It’s high time we said: ENOUGH!

Whenever we turn our TVs on, most of us feel surely infuriated at knowing that another innocent citizen has fallen prey to insecurity. Inevitably, we can’t help thinking that it may be us or some beloved person the next victim. What are we masters of if we are not allowed to be the masters of our own lives? Anyone with a knife or a gun can put an end to our lives in a matter of a few seconds.

For those of us who live in towns- small earthly paradises- insecurity is not a direct problem. We can still go out without fearing the worst. Having your cellphones, wallets and bags stolen or your life taken away for stealing your bike are terrible acts we, fortunately enough, still witness through the media. In big cities, however, despicable robberies, assaults and crimes are commonplace. Doubtlessly, the place that represents the summit of insecurity is Buenos Aires. There, crime rates have risen to record levels, with many people being murdered every single day.

I wonder what we-citizens- are waiting for to demand reforms from the Government. I can’t believe that some politicians defend the criminals’ ‘human rights’ rather than that of their victims. This week, the whole country witnessed the murder of Mariano Ferreyra, a young activist of Partido Obrero, in the hands of the ‘Unión Ferroviaria’ mob. They enjoyed a liberated zone by the police, who was there but didn’t have permission to act. In response to the death of this innocent person, a day of strikes and protests was called for. Hundreds of people marched to and gathered at Plaza de Mayo to demand justice.


We can’t live in this state of impunity any longer. We can’t allow anyone else to have a gun, to murder and to go unpunished. Governments: stop arguing that insecurity is being sensationalized. Insecurity is real and is depriving most of us of a dignified life! I’m totally in favour of society marching to say ‘enough’. However, it’s a pity we are only reminded of the necessity to act whenever another innocent person is killed. How many ‘Marianos’ will there still be before politicians react and offer concrete solutions to the growing problem of insecurity?

A day to reflect!

October, 12th! What happens if we ask somebody to say the first idea that comes to their mind when they hear this phrase? Most probably, public holiday! A day to rest from the stressful day-to-day work or school routine. Perhaps only a few would claim that this is the day when we celebrate ‘Día de la raza’ or ‘Día de la diversidad cultural’. Does this generalized cultural oblivion reflect the neglect of aborigines? Most probably.

Years pass by and all that we find on October, 12th are ‘empty’ political speeches and tributes in the news to the group of natives who witnessed and suffered the ‘discovery’ of their land. And of course they deserve the most remarkable tributes because it was they who were brutally tortured and killed in cold blood for defending what was theirs: their culture and their land. But is that enough?

I believe that even though bringing back to memory our own past and history is essential, we need at the same time to move forward and reflect on and try to improve our sad reality: 50 millions of indigenous peoples in the whole of America striving to have their rights recognized. It seems that nobody care about the descendants of the original settlers of our land who live in a shameful state of alienation and poverty. What’s more, many natives are now suffering from extractive industries who keep on perpetuating colonization. Thus, many natives see their land taken away in the name of ‘progress’ to install oil wells or grow soya crops.

I believe it is paradoxical that while we’ve been watching different tributes to Indigenous peoples these days, they still live in a context of alienation, exclusion and racism. It is high time governments start considering the present situation of aborigines as a priority in their agendas.

Growing old

Now that almost all of us have made our presentations, I decided to choose one of the topics and reflect on it: Growing old.

Growing old is part of the natural life cycle. Thus, since we are able to apply critical thinking, we fully understand that getting old is an unavoidable fact of life. But does understanding of this inescapable reality ensure its acceptance? I’m afraid it doesn’t. At least it is so in my case. Although we all know that no one is immortal, we somehow seem to believe deep down that an exception will be made in our case.

Every stage in life is full of its own charms. Each stage unfolds unique, unforgettable and rewarding experiences. Therefore, we shouldn’t be afraid of moving on.

Childhood abounds with plays and fun. Kids don’t have a job to keep or bills to pay. Children enjoy running, jumping, playing dressed-up and creating endless stories out of their imaginations.

