DARE TO STAND

Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918. He was
the first member of his family to attend school. A Methodist teacher gave him
the name “Nelson” at school. He continued in school and later attended the
University of South Africa in Johannesburg. He became a lawyer representing
those who would otherwise go without legal assistance.

Mandela was first involved in nonviolent protests but was eventually arrested
for treason and placed in prison. He was fighting against the apartheid and the
treatment of his people. Apartheid was the practice of keeping the races
separated in South Africa. Locked in his cell for years on end, Nelson’s

spirit was not broken. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. Most of this
time was spent in a tiny cell on Robben Island. His captivity became widely
publicized. He was considered a terrorist when he was imprisoned, but as time
wore on, it became apparent that he was treated unjustly in his fight to end
apartheid.

Once released from prison, Nelson Mandela went on to receive hundreds of

awards. He received the Nobel Peace Prize which many felt was also a tribute to
the people of South Africa as much as to him.

On April 27, 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa. He
served until 1999. He continued to work pushing for peace throughout the
world. In South Africa, he is known as Madiba, which is an honorary title.
Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013, but he continues to inspire people
to stand for what is right.
 THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

One summer, Grasshopper sat in a warm, green field. He was singing a happy,
little song:

“It’s a lazy summer day,

Cold winds, stay away.
No one cares about snow!”
Stay away, you icy day!
I’m fat and happy for today.
Tomorrow is not now!”
Just then, a little black ant passed by. She was carrying a giant cherry back to
her nest. It was much heavier than she was, but she persevered. “Rest for a
moment and sing with me. There’s plenty of time for work later,” said
Grasshopper to Ant.

“I can’t when there is work to be done. Winter is coming and we will need food.
You might think about doing the same,” she added.

Grasshopper replied, “Who cares about winter when it is so far away? I can
have all I can eat now. It is all in front of me. Even more than I can eat! I am
satisfied.”

Ant just said, “Okay”. She went on her way. Back and forth she went
gathering berries and nuts and any other food she could find. She took it all
back home to her nest and stored it deep underground.

Mean winter winds came early that year. They grabbed the trees with their icy
fingers and tore the leaves from the branches. Now Grasshopper sat in the
very same field, cold and hungry. He watched Ant and her family eating the
food they had worked so hard to gather all summer, while he had been happily
eating and singing his song.

“Sadly, music does not fill one’s belly,’” Grasshopper said, as he shivered in the
cold.
 A CLOSE CALL

The wave receded and the sand shifted sharply. He came to a kneeling position
and the sand slipped deeper… He threw his hand up and stood. The sand
shifted under his feet and the waves hastening to the shore lashed him face
downward.

The salt stung his eyes and he groped to his feet. Another wave heaved and he
tottered… We could not understand what was happening. Boy Blue was
laughing. It made us afraid, the way he laughed. A wave wrenched him and
now he was actually in the sea. We shivered, dumb. A wave pushed him up,
and another completing the somersault plunged him down. He screamed and
we screamed too. He was out of sight and we screamed with all the strength of
our lungs. And the waves washed our screams up the shore.

We screamed and the fisherman came out from behind the lighthouse. We
motioned him to the spot where we had last seen Boy Blue. There was a faint
scream in the air. We could not understand how it had happened. We could
not follow the speed of the fisherman’s movements. He had gathered up the net
and tossed it in the sea over the area we had indicated. He hauled earnestly
and the body of the net emerged with the strangest of all catches. Boy Blue was
there.
 TRAPPED

Peeta panicked. There was nothing he could do. He was trapped. Trapped with
hundreds of others. The Monster had come and was slowly, surely, dragging
them from the deep. Peeta swam through the excited crowd to try the bottom.
Then he tried the top again. The great Monster had encircled them completely.
There were millions of holes in its great hands, but none large enough. If only
these holes were a little larger.

