A golden opportunity not to be missed

In China, we have a song in order to commemorate a leader-Deng Xiaoping. The economy was changed when he gave a direction on the map with hand. Those directions of China opened up for the world because of his suggestion. In the past, China was a closed society and it took all energy and development in central section. Thus, the coastland didn’t have enough development, and the economy of China couldn’t get forward. However, the substantial support of Deng Xiaoping decided the coastland of China obtained open to the outside world. More than fourteen cities were labeled coastal economic open zones. Afterward, China became a fast developed country. The reform and open-up policy has allowed China step into a burgeoning country. A lot of people’s lives changed because of the economic reform, and my family had an extraordinary experience based on the transformation.

With the economic reform policy actualized, my parents had to depart from a national factory where they worked. I still remember my family was living in a quite composed area. I was just ten years old. I had a carefree childhood, and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. One day, I heard my parent’s arguing. “If we keep staying here, I just can’t imagine our future.” My mom said in a loud voice. In fact, the national factory where my parents worked faced bankruptcy. My parents graduated from the same university, and then they were assigned to the national factory as engineers. Back in the old days, people expected to get factory job, and it was like a gold bowl for laborers. Because before the economic reform, the national factory was a place that labors got in and thought they might be there until retiring age. Nevertheless, the factory sank into a tough situation, and it was faced with lost orders, and laborers couldn’t receive their compensation. The reason was the national factory used to get orders from Chinese government. Until the economic reform became effective, the national corporations had to get their profit by finding orders themselves. They were step in a social competition too. However, my family still need to maintain our lives and my education. Eventually, due to this kind of competition, my dad temporarily left home and went to another city for work and my mom stayed with me but also got into another company. After a couple of years, my dad became a C.E.O in The Nationalized Business Limited Liability Company, and my mom became a marketing manager. It was a reluctant time because our separated family looked not like a whole family, but our economic situation was getting better.

Another effect was that our home environment had experienced enormous change. We were living in a small group in the suburbs when my parents worked for the national factory. Before, if we went to downtown shopping, it had to be a special day. I wasn’t even familiar with downtown, how poor it was. Nonetheless, our living condition, household income and contact circumstances were all improved after my parents started their new careers. For example, I have more opportunities to attend some higher level meeting with my parents. I deeply felt that I could learn more extensive information from outside. This is the point that my parents always told me need to participating in the communication or learning from others is the best way to know the outside world.

Moreover, I had a rare opportunity come to the U.S for a better education and life because of the change. Therefore, coming to the U.S to learn something the students who are in China couldn’t learn is a special time for me. Before I came here, I was probably just a general university student in China, but now I’m an international student. It costs more money, but the most important things are even some people have a lot of money. It is also not that easy to be here and I knew a lot of students in China dreaming go to another country for study, especially the U.S, but their family couldn’t support them. I appreciate that my family gave me the opportunity, and I left my hometown in order to improve myself and get a higher education. I used to be like a bird always held in my parents’ hands. However, leaving my hometown and living in a foreign country for my education has let me become more independent. To me, this is a good experience.

The reform and open policy encouraged by Deng Xiaoping was a gumptious strategy for China in the past twenty years and the future. My family has changed since that time, and sometimes we discuss there changes. My parents always felt if there hadn’t been that tough situation that compelled them to left the national factory, we wouldn’t be here currently. Besides, China is a developing country; there are a lot of changes we can see every year. The opening to the outside world has produced a good influence internationally and also has been fruitful in China. I was surprised when I returned to visit my hometown and saw that some places, architecture and environment have all been reformed and modernized. I was surprised by those changes, and I believe China will bloom into a mature country in all directions.

Portrait of an Illegal Alien

“The definition of insanity is when you do the same things expecting different results”. This is the case of the Dominicans during the dictatorship of Leonidas Trujillo, which lasted for thirty years. They voted for his successor Joaquin Balaguer six times during three decades and then complained about the governments. For over sixty-five years, Dominican Republic was ruled by violent and corrupted leaders that promoted the rich to be richer and the poor to be hungrier. The poor and mismanaged economy led to high inflation, unemployment and depreciation of the Dominican Peso in 1980. As a result of the economic catastrophe, most Dominicans were forced to immigrate to its neighbor island The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico seeking for better life opportunities.

