When talking about the importance of Sports, one can think physical and mental health it provides to the participants. It is obvious to perceive it in such lenses. Beside the above mentionned benefits, I am focusing on the Social, Political and Economical benefits an individual at the smaller scale and at the larger scale a Nation can gain.
Socialy speaking, an Australian study reports that Sport practice by children help them build their self-esteem and self-confidence. A child who scores a goal during a Soccer game can feel a sense of achievement that can ignite him to work hard in class in order to further the same feeling in other fields of his life. It has been proven that, kids who feel socially unaccepted by their peers can feel accepted when they join a team and are given a role to play for the success of the group. This experience can change the social perception the kid has and his role in regard to his environment for the good.
We all know that Sport has been always a theme of conversation in a variety of settings where people gather. During this conversation, rivalry tend to decline or extinct when two or more ennemies talk about their favourite team and especially when this team has won the game. At larger scale, Sports has reunited a Nation long divided by civil wars or tribalism. Who does not recall Germans reunited from West to East, when their Soccer team composed of the players from both areas came out as ONE Nation to win the 1990 World Cup in Italy. This victory has consolidated the unification of both former rivals.
Economically speaking, we all know that Sports provide a huge revenue to its participants. For example, Forbes Magazine who is known to rank the World famous wealthiest people reported in 2009 that, the top 20 of the World highest earners athletes make overall no more than $789 million thus an average individual earning of $39.45 million; which is enough to feed a whole lot of starving individuals in the World. At the larger scale, Sports Industries are a boost to a Nation's economy. For example, a study conducted in England by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University reported $25.865.841.508 as an annual Sport's economic contribution to England. Other findings are that, the Sports related jobs has numbered 441,000 and over 3/4 of these are in private sector, and not to mention that the Consumers' spendings on Sports was $26,976.9 in 2008. These figures show the huge impact of Sports in the economy of a Nation being England or other.
Politically speaking, many governments have use Sports to promote their agenda to curb anykind of political rivalries, or to unify a divided Nation. The legendary and former South African President, Nelson Mandela has used the South African Rugby team to curb the rivalry between Blacks and Whites and the Sports each loves. As portrays in the movie "Invictus" Nelson Mandela has encouraged the Spring Box(SA National Rugby team) to have game exhibition in the townships so that Blacks will play with Whites (who made 99% of the team at that time). This exhibition was braodcasted all over South Africa (SA). And it was meant to bring together two Races (Whites and Blacks) and Sports(Rugby and Soccer) who have been in opposition during the Apartheid era. This is a proof that with Sports, a mountain of rivalries and problems can be lifted without any cost. An unknown author has said that Sports is a costless and peacefull manner to fight a war between Nations or two teams. Because with the money spent to buy arms and tanks during war, Nations are using it for the development of Sports thus the well being of its Citizen.
Sports has many benefits that we have to consolidate by making sure that any one is practicing the discipline that fit him. We also have to secure the protection the participants from injury so that we will not witness some dirty tackles seen in Soccer or bloody faces in Box, etc.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Is Pope Benoit XVI wrong?
As a Catholic, I am concerned by any critic addressed to my faith and the people who are the guardians of its principles and doctrine like the Pope Benedict XVI. Short before his departure to Africa for a tour that led him to Cameroon ( my coutry of origin) and other countries, the Pope as Jesus did when preaching throughout his mission on earth, struck the minds of the World when stating that: "You can't resolve the AIDS's epidemic with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary it increases the problem." And not to mention that it increases the problem related to infidelity, poverty, and hindered the dignity of human being.
Right after that statement, the world from many horizons fight back the statement. Some governments were taking it as a diplomatic crisis between Vatican's state and their countries. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs went on Radio France International (RFI) saying : "We-France's governement-consider that these statements endanger public health policies and the imperative to protect human life." And the Center for Diseases Control and prevention (CDC) spokeman said that the Pope's denunciation of condoms was of no help.The World was divided between the Pro-Condoms and Con-Condoms. Where was my position between these people? and where is yours?
