domingo, 8 de março de 2009

Music about children with disabilities

This music is one of the best music creates to make known the importance and the things in common wth the "normal people" and the people with disabilities.



Translation of the letter of the song to English:

There where the light comes
Away from my place
I found a clover of one thousand tons

And already in my hand
I looking for without believe
If it was to me the unusual extra leaf

Refrain:
There are rare people who you are
There are rare people that I am
The same source, the same look

My luck
It can also be yours
I will follow watering the heart

Refrain (2x)
There are rare people who you are
There are rare people that I am
The same source the same look

There where the light comes
Away from my place
The same source, the same look

This is a case of a young person that is integrated into the world of work in Portugal.


"Mafalda Ribeiro has 25 years of an unusual life. She studied journalism at the “Escola Superior de Comunicação Social”, but she is communication expert. She’s not a journalist in practice, but the taste for journalism and the letters makes here head move, even if the legs do not obey. Coexists with osteogenesis imperfect and moves in a wheelchair. She already writes for ten years and for one she writes a weekly chronicle of opinion in the “Notícias da Manhã” newspaper. The profession and passion for writing combined with the ability to manage her time in order to perform on a freelance adviser to the activities of the press, production and promotion of events in areas of cultural roots. She writes songs and surrounds herself with musicians and music in an attempt to bridge the kind of frustration of not being a pianist. She does voluntary in projects of social solidarity and never shuts up ... Mafalda has always something to "say"!"

Sources: Book "Mafaldisses"
http://www.ajudas.com/imgNews/mafalda2.jpg

Portugal employs more than half of its disabled.


Portugal is one of the countries with the highest percentage of disabled employees, and there is professionally active 55.2 percent of the Portuguese people with disabilities, or more than half of the universe. A comparison with five other European countries, Portugal leads the employability of these people, up from countries like England (54.6%) and Denmark (52.8%). At the other end of the table are placed Lithuania, Spain or Italy, countries where the percentage of inactive disabled people is well above of those with a job.

Sources:http://google.com/wikipedia
http://www.tramacomunicacao.com.br/imagens/gde/DMR2_gde.jpg
The Famous Tower of Babel



The Tower of Babel was an enormous tower built at the city of Babel.


According to the biblical account, a united humanity, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, took part in the building after the Great Flood; Babel was also called the "beginning" of Nimrod's kingdom.


The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens. However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of God, but was dedicated to the glory of man, with a motive of making a 'name' for the builders: "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4).



God, seeing what the people were doing, confounded their languages and scattered the people throughout the earth. It had been God's original purpose for mankind to grow and fill the earth.



So it was impossible to build this tower, and with that the humanity learns about the different languages that exist all over the world, and how is hard to know all of them.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel
Children Rights



The Childrens are our future, to protect them the ONU made this desclaration about their rights, and supposedly none of these clauses must be broken. But, in many circunstances they are broken.



On 20 November 1959, the ONU made the Declaration of the Children Rights, with 10 articles:



1 - The child should be able to develop physical, mental, moral, spiritual and socially, with freedom and dignity.

2 - The child has a right to a name and a nationality, since his birth.

3 - The child has the right to food, leisure, to have a house and adequate medical services.

4 - The child should grow supported by their parents and under their responsibility, in an environment of affection and security.

5 - A mentally or physically impaired child should receive treatment, education and care.

6 - The child has the right to education free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages.

7 - The child in all circumstances, should be among the first to receive protection and relief.

8 - The child must be protected against all forms of neglect and exploitation. It should not work before an appropriate age.

9 - Children must be protected practice of racial, religious, or any kind.

10 - The child must be educated in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship, brotherhood and peace among peoples.



So, take care of your childrens!


Source: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direitos_da_crian%C3%A7a
Association "Econtrar+se"


The portuguese Association Encontrar+se is launching move "Together to help"


It launched the movement UPA - United to Help, part of the awareness campaign of Encontrar+se, Association of Support for People with Severe Mental Disorder.

Under the slogan "Stand up against the discrimination of mental illness", the movement entered into a combination project of the Portuguese music, through partnership with influential personalities of Portuguese musical scene.


So, every month, two persons of the national music will collaborate in the recording of a song referring to the themes proposed by Encontrar+se, taking place on the basis of two conflicting concepts.


The association seeks so alert to the need for a change of mentality in the way mental illness is seen among us. "The UPA search of a responsible and happy, to get people to take the small step that makes all the difference in the understanding and acceptance of mental illness.


