March of the Penguins!

It’s the middle of the school holidays and I’m really enjoying my time off school. No homework, no classes, no teachers telling you that you’ve got a test in a few days… it’s just like pure paradise! I’ve done lots of fun things, but today I would like to write about the most amazing film I saw just yesterday!  It was called the ‘March of the Penguins’ and is the most incredible, yet heartbreaking journey of the Emperor penguins. The film has excellent photography and is nicely written.  This great film is like a documentary, but involves an incredible story as well as fascinating facts. It all begins when the penguins set off on a journey, each one with the same goal to find a mate and start a family. They battle the fierce wind, survive the freezing temperature and walk for 75 miles on foot across their frozen land, all to keep their species running. Sadly, not all penguins will make it. They must rely on each other to survive the long quest.  They head to where the ice is thick, and this is where they try to find a mate. Who knows what makes the perfect mate; all we know is that when that special penguin is found, the most beautiful relationship begins. However, like humans, not all relationships are successful. If the egg is produced too early, it may die and this is the end for the two penguin parents. For the ones that succeed though, it’s just the beginning of the great quest.  The father penguin is left behind to look after the egg as the mother sets off to the ocean to seek food. It’s another long walk, and some will not make it. Even if they make it to the ocean, the danger is not over. Predators will be in the ocean for the very same reason… food! I found this part of the film very depressing where they witnessed a predator claim the life of a penguin. This really claims two lives- the mother and the baby penguin, as she will not return to her family and the father will have no choice but to abandon the baby and go seek food himself. The father’s job is to keep the young egg warm, and if the egg sits in the cold for a moment, it will die. All the male penguins huddle together at the coldest times to keep warm enough. They nurse their eggs until it hatches, and the bond between them is very clear. If the mother does not return soon, the father would have to give up the little bit of food in his through, and feed it to his young. If she is too late, the father would have to choice but to abandon the little one in the cold and seek food himself. The story involves trust and hope as well as love.  When the mothers return with their bellies full, it is their turn to look after the little ones while the fathers go off to get their food. The young feed out of their mother’s mouths, and the mothers keep them warm. When they get old enough, they will be able to take their first step onto the ice. However, if the young get too cold, they will die. The loss will be so bad that the adult penguin may even try to steal other penguin’s babies! The babies are still at risk of land predators, so the danger still lingers near. Many penguins will end up completing their goal and the happiness is intense. It’s really sad that not all the penguins will survive the journey, but the film has a nice ending. It finishes off when the parents swim away in the warmish waters. Most likely they would never see their children again, but amazingly they repeat this same journey every year!  This film has some funny moments, yet some heartbreaking times. The rest is just plain amazing! I have learnt a lot more about penguins from watching this film and found out what extraordinary creatures they are. They have such a tough life and they really do work hard to try and achieve they’re breeding goal. This beautiful story of determination, courage, survival and love is an emotional journey for anyone to watch. I really congratulate all the people who worked together to make this film and it’s definitely a well worth watch. March of the Penguins leads you through one of the most beautiful love stories on earth, and I would say it’s the best, and saddest film I’ve seen this year!    

                                      

Friendship

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘friendship’? I believe that it is one of the most important parts of our lives. Today I would like to write an entry about friendship and express my own understanding of it.

This morning, in English, we have been doing oral presentations. One presentation stood out for me which was about friendship. A good friend will always brighten up your day for you, cheer you up when you are down and have a way of putting a smile on your face. A loyal friend would stick by you no matter what happens, and friends can tell how you’re feeling, even if you try and keep it hidden. Friends have different qualities such as being very encouraging or understanding, and these qualities make them a good friend.

Can you imagine what it would be like to live on a deserted planet, all alone without having anyone to be with? It would feel like your insides have been removed and you’re all hollow and empty. It would be like you’re lost in a desert, surrounded by nothing but sand. No one to communicate with, no one to share your stories with… nothing to look at and know that you’ll be ok. You must remember that friends are something that money can’t buy. They’re something you find, maybe even in the most extraordinary way. A friend is something that you can have no matter how rich or how poor you are, no matter how smart or good looking you are. Friends are special gifts, which you know you will share and remember forever.

