Walls of Jericho Essay Example

Walls of Jericho Paper The walls of Jericho For Christians, the Bible is the infallible word of God. For others, the Bible is a document written by men with many basic truths. For some, it is just a book of fairy tales to explain away unsolved mysteries. This paper will briefly describe the Bibles account of the battle of Jericho. It will then discuss four major pieces of archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho that accurately corroborates the Bible’s account of the Israelite siege that destroyed the city. Many archeological discoveries have brought increased recognition to the events described in the Bible. The evidence found at the site of Jericho supports the Bible as a credible source of History. In the Bible’s account of the fall of Jericho, Joshua, who had been chosen to succeed Moses, sent two spies into Jericho. These spies were helped by a prostitute named Rahab whose house was built against one of the outer walls. Before the spies left Jericho they promised Rahab that her family would be spared when the city was destroyed. When the spies returned to camp they informed Joshua of the fear the people inside the city walls were expressing and explained of the promise they made to Rahab for her aid. We will write a custom essay sample on Walls of Jericho specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Walls of Jericho specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Walls of Jericho specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Israelites are then commanded to march around Jericho once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. On the last day after the seventh march they were to shout at the walls and then the walls would just fall. God instructed them not to take anything from the city other than precious metals to be kept in the treasury for the lord. The Israelites obeyed their commandments and conquered Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 (New Living Translation). According to the Bible â€Å"The harvest had just been taken† Joshua 3:15 (New living translation). The site at Jericho has had three major excavations. Carl Watzinger and Ernest Sellin led the first excavation from 1907 to 1911. The second excavation was led by John Garstang from 1930 to1936 and the third by Kathleen Kenyan from 1952 to 1958. The site also had a small one month-long excavation led by two Italian archeologists Lorenzo Negro and Nicol Marchetti in 1997. The first piece of evidence that must be discussed is the collapse of the outer walls. In 1907 the first excavation found fallen red brick at the base of the city. In 1950 Kathleen Kenyon determined these bricks were from the walls that collapsed when the city was destroyed (Wood Byer, 2002). Second, according to Joshua (6:24) the Israelites, burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Excavations revealed a layer of burned ash and debris about three-feet thick. â€Å"The destruction was complete. † According to Kathleen Kenyon â€Å"Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt† (Wood Byer, 2002). The third piece of evidence found that corroborates the Bible is the full jars of grain found in the lower storage rooms in the homes of the city. Grain was valuable not only as a source of food but was also used as a commodity for sale or trade. The presence of these grains still in the destroyed city is entirely consistent with the biblical account, Dr. Wood wrote . The city did not fall as a result of a starvation siege, as was so common in ancient times. Instead, the Bible tells us Jericho was destroyed after but seven days (Wilford, 2010). The Israelites were ordered not to take anything except precious metals, which would explain why the grain wasn’t taken. The last piece of evidence is the promise made to Rahab that her family would be spared. Rahab’s home was built against the outer wall. On the north side a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else. A portion of that mud brick wall was still standing. What is more, there were houses built against the wall. In conclusion, the evidence found at the site of Jericho is consistent with the Bibles account of the city’s destruction. . The walls fell outwards as the Bible describes. The city was burned as the Bible describes and the homes built against the only section of wall that did not fall suggest that Rahabs promise was kept. The archeological evidence found at the site of Jericho gives further proof of the historic accuracy of the Bible. References Wilford, J. N. (1990, February22,). Believers score in Battle over the Battle of Jericho. The New York Times. Retrieved from www. nytimes. com/1990/02/22/world/believers-score-in-battle-over-the-battle-of-jericho Wood, B. , Byer, G. (2002). Is the Bible accurate concerning the destruction of walls of Jericho []. Retrieved from

