Reflections & Comments by Explainers

Reflections
by Helen Yu-Lei

At the Young WomenÌs Health Conference many teenage girls gathered and learned important information about their bodies and mental stability to help them make their own decisions and to be themselves. Female speakers from around the nation dropped by to inform young girls and help them with any trouble.

One of these speakers was Julia Butterfly Hill, an environmentalist who is known for living in a redwood tree for two years. A lot of young people (including me) looked forward to her speech, dying to know what she was going to say. She talked about her life and her career path. Her major in college was business, but she became an environmentalist. She gave her reasons for leaving the business world to become one with the environment. She talked about how businesses blind you from what you need to see, by using advertisement to captivate people, especially youth, getting them to follow a trend. Companies do not care what it takes to manufacture their merchandise or the consequences that our world is left with. These are the reasons that Julia abandoned her career and went to find something new.

At the end of the conference they ran a prize rally. Most of the prizes were from companies whose view to the world is to sell, who donÌt care how they make or get their merchandise, only how to attract more people and make more money. These are the exact same companies that environmentalists seek to reform. This seemed an ironic mixed message at the end of the conference. I think that many girls were offended by this.

I wrote a poem while thinking about my experiences at the conference. (See sidebar)

Acupuncture: Another Option
By Molly Klett

I attended the acupuncture workshop at the womenÌs health conference. The workshop was set up to inform young women about the medical alternatives available. Though the workshop focused on acupuncture, it also touched on herbal medicine and acupressure. Acupuncture is a form of healing that has been practiced for an estimated 2-5 thousand years. Acupuncture uses very small sterile needles with copper tips. The needles are inserted shallowly under the skin and are left in for 15-45 minutes. The goal is to release the energy reservoir in our bodies by accessing points of outlet. Herbs are used by eating, drinking, burning, or smelling them. Acupressure is the practice of pressing on parts of the body to relieve stress, pain and pressure.

Going into the workshop with some previous knowledge about these things prevented me from learning many new things. The workshop was nonetheless a helpful resource for young women looking for alternative methods of medicine. When asked what relevance or usefulness this course would provide, the instructor responded "Acupuncture is a good method of treatment for problems that do not respond well to western medicine such as PMS, asthma, and stress. These are problems young women deal with." I would recommend including this workshop in the conference again because of the importance of giving young women options in all types of health.

Is Love Blind?
By Mahlakah Abdo

The workshop I attended was about abusive relationships. The purpose was to reach out to young ladies such as myself, to teach about the signs of verbal, emotional and mental abuse.

In this workshop, there was a lady who was in an abusive relationship at the age of 15 with a man who was much older. She told us how her boyfriend used to stalk her and how he made her turn away and not trust her friends or even her family members. At the age of 16, she was pregnant with her abusive boyfriendÌs baby. After she was pregnant things didnÌt get better, they got worse. The law also got involved. Fortunately enough she was able to get out of the relationship and she has not talked to or heard from him in a year.

It was great that she was able to tell her story. If there were young ladies that could relate to this story, I would recommend this workshop.

Have you ever heard a speech so powerful,
So beautiful,
So unique?
In a form so expressive
That you could imagine it through your own eyes.

Powerful words
Expressed clearly,
Precise,
At a point
That you want to do something.

Realize that you are living in a world of
Hypocrisy
And lies
That you just want to tear apart from the world
And stop living lies.

All of us
Following a trend,
Unspeakable to comprehend
Our blind eyes
From the evils of advertisement.

Kids,
Teenagers,
Women and men
Following this so called trend
That the world has picked up from its evil depths.

Advertisements
A big conspiracy
A big fat lying truth
That turns our world upside down
And slurps us brain- dead.

And this evil corruption
Has appeared under our eyes
And blinded us from the truth
And to see again
Will take our self worth and beliefs.

If we believe with our selves
Follow your own mind
You can make it!
Out from the collars of society
Into the free world of living

by Helen Yu-Lei

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