With a friend, it is common to go through the stage where you begin to disagree… To start a fight and both people will feel annoyed and un-happy. It’s like when you lose an important item in the house, and you get annoyed that you can’t find it. If that person is a true friend to you, then you shouldn’t let a silly fight end your friendship. Fights can tear apart many friends, and it’s very silly to let something like this end a good friendship. You will know whether this person is a friend to you, and it’s up to you whether you should keep this person as your good friend… or let it go. If you have enjoyed being with this person and a silly misunderstanding has caused all of this, then it will be a good idea to try and sort things out. A great way to do this is to talk to each other, and explain to them how you feel. But it could be much more than this, and this person may not be the best friend for you. They may have hurt you too many times to just put things aside and forgive. With a friend, it is the good times that you have had together that you remember, not the bad things. Good friends both feel happy when they are together and will never say or do something that would hurt the other person behind their back.

Here is a poem that I have written about friendship. Please have a read of it.

Friendship is a gift of love,

As beautiful as a small white dove,

You find it somewhere, here or there,

A friend could be someone dark or fair,

 

Friendship is full of love and trust,

Caring for your friend is definitely a must.

You go through good times, fun and delight…

Do not leave because of a fight.

 

A friend will brighten your day for you,

Will clear you out of sadness and blue.

A smile, a grin, a friendly wave,

Will clear away your miserable gaze.

 

Friends are just like precious jewels,

So don’t leave them behind and look like fools.

Treasure your friends are you will see,

That they make your life so happy and free!

 

 

 

Aboriginals and 8Alive

Today at school my class watched a very good film called ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. I’ve seen this film many times and every time I watch it I feel very angry when the white people take the Aboriginals and half-casts (half aboriginal, half white person) away from their families. The white people just came in and took over the whole of Australia! I feel very angry, even though I’m not an Aboriginal. This was so selfish of them.

‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ is an amazing story, which is true. It shows exactly how Aboriginies were treated. The white people took over the land and basically kicked the Aboriginies (who were here first) out! This was so cruel! The white people then separated the aboriginal or half-cast children from their families. They took them to a place far away, and forced them to speak English. The white people took total control of Australia, and even tried to wipe out the Aboriginal race! This was such a mean thing to do, and I feel ashamed to be part of a country with such a terrible history.

I would have been very happy to share the land with the Aboriginal people if I was around those days. Actually, the Aboriginals should have had more rights on the land than the white people; they were in Australia first! I recon the white people were being very selfish taking over Australia and pushing the Aboriginies out. They never showed any empathy towards the Aboriginies. They just decided that because the land was very fine, they would simply take it off the Aboriginies and get rid of them altogether!

Lets try putting ourselves in the Aboriginie’s shoes. Just say you’re living happily and peacefully in a lovely house, with lots of space and very nice rooms. Then, a group of strangers help their selves into your house, and then find out that you’re already living there. Instead of leaving, the strangers kick you out of your house and says that they’re going to live in it. You would feel angry wouldn’t you? But it gets worse… the strangers then decide that they want to delete you! They never want to see anyone from your race, with your colour skin again. so they grab you and put you into their car. Then you get driven far away, and you have been separated from your friends and parents. This is terrible! And you know, this is exactly what happened to those poor Aboriginies.

My class had another 8Alive excursion earlier this week, and we visited a place full of aboriginal paintings. There were dot paintings, colourful painings, dull paintings… and each painting had it’s own story based on Aboriginal missions. They were sad, and just one image showed how the Aboriginal people felt when the white people started over taking them. There was a picture of a little girl in the back seat of a car staring out of the window, taking a last look at her family and her home before she was dumped in a place where she was forced to be like the English (white) people. There was also a dot style painting that told a story of Aboriginal missions. The middle of the painting was dark, and represented the depressed aboriginals stuck in this sad place where they were forced to be and respect the English people. This place was separated from the rest of the painting, which was the rest of Australia and the Aboriginal’s family. The Aboriginal children’s family tried to contact their children using smoke from a fire.

The Aboriginals lived their lives very different to us, as they hunted food and killed it themselves, had no electronics, and had no houses or cars. When the White people came in, they were more advanced in technology, and stealing the land off the Aboriginies was so selfish; they had a land of their own in Europe! And afterwards, the Aboriginals weren’t even given the right to vote!

