How the Baby Turned Into a Lady

How the Baby Turned Into a Lady

By Mary Manuel Mispeñas

IV - Abad Santos

Boisterous laughter, uncombed hair and a sweaty face after playing “step-in” at the school gym. That’s how I am before in elementary. I was really naughty way back then. I was, sort of, a boyish kind of girl who plays “takyan” with the boys and I was also a little funny in the head --- that’s what my classmates before usually say. I often get into trouble because of my carelessness and stupidity. I really can’t forget the time when I disobeyed a rule for going inside a forbidden room and spotted, much to my surprise, our school principal doing her thing in the C.R. it was so funny that I can’t help myself but laugh out loud and spill it to the whole section. I also don’t care on how I look before. I never get worried if I’m going to spill my chocolate drink over my pink uniform, I don’t care if they call me a witch because of my uncombed hair and I don’t care if they call me stupid because of my crazy schemes. All I want to think of is to laugh and play.

Now that I am in high school, things changed. The tables have turned for a girl who, once, boxed her boy classmate right in the face. I am more conscious now on how I look especially when I see my crush passes by. I act more girl than before and I think before I act. I am vain when it comes to my physical appearance and I love to be complimented.

I realize now that things don’t always stay the same. They keep on changing. Just like me. From a happy-go-lucky girl into a dainty, little lady. But there is still a small corner in my heart where those small things remain. And that will serve as a memento that I will forever cherish. ^.^

Poets of Nature

by
Karen L. Israel

Two poets were blazing new roads together but their attitude towards life has made all the difference. William Wordsworth and Percy Bysshe Shelley were poets who greatly love nature. They were never alone with nature and spend most of the time contemplating about life. Both poets were very good when it comes to producing of well-defined rhythmic lines. But these masters of literature were too far different from each other especially when it comes to their outlook about life.

William found hope and faith in his kinship with nature and God while Percy dwelt on nature’s beauty itself. Wordsworth has a definite philosophy of life; on the other hand, Shelley is like a wanderer following a beautiful vague vision, forever sad and forever dissatisfied. Unlike Percy who is very pessimistic and cynical, William is his equal oppositehe believed that in childhood, one is extremely sensitive to all natural influences and represents the beauty and gladness of the world. Shelley was widely misunderstood by his contemporaries unlike William who was loved by his fellow writers. Wordsworth lived long until old age but Shelley died young in a self- imposed exile from England.

"Looking Back and Moving Forward"

Looking Back and Moving Forward
By: Ana Ultima G. Conda
IV-Abad Santos

At times I am alone all by myself, I used to wonder “why did I grow up so fast?” It was like two days ago when I used to cry because my mother left me in my kindergarten classroom. Reminiscing times like this, it seemed like going back from yesterday and forgetting the present for awhile. From that shy, clumsy and innocent young little girl to a jolly, grade-conscious teenage gal who is now ready to extend her wings widely. We all experience these changes that will help us to be good in the future.

It was late afternoon then, back in grade school, when I used to play with my humorous classmates. Wandering around unconsciously, disregarding the look on my face and just living life to the fullest. Moreover, we had been trained to be well-mannered and values-oriented students, whereas today, I could say that we are not that values-oriented pupils like before. Undeniably, physical changes occurred to me… I became conscious of how I look in front of others. Sensitivity to others’ feelings became my moral viewpoint. Unlike before, I am really afraid to come out of my own shell, but now, little by little, I spread my wings widely to the extent.

I am what I am today… Not because of all that lessons I have learned, I wouldn’t be here with where I am now. Looking back the times when I’m still an innocent girl… And now, moving forward to all my goals and ambitions. No matter how many changes happened or will be happening in my life, I will always be that kind of girl you’ve got to know once in your life.

Songs: Old or New?

Songs: Old or New?


Songs have been part of our lives. We use it on mere entertainment, praising God, dancing, and on hobbies. we have favorite songs that we always cherish for their sentimental value. Other than those, songs have many purposes.

We know songs are classified into two categories,the old and new. the old songs are what we hear when we were still young and as for now, the youth commonly label it as "Papa and Mama's favorites" or worse, "out-of-date". On the other hand, new songs are what most of the youth listen to. Those songs are more upbeat, fashionable,danceable and worldly. Those songs are more in requests on radio stations and the Internet than old songs. Meanwhile, basing on meaningfulness and inspiration, old songs are more in demand. Old songs accentuate the formality of a feeling whereas new songs don't since those use a coarser grammar. For me, it's difficult being in this generation since I'm an old song lover. I'm always out-of-place when my friends sing newly-released songs to me. Some teenagers say "oldies" are "corny" and meaningless. Contrary to that, "oldies" portray true feelings of love dejection, unbearable anguish and many others. On the other hand,modern or new songs play with those feelingsas if making those shallow. What entice most of the youth to adhere with those are the beat,rock appeal, singer or band singing, peers' choice, and the dance appeal.
I am not a sentimental personas what others say. I'm just concerned with the importance of feelings which together with the constant innovation of songs, have disappeared.On the reader's judgment, it depends on you whether choose new or old. It depends on what you like and how you relate with what you've chosen.

P.S. Peace with the rockers of today. Thank you.



Shamaine "Margaret Alexandra Silvia" C. Pasaquian
IV- Abad Santos

"I'm Having Fun!"

-Vann Marjorie D. Cosares-

Being a student is not easy. You encounter so many problems that you need to solve right away or else these would just make you go crazy. It is even more difficult when the pressure is on you, you don't know what to do. But what makes being a student really exciting is that you've got to learn new things about life.

