Back to School

Hello everyone!

Long time no see :)I hope that you all had a great summer.

First of all I want to thank our 2000 readers from Norway, USA, India, Germany, Greece, UK, Taiwan, China, Singapore and Indonesia for constantly reading our posts. It means a lot to us!

I have had a great summer with a lot of fun. My summer vacation started at Oslo Summer School.
Oslo Summer School is a free service to students who attend school in Oslo.
Courses are offered in week 26, 27, 32 and 33 of the 37 bases and training sites in the city. Each course runs from Monday to Friday for a week.
Oslo Summer School is a learning environment for students who wish for academic challenges for students who want to practice more on basic skills.
All courses are related to one of the subjects Norwegian, mathematics, science, English, foreign languages​​, IT and vocational programs.
Common objectives for all courses is that students learn something new, get professional challenges and great experiences in a safe and social learning.
I had two courses, one in Mathematics and the second course was Science in English. We got teachers from the UK to teach us Science in the second course and that was so cool to have British teachers with beautiful accents. It was both enjoyable and motivating to be there.
In the first course, we visited radiumhospitalet which is a special hospital to all cancer pasients. We learnt how to give a radiotherapy to kill cancer (it doesn't kill cancer compeletly, but it reduces cancer).



I watched a lot of bollywood movies like Ek Villain, Kick, Heropanti, Holiday and Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania My favorite movies are Ek Villain, Holiday and Kick.

Later, we (my family and I) went to Rhodes, Greece! It was fantastic! We stayed in Ialysos, which is one of Rhodes major cities. We have seen the butterfly valley, Mandraki, Old town, New town, Lindos and Tsampika. It's so many things to say about these places. The butterfly valley and Mandraki/Old town are the best places I have ever visited. The butterfly valley is a valley with a lot of butterflies flying here and there. Catch the butterflies if you can! Trust me, I tried, but they just flew when I came near them. Old town is actually a fortress, but it's actually shops in it. Yes, you heard me right! There are many different types of shops there f.ex. clothes, souvenir shops, Turkish shops, frozen yogurt shops, leather shops and many more. The thing that surprised me was 15-20 Jewellery shops were placed in the same row, and that too in a fortress! My God!

There are plenty of topics to talk about this school year! I am looking forward to post.
Stay tuned I will be right back!

- Ritika Jaswal

Summer and back to school!!

Hello guys!!!
How are you, and how was your summer-vacation?

First I just wanna say that I had a grat summer with friends and family. I was in Denmark and Englad.
I wachd alot of movies also:)

The first week of the summer vacation I went to "summer school" in Norway! Fun to meet new people! Little bit about the school:

Oslo Summer School is a free service to all students who attend school and / or living in Oslo.
Courses are offered in week 26, 27, 32 and 33 of the 37 bases and training sites throughout the city. Each course runs from Monday to Friday for a week.
Oslo Summer School is a learning environment for pupils wishing academic challenges for students who want to practice more on basic skills.
All courses are related to one of the subjects Norwegian, mathematics, science, English, foreign languages​​, ICT and vocational programs.
Common objectives for all courses is that students learn something new, get professional challenges and great experiences in a safe and social learning.
All courses have physical activity daily and weekly cultural activity or outing. 5,500 training places have swimming training exercise.
Employees in Oslo Summer School teachers, students from universities and colleges and students in high school. There are between 25 and 30 students and a teacher and an assistant in each group.
All staff have first aid course. Teachers and assistants in science courses, as is the walk to the water, also have life support courses.

But we went to Denmark with the car and was there in 6 days, we rented a little house near Lego Land and Lalandia. It was so fun there! After we spend 6 days there we drove back to Norway (Denmark->Sweden->Norway) 13 hours in the car! (trust me I've been in a car longer)
Some few weeks later we was in London (for the 100th time, hahaha) on a wedding. And it was my father's cousin's wedding. It was so cool with alot of energy! The bride (my new aunt) was so pretty! I swear Indian weddings are the best (I'm not going to shear any photos)
(sorry that I wrote little)

Tnx. M.K

UN and Syria- What's going on?

Hello :)

It's been a long time now. I didn't get the chance to post on the blog.
I have been very busy these days...

I'm sure you know about the civil war that is going on in Syria. The news have been in the limelight of the media since March 2011. It started with peaceful demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad's Baath-regime. The uprising became a part of the Arabic Spring, but this uprising became more and more brutal. The demonstrations started due to corruption, inflation, unemployment and due to ineffective consitution.

