Causes of poverty

Poverty is a serious problem that the world is facing right now.  Every day, the number of poor families increases around the world and the situation is getting worse.  There are a lot of factors that cause poverty. Some are: unemployment, immigration, lack of studies, lack of interest to work, low economic resources, large families, the economic crisis and more. 

The first factor is unemployment. Not every worker receives the enough money to live without necessities, some people with or without degrees is having trouble to find a job, any kind of work. Nowadays, some companies are discharging employees because of the economic crisis and others are paying a low salary. Unemployment is a serious cause of poverty because is a common situation in our country and in the world.

The second factor is immigration. Thanks to the immigrants the countries become saturated, the services collapse for example, here in Costa Rica the hospital services collapsed because there is a lot of Nicaraguan population here, and obviously all the hospitals can’t attend so many people. So this problem not only affects the services it also is a cause of the existence of suburbs where people live in extremely poverty, with necessities of food and basic services.

The third factor is the large families. Even though, nowadays, the majority of families are having only one or two kids, other families are still having many children. For these large families, it is necessarily to receive a high-pay salary, but unfortunately some of them receive a low salary, and so this is an important cause of poverty. But the most important cause is the crisis that the world is facing.

We all know that poverty is increasing, but what can we do to eliminate this problem? In order to achieve that purpose we can work hard but with the entire world, making the efforts together as one. That is the only choice, poverty can be solved but we need to start now.

Religions (activity in class)

There are different religions with different beliefs, for example the Jehovah's witnesses believe that Jesus Christ is inferior to God, on the other hand Christians think God lived on earth as Jesus. Also, for the Jehovah´s witnesses the Holy Spirit is not a person it is God's active force; while for the Christians it is a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We think that whereever the religion is, it is important to believe in a supreme force that some people believe is God.

Religions (activity in class)

Both religions are very difficult to follow because I am not used to them. The rituals are very difficult to follow; they demand time, commitment and money. Also, you have to to have a lot of time to pray and I pray but five times per day is too much. I prefer my religion, I am an evangelistic and I am good like these.

Religions (activity in class)

Judaism has a bible named Tanakl, and Islam's is Quran. Also, the muslims have five pillars of wisdom that include the salat and zarkat, on the other hand Jewish people have the ten commandments including that God is the only one.

Arts

Art is very important for people because it is a way to express our emotions, intellect and ideas. Every person has a different way to express what he/she thinks, and if someone doesn’t believe that he/she is good at a specific form of art, in any moment that person will discovered it.  Art has many forms from visual arts to performing arts. For example, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, music, dance, theater, films, and more. 

The visual arts are drawing, painting, sculpture, calligraphy and photography. Drawing is a representation of any form or object by hand through the medium of pencil, pen, charcoal, etc. A drawing can be abstract, illustrating certain emotions and ideas that are in the mind of the artist and which are open to interpretation. There are many drawing and sketching techniques and what an artist uses depends upon his skills and preferences. Paintings are classified according to the style in which they are made as well as the genre and main object of the painting. For example, life, landscapes, seascapes, abstract and pop.  Sculptures can be defined as a three dimensional art form that uses materials like clay, stone or wood for its execution. Calligraphy is the art of writing letters in a manner that it looks visually appealing. Photography is the art of producing an image of an object on a photographic film. The way the image is captured with the use of light differs from photographer to photographer. There are different types of photography, from fashion photography, wild life photography, food photography to wedding photography and more. 

The performing arts are dancing, singing, films and theater, and music. Moving the body in a particular sequence to music is called dancing and there are many forms of dance. Another form of performing art is theater and films. Both theater and films use stories that capture the imagination of people; it is also a good form of entertainment. Music is one of the most difficult art forms to define; music is also one of the most admired art forms. Any harmonious sound either vocal or produced from a musical instrument can be defined as music. But music is so much more than that. Music has the power to change our mood, lift our spirits and emotionally move us. There are different types of music like rock music, country music, jazz and soul.

As we see, art is very important and it involves a lot of forms of expressing feelings. We should value arts and practice one form of it because that is a way to cope with stress and also to express ourselves. We should encourage arts and tell our friends, family members, teachers and classmates the importance of it.

Women in the army

Women are not assigned to ground combat units. That means they are not allowed to serve in the infantry or as special operations commandos. But women are serving in support units as truck drivers, gunners, medics, military police, helicopter pilots and more. So, they are not permitted to do the same things as men. As a consequence, there isn’t equality of rights and duties in the armies. Some factors that we should know about this situation are: the equality, consequences are the same for men and women and that women make the decision to go.