Essay Leighton Holdings Entry to China

Essay Leighton Holdings Entry to China Essay Leighton Holdings Entry to China Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 3 3. Background 4 3.1 Environmental Sustainability 4 3.2 Competitiveness of Chinese construction industry 5 3.3 Relationship-Based Business Culture 5 3.4 Insufficient Law and Regulation 6 4. Discussion of the Issues 7 4.1 Chinese Cultures 7 4.2 Cultural Impacts 8 4.3 Sustainable Development 8 5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 9 6.0 Reference 11 1. Executive Summary It is in the best interest for Leighton Holdings to understand the Chinese cultures to avoid missing any business opportunities in China. In the recent years, the construction industry has been playing a leading role in the Chinese rapid economic development. The increase in economic activity has resulted in a heavy demand for construction, providing Leighton Holdings a good opportunity to expand its construction business in China. However, China’s incomplete regulatory system, cultural differences, as well as a relationship-based business culture were among the factors identified as making China a challenging project environment. This is due to the national culture of Confucius, which affects the way the Chinese people doing business. Some of the salient principles of Confucius are highlighted below: * Submitting to authority; * Respecting the concept of â€Å"big family† * â€Å"middle way† to preserve harmony in one community; and * Maintaining harmonious relationships with neighbours. Based on the identified issues, some recommendations are provided for Leighton Holdings to expand its business in China: * Make the right connections in China and hold implementation plan workshops and follow-up sessions with Chinese team members to establish and maintain trust and respect at the start of the project; * Develop a clear and appropriate plan and well defined a project’s scope and design before agreements or contracts are signed to avoid cultural misunderstanding or future disputes; * Employ people who have educational and working experience in both Australia and China to be the communication channel; * Establish price competitiveness by sourcing environmental-friendly resources globally to meet the Chinese demand for sustainable construction; * Cooperate with international association such as World Trade Organization and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation to lobby the Chinese government for policy changes and to call for the transparency during the bidding proces s. 2. Introduction Leighton Holdings is one of Australian’s largest construction firms and one of the world’s largest contract mining companies. It operates with a number of subsidiaries in Australia including Thiess, John Holland Group and Leighton International, providing a wide range of construction operations in heavy industry, engineering and commercial construction (IBISWorld, 2013). With the goal of being renowned for excellence across the construction, mining, and operations and maintenance markets, Leighton Holdings is committed to the achievement of high quality standards, and strives for integrating environmental, social and governance factors into decision making to create short and long term shareholder value, pursuing sustainability of its business (Leighton Holdings, 2013 a; Leighton Holdings, 2013 c; Leighton Holdings, 2013 d). In recent years, the rapid increase of the world’s population, in addition to the expansion in global economic activity and falling trade barriers, has led to massive increases in demand for construction around the world, especially in Asia where large amounts of social commercial infrastructure are being developed (Ochieng, Price Moore, 2013). According to the Global Construction Report (2011), China surpassed Japan as the world’s largest construction market in 2003, and it will overtake the US as the world’s largest construction sector in 2018. These indicate a great opportunity for Leighton Holdings to export its construction

Economic Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic Theories - Essay Example His theories helped to establish the foundation to capitalism. Adam Smith postulated that markets were capable of regulating themselves without any external intervention. He introduced a new approach of measuring national wealth using income as opposed to the king’s treasury (Derek, & Steven, 2003). According to him, income was a product of land, labor and capital, and that the income is divided among capitalists, laborers and landlords, in form of interest, rent and wages. Smith’s theory had some limitations, despite helping to revolutionize the economic thought at the time. David Ricardo identified the weaknesses of Smith’s theory and opted to rectify them and incorporate them in his own theory. Among the things he agreed with Smith’s theory include the use of income to measure a country’s wealth. He also agreed with Smith’s view of free markets. He however built his economic thoughts on the three main factors of production; land, capital a nd labor, that had been identified by Smith (Derek, & Steven, 2003). Ricardo introduced other new ideas in his theory to build on Smith’s ideas. He for instance introduced the idea of international trade as the best way to help the local markets. He introduced the concept of comparative advantage in international trade. Comparative advantage suggests that countries only produce those products that they have a higher comparative advantage and import those which they cannot produce efficiently. b). Marx’s opposition to Capitalism Karl Marx was one of the most vocal thinkers to be opposed to Capitalism. He saw capitalism as just any other historical stage that would eventually end and be replaced by Socialism. According to Karl Marx, capitalism introduced classism in the society. The society was made up of the capitalists who were the land owners and owners of factories and the working class, whom provided labor in the lands and factories owned by the capitalists. He iden tified that these two main classes had differing interests that were the source of conflicts in the society. The capitalists’ main objective is to get profit and increase their wealth through minimizing their costs, including offering low wages to their workers (Derek, & Steven, 2003). The working class on the other hand strives to maximize their wages. These two compete g interests will lead to conflicts in the society that would eventually lead to a decline in the capitalist system and create ground for socialism. Marx was opposed to the capitalist system because of the instability it would create in the society where the working class would be left dependant on the capitalists who owned massive resources. According to Marx, leaving wealth to a few private individuals would create imbalance in the society and preferred socialism which would take the wealth from individuals and eradicate classes and ensure equality of all people in the community. The labor theory of valu