Many Dominican parents were forced to leave in hope of finding jobs in Puerto Rico and USA to support their children back home. My mother moved to Puerto Rico in 1986 when Balaguer was elected for the fourth time under fraud, and the exchange rate was ten Dominican Pesos per US Dollar. I was five years old when my mom left me and my younger sister at my grandmother’s house in Santo Domingo. The United States only approved her Visa because immigrant children represented extra cost for the government. In fact, adults were required to prove that they were able to support themselves in order to be legal residents of the United States. Around 120,000 Dominicans were legally admitted to Puerto Rico from 1966 through 2002. Since many Dominicans used to cross the Mona Passage illegally, Puerto Ricans had the wrong idea that all Dominican women that cleaned houses were undocumented. People not only called my mom illegal, but even worse, they called her an illegal alien. A continuous nostalgic and guilty feeling surrounded her for being far from her family and her country.

Having little choice, my mother had to accept jobs of lesser status and skills to generate the most income possible. Three years later, my mom could prove the United States Immigration Department that she had a stable job and enough income to support my sister and me. She found a second job in a cafeteria and moved to a bigger apartment close to the public school we attended. My sister and I moved to San Juan in December 1989. Even though my mom made more money as a housekeeper and a waitress in San Juan, than as a nurse in Santo Domingo, she never felt like the same person. After we moved there, it was too hard for her to go back to school with the responsibilities of two jobs and two kids to take care of. She could never follow her nursing career again because she did not get the state license. Consequently, she was always treated as an illegal housekeeper even when she was completely legal.

Finally and perhaps the most painful effect was the racism towards the children of legal immigrants. My sister and I also fit into the portrait of an illegal alien. During the 1980s, Dominicans in Puerto Rico had many disadvantages, mostly because we were not American citizens. We were also considerate less educated and worse paid than the average Puerto Rican in the island. In contrast, being a Dominican immigrant were considerate elite in the 1970s when most of them were professionals and managers. In our childhood, we were often a target of prejudice and racism. In school, Puerto Rican kids used to make fun of our accent and appearance. We were challenged to work harder than every other kid to prove our worth and gain their respect. At one point I had to do some of my climates’ homework in grade school to avoid being rejected at lunch break.

In conclusion, the damage was done in our country, and the Dominicans will never be the same. Professionals, intellectuals and celebrities of the golden age are now forgotten and anonymous souls. All that remains in their hearts are precious and sad memories of the beautiful island of La Española. As immigrants, they go through many challenges and identity conflicts that made it harder to rescue their talents and gifts. Immigrants have so much pressure on their shoulders to avoid making trivial mistakes that natives can easily get away with. They have to work twice as hard to gain half the respect and reputation. Sometimes no matter how accurate they learn the language or practice the customs of their adopted country, they will often be labeled illegal aliens. It remains to be seemed the day when human beings learn to accept each other as equals since we are all citizens of the same world.

True love

It was a peaceful and gentle night. There is one simple but sweet picture after another one. A couple sat together to watch a romantic film. Senior students stayed up late to do endless homework to get a ticket to their ideal university. The old slept deeply. They never knew what their world would be like next second. Nobody prepared for all what happened in advance. It must be a joke. A tremendous disaster befell Sichuan people quietly. “Please help me!” Thousands of weak and helpless voices came from the ruins. In May 2008, the biggest earthquake swept the land, making a beautiful city into sudden disorder. China had never encountered such a big earthquake in its history. Without omen, the earthquake threw Sichuan into confusion. After that, everything has being changing. They lost their familys. The only thing a living person owned is her/his life. It sounded sad. Obviously, the great damage and loss are unavoidable. It makes think again about my life seriously. I learn to regard life with a positive altitude.