First, it is important to mention that women make the decision to go to the army, no one force them; so they go because they like the army and they want to help; as a result they go by their own will. They know the consequences and risks they are taking when they decide to go there, so why is it prohibited for them to participate in special operations commandos? Only because they are women?

Equality between men and women have been always a problem, women fight every day for their rights and also to ensure that people treat both equal with any difference. So, we easily notice that in this situation there is not equality. If women decide to go they should do, if they want, the same things as men because women have the same rights as them. 

The consequences are the same for men and women for example terrible problems in physical and mental health. And also a lot of people died, so there are consequences for the families when they lost a family member that was in the army. So what is the difference between men and women? There isn’t any difference.

We choose what we want for our future and we make decisions every day. If women decide that they want to go to the army, they should have the same opportunities as men, also the same treatment. If they want to risk their life as men do they have the right to do it. In my opinion they should participate in operations because women are the same as men.

Why shouldn’t employers be allowed to read their employees e-mail?

Every person has the right to privacy and everyone should respect everybody’s vital space. But nowadays is common to hear that the employers are putting into practice a new method in order to know every movement in the company, including knowing if an employee is working.   Technology now makes it possible for employers to keep track virtually of all workplace communications by any employee. But is this correct? Three factors that employers should take into account before reading an employee’s e-mail are: the right to privacy, the risk to be involved in a problem and the respect to the employees.

The first fact is the right to privacy. Every person has privacy, privacy in our personal life, in our house, at work and in school. To be specific, at work employers and co-workers should respect our space including the e-mail. It is a lack of respect read an e-mail of another person, no matter if it is a personal e-mail or a workplace e-mail, for me every e-mail is private.

The second fact is the risk that employers have to be involved in a problem. What kind of problem? For example, if the company doesn’t have e-mail policies the employees can denounce the employer because that is not right, to check their e-mails and not tell them. In my opinion every company that wants to monitor the e-mails should inform their employees and also have a contract so they sign it. 

The last fact is the respect to the employees. This is very important; the respect is a value that everyone should have in life. We have to respect everyone including at work, and that includes respect the privacy. 

Unfortunately, this situation is very common now but employees can avoid problems by limiting the communications with family and friends and avoid sending any messages that others might interpret as unkind; even if the intent was humorous because it won't look that way to others. And for the employers that can disagree with this situation at work perfect because they will respect others but for those who have to check the e-mails maybe they can try reading only the ones that involved work and ignore the personal ones.

Evangelical and Catholic religion

There are many religions around the world; the evangelical and catholic religions are very important in Costa Rica because the official religion of our country is the catholic, but the evangelistic people believe that nowadays there are less Catholic people and more evangelistic people in this country. Although both Catholicism and Evangelicalism are Christian faiths, they have distinct differences.

Evangelistics believe in neither Virgin Mary nor saints, they believe that the only one who makes miracles is God. This people only remember the resurrection of Jesus on Holly Week’s Sunday, also they eat meat normally in this week. Evangelical churches are affiliated with larger associations, and churches are run by councils and pastors. Evangelical churches vary on the reasoning for sacraments, but Evangelistics generally focus on baptism and communion. 

On the other hand, Catholics believe that Virgin Mary makes miracles as God, also they believe in saints. For the Holy week, catholic people celebrate first the Palm Sunday (the procession of palms), then Tuesday and Wednesday they celebrate the passion and finally the Good Friday and the Holy Saturday are very important. The Catholic Church has strict, defined hierarchy. The church is governed by the pope, and authority is delegated through a patriarchal line of archbishops, cardinals, and priests. Also, the Catholic Church has seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, communion, penance, marriage, ordination (becoming a priest) and last rites (also known as healing or anointing the sick).

After seing that these two religions are very different I have to say that they have one thing in common that is God, it doesn’t matter what is your religion the thing is to believe in God, to put God as a priority and thank him for everything he give us every day. God saved all the world from sin and we should thank him for that by praying and believing that he is the most important thing in our life. In my personal life, God is the one who give me the strength to continue every day.

Situation of Nicaraguan people in Costa Rica

Nowadays, immigrants go to another country to look for a better quality of life. However, that is not too easy; they think that it is, but being in an unknown country involves a lot of things and situations for example: new home, a low-paid work or unemployment, new traditions and customs, a process of adaptation, new food, and discrimination. Those things make their life more complicated and they have to make a lot of effort to survive. An example of this is the situation of Nicaraguan people in Costa Rica.