During adolescence, teenagers enjoy a life which is not yet characterized by full responsibilities. It is an age of socialization: adolescents take part in countless social meetings, forge strong bonds with their friends and meet new people. During this stage, they also enjoy their first love.

By the end of adolescence, many need to take one of the most difficult decisions in life: the choice of a course of studies. With this comes more responsibilities, more hours of study and less hours of spare time. Mind you, this is a very rewarding and enjoyable stage where most of us are studying what we really enjoy while at the same time being pampered and economically sustained by our own families.

Adulthood may also abound with extraordinary experiences. Everybody who was able to find a partner and raise a family must easily account for the happiness that they find from being surrounded by the love of children and grandchildren.

However, in spite of the fact that there are many happy and rewarding situations waiting to be experienced in every single stage in life, I still feel quite afraid of moving ahead. And I think this will be even worse in some decades. Yes, I’m afraid of growing old. Why? Not because old age has nothing to offer since this is hardly true. Old age has some glorious rewards. It’s a time to enjoy retirement and spare time which will allow us to devote ourselves to hobbies and preferences. However, as time passes by, we become more and more aware that we are coming to an end. It’s almost painful for me to accept that once I leave this world, there will never ever be anything ahead. I’m afraid of time elapsing too quickly and not being able to accomplish all the dreams I dream to achieve. There is so much joy in living that I will like to live forever!

My Pecha Kucha presentation

Serendipity

View more presentations from nerinagobbi.

‘What in the hell is Pecha Kucha?’ was the first question that sprang to my mind the moment I heard this weird name. Words always convey different impressions to different people and the word ‘Pecha Kucha’ was not the exception to the rule. This word conveyed to me the idea of difficulty and some sort of challenge. Fortunately, these were not more than mistaken impressions. Although I must admit that it was challenging-as all new things are- It didn’t prove to be a nuisance.

I felt quite relieved when I learnt that Pecha Kucha was not a particular program we need to run but a Power Point presentation with specific characteristics. Using Power Point was not new (I remember using it at Secondary school) but I learned how to use it more in detail. As regards the topic, I chose serendipity out of curiosity. I have that word written on my agenda and now I wanted to know what that concept referred to. I googled serendipity and I was so astonished with its meaning that I decided to adopt it as the topic of my presentation.

I found 20x20 an interesting format since it allows you to develop a topic quite completely while being concise. Backing up our presentations with pictures and some words or quotes keeps the audience more motivated and interested as it makes our monologue more dynamic. It’s true that I would have liked to have more time to expand on some details behind the serendipitous discoveries I presented but having a time limit is a useful technique for not leading the audience into sheer boredom. Just think of how much time we women can talk if we are enthralled with a topic and not limited by any factor.

All in all, a nice experience. Comparing the odd feeling I had the first day I became acquainted with the phrase `Pecha Kucha’ and the final product, I feel really proud. Even more proud if I think how basic my knowledge about computers and technology is (or was- I must admit I’ve learned many new things lately)

Changing attitudes...

Last week, I was taking a look at some mails when I found this one which really caught my attention and triggered me to reflect on the following issue: Are teachers falling prey to enraged parents who defend their children blindly? I’m afraid they are. And the following headlines illustrate this new trend which is taking over the whole world.

Haven’t you heard of teachers being confronted by aggressive parents? The causes simply boil down to the teacher giving some of the students poor grades or disciplining at school. Gone are the days when parents would feel disappointed by their children’s poor results at school and would hand out some kind of punishment. In that way, parents would make it clear that the figure of the teacher as well as the school as an institution deserved to be treated with respect. Now, parents blindly defend their ‘angel-like children’ from apparently ‘insane teachers’ who just do their work. Hardly a minute goes by between the child or teenager shows their qualifications and the parents rush to school to attack the teachers. Many parents do not even stop a minute to reflect on the damaging consequences that their overprotective behaviour may have.