However, there was still one thing that was worthy being happy for sichuang people. We saw our people stand on the same front. Help came from every corner of China. Governors called a large number of soldiers to set out the first aid immediately. Holding the faith “one more second will be able to save one more person”, they worked night and day. Seeing the tired and sleepy eyes and wounds, worldwide people felt deeply motivated. To ensure people in the disaster area were not hungry or cold, we sent enough food and clothes. We did whatever we could do. Without considering the risk, many volunteers went to Sichuan. The media followed the situation, so we stayed in front of the TV to get the newest information. The charity appealed everyone to make a contribution to the people of Sichuan. No matter one cent or one hundred, it depended on you and showed your love. Let Sichuan people feel they still in a family. It is a big family called China. There are many impressive stories that rose from the earthquake. A beggar donated the whole money he begged on the streets one cent by one cent. A disabled soldier joined the rescue in spite of his family’s concern. Unity is the strength to overcome any disaster.

Not only did the earthquake plunder millions of innocent lives, it also brought about financial losses. Houses were totally broken down. Moreover, it destroyed the plants and farmland. The traffic had been held up for a while. Accordingly, the economic development has been broken off. Now one of the most important tasks is rebuilding a home that can keep out rain and wind for Sichuan people. A mass of labor and money to complete this huge project is must-have. In addition, it may take a long time. We all wish it can be done as soon as possible. The earthquake orphaned children at an early age. But fortunately, they were adopted into warm-hearted families. My parents also wanted to adopt a child. The condition for adopting a child is strict. However, the number is limited. But these families promised to take pains to bring these children up as their own and keep them cushioned from unpleasant experiences. Love has a supernatural power that makes every member in the group more closer.

Afterwards,I realized the impact of the earthquakehad on me. I threw myself miss the life. I felt confused about my goal and do something meaningless. I lost faith in myself. I even want to give up. After I went through the earthquake, I realize I don't want to be a dead dog. I think I can do something to respond to our society. The earthquake has been a great shock to Sichuan people. They seems to go to pieces. Under the excellent caring from all directions, the Sichuan people derive courage to meet with the fact they lost families and homes. If it happened to me, I really can't imagine how much courage I would have accepted what happened. I learned a lot from them. The road of life has been wonderful and long, and you need to taste it like a cup of tea. No matter luck or difficulty, it is part of your life. It makes your life more meaningful.

The earthquake has changed China, changes Sichuan people and also changes me. The hearts of our family is linked to each other. We should hand in hand to take part in the rescue. We value our time being together more than before. I learned to regard life in a positive way. Any disaster can be overcome. Never give up, never lose your heart. Do live a better life. You can do it.

Incomplete Family

“Mommy, where’s daddy? When will he be back?” My father used to work in the navy when I was five. The population growth was increasing, and it was hard for people to find a job. Later on, there were a bunch of people who applied for a navy job in my city, and my father was lucky to be selected as a navy. At the beginning, I seemed to be fine because I could at least see my father several times a year, and there were so many people in china that never got to see their family after they went to work. Everything was perfect until I turned seven. My thoughts and feelings had changed after I went to the elementary school. I was more aware that it was not fine to grow up without a father. Also, I felt that I could not be a happy girl to celebrate holidays without a father because it felt incomplete.

The first effect was that my father wasn’t there on the Father’s Day. One day when I was in the elementary school, our teacher taught us how to make a gift for father’s day. Father’s day is a somewhat important holiday, at least to me. Later, our teacher asked us to draw our father’s face on the paper, and I could not draw anything until the end of the class because I didn’t remember how my father looks. I tried hard to think about how my father looked like, how tall he was, and what kind of character he was. After school, I ran home as quickly as I could to ask my mother to see my father’s picture. I started to draw my father’s face from the picture I saw, and I was thinking about how nice it would be if my father came back on father’s day and was to receive the gift that I made for him. My imagination never stopped until Father’s Day. Sadly, I didn’t see my father attended to school on Father’s Day. In addition, I discovered that all my imagination was just a fake image. I cried when I saw my other classmates who were able to give out the gift to their father. At that moment, I deeply realized how important my father is in my life.