21. december 2013 was the Syrian army of having massacred an entire village, Kfar 'Uwayd, near the border of Turkey, and hundreds of people died and the attack lasted in several hours.

Then why isn't UN doing anything?

"The Security Council impasse severely cripples the UN in its search for conflict resolution,
but it does not immobilize its completely: the other UN bodies and offices do everything in their might to fill in the void. Each in their own way, the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the Special Envoy for Syria (Lakhdar Brahimi) and the Commission of Inquiry for Syria try to inform, warn and engage the international community into doing something to stop the Syrian bloodbath. Though the UN’s traditional “naming, blaming and shaming”-tactic is only marginally working in trying to budge the different conflict actors towards resolution, it seems the international community is now at least fully informed about and confronted with the disaster that is taking place in Syria, an achievement which is definitely partly attributable to the different UN offices in New York and Geneva.

UN negotiation attempts are being made continuously, with Kofi Annan’s six-point plan as a notable, but unfortunately failed endeavour. The Geneva peace talks are another UN-facilitated initiative, though their success has depended and will continue to depend largely on the willingness of both the United States and Russia – the principal initiators – as well as the parties to the conflict to participate in the talks. What concerns the long-announced Geneva II conference, the opposition groups in particular seem not interested to participate in more talks, delaying the taking place of the conference itself once more""
(Source: )

The UN Council consists primarly of five countries: France, Russia, The U.K., The U.S. and China, and therefor the actions depends solely on them. The thought of several humans living in refugee camps...without enough food or water...it just saddens me. Several youngsters are employed. I don't know what to say. I can't do anything even if I want to do.

Nevertheless, I'm glad to know that it's people there to help these people.

MSF

MSF is operating five makeshift hospitals inside Syria. The teams are also running mobile clinic programmes in some areas when security conditions allow, and we are running comprehensive routine vaccination programmes for children in the areas where we are operating.

In areas where MSF is not able to work directly, we have an extensive programme of remote support for Syrian medical networks, both in opposition-controlled and in government-controlled areas. Through this programme we are supporting 18 hospitals and 34 medical posts in seven governorates. On average around three tons of medical supplies or basic relief items such as blankets, mattresses, soap or cooking sets are supplied per day.

MSF activities inside Syria up till end of February 2014:
•ER consultations – 53,377
•Out-patient consultations – 88,505
•Surgical procedures – 7,190
•Maternity deliveries – 2,018
•Emergency measles vaccination campaign – 75,000 children (April to June 2013)

(Source: http://www.msf.org/syria)



Red Cross


In March and April 2014, the ICRC:
-supplied food to over 900,000 people, mainly IDPs;

-supplied essential household items such as hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses and kitchen sets to over 180,00 IDPs;

worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to provide equipment and water treatment chemicals to water treatment plants and stations in several governorates;

-worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to provide dozens of tanker trucks that brought water to more than 100,000 people;

-Upgrades to 54 IDP centres, ensuring clean water, proper sanitation and decent housing for 15,500 people;

-provided five health facilities with surgical instruments, medicine and medical consumables;

-provided seven SARC mobile health units with material and financial support

Don't be satisfied by hearing all this.
Don't think that this is enough.
Don't think that they don't need help, because they do.

There's a war going on!


Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.

John F. Kennedy

Read more at

-Ritika Jaswal

UN and Syria

Hey!
So today I'm going to talk about why The UN do not involve in the war in Syria.

The UN Charter states that the use of military force , or threat of use of force is prohibited , albeit with two exceptions. One is self defense , and the second is if the Security Council decides that something is a big threat to the peace , the need to use military force to remove the threat .
A resolution from the Security Council could facilitate the use of such instruments , but Russia and China will therefore not accept such a decree and has previously vetoed three times against resolutions criticizing the Assad regime . Russia also criticized the West for supporting the rebels in Syria with weapons.
But unless the Security Council to agree on Syria , even after the use of nerve gas , is it that we still should intervene with military force , although it is a violation of international law to enter without a mandate from the Security Council ?

The problem with this thinking is that the only "we" that exist internationally , the UN Security Council. No other organ has similar legitimacy to make decisions on behalf of the world community. But unless , of course , one defines the global community to not include China and Russia , which would effectively excluded 1.5 billion people . In addition , such a breach of international law opened the way for other countries to take their place in the future.

