The most basic obligation we have to our veterans is that we keep the promises that were made to them. That is what makes the recent failures of the Veterans Administration so shameful.
quote by Doc Hastings
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Failures
When failures come, oh, do not fret;
For failures, you must not regret;
Through failures, one can turn perfect,
As failure isn’t a great defect!
Each failure gives us chance again;
Through failures, we have much to gain;
So, failures are a boon, not bane;
Yes, failures make a man much sane!
All cannot win in life always;
Set-backs do come to us some days;
With failures, one makes strong a base;
Our failures bestow bolder face!
With failures come, added wisdom;
’Tis hard to hold a large kingdom;
Failures in life are much welcome,
As successes will always come.
Failures help us to love God more;
Failures are winning signs in core;
Failures can open newer door;
Failures can take us to the fore!
Which man on earth had always won?
With rain, there comes a brighter sun;
With failures, one can have much fun;
Failures aid us to faster run!
Failures can help us fare better;
Failures aren’t man’s strongest fetter;
Failures are just a trend-setter;
Failures make us a win-getter!
By failures, one can stop awhile;
Through failures, you run longer mile;
Failures do not remain life’s bile;
Failures help us finish in style!
Failures help us see truth again;
Failures remove the pride and feign;
Failures help us take newer lane;
Failures help us win in the main!
Through failures, we begin again,
And success smiles, easing out pain!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 4-17-2010
poem by John Celes
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We Can Create A Modern International Community
And I wonder when Congress will allow public nationwide schools...
in the United States to set aside time for children again to pray?
To pray for, or quietly reflect on behalf of, their once great Nation!
To pray for their nation during this proclaimed danger time...
of struggle against the forces of evil dark international terrorism!
But in the White House lurks a dark soul of 100% fetus murder!
Barack against murder international terrorism with Pro-Abortion Record!
Like Pharaoh in the time of the birth of Moses, like King Harold at the birth of Jesus, killing innocent children based on state law is ok in America today!
Why? How can this be? On 9th of March 2008 Barack proclaimed “We were once were, we are no longer a Christian nation, at least not just....”
No Ten Commandments, No God’s law displayed in government buildings!
15th April 2009 Barack proclaimed “We can create a modern international community that is respectful that is secure that is prosperous....
(in an aside to himself) and like Baal Worshippers we will support propagate
State Policies funding killing innocent children against the will of the majority of Americans and I Barack will use tax payer dollars to kill innocent unborn! We will fill White House high office with Pro Abortion all! Yes We Can!
Darth Vader will create a universal New World Order!
And in the on going baby killing sweepstakes infant killer Obama selects: -
Pro-Abortion Sen. Joe Biden as Obama’s vice-presidential running mate. Pro-Abortion Rep. Rahm Emanuel as Obama’s White House Chief of Staff.
Pro-Abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary.
Former NARAL legal director Dawn Johnsen to serve as a member of Obama’s Department of Justice Review Team. Next appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel.
Betta check Obama’s rap sheet Pro-Abortion Record, for the rest of his all star elite baby killing machine selections.
'President Barack Obama's Pro-Abortion Record: A Pro-Life Compilation
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) - The following is a compilation of bill signings, speeches, appointments and other actions that President Barack Obama has engaged in that have promoted abortion before and during his presidency. While Obama has promised to reduce abortions and some of his supporters believe that will happen, this long list proves his only agenda is promoting more abortions.
During the presidential election, Obama selected pro-abortion Sen. Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.
Post-Election / Pre-Inauguration
November 5,2008 - Obama selects pro-abortion Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel has a 0% pro-life voting record according to National Right to Life.
November 19,2008 - Obama picks pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as his Health and Human Services Secretary. Daschle has a long pro-abortion voting record according to National Right to Life.
November 20,2008 - Obama chooses former NARAL legal director Dawn Johnsen to serve as a member of his Department of Justice Review Team. Later, he finalizes her appointment as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration.
November 24,2008 - Obama appoints Ellen Moran, the former director of the pro-abortion group Emily's List as his White House communications director. Emily's List only supports candidates who favored taxpayer funded abortions and opposed a partial-birth abortion ban.
November 24,2008 - Obama puts former Emily's List board member Melody Barnes in place as his director of the Domestic Policy Council.