This "get up against" is all directed to people who do not accept, delay, deny and live in suffering because of mental illness as for any of us who still deal with this evil reality, 'says Filipa Palha, coordinator of the Project Encontrar+se!


So GET UP!


See the testemonial on http://www.encontrarse.pt/ =)

sábado, 7 de março de 2009

Amnesty International

Who We Are
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all.Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.You can help make a real difference by becoming a member or supporter of Amnesty International.


How You Can Help
Amnesty International doesn’t just reveal the outrage of human rights abuse but inspires hope for a better world through public action and international solidarity.
We help stop human rights abuses by mobilizing our members and supporters to put pressure on governments, armed groups, companies and intergovernmental bodies
There are many ways you can help us, including making a donation, joining Amnesty International and taking action.


About Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected for everyone. We believe human rights abuses anywhere are the concern of people everywhere.
So, outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world, we work to improve people’s lives through campaigning and international solidarity.
Our mission is to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.
Our members and supporters exert influence on governments, political bodies, companies and intergovernmental groups.
Activists take up human rights issues by mobilizing public pressure through mass demonstrations, vigils and direct lobbying as well as online and offline campaigning.


Campaigning for those who need help
“They carried guns all the time. I was afraid of the guns. Actually, I was in constant fear.”Fereh Musu Conteh, 13 years old, abducted by an armed group in Sierra Leone
Our campaigning remains firmly rooted in the power of individuals working in support of others who need protection or support.
Working with and for individuals the world over, we campaign so that every person may enjoy all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We undertake research and take action aimed at preventing and ending grave abuses of these rights, demanding that all governments and other powerful entities respect the rule of law. It means we campaign globally and locally where ever we can make a difference. For example, we take action to:
-Stop violence against women
-Defend the rights and dignity of those trapped in poverty
-Abolish the death penalty
-Oppose torture and combat terror with justice
-Free prisoners of conscience
-Protect the rights of refugees and migrants
-Regulate the global arms trade

Thousands of Amnesty International members respond to Urgent Action appeals on behalf of individuals at immediate risk. Publicity through the news media and the internet takes our message in many languages to millions of people.Campaigning can change people’s lives – of victims and survivors of human rights abuses, of human rights activists and defenders and even of the abusers.

Independent and democratic

We have a number of safeguards in place to protect our autonomy. We are:

-Independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion
-Democratic and self-governing
-Financially self-sufficient, thanks to the generous support of donations provided by individual members and supporters

We do not support or oppose any government or political system and neither do we necessarily support or oppose the views of the victims/survivors or human rights defenders whose rights we seek to protect.

amnesty.org

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, serving in the office from 1994–99. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island.
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela has supported reconciliation and negotiation, and has helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is currently a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.


Early life

Mandela belongs to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty, which reigns in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's Cape Province. He was born in Mvezo, a small village located in the district of Umtata, the Transkei capital. His patrilineal great-grandfather Ngubengcuka (who died in 1832), ruled as the Inkosi Enkhulu, or king, of the Thembu people. One of the king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. However, because he was only the Inkosi's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan (the so-called "Left-Hand House"), the descendants of his branch of the royal family were not eligible to succeed to the Thembu throne.
Mandela's father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief of the town of Mvezo. However, upon alienating the colonial authorities, they deprived Mphakanyiswa of his position, and moved his family to Qunu. Despite this, Mphakanyiswa remained a member of the Inkosi's Privy Council, and served an instrumental role in Jongintaba Dalindyebo's ascension to the Thembu throne. Dalindyebo would later return the favour by informally adopting Mandela upon Mphakanyiswa's death. Mandela's father had four wives, with whom he fathered a total of thirteen children (four boys and nine girls). Mandela was born to his third wife ('third' by a complex royal ranking system), Nosekeni Fanny. Fanny was a daughter of Nkedama of the Mpemvu Xhosa clan, the dynastic Right Hand House, in whose umzi or homestead Mandela spent much of his childhood. His given name Rolihlahla means "to pull a branch of a tree", or more colloquially, "troublemaker".
Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school, where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the English name "Nelson".
When Mandela was nine, his father died of tuberculosis, and the regent, Jongintaba, became his guardian. Mandela attended a Wesleyan mission school located next to the palace of the regent. Following Thembu custom, he was initiated at age sixteen, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute. Mandela completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the usual three. Designated to inherit his father's position as a privy councillor, in 1937 Mandela moved to Healdtown, the Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort which most Thembu royalty attended. At nineteen, he took an interest in boxing and running at the school.
After enrolling, Mandela began to study for a Bachelor of Arts at the Fort Hare University, where he met Oliver Tambo. Tambo and Mandela became lifelong friends and colleagues. Mandela also became close friends with his kinsman, Kaiser ("K.D.") Matanzima who, as royal scion of the Thembu Right Hand House, was in line for the throne of Transkei, a role that would later lead him to embrace Bantustan policies. His support of these policies placed him and Mandela on opposing political sides. At the end of Nelson's first year, he became involved in a Students' Representative Council boycott against university policies, and was told to leave Fort Hare and not return unless he accepted election to the SRC. Later, while imprisoned, Mandela studied for a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London External Programme.
Shortly after leaving Fort Hare, Jongintaba announced to Mandela and Justice (the regent's son and heir to the throne) that he had arranged marriages for both of them. The young men, displeased by the arrangement, elected to relocate to Johannesburg. Upon his arrival, Mandela initially found employment as a guard at a mine. However, the employer quickly terminated Mandela after learning that he was the Regent's runaway ward. Mandela later started work as an articled clerk at a law firm through connections with his friend and mentor, realtor Walter Sisulu. While working at the law firm, Mandela completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via correspondence, after which he began law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, where he first befriended fellow students and future anti-apartheid political activists Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First. During this time Mandela lived in Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg.