When the Nicaraguans come to our country, they face the first problem; if they don’t have a place to live, they have to look for one and some of them live in suburbs, in a little room with all their family and in very poor conditions with a lot of necessities. Also if they are lucky, they found a job, but sometimes a low-paid work, so they work a lot of hours and the money is only for basic things. Others are not lucky, and they face another issue they become unemployed, and life for them and their families become more complicated than ever. 

The process of adaptation is difficult because they are in a new country. Specifically for children that attend to school, and sometimes they suffer discrimination and also they have to get used to receive subjects that are not easy for them, for example social studies or history include matters of Costa Rica not Nicaragua. Also, Nicaraguan people have to get used to new customs, traditions, people, and even food. 

They deal with discrimination every day. Here in Costa Rica we talk a lot of Nicaraguans; we make jokes every day, and it is very common to hear someone making fun of them. So they not only have to worry about their difficult situation, but also of people that discriminates them. For us it is also a difficult situation because in my opinion we react and feel that Nicaraguans are invading our country, but we should think why? Why they come here instead of working in Nicaragua? The answer is simple in Nicaragua there isn’t any job, so they come here to look for a job and a better future for their children and family.

We should analyze these questions: What would we do if we were in the situation of these people?, Should we do the same?, Should we like the discrimination of Costa Rican people?. Before judging we should answer those questions and think that we all fight for the security and peace of our family, so why shouldn’t they do the same? They are human beings and suffer a lot in their country.

The dangers of piercings

Nowadays, almost everywhere you go you will find somebody with a piercing or two. Many people get piercings for social, cultural, or artistic reasons. The piercings are a trend, but before getting a piercing you should know that there are physical risks and dangers. Is it secure to get a piercing? No it isn’t. Many people think that they are doing a good thing but what if a problem occurs? Some dangers of this practice are: uncontrollable bleeding, chronic infection, scarring, skin allergies to the jewelry used, boils that secrete pus, hepatitis, tetanus, HIV, and nerve damage, all of which will make you regret getting a piercing.

Getting pierced will hurt if you move the piercing too much before they have healed what can cause bleeding and a lot of pain. Also, if they get caught on clothing it will cause a lot of pain. Furthermore, if your piercing comes in contact with chlorine from swimming pools it may cause the pierced area to dry out. 

People who are diabetic can’t get one because it can cause a terrible infection. Also, bacterias can attack your body if the place where you get the piercing has inappropriate conditions like for example: it’s dirty and it is not well sterilized. This is very dangerous and we have to be careful, the best way to avoid these risks is not getting a piercing never.

There are more serious risks for example hepatitis, tetanus, HIV, and amputations. In some cases the infection or bacteria is so powerful that doctors have to amputate parts of the body. This is terrible; people don’t imagine the serious thing that is getting a piercing. If any of these occurs people can get little illnesses or serious illnesses and even death.

When a person gets pierced that person doesn’t take in consideration the risks because this practice is a trend. People should think twice before doing something that can damage the life. We all should take care of ourselves that includes take care of our body and investigate about what we are going to do; to avoid health problems.

What should we have in our personality to have high self esteem?

It is very important to have a high self esteem in order to value ourselves.  Esteem is a word for thinking that someone or something is important. And self means, yourself. So it's how much you value yourself and how important you think you are. It's how you see yourself and how you feel about your achievements. It's to know that you're worth a lot. It's not about thinking you're perfect but knowing that you're worthy of being loved and accepted. There are some characteristics that we have to apply in our life in order to have a high self esteem, for example: living consciously, learning from mistakes and taking care of you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

A very important characteristic that we must have is living consciously everyday; to listen to ourselves and watch our reactions. Also, we have to learn from our mistakes and grow. Another important thing is to be objective; listen to other’s point of view and not only mine. Sometimes we are insecure at the moment of resolving a problem and that is an enemy of self esteem, we should be secure of what we think and defend my opinions but also respect the others.

When we take care of ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually; we value and love ourselves, also, we don´t allow anyone to disrespect us or hurt us. In addition, we also have to respect the differences; respecting other people differences doesn't mean to agree with them; it is to understand that they have the right to be different and deserve respect as human beings. 

