Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Libya ( Economic Issues)

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/04/oil_near_108_amid_libya_fighti.html

http://klepeut.blogspot.com/2011/02/global-economic-crisis-threatens-libya.html
http://www.mbendi.com/land/af/lb/p0005.htm

http://countrystudies.us/libya/57

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/how-oil-wealth-undercuts-democracy/?ref=business

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-01/libya-owned-bank-got-73-loans-from-fed-window-after-lehman.html
http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=6126668
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/libya-military-intervention-costs-us-taxpayers-millions-dollars/story?id=13193525



Libya's Has a major impact on the United States economoy, being one of the worlds largest oil producers it exports oil barrels and gas to the united states. The oil prices have risen, affecting many americans , libya is eventually making more money of the americans and americas economy is affected and its debt will increase, as the money does not stay in the us, it goes back to Libya.


(I still need more research !)








Friday, March 25, 2011

Gracewood

This is the letter we recieved from Brandi case manager at Gracewood, we volunteered there March 8,2011. My partner fatima and I had a wonderful time playing with the children. We played wii sports,which is a game , the kids were very respectful and loving. There names were Alex(3 years old),Alan (3 years old) and Jeremaih (2 years old).
Tuesday Night w/ the Kids
From: Brandi Hobratschk Add to Contacts
To: "maria_isabelr@yahoo.com"

Hi Maria!



My name is Brandi Hobratschk, and I am the Case Manager at Gracewood’s Wanda Lane campus. Leslie Searle forwarded me your email address and told me that you and Fatima are interested in helping out with childcare on Tuesday night …… And I could not be more excited! I could definitely use the help. Right now I have 3 boys – one, 2 year old and two, 3 year olds – so things can get pretty interesting!


I have really been trying to spend time with them doing things that don’t involve watching television, but it is just really hard to keep track of them all. Not to mention our house has an open floor plan, which allows them to run a circle through the living room, play room and kitchen, and all of them want your undivided attention. So, even if it’s just dumping out all the toys and giving each of them a little extra attention and a playmate, that would be great. Also, if you all have any ideas for activities I’d be more than open to suggestions. Playing outside is great, but it get’s dark right around the time group starts. Also, sometimes someone will show up late and Mom has to leave for group and I have to make sure the little one gets dinner. So you can see where seeing to everyone’s needs gets difficult.



Group starts at 7:00pm and ends around 8:30pm. I would like for the two of you to come around 6:50 pm. Any time earlier cuts into dinner time and draws the boys’ attention away from eating (remember they’re 2 and 3), which causes frustration for Moms.



I can’t wait to meet you and Fatima, and I really appreciate your interest and willingness to offer your time and talents where help is truly needed. Childcare for a mere hour and a half may seem trivial, but our ladies work very hard all day long and knowing their children are getting a little extra attention means more to them than you could know. It also helps wear the boys down so bedtime comes sooner and with less resistance, and you cannot know how much of a relief that can be to them after a long day.

So just let me know when you would like to start. You can come this week if you would like. Group is every other week, so the next opportunity will be Tuesday, March 1st. Thank you again!

Cheers,
Brandi

Methodology

Hello, this is my methodology which explains a little more about the steps i took doing my Capstone Project "Hope for Children".


Methodology


There were several steps in our projects development; and many obstacles were encountered. Our project’s goal was to be able to reach abandoned and neglected children through volunteering and donating money at a local foster home.
The first step we took, was contacting many organizations seeking volunteer opportunities. As the weeks passed, we continued to both email and call several foster homes; unfortunately we did not receive such positive results as we had hoped so. Many organizations required the volunteers to be at least 18 years of age and have CPR training. Another reason for our impediment in volunteering was that the CPS (Child Protective Services) has control over most of the foster homes, and therefore was very strict about volunteering. We did not meet the requirements for volunteering, however we kept trying and continued calling and emailing foster homes. We contacted most of the local foster homes in the Houston area.
Our second step was to collect a minimum of $400, and donate the money towards two foster homes. Although this is not much money it could be really useful for any minor necessities the children might need. We decided to sell small food items throughout the school day, in between classes, and during lunch to fund-raise the money. Some items we sold were: muffins, Gatorade's, candy and McDonald's. Surprisingly, many students seemed to buy muffins; the Gatorade's took more time to sell and were not sold as much. We also sold candy such as; Mexican candy, airheads, and sour extremes. The candy sale went very well, many students from all grades in our school 9-12th bought candy from us. This was a big joy for us because we were able to collect more money by selling candy.
We then decided to sell McDonald's burgers hot and spicy's and cheeseburgers during lunch. We were sure this would help us raise the money we needed faster, since many students do not enjoy the cafeteria food and were likely to purchase the burgers. We encountered a major problem since we only sold one day and the next day were informed we could no longer sell during lunch. HISD no longer allowed food selling during lunch, only food given by the district was allowed to be given to the students. This sadly delayed our project fundraiser back; since it was our only hope to raise the money faster, the small food items made a good amount of profit but took more time to sell.
However this did not stop us from selling McDonald's, we decided to sell breakfast burgers before school. Many students in the International school, do not eat breakfast because of the food that is served in the cafeteria, or because they arrive at a time that wont allow them to get breakfast. We thought that selling breakfast at an affordable price would be a great idea. This also had a positive result; we sold 25 burgers in 10 minutes. Although this was a success, we were not able to sell again because it took too long to order the breakfast and get to school by 7:20 the time students start arriving.
After trying to sell McDonald’s, we decided it was not the best choice and went back to selling the small food items we had sold at first. Our fundraiser took place from Week 2 throughout Week 16. Throughout the whole semester, we never stopped trying to reach foster homes. We continue calling and recorded all the calls made, as well as the status of the calls in a call log.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hope for Children Capstone Reflection #2

