens to Marji in this story. She doesn't know what the revolution is, and she doesn't understand her parent´s behaviors. She doesn't understand why they laugh and for what are they fighting. This is why she starts reading about the revolution, so she can understand what is really happening.

Bruno doesn't understand, for him its all a game. He thinks the
other side of the fence is better.

Gretel and Bruno are looking out the window. They see the concentration

camp but are unsure of what it is.

The Sheep
In this chapter, Marji goes through what her mother once felt when her father went to jail. Her uncle, who she loved, goes to jail, and she has the opportunity to go visit him. The same had happened to her mother when her father was in jail. The difference is that Marji is proud of him being in jail since that makes him a hero, so she tells everyone she can. When her grandfather was in jail they were ashamed and tried to hide their problems from their neighbors. Marji´s uncle, Anoosh, gives her another bread swan, and he says it's the uncle of the first one he gave her. I think this represents him, and the other one represents Marji. Birds often represent freedom so it may mean that he wants her to have freedom in her life, he wants her to be happy, and he wants her to remember him forever.

Marji visits her uncle, Anoosh, like her mom once
did with her father. In the bottom left square,
 Anoosh gives Marji the bread swan.

The Passport
In this chapter I had many questions:

• How did a window washer become a health director? Is it just because he grew a beard?
• Can war blind a government and a society so that important jobs like health directors are taken by barely educated people like window washers?
• Why doesn't Marji and her family move out of the country as soon as possible? Everyday there are more people dying, and there is more suffering, is it really worth it to stay in that country?
• Can religion blind a society so much to say things like "If god wills it, he´ll get better" when he has had 3 heart attacks? Until what point is religion good? When does it start taking over the people?
• If there are people being tortured just for thinking differently, what will they do to someone who is doing false passports?
• Who should you trust is situations like the one the country is living?
• What benefits does the country see by not having religious and cultural freedom?

Taher's wife is trying to convince the health director
to get a passport for her husband because he is really sick.

The Dowry
I can relate this story to the story of Narnia. In Narnia, the country is going through a terrible war so the parents of 4 kids send them away to were they can be safe. It is possible that they will never see each other again but the parents want to do what is best for their daughters and sons. The same thing happens in Persepolis. Marji's parents want to send her to Austria were she will have a better education and a better and safer life. Parents will always do sacrifices for their children and this is what Marji´s parents have to do. She knows that maybe she will never see them again like the biggest of the Narnia kids who knows he will have to take care of his siblings since he is the new "parent". In both stories the "goodbye" is a sad moment but they know it is for good and for the benefit of the kids.

Two of the Narnia kids are in the train
station ready to leave. There is
sadness all around them as many
kids leave their families behind.

Marji is told that she is going to leave to Austria. She is sad and
suspects she will never see her parents again.