This could all have been settled if the white people had of just shared the land with the Aboriginals. I can’t really say it’s my fault, or my parent’s fault even though we’re white. We didn’t want to do this to the Aboriginals, and if I could change what has happened to them I would. But sometimes, it’s much, much easier to share things than to try and claim it all to yourself. The Aboriginies had the most rights over the land, but if the white people had just been willing to share Australia instead of stealing it, the Aboriginal people and the white people could have had a better relationship, and Australia could be a more friendlier place. Sharing is always better than fighting.

8Alive city excursion- Homeless people

Isn’t it good being able to go home to a place where you feel comfortable? A place where you feel safe, and you have a roof over your head to protect you things such as rain and wind? Yes, this is your home! Probably most people you know all have homes. Most likely houses, or rooms in some kind of building. Well after a visit to the city earlier this week, I have learnt that not everyone has a home. This is pretty sad to hear, as homes and houses are like normal, everyday things in our lives.

There are people, even here in Australia, who are homeless. They haven’t got a place to stay and keep warm, and some are even left to roam the street in search of food and shelter! Some homeless people take drugs, have no money and wear the same old, ragged clothes everyday. They find it very hard to get hold of some food to satisfy their hunger and they often sleep by the street on people’s doorstep. When they beg for some money, they often get rejected.

When my class and I visited the city for part of the 8Alive program, we listened to a man talk about homeless people. Some people he had heard of became homeless through incidents such as loss of job. Others can become homeless through other incidents. He told us about a 14 year old girl who was being abused by her mother’s boy friend where she lived. She had left the house because it was un-safe, and she stayed with her friend for a while. She then decided that she needed to find a more permanent place to stay, so she left her friend’s house, and started living in an old ware house. She had walked across the floor above ground level, when it collapsed and she died. This is a true story, which is very sad.

Homeless people don’t seem to make friends, and can become very depressed. This can then lead them to taking drugs which can cause other problems. I fell really sorry for the people without homes, and I never really thought much about this topic until I found out much more about it recently.

All this is very sad, and I wondered what we can do to help these people. Then the man started to tell us about a cafe that was held near a church in the city. This cafe welcomed everyone, including the homeless. I felt very pleased to hear that people were helping them. The homeless can get free meals at this cafe and they get to meet other people. The man told us how it was interesting watching a buisness person talk to a homeless person.

A lot of people image homeless people as old men wearing mits and sleeping on a newspaper. However, only around 10% of the homeless are like this.

The cafe in the city serves free food to everyone, and I think it’s a great idea to help the homeless people. This shows that there is a way to help, even with the most difficult situations. 

Book: ‘Girl Underground’ (Morris Gleitzman) and refugees

I’ve just finished reading a great book called “Girl Underground” by Morris Gleitzman. I’ve read quite a lot of his other books and I really enjoy them. I’ve been reading his books that are on the “Premier Reading Challenge” list, hoping that I have a chance of compleating the challenge.

This book has a some strong, clear messages. One of the messages I picked up from reading the book is, “No matter what other people think, stand up for what you believe in!”

This book focuses on an important issue that’s still part of our country today. My English class have been talking a lot about this issue lately. Refugees in detention centres. In the story, Bridget and Menzies are determined to rescue Jamal and Bibi from the detention centre. Bridget’s family history involves some crime, and even a family member being locked up behind bars for stealing. Can Bridget and Menzies save two innosent children, Jamal and Bibi from a desert detention centre, or will they end up behind bars too? I really like it how it says on the back cover of this book, “Sometimes, to help a friend, you have to dig deep.”

The story teaches you about what it’s like for refugees inside the detention centres through the letters that Jamal and Bibi send Menzies. I’ve give you a sneak peak at some of the letters Jamal and Bibi wrote.

“The Australian government say we are queue jumpers, but it’s not true. In Afghanistan everyone made queues except the people who were shot. In this detention centre we also queue. For soap, for food, for water. People with headaches have to queue for pills. But we don’t complain because if we do the guards shout at us and that’s not good for the people with headaches.”

“At home I saw people who hurt children and they weren’t sad.
They put their arms in the air like a winning team.
I think there are people like this in Australia too. I am sad
because I thought Australia was a kind place.
You are kind Menzies.
You give me wings.
I wish they were real.”

After reading this book I feel more determined for refugees to be let out of those detention centres. I want them to be set free! Like it said in this book, they haven’t done anything wrong! They traveled all the way to Australia, and then they are locked away in a detention centre.