Let me say that, the Pope's statements has not struck my mind like other people. Because, I am pretty much certain that the Pope who is the leader of Catholic church was making these statements in light of the Catholic teachings on Condoms and AIDS which are part of the Catholic Sexual Moral teachings. These teachings were stressed by Msgr. Antonio Soto Guerero, member of the Pontifical Council for Health in April 2006 when he said: " The Doctrine of Catholic Church are not out of the principles of Catholic Moral. In regard to AIDS, abstinence is the absolute prevention; We have to remember that AIDS is huge part of moral disorder facing the seventh commandement-Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery or corrolaries to this, Thou Shalt Not Commit Fornication." So in light of this principle, the Church and its leaders based on the Scriptures RECOMMEND or ADVISE not FORCED the followers of Christ and any individual that we are to use abstinence before our mariage and fidelity to our husbands and wives while in marriage because the failure to do so will lead us to Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD) and AIDS, not to mention the consequences of infedelity which are broken families, abandonment of children and other problems affecting the well being of a family. The Catholic church and other denominations teach people to follow the will of God with the knowledge that it is up to them to do so or not because we were given free will to do what ever we want and to bear the consequences of our acts. So I do not see why people have to call the Pope by any name for we have to choose to use condoms or not and to bear the consequences of such act. Within the context of Catholic Faith and Principles, the Pope was just doing his job of counciling and guidance of its ships. Jesus was not forcing his followers to do what ever he deems good for them but he was advising them and reminded them that every one will be accountable to the Master of life not to mention himself.
Taken in the scientific view, one can say the usage of condoms is more likely to prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS as it is so far the best disease's prevention that Sciences have found. The Condoms when properly use, prevent the flowing of sperm to the woman's uterus. And it does so for the microbes and viruses that the man's sperm can carry or the woman's uterus can shelter. Some scientifics have said that the successfull rate of condoms prevention ability is 99% so the other 1% may be found in the proper usage of condom, or in the manufacturing of the brands since some brands are stronger than other. This percentage can be a reason for the Pope to propose in conjunction with the Catholic Teachings that ABSTINENCE is the absolute and successfull prevention to solve the spread of HIV-AIDS.
We have to remember that the World is full of disasters and any proposition to solve the problem or improve our life has to be taken seriously and study and not to be criticized as if it is worthless in the quality of our journey on earth.
Right after that statement, the world from many horizons fight back the statement. Some governments were taking it as a diplomatic crisis between Vatican's state and their countries. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs went on Radio France International (RFI) saying : "We-France's governement-consider that these statements endanger public health policies and the imperative to protect human life." And the Center for Diseases Control and prevention (CDC) spokeman said that the Pope's denunciation of condoms was of no help.The World was divided between the Pro-Condoms and Con-Condoms. Where was my position between these people? and where is yours?
Let me say that, the Pope's statements has not struck my mind like other people. Because, I am pretty much certain that the Pope who is the leader of Catholic church was making these statements in light of the Catholic teachings on Condoms and AIDS which are part of the Catholic Sexual Moral teachings. These teachings were stressed by Msgr. Antonio Soto Guerero, member of the Pontifical Council for Health in April 2006 when he said: " The Doctrine of Catholic Church are not out of the principles of Catholic Moral. In regard to AIDS, abstinence is the absolute prevention; We have to remember that AIDS is huge part of moral disorder facing the seventh commandement-Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery or corrolaries to this, Thou Shalt Not Commit Fornication." So in light of this principle, the Church and its leaders based on the Scriptures RECOMMEND or ADVISE not FORCED the followers of Christ and any individual that we are to use abstinence before our mariage and fidelity to our husbands and wives while in marriage because the failure to do so will lead us to Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD) and AIDS, not to mention the consequences of infedelity which are broken families, abandonment of children and other problems affecting the well being of a family. The Catholic church and other denominations teach people to follow the will of God with the knowledge that it is up to them to do so or not because we were given free will to do what ever we want and to bear the consequences of our acts. So I do not see why people have to call the Pope by any name for we have to choose to use condoms or not and to bear the consequences of such act. Within the context of Catholic Faith and Principles, the Pope was just doing his job of counciling and guidance of its ships. Jesus was not forcing his followers to do what ever he deems good for them but he was advising them and reminded them that every one will be accountable to the Master of life not to mention himself.
Taken in the scientific view, one can say the usage of condoms is more likely to prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS as it is so far the best disease's prevention that Sciences have found. The Condoms when properly use, prevent the flowing of sperm to the woman's uterus. And it does so for the microbes and viruses that the man's sperm can carry or the woman's uterus can shelter. Some scientifics have said that the successfull rate of condoms prevention ability is 99% so the other 1% may be found in the proper usage of condom, or in the manufacturing of the brands since some brands are stronger than other. This percentage can be a reason for the Pope to propose in conjunction with the Catholic Teachings that ABSTINENCE is the absolute and successfull prevention to solve the spread of HIV-AIDS.
We have to remember that the World is full of disasters and any proposition to solve the problem or improve our life has to be taken seriously and study and not to be criticized as if it is worthless in the quality of our journey on earth.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Stuttering
God created Human beings with some characteristics of which we were born and some of which were acquired throughout our upbringing. One can be leader, another an athlete. Again one can be born with a disorder such as Sickle cell disease or born with speech disfluency which is called stutering. I will talk about the stuttering since I was born with it.