Peeta tried to push himself through one of the holes again. He squeezed and
squeezed. Great tails lashed around him. Not only he but the whole crowd were
in desperation. He tried to ease himself through. The threads pressed against
his eyes. If only his head could get through. He pushed again, hard, and the
pain quivered through his body. Down to his tail. He turned around. But it was
no use trying it from that end. His tail was much wider than his head. There
was nothing he could do. He heard the breakers roaring above now. That
meant they were nearing the shore. Peeta whipped his tail in fury.

The Monster was closing its hands gradually. He could feel the crowd
heaped against each other. He was knocked about by the giant tails. Good
thing he was so small and could avoid being crushed. Around him were his
friends and his dreaded enemies. The bonito was there, the killer shark was
there. None of them thought of him now. They were all trying to escape.

Extract from Cricket in the Road by Michael Anthony

 A BITTER HARVEST
Bigger was the big bad man of the village and a big-mouthed braggart. Just
because he was six feet tall and had arm muscles like an ox, he figured that
everybody in the village should listen to him every time he opened his mouth.
The trouble was he was always opening his mouth. Whenever Mr. Brown was
beating his son, Bigger interfered. “Don’t beat the child like that! You are a
wicked man!” If Mrs. Brown was going to the doctor, Bigger taunted her, “A big
hearty woman like you going to the doctor! You don’t have anything to do?”

Bigger was also stingy. If he was cutting his cane and Johnny, Mrs. Brown’s
son begged for a piece, he pretended not to hear. When he was reaping his
pumpkins, he would force Frankie, Mrs. Brown’s ten year old son to help him
pick them and he didn’t even offer them one pumpkin. Bigger preferred to let
his mangoes rot, his potatoes shrivel and his apples wither, rather than give
them away.

The Browns were very patient and told their children not to answer Bigger and
whenever Bigger came to borrow salt, the Browns would lend him some. “Don’t
repay evil with evil,” Mr. Brown used to say. One day, Charlie, who was Mr.
Brown’s friend, saw Mr. Brown giving Bigger some water from his tank because
Bigger didn’t have a water tank. Charlie couldn’t understand it and thought
that Mr. Brown was foolish. “Make him suffer, man!” Charlie said to Mr.
Brown.

A drought hit the village later that year and Bigger had no water tank. After the
first dry month, all of Bigger’s crops were dying and his animals were getting
thin. “We should have rain in the next two weeks and then I will have a
bumper crop!” Bigger did not want to believe that the drought was going to last
long. One month later, Bigger stood in the fields and all of his crops and
animals were dead. Bigger was sad and as he looked at his dead crops, he got
angry. He shook his fist at the sky and shouted “what did I do to deserve this?”
 ERROL WALTON BARROW
Errol Walton Barrow was born in the parish of St. Lucy on January 21, 1920.
In December, 1939 he won a scholarship to Codrington College but he decided
to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) instead. He was a pilot in World War II and
flew the plane for the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. After leaving
the RAF he studied law and economics.

He returned to Barbados in 1950 and began to practise as a lawyer and

became a member of the Barbados Labour Party in 1951. That year he won a
seat in Parliament representing St. George. He was not re-elected in 1956.
Errol Walton Barrow was one of the founding members of the Democratic
Labour Party. He became our first Prime Minister after leading the country into
independence on November 30, 1966.

Errol Walton Barrow was a visionary leader because he had a dream of what
Barbados should be like. He wanted the best for average Barbadians who were
very poor. During his time as leader he was able to develop many initiatives.
These ideas included:

 expanded free education by building new schools

 the establishment of the School Meals Service to provide free meals for
all children at primary school
 the improvement of the health care system
 the introduction of the National Insurance and Security Scheme
 the expansion of industrial development and the tourist industry

The Democratic Labour Party lost power in 1976. In 1986, at the age of 66 he
once more became Prime Minister of Barbados. Sadly, after just one year in
office, he died on June 1, 1987. As requested, instead of being buried, he was
cremated and his ashes were scattered across the Caribbean Sea.

