Obamination?

This is why we love Obama, he's funny, charismatic, and for a forty something dude, he's pretty good looking, he's grounded and he's definitely down to earth. What disgusts me, are the comments people are leaving on the YouTube videos of him speaking at the White House Correspondants dinner. From the black people insulting the white, blaming them for our problems. To the white people insulting the blacks, saying that they brought everything bad to America, and holding them solely responsible for the transport of AIDS to the US. Isn't this exactly what MLK was fighting against?

just shut up and enjoy it, people take themselves too seriously these days ..

obama, we love you!

-cameron.m

Mrs. O with Elmo

Haha, Michelle Obama taped an episode of Sesame Street, on her first official visit to NYC. Doesn't she look so pretty?

And she also checked into some Cinco de Mayo school, where some children performed for her, how sweet!

CHOCOLATE by slaves

According to the International Labour Organisation, 30% of children under age 15 in sub-Saharan Africa engage in child labor, mostly in agricultural activities including cocoa farming. Of the 200,000 children working in the Ivory Coast cocoa industry, the ILO claims - a maximum of 6% (12,000 children) may be victims of human trafficking or slavery. - Wikipedia

It's funny how as North-American or Europen consumers, we're so ignorant on matters relating to the world, especially developping countries. I include myself in this category, because like others I consume products without knowing their origins.

I was just randomly doing a research on chocolate, looking for some pictures, when I came across a heading about child labor and chocolate. From the short research I did, here's what I can summarize: A lot of the chocolate we eat is made by children in Ivory Coast, who's ages range from 12-16, sold into slave labor and forced to work in cocoa farms in order to harvest the beans, from which chocolate is made, under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse.

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Chocolate Consumption (in pounds per head) 2000

1. Switzerland 22.3


2. Austria 20.1


3. Ireland 19.4


4. Germany 18.1


5. Norway 17.9


6. Denmark 17.6


7. United Kingdom 17.4


8. Belgium 13.2


9. Sweden 12.8
   
10. United States 11.7

*To get a better look/understanding of this, check out some vids on Youtube.

The Bite of the Mango

The Bite of the Mango is a book by Mariatu Kamara, a young woman from Sierra Leone who fell victim of vicious attacks from rebel soldiers at the age of 12, in her homeland where there was war over diamonds.

Mariatu came to our school April 21, 2009, as a guest speaker and agent for UNICEF, and made a short presentation on her life, and gave us lots of wise advice. Until she arrived in Canada Mariatu hadn't gone to school, so she told us to focus mainly on education because that's the key to success. I truly appreciated her words of wisdom and her story, it reminded me of my presentation on sexual violence against women of the Congo. It made me realise how sad, unfortunate, and similar the situations of war are in Africa.

When asked how she feels toward God, having lost her hands as a result of cruelty from soldiers, Mariatu responded "Maybe God took away my hands so I could touch the world with my heart". And her optimist attitude remained prevalent throughout her entire presentation.

That's why I recommend this book to everyone, I haven't read it yet, but I plan on it. So go to the local library and grab yourself a copy!

All my single ladies, all my single ladies

A bunch of British girls performed Beyonce's entire "Single ladies" video on the streets of UK, as a group.