Dear Ms. Beck, I believe your video message was remarkable. Just by listening to the story I fell in-love with your mother. I am picturing her being a very funny woman with a strong personality. She also seems to be an individual of many words. A woman full of passion and very expressive. During the reading of your mother’s essay, I felt like that was me when I first came to the United States. My limited English and trying to understand everyone around me was very intense. Going to School full time made it very challenging, it was like being in a different planet. I can definitely relate to her situation when writing the essay. Unfortunately, the story she was telling about the Boston Marathon tragedy was very hurtful moment for many people. However, in her words, she definitely projected the pain she was having as well, and how she was perceiving the whole situation. I like the way you read the essay; you made it very clear on the p...
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Dear Ms. Mounzer, After reading your essay about War in Translation: Giving Voice to the Women of Syria I would like to express my emotions and my thoughts through this letter. Learning about your culture and the way women are treated in Syria; it makes me appreciate the approach our women regardless of where we live now in the United States, are treated much better than other countries in the World. In this essay you talk about translation, to me also sounds like you are projecting your voice. I heard it in every paragraph. The passion in which you express the difference between translation and meanings and how other perceive the message is very impressive. There were parts of your essay that you wrote about what one word meant and this particular world caught my attention: “Istishhad: To be martyred; to die for a cause. It is a especially difficult word to translate, because it has been so marred by blood and violence, so disfigured by zealotry and malice. It is a word...
End of the Epidemic
End of the Epidemic HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that disproportionately affects undocumented individuals in the United States. The lack of services, funding and social workers who are underpaid exacerbates this issue . Many Hispanic families are still under the impression that HIV is a death sentence. There is a lack of awareness within this community regarding treatment options for HIV/AIDS and the resources available to them such as education sessions and group therapy. . Why can’t an undocumented person living with HIV/AIDS or a chronic illness obtain full health benefits like other people living in the United States? The reasons why people are not receiving proper health benefits include stigma, (fear of?) deportation, lack of available benefits and poor understanding of the disease itself. While HIV infections have increased throughout the years, many of the people around the globe do not know how these numbers are increasing and who is ...
Rudy’s Collage Project This image represents me as a child. Being held by my Dad, being born in a beautiful country: Venezuela; full of life, color, culture, food, people and hoping for a great future. He was probably thinking, we’ll be Ok son; let’s start this journey together. This image represents, the transition my country was going through back in 1989. Doors of job opportunities declined, political confrontations, serious poverty and no medical benefits. Making through the day, trying to have three course meals was basically something that my parents wanted to have for my sister and I; but did it happen? Probably not. The struggle was real. I remember seeing my mother crying in the kitchen once because we had no food to eat. I also remember a neighbor bringing a bag of potatoes as a gift for the house along with cilantro and carrots to make a yummy soup Mother was very grateful. Wondering what was going to my parents minds? The oppor...