November 30,2008 - Obama named pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State. Clinton has an unblemished pro-abortion voting record and has supported making unlimited abortions an international right.
December 10,2008 - Obama selects pro-abortion former Clinton administration official Jeanne Lambrew to become the deputy director of the White House Office of Health Reform. Planned Parenthood is 'excited' about the selection.
[...] Read more
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Promises
Remember how it used to be,
Remember how you promised me,
That life would always be good,
You forget the fact you lied to me,
You locked my heart and threw the key,
I'm so misunderstood,
What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,
Remember how I gave my heart,
And all at once we fell apart,
Was I supposed to forgive you,
You forgot the fact you said to me,
That we were for eternity,
You're so easy to see through,
What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,
Remember that I'm over you,
And know that I will make it through,
Hope you never forget it,
The promises you made to me,
Were really lies and fantasy,
Hope you come to regret it,
What to say when all the tears have dried,
Promises, promises,
What to think when all our love has died,
Promises, promises,
The promises we used to keep have gone,
And with them all the words,
That kept us both from seeing what was wrong,
The rest is silent, What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,
What to say when all the tears have dried,
Promises, promises,
What to think when all our love has died,
Promises, promises.
song performed by Kylie Minogue
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Dont Break The Promises
You know I cannot always be there with you
When something crazy takes me far away
We must stick together through this madness
Ive got so many things I want to say
Too many forces try to come between us
So little time to share and talk to you
If I show my hand to you in panic
Please remember what Im going through
Ive loved you forever
But it seems like a day
And I want to be there with you
I didnt want it this way
Dont think I dont trust in you
I just needed to say
Dont break the promises
That we made today, oh no
Dont break the promises
Do you remember counting every moment
Before the world we knew was torn apart
Now when I close my eyes I can be with you
But are we really dancing in the dark
A bad connection leads us to confusion
Were all too easily misunderstood
Oh weve been together through these nightmares
And now weve got a chance to make it good
Ive loved you forever
But it seems like a day
And I want to be there with you
I didnt want it this way
Dont think I dont trust in you
I just needed to say
Dont break the promises
That we made today, oh no
Dont break the promises
That we made today
Dont you break the promises
(dont break the promises, promises)
If you do youll be breaking my heart
(dont break the promises that you made)
Oh dont forget the things we said
(promises, promises)
At the start oh no
Ive loved you forever
But it seems like a day
And I want to be there with you
I didnt want it this way
Dont think I dont trust in you
I just needed to say
Dont break the promises
That we made today, oh no
[...] Read more
song performed by 10 Cc
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Promised You A Miracle
Promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises promises
As golden days break wondering
Chance as love takes a train
Summer breeze and brilliant light
One love she sees
He controls on love
Love sails to a new life
Promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises promises
As golden days break wondering
Only love she sees
He controls on love
Life mirrors a cure
Everything is possible
With promises
Everything is possible
Oh no
I promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises promises
As golden days break wondering
Chance reflects on them a while
Love screams so quietly
Slipping back on golden times
Breathing with sweet memories
Promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises promises
As golden days break wondering
Only love she sees
He controls on love
Life mirrors a cure
Everything is possible in the game of life
Everything is possible
Oh no
Chance lost pearls of great price
Take care of family
Only aches for love
Love waits for fame
In chance in chance theyll see
I promised you a miracle
Belief is a beauty thing
Promises promises
As golden days break wondering
Only love she sees
He controls on love
Life throws a cure
[...] Read more
song performed by Simple Minds
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Too Much In-The-Love
A position of proposition kept.
Researched...
With a common sense,
Not academic!
I am not someone to invite to test.
But I've never met an obstacle...
That has of yet,
Made me unhappy because we've met.
'Cause I'm...
Too much in-the-love!
Yes,
I'm...
Just too basic.
I studied all the books in school.
And as a rule I found this true...
I am,
Too much in-the-love!
Yes!
And...
Just too basic.
My Masters and my Doctorate,
I got early in life.
And the military taught me...
To be,
Decisive!
A position of proposition kept.
Researched...
With a common sense,
Not academic!
'Cause I'm...
Too much in-the-love!
Yes,
In-the-LOVE!
And...
Just 'too' basic.
My 'degree' is in my 'own' history!
And my proposition spoken,
Is in my position...
Stated!