His birthday was made a national holiday and every year on that date,
Barbadians remember his contribution to the birth and development of the
nation. He is fondly called “Dipper” or “Skipper” by thousands of Barbadians
who also honour his memory by having his picture on the Barbados $50 note
and is one of our national heroes. There is also a division of the University of
the West Indies called the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination as well
as a section of the ABC Highway named in his honour.
 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He
was the grandson of the Rev. A. D. Williams who was the pastor of Ebenezer
Baptist church and a founder of Atlanta's NAACP chapter.

Since Martin Luther King, Jr. was a black American, he could not go to the
same schools as white children. Black Americans also had to use separate
restrooms, restaurants, theatres, and swimming pools in some states. This
was called segregation. Jim Crow laws legalised it in southern states so that
people who did it could not be arrested. White people formed these laws
because they thought they were better than black people. This is called
prejudice. Prejudice led to discrimination, which is treating people of a
particular group badly.

Martin Luther King was greatly influenced by the teachings of Indian leader,
Mohandas Gandhi. He became the leader of the civil rights movement in the
United States and advocated nonviolent protest against segregation and racial
discrimination.

In 1963, Dr. King led a quarter million people in a march to Washington, D.C.
While there, he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He said, 'I have a
dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.'
His efforts helped bring about new laws to create equal rights for all Americans.
In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4,

1968. He gave his life for the cause he embraced. He left his wife and four
young children to carry on without him.

At his funeral, mourners linked hands and sang, “We shall overcome”. Over
100,000 people observed the funeral procession as his body moved from the
Ebenezer Baptist Church to Morehouse College.

In the lifetime of Martin Luther King Jr., black men had to address white boys
as “sir”. They had to sit in the back of the bus. They could not go into stores,
schools that were for whites. Now, because of the work Martin Luther King Jr
did in his short life, a black man has been able to sit in the White House.
 HOW THE ETHIOPIAN MAN TAMED HIS WIFE

Once there was a man who was greatly troubled by his wife. She seemed to no
longer love him. She neglected him and seemed to care little whether he was
happy or sad. So the man took his trouble to the local medicine man. He told
him his story, full of pity for himself and his sad plight. ‘’Can you give me a
charm to make her love me again?’’ he asked anxiously.

The medicine man looked thoughtful. ‘’Does she mistreat you in any way?’’ he
asked the man. The man replied that she hadn’t.

The medicine man thought for a moment and then gave his answer. ‘’I will
help you, but first you must bring to me three separate hairs from the mane of
a living lion. These I must have before I can make a charm for you.”

The man thanked him and went away. As he came near to his home, he sat on
a rock and began to think. ‘’How will I ever get this done. Surely it is
impossible. Then he thought about the lion that sometimes came near to his
village. ‘’But he is fierce and roars fearfully,’’ he thought. Then he thought
again, and at last he knew what to he had to do.

Rising early the next morning, he took a young lamb from his pen and went to
the place where he often saw the lion. At last he saw the lion approaching.
Quickly he arose and, leaving the lamb in the path of the lion, he went home.

And so it was that every day, early in the morning, the man would take a young
and tender lamb to the lion. Soon the lion came to know the man, for he was
always in the same place at the same time. He knew that the man would leave
a nice meal for his pleasure. He was indeed a kind and attentive man.

It was not long before the lion began to wag his tail when he saw the man. He
would let the man stroke his head and ride on his back. And each day, the
man would stay quietly stroking the lion’s head gently and lovingly. Then one
day, when he knew that the lion trusted him, he carefully plucked three hairs
from his mane, and happily set out for the medicine man’s dwelling.

‘’See, he said triumphantly,’’ as he entered the hut. ‘’Here you are!’’ And he
gave him the hairs from the lion’s mane.

‘’How is it that you have been so clever?’’ he asked in amazement. And so the
man told him the story of how he had patiently succeeded in winning the hairs
from the lion. A smile spread over the face of the medicine man and, leaning
forward, he said, ‘’You have tamed the lion, now go tame your wife.’’
 THE BLACK PEARL

Near the mouth of the cave the water was very clear. I picked up my basket
and sink stone, took a deep breath, and slipped over the side of the canoe,
remembering all that the old man had taught me.