Wikipédia

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris). The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted the two detailed Covenants, which complete the International Bill of Human Rights; and in 1976, after the Covenants had been ratified by a sufficient number of individual nations, the Bill took on the force of international law.

Human rights set out in the Declaration

The following reproduces the articles of the Declaration which set out the specific human rights that are recognized in the Declaration.

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.


Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.




Wikipédia

Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to work for another (sometimes called "the master" or "slave owner"). Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation (such as wages) in return for their labor.
Evidence of slavery predates written records, and has existed to varying extents, forms and periods in almost all cultures and continents. In some societies, slavery existed as a legal institution or socioeconomic system, but today it is formally outlawed in nearly all countries. Nevertheless, the practice continues in various forms around the world.
Freedom from slavery is an internationally recognised human right. Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
According to one theory, the word slave, in Modern English, originates from the Middle English sclave which first appears around 1290. The spelling was based on Old French esclave, from the Medieval Latin sclavus and ultimately from the Byzantine Greek sklabos (from sklabenoi). The spelling of English slave, first appears in English in 1538. The term originally referred to various people from Central Europe.
Thralldom is an archaic synonym for slavery, and thrall a synonym for slave.


Abolitionist movements

Three Abyssinian slaves in chains. Anti-Slavery Society estimated there were 2 million slaves in Ethiopia in the early 1930s, out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million.

From the title page of abolitionist Anthony Benezet's book Some Historical Account of Guinea, London, 1788

Photographed in 1863 – Slave endured harsh treatment. The scars are a result of a whipping by his overseer, who was subsequently removed by the master.
Slavery has existed, in one form or another, through the whole of recorded human history — as have, in various periods, movements to free large or distinct groups of slaves. According to the Biblical Book of Exodus, Moses led Israelite slaves out of ancient Egypt — possibly the first written account of a movement to free slaves. Later Jewish laws (known as Halacha) prevented slaves from being sold out of the Land of Israel, and allowed a slave to move to Israel if he so desired. The Cyrus Cylinder, inscribed about 539 BC by the order of Cyrus the Great of Persia, abolished slavery and allowed Jews and other nationalities who had been enslaved under Babylonian rule to return to their native lands. Abolitionism should be distinguished from efforts to help a particular group of slaves, or to restrict one practice, such as the slave trade.
There were celebrations in 2007 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom through the work of the British Anti-Slavery Society. William Wilberforce received much of the credit although the groundwork was an anti-slavery essay by Thomas Clarkson. Wilberforce was also urged by his close friend, Prime Minister William Pitt, to make the issue his own. After the abolition act was passed these campaigners switched to encouraging other countries to follow suit, notably France and the British colonies.
Between 1808 and 1860, the British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers.
Abolitionist press in the United States produced a series of small steps forward. After January 1, 1808, the importation of slaves into the United States was prohibited, but not the internal slave trade, nor involvement in the international slave trade externally. Legal slavery persisted; and those slaves already in the U.S. would not be legally emancipated for another 60 years. The American Civil War, beginning in 1861, led to the end of chattel slavery in the United States.
On December 10, 1948, the General Assemble of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 4 states:


No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.-jackson hurst-70.123.126.167 (talk) 14:10, 6 March 2009 (UTC).