Too much in-the-love!
Yes,
In-the-LOVE!
[...] Read more
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Veterans
When the last charge sounds
And the battle thunders o'er the plain,
Thunders o'er the trenches where the red streams flow,
Will it not be well with us,
Veterans, veterans,
If, beneath your torn old flag, we burst upon the foe?
When the last post sounds
And the night is on the battle-field,
Night and rest at last from all the tumult of our wars,
Will it not be well with us,
Veterans, veterans,
If, with duty done like yours, we lie beneath the stars?
When the great réveillé sounds
For the terrible last Sabbath,
All the legions of the dead shall hear the trumpet ring!
Will it not be well with us,
Veterans, veterans,
If, beneath your torn old flag, we rise to meet our King?
poem by Alfred Noyes
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Soboba
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[...] Read more
poem by Rwetewrt Erwtwer
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Promises Made
(mark paul/john duarte)
You said goodbye
And broke this heart inside of me
Teardrops fell
Like hours to eternity
The room was silent
As some forgotten melody
Your words of steel
Still echo in my memory
Promises made, promises broken
Promises made, promises broken
I thought we had a chance
To really make it last
Now the future looks to me
Like some unwelcome guest
Ill be alright
As soon as I get over you
But this time it wont be
Such an easy thing to do
Promises made are
Promises broken
Caught up in the sorrow
Tangled in dreams
In the lonely hours
Of silent screams
In the heart of the darkness
I break down
I feel the spirit of you
All around
Promises made are
Promises broken
Promises made are
Promises broken
song performed by Tiffany
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Thank You For The Promises
Thank you for the promises we make
I know I cant complain
I think I did all right
No failures are in sight
Only now and then
Id like to reminisce
Do you remember when
Even if were angels we cant ask
To wander through the past
The future is our goal
The night is black as coal
If I could pay the price
Id like to love you once
Id love to love you twice
Thanks
We cannot say enough
The road is sometimes rough
But we can get along
The going will get tough
But we wont be afraid
Of the promises we made
Thank you for the promises you keep
When I am fast asleep
To be where we belong
Is all that I can ask
We can do it in the shade
As long as I have you
And the promises we made
Thank you for the promises we break
If you made a clean mistake
Well thats what loves about
No need to stand and shout
The truth is in your eyes
The answer lies within
No need to criticize
Thanks
For the promises at hand
The abuse that we must stand
Is often heaven sent
They may not pay the rent
You never can be sure
When promises get bent
Thank you for the promises that live
This is all that I can give
Forever in my mind
To leave the past behind
And seal it with a kiss
Forever in my soul
I will remember this
song performed by Gordon Lightfoot
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Hard Promises To Keep
(kimmie rhodes)
Im trying to believe in forever
Im trying to believe in the little jewel box life we lead
Babe, I get so close sometimes
But all I really know is
I believe that weve been making hard promises to keep
You want me to believe in forever
Do you know how tight Im holding
Just to keep my grip on yesterday?
Im trying hard to see the pretty pictures that you paint for me
Do you know how tight Im holding to hard promises to keep
Promises are like little diamonds
Promises are like little hearts
We meant to give away
I thought youd want them back someday
Ive kept them for you anyway
But I know when Ive been given hard promises to keep
Promises are like little diamonds
Promises are like little hearts
We meant to give away
I thought youd want them back someday
Ive kept them for you anyway
But I know when Ive been given hard promises to keep
And I know that Ive been given hard promises to keep
song performed by Trisha Yearwood
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Veterinary Camps
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poem by Caasder Fronds
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Independence and Reconciliation Celebration
It began with heartbreaking remembrance,
the acrid smell of canon fire still in the air
after half a century, the exhausted climb
up Cemetery Hill still felt in their muscles—
They had returned, veterans from both sides,
North and South, to re-enact their movements
on the last of those bloody three days
of the Battle of Gettysburg.
In the final Southern charge of the war~
12,500 Confederate soldiers led by
General George Pickett went straight up
that hill and into the line of fire by Union
troops waiting behind a stone wall.
Pickett lost half his men.
Of the 160,000 Americans
on both sides,51,000 or more
died in those three days
of the Battle of Gettysburg
in our Civil War.
