Kakenya Ntaiya is an incredible woman for the impact she has done for her community. FGM is brutal and I cannot believe it is still so common in places like Kenya. I am so relieved that individuals like Kakenya are advocating to stop this horrendous procedure and change is finally happening for these young girls. The numbers show the great change Kakenya has done for her community. The Maasai girls are so strong and inspiring for going through so much pain and suffering while still maintain determination to go to school to gain an education so they can break free from this cycle.

The fact that Faith's family did not support her in anyway yet she was still so determined to go to school is very inspiring to me. There are days where I do not want to complete my assignments due to pure laziness. After reading how girls like Faith, will do anything to have the opportunity to have access to assignments and learning materials, I feel like I need to work harder and stop being lazy to take advantage of the privilege of having access to an education so easily. Faith could have been killed over stealing an egg in order to go to school, yet that did not stop her. Many people should look up to Faith whenever they are feeling unmotivated. I think of her as a role model, especially to young girls.

This right here shows how bad these Maasai girls want an education. This should be an eye opener to those who take education for granted. Many students in the U.S. choose to not participate in their free education, like high school, while there are children such as these Maasai girls, who are desperate for an education in order to live a better life and break free from the inhuman cycle these girls have to go through such as FGM and early marriage. The girls in the community are so determined to have education and it is great to hear they finally have an opportunity thanks to Kakenya Ntaiya.

Another great way to stop food waste is for parents to start teaching their children from the first day they consume solid food. Parents need to start implementing habits such as making sure they finish their dinner before they can have dessert. Educate their children about the starving kids that are around their age in the world. If people are aware of the consequences of throwing their leftovers away from the first day they learned how to eat, I feel as if there will be a significant decrease in food waste as the guilt can change their actions towards their food.

At first, I found this statement to be very hard to believe as the statistics for hunger in America in 2021 shows that there are over 42 million Americans that experience food insecurity due to the ongoing circumstances that we are facing today. To understand the large number of hungry people; 1 in 8 individuals in America will face food insecurity! The fact that we have the resources to help this huge issue shows how we need to start implementing food waste laws to try to make all the excessive food to be used up efficiently.

My first job was an in-store shopper for a grocery store. When I worked there, I can never forget the amount of food I saw go to waste. It was unbelievable and my frustration just built up each day I worked there. I noticed the produce department's waste was due to them waiting until the produce became ripe to display them on the store front. A solution to this could be for them to put the produce on display before they get ripe so customers will have more time to clear the shelves.

Costa Rica's overperformance on social progress is not a shock to me. I believe Costa Rica's priorities should be a guideline to other countries. Prioritizing education leads to more ideas, inventions, advancement of technology and so on. If people are able to have easier access to education, people will be able to have access to resources they need for their ideas/innovations which leads to development in countries. Hence why countries should consider creating easier ways to access education such as free tuition. Think about it, if college was free wouldn’t more people be inclined to enroll? The more people with access to education allows there to be more ideas from different individuals.

I agree with msewilam about the global reports not motivating many citizens to take action, instead they are more interested in the events that affect them. That is why I believe stricter environment laws will make people take this matter more seriously. If we create environmental laws that affect us individually, we may be more inclined to do the right thing in order to not have to suffer the consequences, such as large fines and imprisonment. Clearly as msewilam stated, we do not take other countries reports (that we have today) seriously, so how would the report cards be any different? These report cards do not affect us individually, so I cannot see an improvement this will cause on our planet.

In my honest opinion, I do not think the world is going to be in a better place any time soon, especially not next year or the next decade. I grew up in the boroughs of New York City and I had witnessed littering and treating the environment poorly, to a large extent. People would rather spit their gum onto the sidewalk instead of the community trash cans that were provided at the end of sidewalks. Simple acts like these make me lose faith in humanity because if people would rather taint their environment instead of just walking a few feet to throw their litter out, how are we going to better the whole entire world? States in the U.S. had to impose many fines under environmental laws, yet people still decide to take the risk. There needs to be more awareness of how to treat the world kindly and I believe strict recycle requirements would be an advantage.

This is something I try to incorporate in my life. I grew up in an environment where struggle was a common theme in people’s lives. I lived in the boroughs of New York, a place where housing is very competitive and expensive. Even though it was hard to live in this environment, the people around me did not let this affect their character. We all knew we were dealing with our own struggles, so why add more for others? Why cause minor problems when there are bigger ones we are dealing with at home? Do you really expect to receive respect when it is not given? We need to start asking these questions to ourselves when it comes to our actions and responses, especially if we wish to be heard and respected by others.

I feel as if this is what people are starting to forget, especially when it comes to public figures. In our society, celebrities are expected to look or act a certain way to stay relevant. They are bashed if they do a simple mistake, such as not talking about their relationships. It seems as if we often forget that public figures have emotions and morals. We should not expect for them to share all of their business with us as we don’t tell strangers all of our private information. We need to start using empathy to try to be better human beings and build a better character for ourselves. Put ourselves in other perspectives to stop us from causing unintentional harm.

There are few unifying forces across humanity as strong as love, trust and compassion. These forces are a defining aspect of the human experience and sentience. The world, for all the splendors and wonder that it has, can also be an equally cruel and grueling place to live in. Empowered with our evolved sense of empathy, we can right the wrongs the world deals out and make it a better place. Compassion as a force is strong because we’ve evolved to be compassionate and empathetic, for the sake of survival and for the well-being of us all. We must aim to consider other opinions than just our own. Consider other lifestyles and upbringings. I try to incorporate compassion in my everyday life as I have had my struggles. I try to remind myself that I am not the only one that deals with difficulties and to use that to empathize with others.