Wikipédia

Different types of human race

Human race is the classification of the human being, through the color from the skin color, the type of hair, the cranial and facial resignation, the genetics, the cultures or of the social origins.
This concept appeared due to the existence of a Racist culture.


Different types of human race:


Yellow race:
It is known also for Mongolian or Asian-oriental, and it divides in 2 types of races:
-North Asians: they are characterized because of the their clear skin color, black hair, medium nose, thin lips and in most of the cases they have pulled eyes.
-South Asians: these are characterized because of the bronze or dark skin, thick lips, wide nose and their hair sometimes is waved and frizzy.

Geographical distribution:
Northern Asia, Central, South-east Asia of Asia, bigger concentration in Oriental Asia



White race:
It is the term designated to classify a human group of Caucasian origin. It describes people with a clear tone on the skin.
It exists especially in Europe, in the western regions and in Brazil.

Distribution in the World:
- Europe
- some countries on North, Centre and South America;
- Australia and New Zealand
- South Africa
- India
- Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay


Black race:
It is the term designated to describe people with a dark tone on the skin, or with a different type of hair, etc.
The "black" term was created by the Portuguese people, because the biggest part of slaves were African and they had a different skin color.

Geographical distribution :
- Africa
- Caribbean, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay
- France, Netherlands, United Kingdom





-http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasiano
-http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%A7a
-Diciopédia 2007

sexta-feira, 6 de março de 2009

Language… A problem for the emigrants!Negrito

The emigrants that have problems learning the new language turns their life's much harder. It’s ,for them, difficult to communicate, which makes it harder to find job, make friends, adapt to the way of living of that culture, adapt to school and start over on the new country.

The Terminal

The film shows an immigrant who travels to the United States of America. When he was traveling to America his country enter into war and he lost his nationality, so his documents are all canceled. During the film we see the difficulty that he found in communicate with the Americans.


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm1xrJD5aW8

The importance of the language


How many languages exist in whole world?

Number of living languages: 6912
Number of those languages that are nearly extinct: 516
Language with the greatest number of native speakers: Mandarin Chinese
Language spoken by the greatest number of non-native speakers: English (250 million to 350 million non-native speakers)



Countries where English is the spoken language!



The Importance of English ...

English is not the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers.
It is difficult to estimate exactly how many English speakers there are, but according to one estimate there are more than 350,000,000 native English speakers and more than 400,000,000 speakers of English as a second language or foreign language.


The use oh English…


Today, English is used for us (portugues peolple) everyday's. Words like okay, chat, net, messenger, hi5, game over, fast-food, surf, stop, rock, punk, t-shirt, DVD, snack bar, pen drive, donut, aftershave, spray, ketchup… are used everyday by us. English is also important for the news, business, maritime communication and international air traffic control.


Importance of English for the culture...

Popular culture has also played an important part in spreading English. American and British popular music are heard all over the world. American movies are seen in almost every country. Books in English are available even in countries where few people actually use English. One reason that students give for learning English is to understand these songs, movies and books.

Importance of English for the tourism…

English is spoken in large hotels and tourist attractions, at airports, and in shops that tourists frequent. There are newspapers printed in English, and TV news is available in English. Tours are almost always available in English. Even in countries where few people speak English on the street, people who work with tourists generally speak English too.


So the English language is very important for people to communicate. Is essential for us all. And it is easy to learn.

Sources:
http://englishfirst.org/eff/kitao-wh.htm

http://www.old-picture.com/american-history-1900-1930s/pictures/Emigrant.jpg
http://www.narpau.se/slask/communicate.jpg
http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/files/articles/movies.jpg

quinta-feira, 5 de março de 2009

unicef

Unicef is an organization created to help the children from the hole world.
What they do?

Young child survival and development
In 2007, an estimated 9.2 million children worldwide under the age of five died from largely preventable causes. Some are directly caused by illness such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. Others are caused by indirect causes including conflict and HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition, poor hygiene and lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation contribute to more than half of these deaths. Two thirds of both neonatal and young child deaths — over 6 million deaths every year — are preventable. Half a million women die in pregnancy each year, most during delivery or in the first few days thereafter.