On July 3,1913, the 50th anniversary of Pickett's Charge,
50,000 surviving veterans traveled to the same place
in Pennsylvania,
the youngest among them at 61 and the eldest purported to be 112.
The commemoration ended
with Confederate veterans
walking the path they'd taken
up Cemetery Hill to the stone wall
where Union veterans were waiting
to shake their hands and embrace them.
In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt
met with nearly 2,000 still living veterans
for the battle's 75th anniversary.
Their average age was 94.
The President dedicated
the Eternal Light Peace Memorial
to commemorate that most truly civil reunion
and reconciliation embrace of 1913.
Today its flame can be seen
from a distance of twenty miles.
On the front of the memorial
are words carved in stone~
[...] Read more
poem by Alla Renee Bozarth
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Who is obligated?
Obligated to take care,
Obligated to spare,
Obligated to be awake,
Obligated to sacrifice,
Obligated to worry,
Obligated to keep smile,
Obligated for life,
Obligated for the name,
Obligated for giving birth,
Obligated for the initial,
Obligated with responsibilities.
What obligation do they have,
When they disown them?
What obligation do they have,
when they abandon them?
What obligation do they have,
when they torture them?
What obligation do they have,
when they walk over them?
What obligation do human have,
when they are alone?
poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi
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The Impact Of Poverty On Education
THE IMPACT OF POVERTY ON EDUCATION.
INTRODUCTION
There are so many different tools that have been thought relevant in people’s developmental projects both at individual and societal levels. Education is one of such practical tools. Importantly to note, there are also various meanings that denote the broad term ‘education’. In this essay, however, we are mainly interested in defining formal education since our discussion will dwell much on it. According to Nwomonoh (1998) , formal education is the process of gaining knowledge, attitudes, information and skills during the course of life especially at school.
Though education is said to be so instrumental in human development but also in the revamping of world economies, it is very unfortunate that education systems, world wide, are being held to ransom all because of poverty at both governmental and household levels. According to Thibault (2009) , poverty means the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include lack of access to opportunities like education and employment which aid the escape of poverty.
Problems in our society are interconnected in one way or the other, just like poverty and personal family problems affect a student’s capability to learn. Improving education entails improving the living conditions of students. Having in mind that education is basically responsible for the development of many countries including Malawi, as the back ground suggests, we cannot afford to bypass such a vital element without a mention. Considering also the fact that poverty is one of the forces that come in the way; blocking the success of education, we feel it rational to look at how the two realities, education and poverty, affect each other both positively and negatively. That is also why we are convinced that this topic is worth studying. Our awareness of this source, poverty, and its impact on education will enable us devise some proper measures of intervention with the hope of minimizing the negative impact of poverty on education. This point, in short, explains the purpose of our investigation and why we are so passionate in getting into this research. During the whole discussion we are being guided by two questions thus, ‘does poverty really affect education? And if it does, what points do we have on the positive and negative impacts of poverty on education? ’
METHODOLOGY
The study was basically qualitative in approach because of the nature of the issue that was being addressed. This was the case because the issue of how poverty affects education, both positively and negatively is particularly very difficult to predict the conclusions without penetrating into the core of the issue. For instance, one may unreasonably rush into concluding that poverty affects education negatively only and we cannot even dare to speak of poverty affecting education positively. The study was conducted in three schools namely; Mulunguzi, Masongola and Chirunga Private Secondary schools in Zomba district between 24th April and 3rd May. In this research we used both government and private funded schools to have a more balanced result on how poverty affects formal education in these different institutions. The information required for the study was collected through group interviews of form three students and individual interviews with teachers using semi-structured interview schedules. We opted to use these interviews in the first place because we felt books are more theoretical whereas a field research is practical and it involves real life experiences. Nevertheless, we still used desk research as a supplementary source of information and for clarity in some areas.
RESULTS
Positive impacts of poverty on education
To begin with, poverty encourages one to get educated and of course work hard in class. This is because the problems faced due to poverty are very serious and therefore students who are from poverty stricken families strive to end the problems and one of the best solutions is through education. That is to say, if a person, for instance, due to poverty, is taking just a meal in a day instead of three meals, and again if he/she is sometimes sleeping on an empty stomach, he/she will resort to education bearing in mind that if he/she gets educated they will secure formal employment and eventually be able to make ends meet for themselves as well as fending for their families.