Each violation of the UN Charter and international law is a step towards a world where big countries take their place and power are entitled . It is not a recipe for a peaceful world.

The problem in Syria is rather too much foreign interference , than too little . While Russia supports the regime of resources and weapons , supports a number of other countries like USA, Saudi Arabia and Quatar different parts of the rebel movement . All based on their own interests and concerns.

This drives the conflict continued , and the civil war has got its own logic, where the interests of parties outside Syria driver conflict on. The worst thing one can do in this situation is to initiate illegal military operations that will raise the level of conflict and potential spread to the rest of the region considerably.

The way forward should be to continue negotiating track in the United Nations, as the most optimistic believe may be revived by Russia's initiative to get Syria to sign the Convention against chemical weapons. Maybe this could open the way to negotiations where both parties set up unconditionally.

This solution will be far less emotionally satisfying than bombing the regime because " we must do something" , but will have far greater chances to contribute to a lasting peace in Syria and the Middle East.


Today , more than two years later , the conflict has evolved into a brutal civil war with conflicts that go far beyond Syria's borders.

After what was probably an attack with nerve gas in August , the demands for foreign intervention in the civil war come fully . Very many, both in and outside Syria , asking the right : Why does not the UN more to stop the conflict in Syria ?

The conflict in Syria has been up in the UN Security Council a number of times . But the Council has failed to agree on a resolution condemning the regime , because Russia and China have vetoed . Russia is afraid that a resolution on Syria to be an opening for regime change and Western intervention in the civil war , as was the case in Libya.

Against this backdrop , several advocated bypassing the UN and use military force against the Syrian regime , although this would be a clear violation of international law.

The main argument revolves , as it often does, that the situation is so horrendous that we have an ethical and moral responsibility to do something, and if the Security Council fails to give us a mandate to use force to stop the suffering in the Civil War , so must we do it anyway...
And what I think is that if the UN gets involved in the war, it is actually a bit difficult for them because Russia and China are major powers and I even think they support Syria

M.K :)

CHARITIES, Charite, Caridad, Nächstenliebe - Save the Children and MSF

Hi!
All good? That's good!
But do you know how many people live in unimaginable horrors and terrors?
Even I don't know, but an incident made me think about it...



What happened is that I went to a high school/college, because we had to have a "bite" of which line we are going to choose in the future. I was over the moon...the day couldn't be better in any ways. I was going from the college to home then I suddenly saw a beggar. apparently, she wore a torn old jumper, trouser and a hat. She had a picture of Christ in her 7 eleven glass. "It is something different with her", I thought. I usually don't look at beggars. I just look forward, but this time it was different. Usually, the beggars look at you and beg in their language, but she didn't. Instead of doing that, she looked down. I saw her once and moved on. And then I stopped. "I won't become poor if I give her some kroners", I thought. I checked my pocket and found 10 kroners. I went back and gave her 10 kroners. She looked up and became so happy as if I have given her 1 million kroners. She touched my head and said something in her language that I didn't understand. My already happy day became happier.


I went home and did my homework. I had to read a chapter before my English class. Coincidently, the chapter's name was "helping hands". It was about organizations and people who help people in need. The first site of the chapter is about:

MSF - Médecins Sans Frontières

MSF(French: Médecins Sans Frontières, English: Doctors Without Borders) is a French-founded non-profitable, neutral and an independent organization. People who critically need help get help no matter what country, political party or religion they belong to. Approximately, 32 000 people work for MSF. They are doctors, nurses and psychologists, as well as people who work in laboratories and administration. These people are there, in the middle of catastrophes.



MSF provided help in 71 countries in 2012.
MSF spent 944 million euros:
81% - was spent on humanitarian activities
19% - was spent on management and fundraising
Numbers taken from www.msf.org




Many people question that where did the money go? Well, here is the statistics.




I asked my teacher about how much the workers get, for being there, sometimes without electricity, in countries where it's so warm. And where it's big chances to get sick or even be killed! My teacher said that they get approximately 20 000 kroners or 2410 euros and it's enough to survive.

Save The Children

This is what war does to children:
Stand #WithSyria




Save The Children was established in the United Kingdom in 1919. Save The Children is an international non-governmental organization that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries. They want to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities, as well as providing emergency aid in natural disasters, war, and other conflicts.




Save The Children give children in 120 countries support for health, education and protection.
Hats off for changing 125 millions lives.