Basic education and gender equality
Education is a fundamental human right: Every child is entitled to it. It is critical to our development as individuals and as societies, and it helps pave the way to a successful and productive future. When we ensure that children have access to a rights-based, quality education that is rooted in gender equality, we create a ripple effect of opportunity that impacts generations to come.

Children and HIV and AIDS
Over twenty-five years into the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, the children in its path remain at grave risk. In 2007, it was estimated that 2.1 million children under 15 years old were living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and 290,000 children died of AIDS and 420,000 children were newly infected. Over 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been made vulnerable. Children affected by HIV and AIDS may experience poverty, homelessness, school drop-out, discrimination, loss of life opportunity, and early death.

Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse
An estimated 300 million children worldwide are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse including the worst forms of child labor in communities, schools and institutions; during armed conflict; and to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage. Millions more, not yet victims, also remain without adequate protection.

Policy advocacy and partnerships for children's rights
Policy analysis is an essential aspect of UNICEF’s work with governments, law-makers, the media, civil society and international organizations on behalf of children and women. By analysing economic, social and legal policies, we can better understand the circumstances and forces that affect the well-being of children and women around the world. From this analysis, we can determine whether, for example, poverty, poor health or the absence of legal protection are being adequately addressed, and in turn develop new policy approaches and actions to improve the results of economic, social and democratic governance programmes for children and women.
Why they do it?
  • Children have rights
  • The world has set goals for children
  • Children demand a voice
  • Poverty reduction starts with children
  • The people of the world say 'Yes' for children
  • Children should not be dying from preventable causes

unicef people

Celebrities committed to children; the positive power of fame.

National Committee volunteers; personal contributions that make a difference.

Adolescents andyoung people;taking actionto changethe world.

The impact of UNICEF's work; on individuals, communities and families.

Staff working for health, education, equality and protection for every child.

unicef.org

quarta-feira, 4 de março de 2009

Artistic Discrimination

This video shows us forms of discrimination against people who have tattoos.



In my opinion this type of discrimination it's very bad because people with tatoos don't are different.



Sources: www.youtube.com

Discrimination





Discriminate means “make a distinction”.
There are two forms of discrimination: the first, visible, reprehensible immediately and second, indirectly, with respect to acts of seemingly neutral, but they produce different effects on certain groups.

There are several types of discrimination,some of them are:

*Race discrimination - Discriminates against people of other races are different.

*Age discrimination - Age discrimination, generational or etaísme is a type of discrimination against persons or groups based on age.

*Gender discrimination or Sexism - Though gender discrimination and sexism refers to beliefs and attitudes in relation to the gender of a person, such beliefs and attitudes are of a social nature and do not, normally, carry any legal consequences. Sex discrimination, on the other hand, may have legal consequences.

*Employment discrimination

*Language discrimination

*Reverse discrimination - Is a common term used to describe policies or acts that discriminate in favor of a group historically discriminated against.

*Disability discrimination - People with disabilities face discrimination in all levels of society. The attitude that disabled individuals are inferior to non-disabled individuals is called "ableism".

*Heightism - Is a form of discrimination based on height. In principle it can refer to unfavorable treatment of either unusually tall or short people.

*Racism - Is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

*Genetic discrimination - Occurs when people are treated differently by their employer or insurance company because they have a gene mutation that causes or increases the risk of an inherited disorder.

*Lookism - Is discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance.

*Classism - Is prejudice and/or discrimination on the basis of socioeconomic class. Is grounded in a hierarchy belief system that ranks people according to socioeconomic status, family lineage, and other class related divisions.

Sources: www.google.com/wikipédia

Women's rights

The term women's rights refer to freedoms and entitlements of women and girls of all ages. These rights may or may not be institutionalized, ignored or suppressed by law, local custom, and behavior in a particular society. These liberties are grouped together and differentiated from broader notions of human rights because they often differ from the freedoms inherently possessed by or recognized for men and boys.

Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (universal suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. Women and their supporters have campaigned and in some places continue to campaign for the same rights as modern men.

History

Until the mid-nineteenth century, writers assumed that a patriarchal order was a natural order that had existed as John Stuart Mill wrote, since "the very earliest twilight of human society". This was not seriously challenged until the eighteenth century when Jesuit missionaries found matrilineality in native North American peoples.