Not only does poverty encourage one to get educated, but also it helped in the introduction of free primary education. In Malawi, for instance, when Bakili Muluzi became president, he introduced free primary education and he had eliminated the requirements for school uniform forthwith (Kadzamira & Rose,2001) . This had increased the access to education dramatically as those pupils who were coming from less privileged families were also given access to this free primary education. It should also be noted that the free primary education system was not only implemented to fulfill an electoral pledge but also bearing in mind that some families were not able to send their children to school due to poverty. Free primary education was there to deal with illiteracy by reducing families’ direct costs of education. Again due to the influx in the number of pupils in primary schools; there was a lack of teachers. Sonani (2002) , testifies that the Ministry of Education re-employed all retired teachers below the age of 65. This also meant that the once retired teachers got back to their source of income which helped them support their families as well as hauling the economy of the country. The implementation of free primary education system in Malawi forced the government to provide infrastructures so as to accommodate the large number of pupils in these schools. Simply put, poverty had led to the introduction of free primary education which means that more children are going to school, and again more teachers are being trained and getting employed and finally the construction of school blocks culminating into infrastructural development, all these branching from poverty.
We may also look at poverty from a positive angle bearing in mind that when a country is poor more funds and donations come into it. These funds and donations are also given to the education sector to build new infrastructures and in the maintenance of already existing ones in the sector. These privileged countries also provide learning materials to schools that are poor as a result students in these less privileged schools perform well in accordance with the amount and quality of the learning materials that they have been provided with. For instance, a United States based non governmental organization known as “Water for People” handed over 44 water toilets they built to Chimwankhunda primary school. The school toilet facilities had been vandalized 11 years ago but because of poverty the school could not renovate them (Gausi,2007) .
In addition, these funds and donations help more people to get educated. This is so because people can use funds as school fees, pocket money and buy stationery. The donations may include library books, chairs and writing materials. These can make a conducive environment for one to learn since there will be enough facilities at the school. For instance, with funding from the “United States Agency for International Development” (USAID) ,3,300 needy Malawian primary school girls are being funded. They are being provided with food, clothing, school supplies and hygienic products like soap and body lotion (Muhaliwa,2005) . Likewise,500 pupils at Katoto primary school in Mzuzu no longer sit on the floors during lessons courtesy of Southern Bottlers Limited and Lions Club of Limbe. Before these funds and donations, pupils used to sit on the floor due to scarcity of desks. These donations improved the pupils’ school attendance in such a way that pupils have started going to school regularly.
In the same line, a needy student can be given a scholarship to go further with his/her education. In this case the scholarship is given to the person just because he/she cannot manage to pay school fees on her own. This in turn benefits the needy person and the community at large. In this situation poverty has assisted in the development of education in an area by beckoning funds and donations from rich countries and organisations.
Further more; in most cases poverty facilitates one’s ambitions to attain formal education. It becomes easier for a poor child to put much of his concentration on education as compared to a rich child. This is because a poverty stricken student will have less destructive materials for entertainment. He/she will also have less or no money to indulge him/herself in activities that require spending a lot of money for instance, drinking beer. Sometimes even if the child can find money he/she can buy basic needs and not just spending it anyhow. Contrast to this a rich child may obtain things like ipods, mp3s, games for entertainment. These things in most cases destruct the concentration of students in their studies. As a result, one’s class performance is negatively affected since most of his/her time is being spent on entertainment.
Negative impacts of poverty on education
Just as a coin has got two sides, a head and a tail, poverty also, apart from having positive impacts on education, it does have negative impacts on the same. We have talked much about the positive face of poverty on education. We shall surely do ourselves injustice if we do not look at the negative part. In spite of the fact that poverty has an impact on education that is worth complimenting, we cannot afford in this discussion to overlook the point that so many students have been forced to leave the corridors of learning institutions due to the same poverty. One of the reasons that force some students leave the learning institutions prematurely is pregnancy, which in most cases, come because of poverty. It is almost common knowledge that a good number of students who come from poor families wish they could be sailing in the same boat with those who come from well to do families as far as luxurious life is concerned. The poor students constantly feel that there is something missing at the core psychologically. With this feeling in their minds, they tend to regard themselves as incomplete and not accepted socially. Consequently, they envy the rich students and squarely want to posses the things that are associated with the rich students. Very unfortunate that the poor students’ parents cannot afford to fulfill their children’s desires like what the rich parents would provide. Because the pull towards recognition is too strong for the poor students to resist, they end up in indulging themselves into prostitution in their search for money. Pity indeed that instead of recreating, as anticipated, their promiscuous behavior sees most of them getting pregnant and for some very unfortunate ones get even HIV and other STIs. From this discussion, commonsense convinces us that this school dropp out due to pregnancy is one of the negative impacts of poverty on education.