Taking responsibility for our own life and for our actions helps us be self-confidents. Also, having a purpose in life makes us persevere in any difficult situation and believe in ourselves. All these characteristics are essentials to have a high self esteem; if we know ourselves and value our virtues and weaknesses we would overcome any obstacle and be confident. 

Your potential to achieve what you most desire is directly related to your self esteem. If you suffer from low self esteem failure is going to manipulate your life. So we must make an effort to develop a high self esteem and achieve our goals and not let anyone say to us that we can’t do something because anything in this life is impossible if we believe in ourselves.

Should we always tell the truth?

Most people lie every day; this is because we are inculcated from an early age to use what people call “white lies”.  As long as we aren’t hurting others or breaking the law, these innocent lies can make life more pleasant and relaxing, but is this ethically right? Obviously not, there are reasons that we have to take in consideration before lying.

For people who believe in God, lying is a sin. According to the bible, the truth will set us free; the truth will make us sinless people. For them, it is not right to lie; I support this idea.  And also, the truth makes us feel that we are doing the right thing. 

A person who is accustomed to lie face two issues that are extremely harmful in their interpersonal relationships: first the loss of credibility with those around you, and other, distrust that ends up undermining any dialogue. It´s better to tell the truth because if we lie our friends and relatives won´t trust us and we may destroy our relationships.

There are times when we get into trouble and instinctively we seek to lie to avoid damage to our personal standing. However, if we are honest we save ourselves getting into complicated situations where we need to keep lying to maintain a false pretence. That situation can end very badly, it is better again to tell the truth because then we have to continue lying and someone can get hurt.

Unfortunately, we all lie every day. The best we can do is recognize our mistakes and lies, and make an effort to tell always the truth. We have to develop a reputation for telling the truth. If we get into the habit of telling lies, then when we want to tell the truth it will be disbelieved

Causes of addiction

Most people are aware of the dangers associated with addictions, but the number of addicts is steadily growing. So why do people become addicted to dangerous substances or activities? Some people get addicted to drugs, alcohol, pills, and others to relationships, to chocolate or coffee; there are very strange addictions. But what cause those addictions? There are social, spiritual, emotional, genetic, mental health and cultural factors that can cause an addiction. 

The environment for example the home, neighborhood or community can influence a person to start any kind of addiction. For example, People who experience prejudice, discrimination or marginalization may use substances to cope with feelings of trauma or social isolation. If a person has a group of friends that use drugs or drink a lot, and that person suffer peer pressure he/she is going to start an addiction because the environment helps. Also, if a person has genetic predisposition it will be easier to become addicted to something.

Some people with mental health problems use substances to help themselves feel better, but end up making the situation worse. Other people may turn to substances as a way of coping with difficult emotions or situations, for example to calm themselves down when they feel angry. People may also use substances to help relieve stress or sadness.

Another factor is spirituality. Spirituality can mean different things to people. One aspect that many people experience is a need to feel connected to others and the world around them. People who lack this sense of spiritual connection may feel empty or hopeless. They may use substances to mask these feelings and develop a substance use problem as a result. 

All these factors may lead people to fall into an addiction. We have to be careful with addictions because once you are addicted it’s difficult to stop. We have to be careful and know how far to go; to avoid making mistakes that hurt us in our lives.

Letter to the provost of the university

San José, 27-01-11

Mrs. Sylvia Catro
Provost of the university
Ulacit

Dear Mrs. Sylvia:

First of all, I want to congratulate you on this activity. And then, I want to give you my point of view on the speech about the brain that learns. This activity was in my opinion very educational and interesting because not every person knows which is the best way to learn or how the brain works. For me the most important part was when you gave the recommendations about how we can learn better nowadays because there is a difference between the way people learned in the past and in the present time. This kind of activity is very important to the students of the university because we all expand our knowledge and also apply what we learned to our daily life. I want to encourage you to continue organizing these conferences because they are very useful and part of our teaching process.

Yours sincerely,

María José Marín Padilla
Student of Teaching and Translation of the English

Description of myself

My name is María José Marín. I´m 19 years old. I live in Coronado. I love English because since I was 4 years old I started learning and practicing it. I studied in Amadita Primary School and then in EMVA High School. Now I´m studying Translation here, and I visualize myself been a professor and translating papers. I like languages a lot; I am going to start studying Mandarin, and in the future I will like to be a translator not only of English, but also of Mandarin. When I finish my career; I want to travel to practice my English, and also get the master degree in translation.