I reached the bottom after about a fathom and a half. I looped my foot in the
rope tied to the sink stone and waited until the bubbles that had risen behind
me had disappeared and I could find the bed of shells I had noticed from
above. Tiny fish swam nearby, their scales shimmering like diamonds in the
afternoon sunlight. The bed was five steps away towards the mouth of the
cave. I walked carefully in the sands as I had learned to do.

The shells were the largest I had ever seen. They were half the length of my
arm and thick through as my body and covered with seaweed that looked like a
woman’s hair. I chose the nearest one, which seemed to be easier to get at
than the others. I took out my knife and worked quietly, but the school of
small fish kept swimming in front of my eyes, so I failed to pry the shell loose
before my lungs began to hurt and I had to go up.

Scott O’Dell
 SHARI-ANN MAKES A JUG

Last week we visited Fairfield Pottery and watched as the various products
were being made. We met Shari-Ann who was a very skilful sculptor and
potter.
She began by taking a lump of hard, red clay that came from St. Andrew.
She added water and slowly began to knead it. Ater many minutes it became
soft like the play-doh I had in primary school.
Then she took it to the potter’s wheel. It was a flat plate on a stand that
would spin around and around when it was turned on. I was amazed at the
way a simple movement of her hand could make the clay narrow or wide, tall or
short.
As I looked at her face, I could see the joy she felt as she brought her
idea to life. At one point she pushed the clay down and started again. When it
was all done a beautiful water jug stood before me. It was like a round ball
with a long, graceful neck that ended in a flat spout. To that water jug she
attached a handle that had been moulded to look like rope.
It was beautiful just as it was but she still was not finished. She painted
it white and added pale, pink flowers with bright green leaves. After that she
painted the rope yellow. Then I saw her cover the entire jug with something
white so that the flowers all disappeared. This made no sense to me until she
said it was the glaze. It would dry to a clear shine and the flowers would be
visible once more.
Finally, she put it into something that looked like a big oven. It was
called a kiln. It baked the jug so that it became much stronger and it dried to
glaze to a high gloss. I heard them say it was called firing the pottery. It took
time, effort and care but all the potter’s hard work had paid off.
 MY BEST FRIEND
My best friend is Pierre. He moved in next door about five years ago. At first
he seemed very strange. His skin was bright pink, not dark brown like mine.
My hair was black and tightly curled while his was straight and blonde. He
talked in a funny way too. My mother said he had a French accent. She said
he had come to Barbados from Canada when his father got a new job at one of
our banks. His mother had died the year before, when he was just nine years
old. That had been a sad time for him and he still missed her a lot. I could not
ever imagine having to leave Barbados.

For the first two days I watched him as he played outside by himself. I was
afraid to go to speak with him. On the third day I saw him come outside with
his father. They put up a basketball hoop at the side of their house and played
together for a while. Then his father went inside and he continued to play by
himself. I really wanted to go over to his house because I really liked
basketball. I decided to be brave and told my mother that I was going to meet
my new neighbour.

He looked at me as I came closer. It was not a friendly look, nor was it an

unfriendly look. It was only a curious look. I went to the gate and said hello.
He came and opened the gate and asked me if I wanted to play with him. We
were friends since that day.

I got to realise that you should not judge people by how they look or how they
speak or even where they are from. When it comes to what really matters we
are more alike than we are different. That day I found out we had a lot in
common. We were both born in March and were the same height, even though
he was one year younger than I was. He had no brothers or sisters, just like
me. We both liked chips and chicken but he liked to put vinegar and salt on
his while I liked ketchup. When he came to my school the next week, it was
not so hard for him because I helped him find his classes and introduced him
to my friends at Lunch time.

Over the years we have grown quite a bit. We now go to different schools but
we still meet after school to shoot baskets or stay indoors to play our favourite
video game – Pubg. Pierre is kind and forgiving and we have stayed friends
even though we disagree all the time, especially about sports and music. He
listens to hip hop but I really like alternative. Pierre wants to be an accountant
like his father but I want to be a chef, because I really like to cook new things.
We have promised each other that even when we are grown and move away
from home, we will still stay in touch. We have promised to be best friends
forever.