Adding more flesh to this discussion, we can also appreciate that hunger has been so instrumental in bringing down the standards of education world wide, in general, and Malawi, in particular. Frankly speaking, there are very few students if not none, who concentrate on their studies on empty stomachs. Food is one of the basic needs that every person is obliged to have if he/she is to survive. It is not surprising, therefore, to see some students performing miserably in class simply because they have not taken enough food or they have taken none altogether. The question of hunger finds its way into the education system because the government has failed to provide adequate food in most of its boarding schools. This is poverty at governmental level. There are also some students who are not boarders but still endure the hostile reality of hunger right in their homes. This is due to poverty at household level. It is sad that poverty, both at governmental and household level, has helped in engineering the deteriorating of education standards in Malawi.
Bearing in mind that it is only the eagle that can tell us the real whisper of a cloud, we visited Masongola Secondary school with the hope of getting first hand information from the students and their teachers since they are the ones who mostly benefit or get destructed by poverty. The Masongola secondary school students and their teacher, Mr. Enock Abraham, testified to us during an interview that government’s inability to provide extra food, apart from the usual beans that the institution offers, has seen many students developing ulcers. It would sound bizarre to reason that one can attend classes whilst he/she is on a hospital bed battling with ulcers. The Masongola students further testified that most poor students who have ulcers just bow down out of the race of learning because they cannot afford to buy extra food whenever the institution is serving the students beans.
This pitiful development goes beyond the boundaries of Masongola secondary school. Mulunguzi secondary school as Mr……the head teacher at the institution testifies, has not been spared from the scourge of school dropp outs simply because the school has not been able to provide extra or adequate food to students who cannot take what their friends take on health grounds. Needless to say this leaves the education standards in Malawi vacillating. It is a pity that though we have wrestled with this question of poverty a dozen times, we have not been successful in the battle. At one point in time, the government attempted to minimize the chances of school dropout in primary schools through its provision of porridge to pupils in the junior section. This attempt was in itself a good gesture but the government has failed to implement the initiative further in other schools that up to now have not benefited from the program.
It may not sound an exaggeration if we may say poverty has also forced a good number of students to give up their hopes of getting educated simply because they find it so difficult traveling to and from their respective schools. Lack of transport means, in short, has pushed them well towards the blink of despair as far as attaining formal education is concerned. This point speaks for itself how poverty can sometimes work on the education’s disadvantage.
As we go further with this discussion, we also appreciate the fact that the problem that mostly hinders a student’s success is inadequate resources that include; few teachers and learning materials. It must be highlighted that these problems are not only in developing countries but they may also find their way in reasonably developed countries like South Africa. In a developing country like Malawi, the education system encounters these problems because of the government’s failure to look into problems of infrastructure, capacity and availability of teaching and learning materials (Nkawike,2005) . The Muluzi government did a little if any; in as far as infrastructure is concerned. Lack of school blocks facilitated by a large number of pupils due to the introduction of the free primary education in 1994, forced pupils to have lessons under trees. In 2003, for example, lack of school blocks resulted in a tragedy at Nkomachi in Lilongwe when a tree fell onto an outdoor class, resulting in injury and deaths of pupils (Mvula & Chanika,2004) . This problem of learning materials continues till date, in all levels of the education system. According to Abraham (2009) , the school has always had shortage of learning blocks to an extent that the Physical Science and Biology laboratories are used as classrooms. There is also great shortage of books in all departments, and some departments like the technical department needs new equipment and current books which are very expensive. With this unfortunate situation we cannot anticipate good performance from Masongola secondary school.
In order to deal with these issues, the Muluzi government thought it wise to disregard the provision of learning materials in schools. Instead the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) pass mark was reduced to ensure the success of students in their examinations. Even the director of Basic Education, Nelson Kaperemera admitted that funds intended for learning materials were servicing the debts of government at the expense of improving quality education. Instead of reducing the pass mark, the government and other stake holders should strive to improve quality of education, improve teacher salaries, and provide adequate materials and train teachers properly (Malawi News,2006) .