Capstone
GPS Leadership Outcomes
Reflection
Name: Maria Ramirez and Fatima Ramirez
Date: March 11, 2011
Project: Hope for Children
What is the goal of the project? How has it changed over the course of Capstone?
The Goal of our project was to volunteer at a local foster home in Houston, Texas and raise a minimum $400 to donate to at least 2 orphanages/foster homes. Our goal was to spend time with abandoned children that need affection and support, becoming a friend to them and helping them by giving them Hope in life. Our Goal has now changed since, we Unfortunately have not been able to volunteer at two orphanages, the money fundraised might no longer be donated towards two foster homes. Although this is still in question, we will continue to contact foster homes seeking both volunteer and donation opportunities.
We are organizing a volunteering team to volunteer at Boys and Girls Harbor on week 10-11. We have also started on our display board that will be displayed to raise awareness around


International High School.

Your Capstone Project is a tool for you to demonstrate your college readiness and global competency. Use the GPS Global Leadership Performance Outcomes to evaluate your college readiness and global competency. Developing
Investigate the World: Produce New Global Knowledge. Students investigate the world, including their immediate environment.
How have you incorporated this element of the GPS into your Capstone project?
Child abandonment is a global issue, happening in several diverse countries. As we research this topic, we are gaining knowledge about this global impact. We have read several articles of this subject affecting both developing and undeveloped countries. We are also promoting awareness of this subject in the International School, as we introduce our project to our peers. This is a social issue that should be known, in order to decrease the amounts of children being abandoned in the world.
We are currently researching more about abandoned children effects, and statistics in order to make an informational booth.
Where are your strengths in this area? Why are they strengths? Where is this demonstrated in your Capstone?
The strengths in this area we have achieved, is Producing New Global Knowledge. We consider this strength because we are raising awareness in our school, and in our community. We have displayed our Project in social networks such as Facebook and, MySpace. Many lower classmen consistently ask us about our projects success, they also help us we buy purchasing the food items we sale throughout the school day. We also plan to have an informational Booth in School, as well as a guest speaker. We would really love all our school, to learn about this issue. Many people are unaware of this because only media sources such as television tend to remind us about this issue.
Where are your weaknesses in this area? Why do you consider these to be weaknesses? How do you plan on correcting these weaknesses?
Our weaknesses is developing a well designed argument about this issue, we have not been in this position to understand this issue as well as we hope we did. We try to understand, but we still do not have enough information that can establish a well argument.
Recognize and Weigh Perspectives: Apply Cross-Cultural Understanding. Students recognize their own and others’ perspectives.
How have you incorporated this element of the GPS into your Capstone project? I have seeked understanding about this global issue, and have tried understanding this phenomena occurring globally.
Where are your strengths in this area? Why are they strengths? Where is this demonstrated in your Capstone? My strength
Our strengths in this area is understanding the magnitude, and the issue being a global issue affecting people all over the world. This is strength, because we are connecting out project globally, not only regionally.
Where are your weaknesses in this area? Why do you consider these to be weaknesses? How do you plan on correcting these weaknesses?
Our weakness in this area is not being able to understand the reason of child abandonment; although it is a global issue we cannot fully understand the reasons for parent's decisions on abandoning their children. Some reasons are teen pregnancy, poverty, and immature fatherhood/, motherhood, but they appear to be factors that can be worked with and be able to take care of their children. We would like to understand why this factors and values that cause parents to choose to abandon children. We plan on correcting this weakness by doing more research and observing different people’s values about this issue.

Communicate Ideas: Connect & Collaborate Across Boundaries. Students communicate and collaborate effectively with diverse audiences.
How have you incorporated this element of the GPS into your Capstone project?
We have selected appropriate media and technology, to communicate with diverse audiences.

Where are your strengths in this area? Why are they strengths? Where is this demonstrated in your Capstone?
Our strengths in this area, is being able to communicate this subject. We are able to speak about our topic, to a diverse audience. This is demonstrated in our capstone, by peers making questions about our project.
Where are your weaknesses in this area? Why do you consider these to be weaknesses? How do you plan on correcting these weaknesses? Our weakness is perhaps not being able to participate with other individuals from around the world, whom goals are similar to ours.
Take Action: Enact Global Solutions. Students translate their ideas and findings into appropriate actions to improve conditions.
How have you incorporated this element of the GPS into your Capstone project?
Where are your strengths in this area? Why are they strengths? Where is this demonstrated in your Capstone?
Improving conditions on this particular subject.
Where are your weaknesses in this area? Why do you consider these to be weaknesses? How do you plan on correcting these weaknesses?
Our weakness in this area is not being able to volunteer at the orphanages.
Week 10- We have finally gotten another foster home to volunteer at, The Boys and Girls Harbor, this foster home will let us volunteer even though we are underage, and will allow us to bring along more volunteers.


Rating for this week:

For this week I would rate My partner fatima & I a 7 because we didn't work on our project much, and fundraiser has been delayed. We hope to improve by next week.