LIGHTNING BOLT

I have never met Usain Bolt but I admire him for his talent and willingness to
work hard to reach his goals. Many people believe that he is the fastest human
being who has ever lived. His surname, or last name, is very fitting of the
world's fastest man because the word "bolt" is often associated with lightning,
which is a symbol for speed.

Usain Bolt was born August 21, 1986 in Sherwood Content, a small town in
Jamaica. His full name is Usain St. Leo Bolt. He grew up with his parents, who
ran a local grocery store, and brother and sister. As a child, Usain enjoyed
playing sports such as cricket and football. He had a love for cricket and spent
much time playing the game. He calls cricket his first love.

This wonderful athlete stands 6 feet and 5 inches tall. His smooth dark skin
and close-cropped, wiry hair show he is of African descent. Even though his is
slim, his strong muscles can be seen.

Bolt entered his first competition in 2001, where, at the age of 14, he won the
high school championship and took the silver medal in the 200-meter race.
This was just the start of many wins for Bolt. At 15, he went to the 2003 World
Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. He won the 200-meter race and
became the youngest junior gold medalist. He was given the nickname
"Lightning Bolt" and has lived up to that name.

Usain Bolt has eight gold medals as a reigning champion at the 2008, 2012
and 2016 Summer Olympics. He is also an eleven-time World Champion. Bolt
was the first athlete to win three titles in both the 100 meters and 200 meters
at the World Championship competition, until his relay team was stripped of
their medals. He is referred to as the greatest sprinter of all time and often
called the world's fastest man. His fastest run on record is 9.58 seconds in the
100 meters. No one has yet to beat this record.

Usain Bolt decided to retire after the 2017 World Championships. He has
devoted his time to many projects such as the Usain Bolt Foundation. The
Foundation is "dedicated to the legacy for happy children; to enhance the
character of children through educational and cultural development, as they
live their dreams."

Awesome! Usain Bolt has so many amazing accomplishments!

 BARBADOS’ GOLDEN JUBILEE

Barbados marked its golden jubilee of independence on November 30, 2016.

To commemorate this important occasion, a monument was erected at the
Garrison Savannah. This is the same place where, fifty years ago, the flag of
Barbados was raised for the very first time.

Heavy rains and severe flooding meant that the monument had to be revealed a
day later than planned, but many patriotic Barbadians still came to be a part
of this historic event.

Several dignitaries attended the ceremony, including His Royal Highness Prince
Henry of Wales, Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave, Prime Minister Freundel
Stuart, Chief Justice, Sir Marston Gibson, National Hero, the Right Excellent
Sir Garfield Sobers, Rhianna, President of Guyana, David Granger, members of
Cabinet, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mia Mottley. Many religious leaders
also offered prayers for the continued success of the nation.

During the near one-hour ceremony, Sir Garfield Sobers, Firhaana Bulbulia
and Ricardo Reid went up the walkway to place the time capsule, which will be
opened in 2066. Prime Minister Stuart fitted the Commemorative Broken
Trident, which will be on permanent display at the monument; and Prince
Henry placed the gnomon into the sundial.

The monument was designed by a 23-year old student named Taisha

Carrington. She was the only female finalist among those who entered the
competition to create a monument to mark fifty years of independence. She
was also the youngest.
 WILDEST STORMS

The year 2017 was a record-breaking hurricane season. Hurricanes Harvey,

Irma, Maria and Nate were all exceptional. Hurricane Harvey dumped the most
rain and led to the most expensive damages, Irma was the strongest hurricane,
Maria was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the island of Dominica and
Hurricane Nate became the fastest-moving tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, scientists warn that worse is yet to come because of global warming.
Global warming is caused by increasing amounts of gases in the air that trap
the heat from the sun. These gases are produced by factories and cars as they
burn fossil fuels like oil and coal. The situation is made worse when trees are
cut down that would be able to absorb those gases from the air.