So what is stuttering? Is it a curse of a family? Is it acquired or inherited from our genetors? How to deal with a stutter? Who can be a stutter.
I will start by the last question by saying that eventhough statistics show that women compare to men are four times less likely than their counterpart to become stutter, anyone can be affected by it.
The recent research done by Dr Salynn Boyles, revealed that the cause of stuttering is genetic. No wonder why in a family we can find siblings stuttering like in my case, my old brother stutters. Therefore stuttering is more likely inherited than acquired. This research has also invalidated the notion that stuttering is a curse. Other causes might be that the person has had a stroke or a brain injury. This affects the speech by hindering the conduction of signals produced by the brain which send them to the muscles and nerves who make possible the speech. Eventhough stuttering is not cause by anxiety, tiredness and stress, they worsened the person's stuttering. What is stuttering then?
Stuttering, according to researchers and many organizations that advocate for stutters is a speech disfluency that hinders the communication by the production of disfluencies such as repeating words, production of 'beuhh", "euhh", "aahh" and others which precede the words or statements the stutter wanted to articulate or produce. Some stutters are afraid to speak in front of a group or a large audience and that is why you will see them avoiding activities that needs their participation in order to hide their disfluency, some may refuse to speak. Stuttering also is obviously recognizable by movement of jaw, mouth, eyes when the stutter speaks. The stutter can feel excluded or worthless in society because of his disability to speak normally. So what to do when in front of a stutter.
In front of a stutter, be patient. Since the stutter needs more time to say what he wants and intends to, the listener should give him attention and time for that. Stutter like to know that people are supportive in their struggle to speak fluently. Avoid expressions such as "don't hurry", "take a breath before speaking"
or "don't be tense" since these expressions are seen by a stutter as demeaning and suggest that his disability is more likely to overcome if putting himself in such favorable conditions. Ask the stutter how he wants you to respond when he is stuttering? This will give him more confidence to express himself. Please be considerate to a stutter's self-esteem and try not to treat him like a child. The more interest you show to a stutter, the more he will express himself with confidence and less disfluency.
This post was done by the data collected from;
Stuttering Foundation of America
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/
Boyles, Salynn; M.D
http://children.webmed.com/news
So what is stuttering? Is it a curse of a family? Is it acquired or inherited from our genetors? How to deal with a stutter? Who can be a stutter.
I will start by the last question by saying that eventhough statistics show that women compare to men are four times less likely than their counterpart to become stutter, anyone can be affected by it.
The recent research done by Dr Salynn Boyles, revealed that the cause of stuttering is genetic. No wonder why in a family we can find siblings stuttering like in my case, my old brother stutters. Therefore stuttering is more likely inherited than acquired. This research has also invalidated the notion that stuttering is a curse. Other causes might be that the person has had a stroke or a brain injury. This affects the speech by hindering the conduction of signals produced by the brain which send them to the muscles and nerves who make possible the speech. Eventhough stuttering is not cause by anxiety, tiredness and stress, they worsened the person's stuttering. What is stuttering then?
Stuttering, according to researchers and many organizations that advocate for stutters is a speech disfluency that hinders the communication by the production of disfluencies such as repeating words, production of 'beuhh", "euhh", "aahh" and others which precede the words or statements the stutter wanted to articulate or produce. Some stutters are afraid to speak in front of a group or a large audience and that is why you will see them avoiding activities that needs their participation in order to hide their disfluency, some may refuse to speak. Stuttering also is obviously recognizable by movement of jaw, mouth, eyes when the stutter speaks. The stutter can feel excluded or worthless in society because of his disability to speak normally. So what to do when in front of a stutter.
In front of a stutter, be patient. Since the stutter needs more time to say what he wants and intends to, the listener should give him attention and time for that. Stutter like to know that people are supportive in their struggle to speak fluently. Avoid expressions such as "don't hurry", "take a breath before speaking"
or "don't be tense" since these expressions are seen by a stutter as demeaning and suggest that his disability is more likely to overcome if putting himself in such favorable conditions. Ask the stutter how he wants you to respond when he is stuttering? This will give him more confidence to express himself. Please be considerate to a stutter's self-esteem and try not to treat him like a child. The more interest you show to a stutter, the more he will express himself with confidence and less disfluency.
This post was done by the data collected from;
Stuttering Foundation of America
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/
Boyles, Salynn; M.D
http://children.webmed.com/news
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