Development in ICT and strategic opportunities offered for competitive Essay

Development in ICT and strategic opportunities offered for competitive advantage in organisations - Essay Example Founded in 1984 by Leonard Bosack and sandy Lemer, a husband and wife team of academics from Stanford University, as a means of sending data between computers. Cisco has grown to be the company that, according to David Stauffer in Business the Cisco Way, is the company that makes the Internet. Cisco's networking products are designed to connect people, computing devices and computer networks, allowing access or information transfer regardless of differences in time, place or type of computer system. Cisco provides end-to-end networking solutions that customers use to build their own unified information infrastructure or to connect to and outside network. And end-to-end networking solution is defined as one that provides a common architecture that delivers consistent network services to all users. The broader the range of network services, the more capabilities a network can provide to users connected to it and thus the more effective it is. Large organisations with complex networking needs, spanning multiple locations and with many types of computer systems. Such customers include major corporations, government agencies, pan-governmental organisations, public utilities and educational institutions. Cisco operates in over 115 countries using a direct sales force, distributors, value-added resellers and system integrators. The company is headquartered in San Jose, CA. With major operations in Research Triangle Park, NC, and Chelmsford, MA; as well more than 225 sales and support offices in 75 countries. As a company that is in tune with the individual needs of its customers Cisco does not take a rigid, product-led approach that favours one particular solution regardless of the fit with customer requirements. Cisco's philosophy is to listen to customer needs and then develop solutions for discussion to ensure that those needs are met- a customer driven approach. Cisco's strategy: This high-tech company has the strategy of being a one-stop shopping provider of networking equipment. Operating models include a well-honed model for acquiring

Motivation and emotion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Motivation and emotion - Assignment Example Motivations are sometimes called instincts, and they help us survive. Emotions are expressions of selves and they are indicators of feelings and psychological dispositions of persons. To understand more of them, questions were posed and then answered. Do you consider yourself a sensation seeker? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your level of sensation seeking?   According to the Sensation Seeking Scale by Zuckerman, I found out that may level is high. This means that I am more adventurous than most people. According to psychologists, individuals with high SSS enjoy new experiences, and they engage in more risky sports, occupations and hobbies. These individuals also seek variety in sexual experiences and drug experiences (Atkinson, 1993). They also have less phobias, prefer exotic foods and gamble more. Basically, being a sensation seeker is being a risk taker. The main advantage of this trait is that learning is very concrete and hands-on. As they say, learning is not limited to the four walls of the classroom and by experiencing new things, learning is optimum. This is because the sensory faculties get stimulated. It was noted that sense stimulation increases one’s ability for normal perception and intellectual functioning.