Higher temperatures will cause more hurricanes to form that will probably be
stronger than usual. Also, warmer air can hold more water which means
increased levels of rainfall from hurricanes. Lastly, rising sea levels from
melting ice caps mean that storm surges will be higher and reach further
inland. Unless much more is done to reduce global warming, we can expect the
coming years to have hurricanes that beat the records set that year.
 WHEN THE EARTH SHAKES

Earthquakes are the shaking and moving of the ground when energy is
released in waves. These waves are called seismic waves. These waves are
similar to ocean waves, which move through water. Seismic waves, however,
move through the ground.

Most earthquakes are caused by the movement of large sections of the Earth’s
crust, called plates. The place where two plates meet is called a fault. Faults
look like large cracks in the ground. If the two plates move in different
directions, they build up energy at the fault line. When enough energy builds
up, the stress on the fault becomes too great and it ruptures. This releases the
energy and the ground starts to shake.

Earthquakes can also be caused by other natural events, such as landslides

and volcanoes. Manmade earthquakes happen because of nuclear testing and
mining explosions.

The first movement of an earthquake, called the main shock, is often followed
by smaller ground trembles, called aftershocks. These aftershocks are the
plates settling into their new position. Aftershocks can continue for days after
the main shock.

There are an estimated 500,000 earthquakes around the world each year. Most
are so mild they are only recorded on scientific instruments. Only about
100,000 can be felt by humans. Of these, only about 19 a year cause major
damage.

Major earthquakes in populated areas can cause huge destruction. Buildings

collapse, roads and bridges buckle and crack, and electrical and gas lines
break and cause fires. If the earthquake happens in the ocean, it makes a
series of huge ocean waves called a tsunami. The tsunami travels until it finally
reaches land, where it causes large flooding.

Scientists are searching for ways to predict earthquakes. They study the
historical patterns of earthquakes and monitor the movement of the plates with
seismic equipment. While they cannot predict an exact date of a future
earthquake, they have a better understanding of when earthquakes are more
likely to happen.
 GLOBAL WARMING
Do you know what the weather will be tomorrow? A weather report can tell you.
But what will the weather be like in ten years? Or 20 years? Or 100 years? No
one knows for sure. But some scientists say the outlook isn't good.

Those scientists say the summers will be hotter. They say that warmer, wetter
winters are on the way. Severe droughts, floods, wildfires, and storms are also
possible.

What's the cause of all those wacky weather changes? Experts say that
humans are. Some weather changes are due to global warming. Global
warming happens when gases in the air trap the sun's energy. That energy
heats Earth. Without the gases, the energy would escape into space.

Some global warming is good. Without it, Earth would be too cold to live on.
For years, though, humans have created lots of air pollution. The pollution
traps more of the sun's heat. In turn, Earth has grown warmer, experts say.
This could lead to bad weather.

There are some signs of global warming. One of the signs is happening in the
coldest parts of the world. Near the North and South poles, vast ice sheets are
breaking up.

Earth's glaciers (GLAY-shers) are also melting. A glacier is a huge mass of ice
that slowly moves. Experts say some glaciers may vanish by the year 2100. As
the ice melts, ocean levels rise. Experts say that levels have risen 4 to 10
inches in the past 100 years. Levels could rise 3 feet in the next 100 years!

High ocean levels might lead to floods along coastal areas. Some coastal areas
might disappear under water. That change might also bring more storms.
Hurricanes are storms that create high wind and rainfall. They are strongest
over water. Higher sea levels might lead to stronger hurricanes.

In some areas, though, global warming might lead to drier weather. Dry
weather often leads to droughts. A drought is a long period of very dry weather.
If experts are right, global warming could cause less rain to fall which n the
Midwest. This would be hard on plant life and people.

Scientists say that cutting down on air pollution will slow global warming. One
way to lower air pollution is to drive less. Cars cause a lot of pollution. People
also need to find cleaner ways to make electricity. Experts aren't sure how
global warming will change the weather. But they agree that something must
be done to stop global warming. The life of future generations depends on it.