When you were born, you didn’t have the choice of what colour hair you got, or what gender you were. It’s exactly the same for refugees. They didn’t have the choice of what country they were born in. And when they manage to get out of their terrible conditioned country, they get locked up in one of these detention centres, which is worse than a jail! In this book I read that people in detention centres are treated worse that criminals in jails! They just happened to be born in a country with terrible conditions! I don’t blame them for wanting to get out; their life is at risk everyday! Think of it this way. Just say you were born in a city, where there’s noisy traffic and polution. You didn’t like this, so you move to the country side where there’s fresh air and lots of bush. THEN, you get locked up in a place, where your treated like your some kind of criminal, just for moving away to a place with better living conditions! This is what it’s like for refugees. But they have to get out of their country because their lives are at risk! Worse that just living in the city huh?

So this is why I believe that it’s not right for people to be locked up in a detention centre. I learnt a lot about what it’s like inside a detention centre by reading this book. I found out that the refugees are identified by numbers, instead of their names. That they never know when they will be let out. A character in this book said that the only think that keeps him going in jail is knowing when he’ll be out of the place. The difference between refugee centres and refugee’s original countries, such as Sierra Leone, is that their life lives aren’t at risk of being killed in the detention centres like they are in their own country. But it’s probably nearly just as bad having to live a miserable life, locked up in a place (like being locked up in a cadge). Why can’t they be let out? Is it because then more people from these bad countries will want to get into Australia? (like mentioned in the book). This question, “Should refugees be locked up in a detention centre or be allowd to live in Australia” is a question that hasn’t got an easy answer. But it’s not fair to lock someone up and treat them so badly like what they’re doing in detention centres! I bet you would have a very straight answer to this question if you were a refugee. I’ve put myself in Jamal and Bibi’s shoes (two children stuck in a refugee centre in this story). I see the fences of the detention centres as separaters, separating the cadge (refugee centre) from freedom in Australia. I would LOVE to see that fence knocked down, and see the happy faces on the refugees as they’re set free! As the door to the cadge has opened and the refugees have access to freedom, like us! So they can enjoy the rest of their lives happily, and are open to do much more things! Can you imagine us being locked up in a detention centre now? There’s one word that every refugee wishes for. Just one word. And that’s freedom. To live safely, and happily in a country of peace.

The government has the power to grant their wish. Menzies father is a politition in this story. I’m not sure what he really wants, but he says that he can’t allow the refugees to leave the refugee centre. He says he’s just one voice. Menzies then gets very angry and begins to yell at his father. “You can help them if you want to,” he shouts accusingly. “You’re a minister. You’re important. All you care about is staying elected.”

Part of this is true! The government has the most rights! They can do something about this if a whole group of them get together. But the very person who’s guaranteed to make a difference is the federal leader of our country. He’s guaranteed to make a difference to those poor people in the detention centre… if he tried. But the thing is, he doesn’t want to. I bet it would be a compleatly different story if he was the one in the detention centre. It’s kind to let them stay in Australia instead of forcing them back to their own country where their life will be at risk everyday, but locking them up in a detention centre is just making their life un-happy!

If I could bowl down that fence surrounding the detention centres I would. I’m glad that the cake stall my English class held raised to much money, and I’m now certain that it should go towards making the condition in detention centres better. If the federal government leader won’t let the refugees out of those detention centres, then I will try and make the dentention centres better! My english class have raised money that I’m sure will help.

This story faces important issues and I’m glad I took the time to read it. I really enjoyed reading it and it’s taught me a lot more about refugees and detention centres.

I’ve finished reading Goodnight Mister Tom

Well I have now finished reading Goodnight Mister Tom. Although some parts of the book were slow, I really enjoyed reading it. It’s very well written, and towards the end of the book it gets really sad. I put myself in Will’s shoes and imagined how he must have felt. It’s depressing how he gets beaten by his mother and locked up in a cupboard. It’s very sad that terrible wars such as World War 1 and 2 claimed so many innocent lives. This is shown in the book, when the war killed many lives, including one of Will’s good friends. I felt my eyes water when I read this part.

Mister Tom proves to be the perfect father for Will. He’s a kind, soft-hearted man, and he and Will grow to love and trust each other in the story. The story’s very emotional, with some parts being very happy and other parts very sad. I’m really glad that I’ve read this book because it was a great experience and taught me a lot about the World Wars. They were very tragic and this story shows exactly what happened during the wars.

