Life Represents the Sum of

Life represents the sum of our experiences and the things we learn throughout. Although this is a generally acknowledged fact, most of the times, we tend to forget the need and duty to be engaged in a continuous learning process. We often fall pray tour daily activities and we forget to draw a conclusion from every activity we are engaged in. This is why it is important that we draw the line and always look back on our achievement or misfortunes, on our professional accomplishments as well as our shortcomings.

This course has enabled me to both expand on my qualities and have results which enriched my horizon and to see my shortcomings and my flaws in order to correct them. It has been an important experience from all points-of-view. One of the most important aspects of the course was the fact that it opened my eyes more clearly about the need to be active in a society.

We live in a society which is considered to be one of the most developed societies in the world with an immense financial potential as well as the capacity to bring in immigrants and offer them the possibility and the chance to achieve the American Dream. At the same time, we often complain about the difficulties people face on a daily basis as a result of the American bureaucratic system and the limited possibilities of people to go about their everyday life.

Yet very few of us actually consider doing something about it in the sense that they would transform their frustration into a more constructive attitude which includes the involvement in actions that would solve at least parts of a major problem. This course, in a direct or indirect manner, has shown me that one of the most important qualities of an individual is the care. This must not necessarily be related to his family or his close community, but rather a care expressed for the world in general.

We must be active in our society because it is the work of the individual which counts in the end and every initiative is important for the people it reaches and for which it makes a difference. I learned this at a theoretical level through the readings of the course but also through practical work. One of the most rewarding aspects of this period was the discovery of the Ten Thousands Villages non-profit corporation based in Canada.

Their activity inspired me in a similar manner as many of the events in my childhood and young adulthood have. Their activity includes help given to Third World peoples who struggle with poverty and mediocrity. More precisely, the company works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed, providing them with both market and product development assistance. The income earned by the producers helps pay for food, education, healthcare and housing. Although there are a lot of projects similar to this one, the results are visible here.

We, as human beings, tend to have serious doubts concerning even the non-profit organizations which we believe to be simple images for otherwise illicit affairs or exploitation. The case of the TTV however is different, yet still I had to research their activity to believe it. Indeed though, they do not exploit the people who make the things traded in the U.S. They receive fair prices and respect for their work.

Their work is as significant as people who receive the money for their work are now able to take their children to school and offer them the possibility for a better life. We often take these things for granted; yet for the less fortunate, they are the result of continuous struggle.

Another aspect of the course which allowed me to give some thought both on my previous experiences as well as on what I could do to make the lives of some people better was the situation of the Vietnamese people and their experiences as immigrants. In my everyday life I come across a variety of people from different age groups, racial groups, as well as people who have chosen to live their lives different from the rest of us.

Yet this course allowed me to be more tolerant to these differences. I can say that it offered me the food for thought I needed to understand that "different" does not mean "bad'. As a child I was always afraid of other people than the members of my family not due to my home education but because at the time there was little explanation related to those differences. I have experienced the fairytale love story and girl or young woman can dream of.

Yet I am now well aware of the fact that not everybody has this luxury and that many people in the world must struggle to find a proper source of income or they have to leave their families and go to far away countries to find a better life. After this course, I think that it is our duty to help these people, to be active and responsive to their needs.

As a result of my experience with the Vietnamese immigration issue I realized that in most cases foreigners tend to work more and better than the regular American. This is because we value or time and our efforts and because we can afford to do that. Others can't. Others must struggle to find food, to find shelter. And it is our duty to make their struggle easier. In our society we rarely have problems related to food in the sense of lacking food or basic nurturing elements.

Yet many throughout the world have this problem and we must help them. As part of this course, one of my assignments included an interview of an employee at the Institute for Food and Development policy. It was a great experience from many points-of-view. It pointed out the efforts being done by some who have in mind the difficult fate of those left without food. At the same time it allowed me to see the views and thoughts of those engaged in the activities.

Although the report on the interview was comprehensive, it left out certain moving statements of John, the person being interviewed. He constantly mentioned the sense of helplessness he feels when he hears of people who died as a result of hunger and the limited possibilities of the initiative he is part of. Indeed, they are limited because not everybody is involved in it, not everybody is active. Yet, there would be so much more that could be done if action would be taken by all of us.

This course was a source of inspiration, of learning, and at the same time of self-reflection. It was inspirational because I came to know different stories of peoples, of communities, and of individuals that inspired be to become a better person. It was the type of lesson one receives a child and which stay with you in the future influencing your future activities. It was a learning process through the.