Why STIs are called silent infections

Why STIs are called silent infections In the following paragraphs I will be discussing why sexually transmitted diseases are called silent infections. I will also be discussing the topic of urinalysis and its components and how these components may reveal if the body is functioning normally or abnormally. . The information pertaining to these subjects relates to the knowledge I have gained through my readings of The Human Body in Health Disease, as well as personal knowledge and opinion. Explain why sexually transmitted diseases are often called silent infections, and discuss why this is especially true for women. The reason sexually transmitted diseases are called silent infections is that many of them are asymptomatic infections which produce no visible or immediate physical symptoms, thus an individual may be infected with an STD and not know it for days or weeks, even up to years because there are no symptoms present. The bacterium called Chlamydia trachoma, which produces the disease Chlamydia, can be asymptomatic for months and up to years. When symptoms occur they may be very minor at first in women, such as: vaginal discharge, frequent urination that may be painful, pain during sex, vaginal itching and burning. Since a yeast infection (candida albicans) can produce these same symptoms in a woman they may just treat it as a yeast infection and not see a doctor till the symptoms progress or are not relieved by current treatment for some time. This may not be the case with men, since the most common symptoms of a yeast infection in men are extreme itching of the penis glands and red sores on the penis, but they may also experience burning while urinating and uncommonly have discharge from the penis. With Chlamydia, a man that shows symptoms will most likely also have burning while urinating and penis discharge. Yeast infections in men are not as common and these kinds of symptoms usually causes a man to go straight to the doctor instead of the drug store. The disease Chlamydia is very common, and if diagnosed early it can be treated very effectively, but left untreated it can cause a number of health issues such as: conjunctivitis, which is an eye infection or pinkeye; urogenital infections such as yeast infections; systematic infections which are infections that are spread throughout the body, and also progress to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which causes infertility and sterility, and if untreated may cause death through septic shock. The bacterium syphilis (treponema pallidum) is another good example of a STD that takes a number of months to cause any visib le or physical symptoms and has three stages that it may progress through if left undiagnosed and untreated. The first stage, primary syphilis is highly contagious and produces chancre sores on the outside and inside of the vagina, the penis and scrotum and also the mouth. This stage can be treated with antibiotics, and if left untreated it may resolve itself within a month or so, but if this disease is not treated in the first stage it is possible that it will recur later as the second stage. The second stage, is secondary syphilis, is also highly contagious and at this point the disease has spread throughout the body and its organ systems. In this stage the symptoms may include sore throat, fever, headaches and a skin rash on the hands and feet. Also, the individual may develop wart-like sores on the penis or vagina areas. Besides the wart-like sores, all other symptoms may not be recognized as caused by a possible STD since these symptoms are similar to the common cold and allerg ic rash. So once again, the disease may be silent in it diagnosis and goes untreated so it can progress to the next stage, as well as most likely infecting others. The third stage is called tertiary syphilis and the disease is still affecting the body and its organ systems (systematic stage) throughout. By now many of the organ systems may be showing signs of the disease, and may be developing problems which can cause many serious health issues and possible death. The STD HIV and trichomoniasis are also asymptomatic in most individuals for some time. These are just a few of many STDs an individual may contract that may show no immediate symptoms and can go untreated, and can continue to spread from individual to individual. The reason STDs are especially silent diseases for women is that they may move to other parts of the body and cause damage of secondary infections/diseases without producing any symptoms. If some symptoms do develop they may present themselves as a common infection, such as, yeast infection or urinary tract infection. STDs that go undiagnosed in women can spread through the reproductive system (cervix, uterus and uterine/fallopian tubes) as well as the blood and other organ systems. The two STDs I discussed above, syphilis (treponema pallidum) and Chlamydia trachoma, are good examples of silent STDS, and both can produce few or no symptoms and are very commonly undiagnosed or untreated, thus causing secondary diseases like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can cause infertility, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and increase the risk of contracting HIV if exposed to the virus; This why I believe that STDs are especially silent diseases for women. Describe the different components of a urinalysis and discuss what each may reveal about the normal or abnormal functioning of the body. Give specific examples Urinalysis is the process of examining urine through three specific methods. The three methods used are microscopic, physical and chemical examination. Through the use of these methods, a lot can be determined about how the body is functioning and be a very helpful tool in discovering problems or diseases that may be occurring within the body and its organ systems. The physical characteristics of urine that are examined are; color, odor and specific gravity. The color of urine is normally straw-colored, transparent yellow or amber. This is mainly caused by pigment (urochrome), as well as substances we regularly ingest. There are many things that can change the color of urine or cause it to be cloudy, such as certain food, vitamins, dehydration, bile, blood, bacteria and certain drugs. Thus when urine is an abnormal color it may just be from types of foods the individual is eating or vitamins or drugs, but it could also indicate developing problems such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, kidney stones, urinary tract infection and acute glomerulonephritis. Therefore, when urine appears an abnormal color during an examination, it would be further tested chemically and microscopically to confirm the findings of the physical examination. The odor of urine is normally very minor, and when this is not the case it may indicate such diseases as diabetes mellitus or a bacterial infection of the kidney or bladder. The presences of a strong odor may also just be from B vitamins or food like asparagus, garlic, and curry, so abnormal strong smelling urine would also be confirmed in the same manner as color. The urine specific gravity is the level of chemicals/substances in the urine, as well as water content. If the urine specific gravity is above or below the normal range (1.001-1.035 g/ml) it indicates that there is some type of disease or disorder present. When the specific gravity is increased it may indicate that the individual is dehydrated or has developed kidney stone. Also, d iseases such as renal arterial stenosis, congestive heart failure and glycosuria can cause an increase in specific gravity. If the specific gravity is low it may be a sign of such diseases as pyelonophritis (kidney infection), renal