Parents have clearly gone from one extreme to the other. From harsh punishment to an absolute laxity. Fortunately, a bad report do not longer trigger (as usually as some decades ago) a torrent of physical child abuse which is absolutely terrible. However, nowadays parents do not even chat with their children as regards their poor results or unacceptable behaviour or help them improve their performance. Parents are failing to strike a balance between the two extremes. Imagine how difficult the role of the teacher is. They are being constantly harassed by parents who make their daily job more and more difficult.

I’m really worried about this new trend since teachers need parents support to work adequately. Lack of support by parents is simply disheartening. And unfortunately, the parents’ declining standards of behaviour are adopted by their children. So, it’s very difficult for students not to treat the teacher disrespectfully when they sees their parents doing exactly the same. I believe that parents should be acting as good role models by supporting staff and helping them create a more positive learning environment for their children.

Important dates

September: A Time for 3 important dates in our lives

In this month 3 important dates to me, and perhaps for you too, are celebrated.


The first one is September, 11th (or the 17th). This day will always be important in our lives as it will remind us of the profession we have decided to practice for the rest of our lives. On the 21st of September, we celebrate students’ day. This year, most of us are still celebrating students ‘day more than teacher’s day but very soon this fashion will be reversed. Will it? On second thought I wonder “will we ever stop being students to become teachers?” Of course not. We’ll be students our whole lives. We will be continuously learning new things and experiencing new situations surrounded and accompanied by our students. A good teacher recognizes that her knowledge is finite and maintains an open-minded attitude to all the new situations that may arise daily.
I think that’s the magic involved in our profession: teaching and learning are inextricably intertwined. Teaching is by nature interactive and in this interaction both parts learn and enrich themselves continuously.

We are also celebrating spring’s day. Spring is for me the most beautiful and inspiring season. Most people’s humour and predisposition towards work and life changes. Personally, I love getting up to the chant of birds and the warmth of the sun. Getting up, studying, working, going out, everything is better when the sun heats the earth because it also heats our lives. It’s the season that represents birth and renewal. Could there be any connection between spring’s day and teachers’ day? Perhaps. I can say I hope my career is full of the joys of spring. I hope we never lose the desire of renewing ourselves and our knowledge every single day in the same way that flowers and plants do during spring. I also hope we can plant many seeds along our teaching profession which will grow forever since we will make an impact on all our students. Isn’t that connected to spring?

Do you agree with the idea that these three important days will be forever intertwined in our lives? Let’s share.

Scientific development

Scientific development and its areas of application have been growing enormously in the last decades. One of the areas which this science affects the most is Genetic Engineering. The two pictures I upload clearly illustrate part of the main aims of this growing science.

The syringe in both pictures stands for manipulation, for artificial intervention in the course of nature. The illustrations also represent the 2 main areas within Genetic Engineering: human Genetic engineering and GM food.

Scientific development has been growing at a tremendous pace in recent years. And I wonder whether this growth has a limit. Very frequently it seems to me that it doesn’t and that scares me a lot. Human nature is inherently ambitious and in the pursuit of further striking discoveries, I believe scientists are ready to defy all existing moral standards.

Although I’m not a fervent catholic, I believe there should be a restriction on the right to manipulate the course of nature. I do accept Gene therapy which consists of repairing or replacing defective genes or introducing some therapeutic genes to help fight a disease. This would imply a better quality of life for people with short-limb dwarfism for example. But what about having babies tailor-made? Recently, I’ve heard of a 38-year-old woman who already has 3 sons (through In Vitro fertilization) and now wants a daughter to round up the family.
I completely oppose using Genetic engineering for such trivial matters such as choosing your babies’ sex or eye colours. This would in turn lead to discrimination as people would naturally select some features over others.

However, in spite of what one thinks is the limit between good and bad or acceptable or unacceptable, there is little we can do to prevent the course of scientific development for the many interests there are behind it. We’ll have to wait and see which is the next thing coming out of the scientists’ Pandora’s Box.