In the Middle Ages, an early effort to improve the status of women in Islam occurred during the early reforms under Islam, when women were given greater rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance. Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures, including the West, until centuries later. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam states that the general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood. Under Islamic law, marriage was no longer viewed as a "status" but rather as a "contract", in which the woman's consent was imperative. Annemarie Schimmel states that "compared to the pre-Islamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."

Some have claimed that women generally had more legal rights under Islamic law than they did under Western legal systems until more recent times. English Common Law transferred property held by a wife at the time of a marriage to her husband, which contrasted with the Sura: "Unto men (of the family) belongs a share of that which Parents and near kindred leave, and unto women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whether it be a little or much - a determinate share" (Quran 4:7), albeit maintaining that husbands were solely responsible for the maintenance and leadership of his wife and family. "French married women, unlike their Muslim sisters, suffered from restrictions on their legal capacity which were removed only in 1965."

In the 16th century, the Reformation in Europe allowed more women to add their voices, including the English writers Jane Anger, Aemilia Lanyer, and the prophetess Anna Trapnell. However, it has been claimed that the Dissolution and resulting closure of convents had deprived many such women of one path to education. Giving voice in the secular context became more difficult when deprived of the rationale and protection of divine inspiration. Queen Elizabeth I demonstrated leadership amongst women, even if she was unsupportive of their causes, and subsequently became a role model for the education of women.

Modern movement

In the subsequent decades women's rights again became an important issue in the English speaking world. By the 1960s the movement was called "feminism" or "women's liberation." Reformers wanted the same pay as men, equal rights in law, and the freedom to plan their families or not have children at all. Their efforts were met with mixed results.

In the UK a public groundswell of opinion in favour of legal equality had gained pace, partly through the extensive employment of women in men's traditional roles during both world wars. By the 1960s the legislative process was being readied, tracing through MP Willie Hamilton's select committee report, his Equal Pay For Equal Work Bill, the creation of a Sex Discrimination Board, Lady Sear's draft sex anti-discrimination bill, a government Green Paper of 1973, until 1975 when the first British Sex Discrimination Act, an Equal Pay Act, and an Equal Opportunities Commission came into force.

In the USA, the US National Organization for Women (NOW) was created in 1966 with the purpose of bringing about equality for all women. NOW was one important group that fought for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment stated that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex". But there was disagreement on how the proposed amendment would be understood. Supporters believed it would guarantee women equal treatment. But critics feared it might deny women the right be financially supported by their husbands. The amendment died in 1982 because not enough states had ratified it. ERAs have been included in subsequent Congresses, but have still failed to be ratified.

In the last three decades of the 20th century, Western women knew a new freedom through birth control, which enabled women to plan their adult lives, often making way for both career and family. The movement had been started in the 1910s by US pioneering social reformer Margaret Sanger and in the UK and internationally by Marie Stopes.

Over the course of the 20th century women took on a greater role in society. For example, many women served in government. Many women took advantage of opportunities to become educated. In the United States at the beginning of the 20th century less than 20% of all college degrees were earned by women. By the end of the century this figure had risen to about 50%.

Opportunities also expanded in the workplace. Fields such as medicine, law, and science opened to include more women. At the beginning of the 20th century about 5% of the doctors in the United States were women. As of 2006, over 38% of all doctors in the United States were women, and today, women make almost 50% of the medical student population.


Wikipédia

Racism

Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs may resent certain groups of people according to their race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment. Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, even though anybody can be racialised, independently of their somatic differences.

Declarations against racial discrimination

Racial discrimination contradicts the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence, the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen issued during the French Revolution and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed after World War II, which all postulate equality between all human beings.

In 1950, UNESCO suggested in The Race Question to "drop the term race altogether and instead speak of ethnic groups". The statement condemned scientific racism theories which had played a role in the Holocaust. It aimed both at debunking scientific racist theories, by popularizing modern knowledge concerning "the race question," and morally condemned racism as contrary to the philosophy of the Enlightenment and its assumption of equal rights for all. Along with Myrdal's An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (1944), The Race Question influenced the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court desegregation decision in "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka".

The United Nations uses the definition of racial discrimination laid out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted in 1966: ..any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.(Part 1 of Article 1 of the U.N. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination)

In 2001, the European Union explicitly banned racism along with many other forms of social discrimination in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the legal effect of which, if any, would necessarily be limited to Institutions of the European Union: "Article 21 of the charter prohibits discrimination on any ground such as race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, disability, age or sexual orientation and also discrimination on the grounds of nationality."