Elementary and highschool years seem to have no difference. It's almost the same, I think the only difference is the curriculum. Every school year, I got to meet new friends. I see new faces and this only means new lessons to learn from those faces. When I was still in elementary, I used to play in the aftenoon- eventhough, we still need to attend our class. I never mind the scorching heat of the sun, as long as I'm having fun. I ran as fast as I could disregarding what other people would think about me. I don't care in anything they say, I'm just enjoying myself. Until now, I still ran as fast as I could but, something or almost everything had changed. Now that I am in highschool, I now care on what other people think of me- whether it is good or bad. I also care for myself now and indeed I care for everything. But there is just one thing that did not change- the fun that I'm having.

Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, but also "intangibles" such as the opportunity to learn and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.

Causes of Poverty

Environmental Factors

• Erosion. Intensive farming often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields and thence increased poverty.
• Deforestation as exemplified by the widespread rural poverty in China that began in the early 20th century and is attributed to non-sustainable tree harvesting.
• Geographic factors, for example access to fertile land, fresh water, minerals, energy, and other natural resources. Presence or absence of natural features helping or limiting communication, such as mountains, deserts, navigable rivers, or coastline.
• Drought and water crisis.

Economics

• Unemployment.
• Capital flight by which the wealthy in a society shift their assets to off-shore tax havens deprives nations of revenue needed to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
• Communists see the institution of property rights itself as a cause of poverty.
• Unequal distribution of land. Land reform is one solution.

Health Care

• Poor access to affordable health care makes individuals less resilient to economic hardship and more vulnerable to poverty.
• Inadequate nutrition in childhood, itself an effect of poverty, undermines the ability of individuals to develop their full human capabilities and thus makes them more vulnerable to poverty.
• Disease, specifically diseases of poverty: AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis and others overwhelmingly afflict developing nations, which perpetuate poverty by diverting individual, community, and national health and economic resources from investment and productivity.
• Similarly substance abuse, including for example alcoholism and drug abuse when not properly treated undermines resilience and can consign people to vicious poverty cycles.

Governance

• Lacking democracy in poor countries.
• Weak rule of law can discourage investment and thus perpetuate poverty.
• Failure by governments to provide essential infrastructure worsens poverty.
• Poor access to affordable education traps individuals and countries in cycles of poverty.

Demographics and Social Factors

• Overpopulation and lack of access to birth control methods. Note that population growth slows or even become negative as poverty is reduced due to the demographic transition.
• Crime, both white-collar crime and blue-collar crime, including violent gangs and drug cartels.
• Individual beliefs, actions and choices.
• Brain drain

source: wikipedia.org

FACTS ABOUT POVERTY

1. 30,000 children under the age of five die each day due to hunger and treatable illness. That’s 11 million children each year.
   
2. One in twelve children will die before they reach their fifth birthday.
   
3. One billion children suffer from one or more of the following multiple deprivations: nutrition, water, sanitation, health, shelter, education, and information.
   
4. Nearly one billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name.
   1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water.
   
5. The gross domestic product of the poorest 48 nations is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people.
   
6. More than 800 million people go hungry every day.
   
7. One in five children in the developing world does not have access to safe water, and one in seven has no access whatsoever to essential health services.
   
8. Every year eleven million children die -- most under the age of five -- and more than six million from completely preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
   
9. Of these children, more than one in three children does not have adequate shelter.
10. Over 16% of children in developing world 10 under the age of five lack adequate nutrition.
    
11. 153 million children under 5 in the developing world are underweight.
12. The average distance girls and women in developing countries walk each day to fetch water is 3.6 miles

Source: Poverty facts and Stats

"FACE OF POVERTY"

PERSONALIZED MOVIE FOR EVERYBODY :)

When Lightning Strikes...

Recently, Davao just experienced FLASH FLOODS with some people stranded at different places. It was MILLIONS of years when HUMANITY first experienced the very first tragedy in their whole existence. Now, the GREAT FLOOD that was encountered bythe people of Noah's time seems cascading to the 21st Century of ours.The classes were announced suspended by the City Mayor today (June 16, 2008) due to "unceasing strong torrents of rain". We were in the state of shock when early in the morning, all we can see is WATER.. WATER and WATER. All the GARBAGE BINS were thrown out into the sea-like flood. We can still remember when we lastwalked on this water-covered pavement. There were "animal feces" which we're about to step on, people who spits everywhere, the "urine of rats" and the "drainage canal" from the Angel Funeral Homes. When we saw people venturing through that polluted water, those things slowly crept into our minds. YUCK!!! But our hearts gradually sank knowing that beyond all this... POVERTY is the bottomline. Maybe they have no money for the fare of the tricycle that's why they walked along not thinking the great consequences they will face in the FUTURE especially if their immune system is low...

Undesirable :(

"Malipayong Pag-abot sa Dabaw". -- The greeting of Davao natives to tourists or foreigners who come here for living or just simply visit the tourist spots that we are famous for. In fact, Davao's really a heaven for its inhabitants. A typhoon-free area, food supply's abundant, many affordable residential spaces, modes of transportation, and many places to visit ranging from malls to beach resorts away from the noisy city life.

Despite all those unquestionable occurrences, it's undeniable that Davao City also has its undesirable circumstances and one of those is POVERTY. In this blog, you are going to see how other residents of Davao live with their unfortunate life. We are also going to feature further problems in Davao City.