failure and diabetes insipius-nephrogenic. It can also be caused by an individual ingesting an excessive amount of fluid. As with the other physical examination processes any abnormal findings would be confirmed through further testing before treatment was performed. The chemical and microscopic processes are used to look for normal and abnormal substances and the concentration of these substances in the urine such as the pH level and normal and abnormal compounds. The normal compounds that will be found in urine are such things as; mineral ions (chloride, potassium and sodium), urine pigments, nitrogenous wastes (ammonia, creatinine, urea and uric acid) and suspended solids or sediment (bacteria, blood cells and casts). All these substance are normal characteristics of urine that are unneeded waste products that the kidneys have excreted during the reabsorption process. The mineral ions levels of chloride, potassium and sodium in the urine will be influenced by the individual intake of these minerals and the bodyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s need for them at the specific time they are consumed. The nitrogenous wastes ammonia, creatinine, uric acid and urea are also normal at certain levels. These substances are a byproduct of protein being broken down. If the kidneys do not excrete these nitrogenous waste products they will build up to a toxic level within the body at a very fast rate. If there are low levels of these substances in the urine it may be an indicator that there is a problem with renal function, such as acute or chronic renal failure. This would cause these substances to stay in the blood, instead of being cleansed out by the kidneys and excreted out in the urine. The presence of bacteria, blood cells and casts in urine is normal in some aspects. There are certain levels of hyaline cast that are normal for urine to contain; these are produced by deposits of cells and minerals that have broken free from the walls of the renal tubes into the urine. There are usually very few, if any, red blood cells in urine. The presence of very low quantities of red blood cells is possible in a perfectly healthy individual and especially in women because of menstruation. Urine will most likely contain some bacteria becau se of contamination during the process of giving the sample, but normally there should be no bacteria present if the sample is not contaminated by bacteria from the vagina or penis. I will be discussing the process used to examine casts, bacteria and blood cells in urine, as well as what abnormal levels of these substances may indicate later in the following paragraph. Abnormal compounds that may be found are: acetone, albumin, bile and glucose. The presence of these compounds can reveal a problem or disease in the body. For example, the presence of glucose in the urine (glycosuria) is a good indicator that the individual has diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus causes the blood glucose concentration to increase beyond the renal threshold and the kidneys cannot reabsorb the excess glucose, so the excess glucose stays in the urine. Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of the pancreas islet cells that produce insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. When bile is present in the urine it may indicate the common bile duct is blocked, which may be caused by gallstones. It may also indicate other liver disorders such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. The substance albumin (protein) may normally be found in urine at low levels between 0 to 8 mg/dl. If the albumin levels exceed this level it may indicate there is a problem occurring in the kidneys, such as the glomer uli of the kidney may be damaged, causing it to allow protein to leak into the urine during the filtration process of the blood. This could be caused by kidney diseases and other contributing factors, such as diabetes or hypertension. The presence of high levels of the substance acetone in the urine can be produced by factors that involve diabetes mellitus that is not properly controlled. This may be caused by a lack of insulin secretion, which increases glucose supplies in the blood, but less entering the cells to use for fuel. Thus in the bodyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s attempt to create homeostasis it breaks down fat for energy, and as a result of using fat for energy it produces acetone that ends up in the urine as waste. The pH level can be an indicator of a number of problems that are occurring within the body. The normal pH level should be between 4.6 and 8.0 in urine. When pH level is low, or has increased acidity, it may indicate the individual is dehydrated or has diabetic acidosis, which is caused by uncontrolled diabetes mellitus or respiratory acidosis, which is caused by the retention of excess carbon dioxide in the body. When an individual has a high pH level, or increased alkaline, it may be an indicator of a urinary tract obstruction, which is an obstruction within the urinary tract that may be caused by kidney stone (calculi) or a tumor. Also, it may be caused by chronic renal failure, which is when the kidney starts to fail and does not properly process blood and create urine. These are just a few of the things high or low pH levels may indicate. Some compounds such as suspended solids or sediment (bacteria, blood cells and casts) are examined through the microscopic process after being spun in a centrifuge to push these substances to the bottom of the test tube. These substances at the bottom are then examined for the presence of abnormal cells, as well as high levels of blood cells, which may indicate things, such as bladder infect ion, kidney infection, bleeding within the urinary tract, and also prostatitis which is inflammation of the prostate gland, as well as other symptoms depending on the type of prostatitis. This process is also used to examine the urine for casts. Casts are tube-shaped particles that are composed of ether minerals, kidney cells, or red or white blood cells that have formed in the renal tubules of the kidneys. Then as the urine passes through these tubules they dislodge from the walls of the renal tubules and flow out of the body in the urine. There are many different types of casts and by examining which type that is in an individualà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s urine, it may indicate if there are health issues developing such as chronic renal failure, renal tubular necrosis, bleeding within the kidney, interstitial inflammation and dehydration. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is normal to have some hyaline casts in the urine, but such types as fatty casts, white bl ood cell casts, granular casts and waxy casts are indicators of problems occurring within the renal system or diseases in other parts of the body. In conclusion, there are many types of STDs that show no immediate symptoms, and that if left untreated can cause a number of serious health issues and even death. However, many of these STDs are completely treatable with no lasting effects or damage if diagnosed before they progress and affect other organs system of the body. For any individual, regardless of gender, regular check-ups and screening for STDS is necessary; even if safe sex is practiced, it is very possible to contract an STD from another person just through physical contact, such as kissing or just touching their hands when certain diseases are present. It is important for every individual, no matter what age or gender, to have regular physicals to not only be screened for STDs, but also for other diseases that may be developing within the body, and a number of diseases can be diagnosed through the process of urinalysis.