The second effect was my mother had to celebrate her birthday without her husband. It is easy to remember my mother’s birthday because it is on a week after Father’s Day. I thought my mother was a brave and independent person. She would prepare well for her own birthday. For instance, she could cook and make a cake by herself. On the day before her birthday, I saw my mother holding the picture of my father and cried when I walked pass her room. At the moment, I realized that my mother wasn’t as independent as I thought. She is just a normal woman like every other woman. Also, she obviously anticipated her husband to come back for celebrating her birthday as he did before he left. She didn’t eat a lot during the dinner. It seemed like she was cooking mainly for me, but not for her birthday. I saw the tears in her eyes when she brought the cake to the table. On that day, I understood that nothing could be more important than having my father to celebrate with us as a family.

The third effect was that my father wasn’t present and couldn’t celebrate with me on Children’s Day. Children’s Day was one of the special days during my childhood, but my father was never there. “Mommy, when will daddy come back?” I asked the same question when I was five.” “Baby, he will be back on Children’s Day.” My mother didn’t want to disappoint me, and both of us wished for this day to come true. At the day of children’s day, I remember one of my classmates made fun of me saying,” Don’t you have a father?” I didn’t cry on that time because I have always believed my father would come back one day, and he will never leave me and mom alone. My mother would usually take me to the park and give me a gift on that day. Even though sometimes I felt unhappy when I saw other kids with their parents in the park, I always pretended to be happy in front of my mother.

I didn’t want to live without a father, and I remember one of my favorite Chinese quotes says “you can earn a lot of money in your life, but you cannot make up for what you lost.” Even though I know he was working hard for us to have a better live, it could not be a complete family without a father or mother. I couldn’t give out the gift that I made for my father, and my mother was never happy, especially during her birthday each year. Sometimes, my classmates would make fun of me for not having a father. I expected my children’s day to be happy instead of being upset. After a year, our dream finally came true, and my father came back on my eighth birthday. I cherish everything that I own now, especially the relationships in my family.

Echo of the war

“We will always remember them!” says almost every monument in memory of the fallen of World War II. It was the second year the Soviet Union, including Belarus, the country where I was born and grew up, was fighting Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front. The Germans, well equipped, trained, and armored with advanced weaponry of that time, were fast advancing into the hearts of many of the cities and villages of my country. The soviet army, which had not been prepared to fight such a massive war, was retreating further east, leaving behind their countrymen, families, children and Motherland. My grandmother was just twenty-one when the heavy burden of the war laid on her fragile shoulders.

The people of the small village of Urovichi in central Belarus, including my family, were involved in the frontage of the war at that time. My grandmother was born and grew up there. Almost all the men were sent to the war as partisans, but their wives and children remained behind. My grandmother, Maria, was among the people who stayed in the village together with her mother and two small children aged two years and six months. My grandfather left for the war when it just started, and the family rarely heard from him. My grandma told me a lot about that hard and terrible time. She had to do so much hard work that would normally be performed by men, such as chop the wood, bring water from the local wells, mow the grass to feed the hungry animals and any house repairs that needed to be performed. However, even despite the hard time, she tried to do something to help soviet soldiers. The grandma often baked bread for partisan troops stationed in the nearby woods. She also frequently washed the clothes for the soldiers.

My grandma had remembered whole her life some of the most terrible parts that had happened with our family at that time. Despite the hard efforts of local partisan Soviet forces, the Nazi German army was coming closer day by day. That was the early spring of 1942 when the soldiers of the German front came to the village. Some of the people in the village left for the woods to hide from the enemy. People heard a lot about the burned down villages and mass killings. However, there were many who were not able to leave and had to care for children, sick and the elderly. My grandmother stayed in the village with her family. In the meantime, the German soldiers gathered all the remaining people in the village and forced them into the old farm on the outskirts of the village and created a make-shift concentration camp. Poor, hungry people were kept in the camp for two weeks without food or any warm clothes. The German soldiers fed them just once. There was only the remains of a deceased horse with musty smell, which was barely cooked. It was barely enough for the people not to die.