There are many secrets to find out by reading this book. Why is Will afraid of dogs? Why has he never had any friends before he met Mister Tom? I recommend this book to anyone willing to read a long, emotional story about a young boy with a terrible past. This lovely story, set during World War 2, will touch anyone.

Goodnight Mister Tom

My class have just started reading a novel called “Goodnight Mister Tom”. Every student in the class got a book to read. The story is set around about 1938-1940, so they didn’t have many of the appliances that we have today. They didn’t have any televisions and other things that are normal or every-day appliances that we use today. 

The first chapter was about a timid boy called Willie who had been sent away to the country side, which was a safer place, by his mother because of the war. His mother had made Willie be near a church, so this is how Willie ended up being looked after by Tom Oakes. Tom’s wife and baby had died, and ever since, Tom has kept to himself and become quite grumpy towards other residents in the town. However, Tom begins to change when he looks after Willie. Hints in this chaper tell that Willie’s mother wasn’t very nice. She beated him, which caused Willie to have bruises all over his legs and told him that he was a bad boy. In the next chaper it reveals that she also whipped him. She sounds like such a horrible mother! In the beginning of the story, it seems like Tom is just a grumpy old man, who doesn’t want to look after Willie. However, it begins to show that he is very kind and has a soft heart. Willie is very timid, shy and quiet in the beginning, but in the next few chapters, he begins to get a little more comfortable and relaxed, and more trusting with Tom. Some strange things about Willie are revealed in the first few chapters. Firstly, he’s afraid of dogs, cows and horses. And he’s never slept in a bed before. These are strange fears. And then Tom gets sent a letter from Willie’s mother. She sounds terrible! Willie’s past life in London with his mother has shaped Willie’s personality to be scared and nervous. She also told Willie lies such as that he was a bad boy, that only dead people slept in beds and the the colour red is a sinful colour. If I was Willie, I would never want to go back to his mother again!

In class we read some information about children that were evacuated during the war. This was also related to the story “Goodnight Mister Tom”. Afterwards, we answered some questions about it. I’ve listed the questions below (which are some frequently asked questions about this topic) and my answers.

How many children were evacuated during the war? More than one million children!

Where were the evacuees lined up? In the school playground.

How could the children be identified? Identification labels were attached to their clothes.

What did they take on their journey with them? They had a gas mask, a packed lunch and a small suitcase with them.

Why was evacuating good for poor children? The poor children would probably get a better life-style with wealthier people (Just like Willie, because Tom is much wealthier than Willie was back in London). They were better fed and cared for than they were at home. The country side offered fresh air and was full of fun and freedom for them!

Why was it hard for richer children? The richer children had to live a less-wealthier life during this time. They were horrified to find out that they had to use an outside toilet and they were forced to bathe in a tin bath in the kitchen in front of everyone.

What did the local children call the city children? The local children would tease the children evacuated from the city and called them “the invading hoards” or “vackees”.

Why was it hard for parents to visit their children? Because the fathers were away fighting, and the mothers found the journey long and expensive.

When I first saw this book, I was shocked to see how big it was! But I’m really enjoying the book so far, and can’t wait to read more!

Book: Second Childhood

Today I finished reading a book called “Second Childhood” by Morris Gleitzman. The story’s about a boy called Mark Smalley. His father was always pressuring him to do well in school and be a somebody, but looking at Mark’s grades, the chances of hom being a somebody was very slim. However, things change when Mark, his bother Daryl, and his friends Pino, Rufus and Annie find out that they had once been a famous people people and animals in history through “reincarnation”! But they soon realise that they were responsible for several of the world’s problems. Inventing cars (Which are part of making pollution) and being a racehorse (Which started people’s gambling habits) were some of the big problems that they had caused. Well Mark, his brother and his friends decided that they had to make up for these things they had done wrong in history. Together, they came up with plans to make up for their terrible mistakes!

I often think about “reincarnation”. Did we have another life in history? Well, it really is a mystery to us right now…

I enjoy reading Morris Gleitzman’s books. I really like it how he adds humour into his stories, to make them funny and more enjoyable. When I picked up the book, I looked at the front cover. An important moral is to never judge a book by it’s cover! Even though there’s a picture of a horse on there, doesn’t mean the story is about a horse. A lot of books have a picture of an event in the book as the front cover. I love it when you reach the part of a book where you can tell straight away that that particular event is the picture illustrated on the front cover of the book. I turn back to look at the front cover when I read this event and think, “That’s the picture on the front cover. So that is what the front cover is all about!”