In developing countries like Malawi, the schools are understaffed (teaching personnel) and they tend to be handling a large number of students for long hours. Furthermore, the teachers are subjected to meager salaries, which are even made late. The government does not seem to have the welfare of teachers at heart, for instance the education Manager for Phalombe, Enoch Ali says the district is facing a dire shortage of teachers, a situation that is contributing to low education standards. The teacher pupil ratio in Phalombe is 1: 120, whilst the recommended ratio is 1: 60 (The Nation,2006) . Due to low pay teachers resort to organizing part time classes, which demand an extra amount of money on top of the normal fees. These changes clearly affect those students who come from very poor families, as they do not receive adequate studies because of lack of money.
This does not only occur in secondary schools, but it also happens in universities. As the academic staff of the Universities go on strike because of the government’s reluctance to increase their salaries. One considers how this is supposed to retain staff in the University. As a result lecturers spend more time doing consultancies; instead of preparing lectures and doing University mandated research. If we are serious about fighting poverty, formal education is the hub of ideas to fight these problems by improving its standards (Kapasula,2008) .
Child labour is one of the major problems that contribute to school dropp out. The majority of child labour victims are children who are living in poverty. This is so because they lack basic needs, for this reason they are forced even against their will to do any kind of work in order to gain financial wealth. This, therefore, affects school attendance. Evidence of school dropp out due to child labour is found in central region where most children are being employed in estates. This region has high tobacco production. Since this crop demands a lot of work, children are at high demand because they do not claim high wages compared to adults. Research, therefore, showed that the percentage of children attending schools is lower compared to that of northern and southern region (Nyirongo,2004) . We have the case of two brothers aged between 12 and 15 who were forced to work at a tobacco farm at Mpherembe in Kasungu district, where they were receiving 150 kwacha a day due to poverty (Namangale,2005) . We can see that child labour has a great impact on education because through it, a lot of children are being deprived of their right to education as they spend most of their time working.
In addition to that, Chirwa (2003) found out that child labour is also taking place in people’s houses. In this case children are forced to dropp out of school either by parents or on their own, to work in neighbouring homes. Here one of the victims is a 12 year old girl Elizabeth Chalimba, who left school when she was in standard six to work as a nanny in order to support her siblings. Children from low income families are at risk because though school is their only hope for a better future, they dropp out because their parents are failing to provide them with basic needs. Apart from child labour, psychological problems due to poverty is also another cause of school dropp outs. Research shows that the impact of poverty is greater on children as opposed to adults. Firstly, the problem arises due to the environment in which these children are raised. These environments being impoverished, they are intellectually unstimulating, and lack of stimulation results in impaired intellectual development of a child. This in turn contributes to failure in class which can later on lead to school dropp out.
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poem by Innocent Masina Nkhonyo
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Promises
Here by my side
Are you close enough to take me to your paradise
Or am I going down to my loneliness
Could you be loving me more or less
Do you know
Are you ready for the feeling
Can you learn to grow
Out in a world of fears we , were hanging on
We come together , we find , the sun
You all over me , all over
Youre the light
I am the love dont let me die away
I am forever we are born to make
Promises to be there
Promises to be there
Life, where the few may not ever find a heaven
I could be with you
Out in a world where nights they dont ever end
We got each other my love , my life, my friend
You all over me , all over
Youre the light
I am the love dont let me die away
I am forever we are born to make
Promises to love me
Promises to love me
Out in a world where nights they dont ever end
We got each other my love, my life, my friend
You all over me , all over
Youre the light
I am the love dont let me die away
We are forever we are born to make
Promises to be there
Promises to be there
I am the love dont let me die away
I am forever we are born to make
Promises to be there
Promises to be there
song performed by Bee Gees
Added by Lucian Velea
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Pandoras Box
If I had known of what would come
I might have walked outta here a lot less harmed
But Im no lady of the glass
And I cant foretell what will pass
And I went with my defenses down
As your love sent me spinning spinning round