My grandma, like all people in the camp, was weakened and grew faint under a weight of fear, cold and emaciation, but only a tiny glimmer of hope stayed in her heart. As the German Nazi continued to advance further East, a small group of soldiers was left behind to hold the concentration camp and maintain the German positions. It helped the soviet soldiers build the plan to free their countrymen. Shortly after the German forces moved on, the partisans burst into the village by night and freed the imprisoned villagers. After my family came back home, my great grandmother and the two kids were very sick. The younger child who was just six months had a high temperature for two weeks and died in grandmother’s hands after several days. My great-grandmother was sick for several months. During the time she was in the camp she had slept on the raw earth in just a thin shirt. She ended up dying of inflammation a half of year later. Despite the hardship of the stay in the concentration camp, people needed to survive this time, reunite with each other and continue to fight the war, while waiting for their loved ones who continued to serve the country on the front of the bloodiest war in human history.

The war took away millions of human lives and brought a lot of misery sufferings, deaths and tears. My grandmother lived many years after the war, but every time when she would talk about the war, I saw mental anguish and sadness in her eyes. Not many people who came back from the war are still alive, but we will always keep in memory heroic deed fallen of people for the Motherland and her children.

The Emergence of Modern China and Happier Families

Chairman Mao Zedong had strict rules for the Chinese people, and Chairman Deng Xiao Ping was lenient, changing these rules and enabling the Chinese nation to advance. Under each of these leaders, there were two different Chinas, with different societies and economic systems. Chairman Mao Zedong was an old-fashioned Chinese leader who founded the People’s Republic of China. He had many strict rules for governing the Chinese people which kept the citizens poor. These old rules didn’t allow the manufacturing of modern appliances or private ownership. My family had no modern appliances--no refrigerator, no washing machine, no dryer, and no natural gas for cooking. My family and friends had to share one television. If we wanted to watch a program, we had to watch in groups. Chairman Mao Zedong also had many strict rules for governing how the Chinese people worked. Jobs were not widely available in the city, and family members were ordered to go to other, poorer, parts of China to work jobs far away from family and friends. My father was ordered to leave Shanghai to work in an impoverished area. My mother cried a lot because my father had to leave her to raise the family alone. My brother was supposed to leave the city, but he was lucky and was allowed to stay in the city because the rule became ineffective in 1978, after Chairman Mao died, and Chairman Deng Xiao Ping was chosen, causing much change. Old style rules were changed when Mao Zedong died, and Chairman Deng Xiao Ping was chosen to lead the People’s Republic of China by the Communist Party giving personal and economic freedom to the people.
When Deng Xiao Ping was chosen to be Chairman of the Communist Party, life changed for the Chinese people. The citizens, including my family and neighbors reached greater economic freedom and could happily live a modern city life in Shanghai. More jobs were created in our city. Modern appliances were made and sold for private use. Citizens were no longer required to leave their families to go to work in other places. My father returned to Shanghai to work in the city because Shanghai had more opportunity to get a job, paid more than poorer areas, and he could live happily with our family. My mother opened a small business because at this point we had more economic freedom. Chairman Deng Xiao Ping allowed the Chinese to open private businesses, to earn money, and allowed the people to produce more consumer goods.
Chairman Deng Xiaoping also allowed Chinese students to take entrance exams to university programs and gave Chinese citizens the opportunity to travel abroad. Greater personal freedoms were given to Chinese citizens who created the chance to make many new decisions. They could decide new career paths. Many Chinese students were allowed to study at the college level to enable them to achieve economic success. I was allowed to pass an exam, pursue my studies in an early education program, and obtain a college degree in teaching. Because of this degree, I was able to teach kindergarten school in Shanghai. Also, my brother was allowed to study business management, earn a degree, and work in medical manufacturing in Shanghai. In this job, he is involved in checking the medicines as to whether they meet the standards set by the government. Just like my family, many others have had the chance of getting a college education.
In addition, Chinese citizens were allowed to travel to faraway nations and to learn about different peoples and cultures. I was given the opportunity to travel overseas, to live, study, and work in the U.S.A. Before I came to the U.S.A., I only knew what this country was like by watching movies, hearing Americans talk on the radio and listening to music. Now, I am living in Chicago and really want to know what America is truly like. Also, some of my friends and neighbors had the privilege of visiting cities and nations such as Tokyo, Singapore, Australia, and the U.S.A. according to these new rules. We have often talked about our travels and my friends have told me that they would really like to come here. Of course, this means that we discover many things about other cultures (like different religions) which we did not have a chance to know about before.
Therefore, it is clear that when Deng Xiao Ping was selected to be the Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China, and the communist Party decided to give citizens’ rights to the Chinese people, the quality of life became better for millions of people. Building the economy was a great step for the Chinese people in emerging as the manufacturer of most of the world’s consumer goods. As the economy grows, I believe that citizen’s rights will also develop more in the future since the change in government began a process of change in the freedoms available to Chinese citizens. As this happens, social progress will come along with economic changes.