The cake stall

Today my class held a cake stall at school to help raise money for a good cause. Yummy cakes, muffins, slices and lots of other delicious food sat on the tables, ready to be sold. The smell of chocolate lingered around the stall, attracting everyone! My class had been organising this cake stall since last week, and it was a real enjoyment today when we held it. The students cooked and brought food. I brought one of my favourite recipes, the chocolate slice. People donated money as well, and by the end of lunch, we had raised a massive $189.10!!! This proves that when we all put in effort, we CAN make a difference to improve people’s lives who are not as lucky as we are.

Now we will decide what we will do with the money. We’re sure that it will go to a good cause. Originally, the money raised was going to be used to improve the refugee centres in Australia, like I mentioned in “Sierra Leone Rights”. I think that would still be a great idea, and it will make a lot of people much happier who are in those refugee centres.

P.S. I’ve just added some good news to this post that everyone reading it might want to know. About a day after the cake stall, there was another donation. Now, instead of raising $189.10, the money has gone up to a MASSIVE $205.10!!!

Sierra Leone Rights

Miserable, angry, uncomfortable and annoyed… This is how I felt when I heard about this topic.

Sierra Leone, Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. They suffer civil war, terrorist activities and some horrible religious activities such as excision, also called female genital mutilation (FGM) or mutilation. This is a very painful and unnecessary procedure, which can cause death. I feel uncomfortable talking about excision, but you can find out more about it by searching the topic on Google. This poor country suffers a lot of horrible things, and I don’t blame them for wanting to come to a different country where they can live without having the chance of being killed every day. A country where they have more rights and freedom.

At the Melbourne, Australia, 2006 Commonwealth Games, some Sierra Leone athletes came to Australia. People assumed that they were here to compete in the Games, but the Sierra Leone athletes had different plans. During the Games, some of the Sierra Leone athletes were reported missing. They were found, but they then admited that they were going to stay in Australia and abandon their home country. “I want to seek asylum here and I won’t want to go back to my country. The people come- the government comes- and they kill my sister.” Musa Kamara said. “They catch me and beat me up and shot me on my leg.” Mohamed Sesi said.       “I would prefer to die than to go back to that country,” Lamin Tucker said, “I would die instead of going back to that country.”

The government of Australia locked them up in one of 7 detention centres in Australia. Detention centres are like prisons, and people get sent there when they do not have permission to be in Australia.     “I was locked up like a caged animal,” Cornilia Rau said about Baxter detention centre.

This is a difficult situation. Some people would say, “It’s unfair to let them stay in Australia because they’re athletes, and not let other people from that country stay here.” Well, that is a point…

When I heard about this, I said that these refugees don’t deserve to be punished like this. They are humans just like us! We happened to be born in Australia, and they happened to be born in Sierra Leone. What have they done wrong? They don’t deserve this. Think about it. What if it was you who was trying to enter Australia? If I lived in Sierra Leone, I would be trying everything I could to get out of that country. All I wanted was to live in another country, and I was told that I could not live in another country.

We have luxuries here in Australia. We have fresh drinking water, computers, houses, jobs, education and television. We have more than we could expect, more than the basics. A family has extra cash. What do they do with it? They don’t think about those poor people like in Sierra Leone who a lot of them don’t have a house to live in or even enough food to eat! So what does that wealthy family do with their extra money? The go out and buy ANOTHER T.V. “One with a bigger screen,” they say. “Or a computer with a flat screen, or a lap-top that I can carry around with me.” That wealthy family doesn’t stop and think about those poor people dying because they have no food, or fresh water. That wealthy family doesn’t think, “What about improving someone elses life so they can have a slightly better life style.” And the government doesn’t think, “Why don’t I donate some of my money to helping those people who need it more than I do.” So what can we do? We can donate some money to an organisation who will try and help the poor, such as Oxfam.  

So what do you think is right? Should the athletes be sent back to Sierra Leone, should they be allowed to stay and live in Australia, or should they be locked up in the detention centres? I think maybe Australia should try and help Sierra Leone become a better country. Australia has the money.

Well this is a topic that my English class have been discussing recently. We have decided to make a cake stall this week to help raise money. This money will go towards helping the detention centres in Australia become better places for the refugees. It’s a start. If we all work at this together, we can make a difference!