Tuesday, May 3, 2011

My Re-commitment to CLP


We have come this far as a member of CLP. We are so close to achiving the commitment we made about 7 months ago. I am so proud of what we have done and also recognize that we have some ways to go.  From the get go, I commited to all the workload that would come along with joining CLP. There was a time when I felt overwhelmed with all the work that I questioned my commitment. I was putting so much time and effort into getting GrassROUTES together that I neglected my schoolwork. As far as I was concerned I made a commitment and I was going to see it through completion.

The reason I keep coming is not only because I made a commitment though. I keep coming back because I believe in what we are doing and because that the youth deserve it.

At the beginning I didn’t see how much time and effort the youth put into CLP. But after being around them and working with them I realize that they are willing to do whatever it takes to complete what we have stated as a group. Seeing them work so hard motivates me to continue doing what I’m doing.

I sill give up on what we have started because I feel that we are in this together. And even though others may not recognize just how much work we put into CLP, we know the workload and we can keep each other motivated.

I am rededicating my time and effort so that we can complete what we have started. 

Monday, January 24, 2011

Slow Movement by TED

My first thought when I started watching this video was, "What? we need to move faster!" The poor aren't being helped fast enough, we aren't saving enough lives therefore we need to speed up our life saving process... We need to give blood more often... The first few minutes of the clip all these questions and more were running through my head. But when I "slowed down" and listened I realized, he wasn't talking about being lazy or unproductive. He was saying take time to do things efficiently. Spend more time with people who mean the most to you. 

This clip took me back to the years when I used to live in Ethiopia. Man how simple life seemed. People in Ethiopia do not race against time. I remember the genuiness of people, the care we had for each other. One might say that we don't have to race time because Ethiopia is not a developed world and therefore there aren't any jobs available. That is true for the most part, but it's also because of the rich culture. I was taught at a young age that people are important. Visiting the sick, attending funerals and weddings were very important. I couldn't understand when I was younger why my mother attended so many funerals. Sometimes she would go to funerals even when she did not know the person. My little brain couldn't comprehend how she can cry for a person she did not know. Now I realized, she didn't have to know the person per se. Maybe she was crying for the children she left behind, for the wife he left behind, or the friends and neighbors they left behind. I will never knew the true reasons why my mother felt the need to make time to cry with those grieving, laugh with others, dance yet with others... Time never seem to run out for her. Whatever task was not completed the previous day was worked on the next. 

Coming from a mother like her, a lot of her ways rubbed off on me... 

When I first came to America, I hated the country. I wanted to go back home. The reason was because life out here was too fast. I was amazed to see that people can ride on buses and planes for ours and not say a word to each other. The lack of friendliness and hospitality in American people made me want to run back home despite the poverty level and lack of education awaiting me there. People always seemed in a rush out here. In such a huge rush that they couldn't properly greet each other...

Now 10 years later, I can't believe how much I have changed. I'm amazed to say that  I would push the "button" to go faster if i could. 

As an athlete (runner) I was trained to go faster and faster and faster. Because of this everything in my life turned into a race. Since everything was evolved around running, I couldn't make time for my loved ones. My main goal was to train hard and to get faster! Once I quit the team my pace slowed down a great deal. I still find myself racing against the clock but I at least have more time to sped with family and friends. 

What I took from this video clip is that fast it not always good. To produce something with great quality, weather it be a product, friendships, and/or romantic relationships we need to spend time working on it. 

Sunday, January 23, 2011

What I'm working on...

Right now, I'm working on setting up a 5k run for fundraising.

The possible date is March 19th hopefully here at UCR but if not I'm talking to people at North HS about using their facility.

AND... I am so excited because we are trying to get Guardian Scholars involved ( an organization that supports emancipated foster youth). As a member of both CLP and GS I am so enthusiastic about this event.

So keep your fingers crossed that it turns out great :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

How I envision myself as a member of CLP in 2011

I envision myself growing, with more love, understanding and respect for not only the people I already know and care about, but also for people around the globe. I've listened to many members of my CLP family talk about this invisible "fence" or boarder that divides countries, cities, religious groups and so on. They've talked so passionately about it. They say it's because of these invisible boarders we go through life believing there's "us" and and there is "them". Their problems do not affect us, how could they, right? I've come to understand that we can't look at is as "us" vs "them". I mean think about it... Look at the division between the poor and the rich in this country. As much as we may not wanna believe it, there are not that many people that fall into the middle ground. And why may that be?... It's because those at the bottom do not get equal access to resources and the people at the top (those who are able to access the resources) don't see it as their problem. So they live their lives care free and refuse to uncover the truth. Imagine  if we all collaborated and worked together toward safety, health, and equality for all? Why should some people work full time and still not have enough money to feed their family while other families live off of inherited wealth? WHY? 

I see myself digging for reasons to discover answers to the above questions within myself and within the CLP family.

My goals and visions fo winter 2011

My goals for winter 2011 are:

Improve my goal setting skills, get better grades, stay committed, learn how to be more open about my experiences... (more will be added to this list)


Why India, why Mexico, why Riverside

This was the first reflection question that we were asked, but for some reason I didn't know how to answer it. Even now I struggle with this question. But for now my answer is as follows:

Because this is the place where it all started. Geographical location doesn't mean that much to me. CLP started because someone had a vision that can reach out to people on the global level, and that person happened to be in Riverside. I feel that right now it's these three, but with time CLP and organizations like it will spread out throughout the world. And weather this type of work was being done in collaboration with India, Mexico, Japan or whatever else it's something I would like to be a part of.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

quote

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~Martin Luther King