Wikipédia
Judaism

Judaism is a religion that doesn’t have an individual person, but the Hebrew people, the chosen people, chosen by God to enlighten all people.
Remain in diaspora (or = exile around the world without home) waiting for the coming of the Savoir, who will in the world be the Kingdom of God.

The symbols of Judaism

- The Wailing Wall - Jerusalem, is what remains of the Temple of Herod destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 AD Here the Jewish come to pray. It is the only sacred place of all Judaism.
- The seven arms of the candelabra - The menorah is the symbol of Judaism. The 7 is for the Jews the number of fullness, perfection.
- The Synagogue - This is the place of prayer, study and reunion.
- The Rabbi - The Hebrew have no priests. The Rabbi is not a master, but a spiritual guide for the faithful interpretation of the Bible.
- The Sabbath - A weekly day holiday of the Jews. Starts on the Sunset of Friday and goes until the Sunset of Saturday. It is a day dedicated to prayer and rest.

Sacred Scripture

- The holy book is the Bible. It corresponds to the Old Testament of Christians, with few differences. The Torah contains the first five books attributed to Moses (Book of the Law).


The Holidays (the main parties)

- The day of forgiveness - "Yom Kippur" - festival of fasting and atonement. Each Jew should extend to their enemy's a hand of reconciliation, forgetting the harm and asking for forgiveness. - The feast of the Passover - "Pessah" - refers to the output of the Hebrew people in Egypt led by Moses. Extends for eight days.
- The feast of Pentecost - "Shavuot" - recalls the Gift of Torah (Ten Commandments), given by God to Moses, on Mount Sinai.

Islam

Islam in Arabic means submission to the will of God and Muslims are the followers of this faith.

The Sacred Book
The Qur'an (reading or recitation) is the book containing the revelations of the archangel Gabriel made for the prophet Mohammed. It Teaches religious precepts, and moral dogmas. It consists of 114 chapters (suras). It contains not only praise and allusions to the characteristics of Allah, but also descriptions of paradise and final judge, Jewish and Christian legends and social norms.

Muslims have five basic obligations:

- Profession of faith in the unity of God, Allah, and mission of Prophet Muhammad, giving repeatedly that "There is no other god but Allah and Muhammad and his Prophet" ( "Wool ilãh illã'llah Mohammad rasoul Allah).
- Praying 5 times a day, kneeling on a carpet, toward Mecca. The Prayer is an act of worship to Allah. The clothes and the body must be cleaned of all impurities. Furthermore, in the man, the part of the body between the navel and the knees must be covered and, in women, only the hands and face may be uncovered.
- Islamic alms (zakat) - is the amount, in kind or in cash, which means the Muslim who have should distribute among the needy. The zakat is compulsory for anyone who has it in his possession for one year, gold with the minimum weight of 88 grams or silver as minimum weight of 612 grams.
- Fasting of Ramadan - the act is to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, etc.., for one month from the rising until the sunset. They release the children, the insane, the disabled, the elderly and the weak. The traveller, the patient or the woman who breast-feed, may postpone the fasting. It is done in the month of Ramadan, month in which Allah revealed the Koran.
- Pilgrimage to Mecca - should take place once in a lifetime, if circumstances allow, this is, if they are in physical conditions and have material conditions to undertake the journey. There, they must do seven laps around the Caaba.

The Arabs use the lunar calendar. The year has twelve months with the beginning emergence of a new moon. They are months of twenty-nine or thirty days according to the lunation, so that the year has 354 days and nine hours.

Furthermore, we know that they count the years and centuries from Hégira, emigration of Mohammed to Medina, so that in 1990, of the Christian era, the Muslims were in the year 1410.




http://religioes.home.sapo.pt

Religion

Religion is a set of beliefs and practices, often associated with a supernatural power that arranges or directs the life and death of men, or a commitment to ideas that give coherence to the life of each person. Joining a religion involves a belief in a divine power and also provides a moral guidance of their followers.

Christianity

Christianity is the religion of those who believe that Jesus Christ is Son of God, dead and risen. Son of God and of Mary, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
He had disciples who spread his preaching everywhere, starting from Jerusalem. Peter and Paul spread the Christianity in Europe.
With the discoveries, Christianity is expanding through America, Africa and Far East.