"Emergency Responnders, Save the Children would like you to join our global team of highly skilled Humanitarian Professionals whose passion and mission is to deliver rapid, high-impact programming in emergency response to achieve inspiring and dramatic change for children. Standard deployments include individuals with functional expertise in Operations, Logistics, Media, Proposal & Grants, Human Resources, Finance, Communications, Security, Technical Programmes, Education and Monitoring and Evaluation"
- Save The Children

"Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor people for helping us us to love God better because of them"
- Mother Teresa

There are many organizations who work for humans, and I'm extremely sorry, because I couldn't write about them. I did more Research than this! So, the story I told you in the beginning was a very, very, very small contribution in front of what these great people do. I wish that I can do a little more to make a difference.

-Ritika Jaswal

Celebrities-Bad role models?

Hi readers!
How are you?

Well, we all have our role models, our idols. In today's post, we are going to talk about celebrities who are bad rolemodels for youngsters.

When our young celebrities start their carrier, they are themselves, but when they start "growing up"...then some of them get messed up! They start consuming drugs and so on. WHY? Is it so difficult to be in the limelight? What is happening to our new generation? Are these celebrities capable of being our rolemodels?
From Miley Cyrus to Justin Bieber, good role models can go bad. Sometimes celebrities attract headlines in such a negative fashion that it's really hard to explain their wild antics to kids who've looked upon them.

Positive Influences

Teens who idolize a celebrity who doesn't give in to such pressures as weight and drugs will likely benefit from their obsession. If your child chooses someone who gives to charity, dresses appropriately, is on television or the news because of her good deeds and doesn't get caught drunk in public, the influence on your child is probably positive. The celebrity might motivate and inspire him to give back to his community, do well in school and stay out of trouble.

Negative Influences

While a celebrity can have a good influence on your child, negative impacts are pretty likely, too. In fact, some teens are more likely to listen to the words of their favorite celebrities than their own parents, according to an article in "Renew" magazine by Barbara Theodosiou, founder of the Addict's Mom organization. Many celebrities don't make a secret of alcohol or drug abuse and the glamorization of dying due to an overdose in the media might make your child feel that using these substances is acceptable. Celebrities who are super skinny and always dressed to the nines can alter your child's self image and might contribute to an eating disorder or low self-esteem.

Source: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/effects-celebrity-role-models-kids-teens-3521.html

I have made a top 3list which is called "Celebrities-bad role models?"

Miley Cyrus



We have listed Miley Cyrus as the worst role model. Miley Cyrus was once Disney's most loved character (Hannah Montana). Miley Cyrus's fan base was big when she played the leading role in Hannah Montana, but now it's the opposite.she is a terrible influence. Here are some reasons:

1. She Has No Respect For Rules Or Guidelines
Miley reportedly parked in a handicap parking space while out to buy milkshakes. Not only is this against the law, but it shows great lack of character and concern for those who might need that spot! This is just one example of many that proves Miley Cyrus has no respect nor bothers to worry about others feelings or needs.
Source: http://allwomenstalk.com/7-reasons-why-miley-cyrus-is-not-a-good-role-model

2. Miley Cyrus' performance at VMA awards
The "things" at the VMA Awards was inappropriate of her to do.

3. She dresses inappropriately
Miley Cyrus' dresses were once modest, fashionable and cute. And now, her dresses are not "respectable".

4. She consumes marijuana, but hasn't confessed it yet!

The reasons are many, but the point is that Mile Cyrus is not a good role models.

Chris Brown

We listed Chris Brown as the second worst role model. Chris Brown beat his girlfriend Rihanna after an argument in 2009.
This is something that is just not acceptable! Respect for women is something everyone should learn in their upbringing.
We don't want people to show disrespect towards women! And therefor we don't want any singer or celebrity to teach small kids or youngsters such things!




Justin Bieber



Justin Bieber has been arrested because of drug use and drunk driving. It's sad to see a star with so many fans be such a bad person! The scary part is that he has many young fans (under 9) who really see upon him. What will they think about him? The one who should be concerned about it is Justin Bieber! He ruined himself. He was on the top, but now...
I was never a beliber, but I respected him for making me believing that dreams can come true, but I don't think that I will respect him if he continuous to do such stupid mistakes, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Many people say that he's doing what a 19-year-old boy would have done. Excuse me, I know many people who are 19 and even older than that who have never acted in that way.

- Ritika Jaswal

Winter Olympics in Sochi!

Hey,

Long time no see...