Olayinka Richard Tutuoro
ESL 100
03-04-009


Black Sunday
What a beautiful sunday with chaos, on 27 of January 2002 , in the commercial city of Lagos Nigeria, where every family in the country has a representative. Just like any other day where everybody always busy as usual, suddenly there was this land shaking dumfounded everybody of what is happen , is it an Earth Quake or what? that is what everyone was asking, and next is volcanic sound, sound so powerful that building with weak foundation were coming down especial those at the barrack and within the vicinity. That was the day hell were let loose at Ikeja amry cantonments barrack lagos Nigeria , where most of nation ammunition is kept in a well secure part of the military zone. How is all began nobody can not real say, the bomb were just flawing out of their hidden place and exploding on their own in every direction, and before people come to term of what is happen, great destructions has erupt. The unseen attacker has excute their good deed by causing death of over thousands of people, dipalcement among families, distruction of properties, and trauma for so many people.

The first effect of the unseen attacker is the death of over thousands people. Infact, it shocked everyone that day of what may have cause those explosion,which now result in the death of over thousbands people. The distance of the barrack to my families house is about ten to fifteen miles different and it is like, war zone for us. I thought the world is coming to an end, when it becoming too much that we couldn’t bear the horror of it anymore. Immiediately , my daddy had to called all members of our family to remain indood and prayed and not try to run any where. Sometime lack of information is as deadly as the bomb itself, most people who lost their lives during this occurenec are those who are in far places or people who are been fed with wrong information, that Nigerian is under an attack by unknown country or that Osama binladin is the one causing the explosion, and by this most people ran to their untimely death.





The second effect of the unseen attack is the displacement of families . Till today after seven years that the unwanted epic has happen , so many people are still missing of which mostly are childern and women. After the whole incedent some families were able to reconnect back and some are no where to be found, bacause immediately the incedent has ended the government ensure that all affected family reported to the authority of any of their member who are still missing or who can not be identified among the many dead body. To some it is still a misery and to some it is government fault who are storing weapon or who building up a weapon were civilian are mostly occupied, that is why I say from my first effects of the danger of being ignorant or fed with wrong information, because during all the explosion parent and their children are divided. According to the media the major cause of death of so many childern is as a result of parent neglation, if only people are aware of what is happened at that particular time ,so many lives will have been safe and missing people will still be with their familes.





The last effect of the unseen attacker is the destruction of properties . According to the financial report of the state account, the amount of damages and, amount money to be spent on the damages will worth 100 million U.S dollar. The impact of the explosion affect so many area of the city,such as Downtown of the state where so many industries are located, the crossing brigde that connect the city to the islander where the port authority head office are situated , the Nigerian power company, and so many that can’t be mension.Downtown of the state where all the industry are located suffered most, because it is close to the amry barrack were all began. Elecricity power where out for many days due to the damages of the bomb on major wire pole sorounded the area,which affected my family,I could remember that time all we do is buying candles all time and use of artificial light for our vision. Most bussiness and job were cut which affect my dad because his office is right across the amry cantoment barrack,for many days he couldn’t work which affect my school fees and food on the table.



In all, never will the memory of that day be forgotten in the history of lagos state, the commercial city of Nigerian where everybody are welcome in respective of who you are. Most people are asking the question of who is responsible or what is the cause of explosion at first instance. The death of over thousband people who lost their lives are pain for all the family affected, the permanently desplacement of families who are never seen again is misery to some, and the money to be spend to rebuild the affected area is another thing. On 27 of febuary of every years were declare public holiday to honour the life of the soul.