The Bible is the sacred book of Christians, but it is different from the Bible of the Jews in that it contains the Old and New Testaments.
The Christians believe in one God manifested in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life for Salvation of men. Crucified, he resurrected gloriously on the third day. This faith is professed in the “Profession of Faith”.
Festivities
Christmas

Celebrates the birth of Christ.

Easter
On Easter Sunday the Church celebrates Jesus Risen: "The Lord resurrected. Hallelujah!"

The Pentecost
Fifty days after Easter, Christians celebrate the day that God sent the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

For Christians, Jesus is the son of God and their religion is based on the lessons that he preached during his life.
The story of his death and resurrection is the most important aspect of the existence of Jesus as the sacrifice of his life was the way in which the Christian Father God saved the human race and it opened the doors of eternal life.

Buddhism

The Buddhism is not exactly a religion but a philosophy of life since, at the heart of his message is the man.
The goal of Buddhism - is not melting into Brahma (the Absolute), or union with God, but to reach the Nirvana that means delete the fires of nostalgie and attachment (this can be achieved in this life). It teaches the way to escape the suffering and pain.

"There is a sphere that is not certain, nor water, nor fire nor air: the ball of nothing. There is only the end of suffering" Buddha.

The Doctrine
The Buddhist belief is the “four holy truths”:

1 - All existence is unsatisfactory and full of suffering;
2 - This suffering is caused by ignorance, by ardent desire or attachment - constant effort to find something eternal and stable in the transition world;
3 - The suffering or dissatisfaction can be overcome at all - the Nirvana;
4 – You can achieve nirvana by following the noble Eight Ways of cumin: (these eight tracks do not have to be followed by a set order)

- Some understanding (or faith pure)
- Led some thought (or wish pure)
- A speech (or pure language)
- Certain conduct (action or pure)
- Some effort (pure or applied)
- A life (or means of subsistence pure)
- Some attention (or pure memory)
- Right concentration (meditation or pure)

To achieve absolute purification and therefore the lighting, the Buddhism proposes many years. The "Yoga" is the principal.
The Buddhist believes that a human being before reaching Nirvana, a place of absolute peace, where there is no suffering, passes by several rebirths.

The three main sins of Buddhism:

- Greed (represented by the pig)
- Hatred (represented by the snake)
- The illusion (represented by the rooster)

"Consumed by yearning, angry by hate, blinded by the illusion, crushed and desperate, a man contemplates his own fall, to the other and both together" Buddha.

The symbols of Buddhism:

-The wheel of life - the wheel is symbol of rebirth.
-The temple or Buddhist shrine - a place of worship
-The Bonzo - is the name given to Buddhist monks.

Lay people participating in various acts of worship which shows a very strong and deep religiosity. The supply of flowers, candles and incense of chopsticks is very widespread. The statues of Buddha are honoured in particular. In wood, the faithful place gold papers.

Thus, the prayers of Buddhists, monks and lay people, are not directed to a personal God, but the Buddha that is within each of us. Often, these prayers are written in rolls that the faithful are turning. They believe that as the rollers rotate with the sentences containing, these are repeated hundreds of times.

Hinduism

Sacred books - Vedas (Sanskrit word meaning "divine knowledge").
The Vedas are hymns written in Sanskrit archaic XII century and the collections were five or Samhita, which would have been revealed by the Brahma Rishi, or wise: the "shruti" or revelations. Divided into:

Rig-Veda - or prohibits the stanzas, composed of twenty-eight thousand hymns addressed to the deity;
Yajur-Veda - or Veda of sacrificial formulas, consisting of five collections of poetry formulation; Sarna-Veda - Veda of melodies and includes many stanzas almost always accompanied by musical notations for the use of archaic singers.
Atharva-Veda - or tales of magic, composed of excerpts cosmogonic and mystics.

The Hinduism professes three main gods: Brahma, which is the root Brahe and that means growth. Brahma is the personification of the Absolute male, father and home of all things, creator of the universe. It is represented with four faces and four arms to indicate his omnipotence. It presents in all things, and may manifest itself in any human species, animal (holy cow, elephant) or mineral (River Ganges).

The Hindus believe in reincarnation of souls, after death, according to the merits. They also believe in the possibility of the release of the man of the cycle of reincarnation.

The prayer must be done at least twice a day, in the rising and Sunset of the day. Recite texts of the Vedas and it offers flowers to the deity and the fire that pays tribute. There is Brahman, priests who devote their lives to the gods. A religion with many gods has countless festivals - more than 40 per year, varying according to the region.