Today, Manmeet and I (Ritika) are going to share this post together about the Olympics in Sochi. We are going say postive and negative things about it.

2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi in Russia from 7 to 23 February 2014 and was the 22 Olympic Winter Games. There were competing in 98 medal disciplines in 15 sports.

Positive:

- Many people follow the Olympics!
- Sportsmen get their chance to show their talent and win for their country.
- All paralympians are united by their life storiesof overcoming, that embody the Paralympic values - courage, equality,determination and inspiration.
-More than 1500 torchbearers and 4000 volunteerswill participate in the Torch Relay. The Torch Realy motto "Overcoming. Winning. Inspiring." was chosen for a good reason.Paralympians, in spite of everything, find the strength to overcome all the difficulties!
- The way the Paralympic flame will be lit in different regions will also differ and surprise as every torch lighting ceremony is unique-from rays of sun, from hammer and anvil, from the Russian stove and even from the volcano spark!

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. Russia 13 11 9 33
2. Norway 11 5 10 26
3. Canada 10 10 5 25

-One more positive thing is that it's encouraging more and more Norwegians to participate in the Olympics.


Negative:

There have been controversies and concerns affecting the 2014 Winter Olympics. There are disputes with Circassians, who demand the events be cancelled or moved unless Russia apologises for the 19th-century deaths that the Circassians regard to be a genocide, environmental and economic issues, lack of political stability and governance and the safety and human rights of LGBT athletes and journalists, in light of Russia's "gay propaganda" laws, which have sparked Olympic-focussed protests.

-Forced evictions
The Russian government is resettling some 2,000 families to make way for Olympic venues and infrastructure. But not all of those evicted received fair compensation for their properties and in some cases, homeowners were forced out with no compensation at all. Many resettled residents lost a portion of their livelihoods because they depended on agriculture or income from seasonal rentals in their seaside homes.

- Migrant worker abuses
The transformation of Sochi from a small resort town to international Olympic host has been made possible by more than 70,000 workers, including tens of thousands of migrant workers from outside of Russia. Many of these migrant workers face exploitation – with employers failing to pay their wages, confiscating workers’ passports, and forcing them to toil up to 12 hours a day with only one day off each month – all in violation of Russian law.

- Press and civil society crackdown
Russia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for independent journalists, who face threats, harassment, and lawsuits. As reported by CPJ, 56 Russian journalists have been murdered since 1992. Some journalists have been told that reporting on Olympics-related environmental concerns or evictions is taboo. In the past year Russian authorities have not only clamped down on the press by passing new laws on Internet content, they also targeted civil society with laws restricting public assemblies and nongovernmental organizations.

- Environmental destruction
Environmental experts warn that the construction of a new road and a high-speed railway has damaged Sochi’s Mzymta River and the fragile local ecosystem of the surrounding Sochi National Park. The dumping of illegal construction waste and the construction of power lines have resulted in landsides, causing homes to sink and partially collapse, threatening residents' health and safety. In one village, Olympic construction destroyed local drinking wells, leaving villagers with no reliable drinking water source for years.

- Anti-LGBT discrimination
On June 29, 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a discriminatory bill banning the promotion of information about “non-traditional” sexuality. This law clearly violates the Olympic Charter, which states that “any form of discrimination… on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement” (6th Fundamental Pinciple of Olympism) and that the IOC’s role is, among other duties, “to act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement” (article 2-6).


The lead-up to the Games were affected by numerous controversies and concerns; primarily concerning workers engaged in Olympic construction; allegations of the illegal dumping of construction waste threatening residents' health and safety; evictions and displacement of residents to make way for Olympic venues; economic issues; and harassment of environmental and human rights activists and journalists who criticise Olympic preparations or the government's anti-LGBT policies;and disagrees with Circassian nationalists, who demanded that the events be cancelled or moved unless Russia apologises for the 19th-century deaths, which Circassians regard to be a genocide.

Immediatelly after the games during paraolympics Moscow court sentenced eight protestors to prison based on protests in anti-Putin rally in May 2012. On Monday when the games were over, as the judge announced the sentences, over a thousand people rallied by the court building and in vicinity of the Kremlin to support of the Bolotnaya prisoners. Over 600 of them have been delayed and are now crowded at police districts across Moscow.


Well, this is the facts! We know that many of our readers are from Russia, so please don't mind...

(Couldn't upload any pictures due to som technical problems).

-Ritika Jaswal and Manmeet Kaur