Illusions of Reality Essay -- essays research papers

The Illusions of Reality The only thing in my life that I can be positive about is change. Everything changes, from the moment we’re born to the moment we die. Reality has many twist and turns, and our perception of reality is what shapes us to become who we are. Our life is spent on deciphering the difference between reality and not reality. This is hard to define because reality is unique to each individual. Our environment and the people we are around shape our perception of what is real. Reality is our grip of what is true and false, right and wrong, what is real and what is not. So reality can be distorted by our belief in it. We can sincerely believe something is right, but be sincerely wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The foundations of thought and imagination are laid at a very young age. Reality for the deaf and blind is that nothing exists outside of their perception. They do not yet understand object permanence, that even though an object goes out of sight, it still exists. Many children develop this knowledge around the ages of four to eight months old. I was a late bloomer; I did not acquire this until later.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was five years old, I was terrified of being left alone. I was afraid to ever be by myself. I had to be around other people or I would have panic attacks. Our dogs somehow had gotten out of our backyard. My mom, my sister and I got in the car and drove around the neighborhood looking for the dogs. My mother drove by our house to check if they had got back yet. My mom told me to see if the front door was unlocked. As I was walking across the front lawn, she drove away. When I was walking towards the house I didn’t hear my mom tell me that she was going around the block and that she’d be right back. To say the least, I panicked. I remember running down the dusty dirt road after her brown jeep thinking that my mom left me and would never see her again. Feelings of fear and abandonment filled my body, and I ran down to the highway screaming with tears streaming down my face. When I finally got to the highway I sat down and started to sob. A lady i n a blue car pulled over and asked me what was wrong. She was concerned so she had me get in the car and drove me to my house. We sat there in the car together until my mom came back home. My mom thanked the lady for being so kind, grabbed my arm and pulled m... ...were destitute, living in barely livable shacks. It showed me how rich I was. They were starving. Not only physically, but spiritually as well. These people had never been showed the truth that the Bible held, or the hope it could bring to their lives. I had never been exposed to this type of living in my life. It made me think about everything differently. I became much more thankful and giving. I was a spoiled brat when I went, but returned changed and unselfish. I changed for myself. At that stage in my life I realized how much I have, and how much I took for granted. I did not like who I was or where I was going, so I changed. I was changed as much as Mexicalli was changed. There are many points in my life that, when I look back on them, I will have noticed a change that was made. Whether it is when I accepted the Jesus into my life, or experienced a drug for the first time. We shall all be that way. What I’m experiencing right now is real and tangible to me, but maybe I will look back on this time of my life someday and realize that this reality was just a step to another, and that reality another step, then another. What we are experiencing now will eventually be a memory.