Perla Jimenez
Geog 112, Section 2
Professor Davis
May 14th,
2012
Self-Reflection Essay
I
have learned a lot in this class and in a perspective that I never knew in
terms of seeing issues that are going on in the world currently. Before this class, I never really knew how
girls and women in general, were treated and viewed in different regions of the
world. My knowledge before this class on
certain things like, African wars, women being mistreated in the Middle East,
climate change, United Nations, NGO’s, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, TED
talks, etc. wasn’t exactly too informative on all these topics I learned much
about in class. I’m so thankful and glad
I took this class because this class really educated me on true and current
events that are going in the world right
now. I never really heard of TED talks before, and now I have watched many
TED talks because they literally interest me greatly and are great testimonies
and talks from different people from different parts of the world.
What’s
going in Africa, in regards to wars and Joseph Kony, really impacted me because
knowing how bad it is over there, allows me to be aware of issues and better
help involve myself in trying to help, like KONY 2012 campaign. From the wars in Africa to the climate change
to the women being horribly mistreated and unvalued to the United Nations, I
have learned much about each issue. I
never really knew how bad it was for women in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and
other Middle Eastern countries. Half the Sky really opened my eyes to
how women are viewed and treated. I
never really knew about “Brothel” and what happened to women who were put into
those types of houses. I finally
understood how in different part of the world, women are viewed completely
differently than from America. Culture
has a lot to do with it. By any means am
I condoning the way women are being treated, but in Middle Easter places, women
who are of “lower ranking” are seen as unworthy and with not value
whatsoever. Lower ranked woman, are
placed on a social standing of the lowest, and with that, comes no respect,
meaning, value, or honor to them according to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indian
cultures. Women have no say or shouldn’t
have any sense of say at all there.
One
thing I learned from my research paper that ties with everything that we have
discussed and learned about in class, is how much Africa truly has been and is
still continuing to suffer and why.
South Africa in particular, is a very beautiful place with amazing and
genuine people with beautiful land, resources, customs, and traditions. The main thing I found astonishing on my
research about South Africa is that basically, South Africa is the way it is in
terms of poverty, government, wars, etc., because of how South Africa has been
taken advantage of. The people in South
Africa truly aren’t up to date or speed with everything going on in the world,
education wise, technology wise, etc.
This quote I found sums what, what I truly learned about South Africa
from my research paper, “The land is a major problem in Africa that has caused
much poverty. With many African countries having confused land ownership so
that much useful land is unused.
Africa’s natural resources have also been mostly monopolized by European
and American companies largely taking money out of Africa.” South Africa is
always going to have a special place in my heart because of my memories,
experiences, and lessons I learned from living in South Africa for a
month. This class, helped enhanced my
knowledge to other things currently happening in the world and really did
educate me on things I wasn’t too educated on.
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