Oh you took me to the very top
And then I took a bad (and) long long drop
Oh promises are made to be broken
Thats all I ever learned from loving you
And oh when you opened up your love to me
You opened up pandoras box
Oh promises are made to bend and stretch oh
And end up being really worthless
And oh when I opened up the door to you
I opened up pandoras box
Just one look and I knew you knew
I was all hung up hung up on loving you
I just put all my trust in love
And I placed a big old bet on lady love
I was sentenced to loving you
And Im serving time in solitude
Yeah I gave ya everything that I got
And you took it all and walked right off
Oh promises are made to be broken
Thats all I ever learned from loving you
And oh when you opened up your love to me
You opened up pandoras box
Oh promises are made to bend and stretch oh
And end up being really worthless
And oh when I opened up the door to you
I opened up pandoras box
Just one look and I knew you knew
I was all hung up hung up on loving you
I just put all my trust in love
And I placed a big old bet on lady love
Oh promises are made to be broken
Thats all I ever learned from loving you
And oh when you opened up your love to me
You opened up pandoras box
Oh promises are made to bend and stretch oh
And end up being really worthless
And oh when I opened up the door to you
I opened up pandoras box
Oh promises are made to be broken
Thats all I ever learned from loving you
And oh when you opened up your love to me
You opened up pandoras box
Oh promises are made to bend and stretch oh
And en up being really worthless
song performed by Donna Summer
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Future Is Promises
I saw him today at the station
There was something on his mind
I felt I was on the devils mission
Trying to steal him from a friend
I know it hurts you
And you cant ask why
I know it hurts you
Takes a train to cry
Your only future is promises
For so many years
Your only future is promises
I know you can make it if you try
Youve been living life in the past
Im gonna reach out Im gonna grab your heart
Youve been living life in the eyes of a stranger
Youve gotta free your mind
Cause I want to get nearer
Your only future is promises
For so many years
Your only future is promises
I know you can make it if you try
Take the chance and make the move
But dont think that I will approve
For once Ive finally realised
Being with her wasted your life
Your only future is promises
For so many years
Your only future is promises
I know you can make it if you try
Your only future is promises
For so many years
Your only future is promises
song performed by Texas
Added by Lucian Velea
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Promises
Promises are comfort to a fool.
And I'm that fool.
In our many years of existence we have all had the leading role of being that fool.
Onto promises.......
I have numerous Oscar's for I know I play that role oh so well.
I wondered why do I fall victim to this.
The purpose of a promise was never to break it
BUT.....
If it is broken it becomes a lie.
I wondered why do I fall victim to promises.
It is maybe because I'm a Promise Keeper.
I am an addict for promises.
I could never stay away from it.
Never stop believe in it.
A promise is equivalent to 'say what you mean' and 'mean what you say'.
So when a promise is made to me it is align with the saying,
'It's like taking candy from a baby'.
Not naive for I know never to believe in Promises.
Optimistic, maybe.
I always believe in promises.
WHY? ?
Because when I make them I do my best to keep them no matter the circumstances.
Promises are my Opium.
But I must say most of the promises made to me were kept.
But as for now, , , I'm getting the bad side effects.
poem by Anita Khelawan
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Trust In God
God in His Word is so clear; so why do will fill our hearts with fear?
Moving our thoughts into tomorrow; what may bring pain or sorrow,
While thinking about what may be, focusing on what we cannot see;
God is clear, we must understand, and live this present day at hand.
So much time in worry we spend, about what you can’t know friend,
Instead, to God’s Word we must go, to lean on Truths that we know,
To visit promises from The Lord, promises that at times go ignored,
God’s Promises that will uphold us, when in God, we place our trust.
For today can be a struggle in itself, so we rely on Scriptural Wealth,
A wealth of promises, to all of us, those who belong to Christ Jesus,
Who’s surely a promise keeping God, this I say with an assuring nod,
All the promises that He must keep, are promises, which we can reap.
Through God’s Word, we can learn, God takes care of every concern,
And The Lord is faithful to uphold, the many promises that we’re told,
Providing strength, so we can face, all of the trials, all along our race,
In the present race that we call life, strengthened through Jesus Christ.
The Lord promises us His Peace, which from Christ, shall never cease,
With God’s peace and God’s care, just why would we fall into despair?
This is caused through worry in part, as our thoughts from God depart,
So why not depart from anxiety, to simply trust in The God of Eternity.
poem by Bob Gotti
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