The woman who flew
By Rannia Shehrish
Following the recent celebrations of Mother's Day, Father's Day and Donald Duck Day, we came across Amelia Earhart Day, celebrated on July 24th.
Amelia was the first woman pilot to fly across the Atlantic and had set many aviation records. This pioneer of aviation was born in July 24th 1897, in Kansas, USA. At the age of 10, she saw her first plane at a State Fair and was unimpressed by its rusty outlook. Her interest in aviation aroused during a stunt flying exhibition which later grew into determination when she got the opportunity to fly with pilot Frank Hawks. Afterwards she joined a military hospital in Canada, working as a nurse's aide during WWI and later became a social worker at the Denison House, Boston. She began taking her first flying lessons and in 6months time saved enough and bought a Kinner Airstar her first own plane.
While she was working at Denison House, the proposal of being part of the transatlantic flight came. Together with 2 others, she successfully crossed the Atlantic on June 17, 1928. Five years later on May 20, 1932, she crossed the Atlantic yet again, but this time alone. President Herbert Hoover presented Earhart with a gold medal from the National Geographic Society, her courage and navigation skills were highly acclaimed by Vice President Charles Curtis and the Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross the first ever given to a woman for this remarkable flight.
Near her 40th birthday she had her mind set on her final challenge circumnavigating the Earth. On June 1st 1937, she and her navigator Fred Noonan set off on this quest. By June 29th, they had covered all but 7000miles of their 29000-mile journey. However, on their way to Howard Island they faced unfavorable weather conditions. She disappeared on July 2nd while flying over the Pacific.
In 1938, a lighthouse was constructed on Howard Island in her memory. There are streets, school and airports named after her across USA. Her birthplace has been turned into a virtual shrine to her memory. Every year, Amelia Earhart awards and scholarships are given out.
Amelia Earhart Day is a reminder of her bravery and impacts on the society. She showcased courage not only by daring to carry out transatlantic and circumnavigating flights, but also by taking the risk and breaking free of the conservative early 20th century society, despite the prejudicial and financial obstacles. In the process of fulfilling her dreams, she began altering the male-dominant society and confirmed a place in history. She helped women step out of the traditional lifestyles and move forward. Therefore on every July 24th we celebrate Amelia Earhart, an embodiment of bravery and equality, and an inspiration to achieve the endless possibilities.
The great escape
Cockroaches and their man-gods and a hundred likes
By Bushra Ahmed
I didn't know what to do. I was blinded by the flash of white at first. As my eyes adjusted to the light I found myself staring at the thing I feared most. It was enormous....and ugly. I looked up to this gruesome creature that didn't happen to notice me at first. It turned on The Great Fall, from which water flowed swiftly into the bowl like structure. I should be running towards the nearest shelter, but instead I found myself staring at this creature. I found it amusing. This god like thing was capable of doing anything. And there wasn't only one, there were many indeed. And most of them were cruel. They would often kill our kind and many of the others as well. Very few were actually kind, they would let us go, sparing us our lives. We would call them The Kind Ones. My mother would often tell me their stories. She wouldn't let me go out at first. But as years have passed, I've learnt to take care of myself. Today I was sent to this world outside, the Elders wanted to test my survival skills. So here I was, staring at this magnificent (also ugly) creature. I tried to remember its name. Too bad my brain wasn't working now. Shit, the beast saw me. Within a few seconds the face became plain white. And immediately after, it turned red. I've always admired how these beasts could change colours. The beast lifted it's one feet, advancing it towards me, and I knew I was dead, for sure. I made it to the corner of the gigantic hall I was standing in, but the feet were too fast for me.
BAM! It landed down hard just a few millimetres behind me. I desperately looked for an escape route, but found none. I heard someone calling my name. BAM! Another foot went down. I didn't know what to do. I was trying so hard. Another BAM! This time the beast didn't miss the target. I fell under its feet. I thought I was dead. But I wasn't. I could still move. But I couldn't. One single move and I would be dead for sure. So instead I lay there, curling my feet up and pretending to be dead. The beast bent down to get a good look at me. Then it went away, calling out to something, probably another beast. This is my chance, I thought. I sprang up to my feet, and ran as fast as I could towards the small black hole that led to my house. As I rushed in, I could hear the cheer my fellow cockroaches were making. So I made it. Whoa! It was so amazing. One of the Elders stepped in front of me, and said, 'Son, today you've shown great tactics and courage. You will obviously live up to be a strong one. We are proud of you. You fooled that Human so well. Congratulations.' Humans. That's what they are called, I remembered.
The human being was typing away fast on its laptop, the blue colour from the screen illuminating his face, 'This is so crazy. I swore I killed a cockroach today in the bathroom. But when I came back, it was gone. So weird.' He pressed the 'post' button. Immediately likes and comments were blowing up his notifications box. "Crazy," he muttered. "All these days I've posted so many statuses about intellectual stuff, and people seem to like the one with the cockroach? What the hell is wrong with this generation?"
Neeva's Life
By Neeha Noireeta Hossain
There was once a poor street girl. She was very lonely, her father and mother died when she was three years old. She lived in the street in front of a house. One day a woman who longed for a child saw the poor street girl, she was very sad to see such a small girl crying. As soon as she saw this, she went to the girl and asked what “is your name?” The girl said “I don't know what my name is. My father and mother died when I was very small.” The woman felt sorry for her. She took her to her home and gave her a name Neeva.
When the woman's husband saw Neeva, he got very angry and dragged Neeva out of the house. The woman started crying. The man was kind but he was scared whose child this was. Then the woman told everything to her husband. He understood everything and allowed Neeva in his house. Neeva gave a smile to the woman. The woman bought good clothes for Neeva. Neeva was very happy to study in a school for the first time.
One day Neeva, the woman and her husband, they all went to the market. When they went to the market Neeva saw a lovely garden and left the woman's hand and went to the garden. It was so beautiful that she forgot where her home was.
The woman and her husband searched for her, but did not find her. They sadly went to their home. Poor Neeva started crying. She again started living in the street. There was a child named Mala. She saw her everyday in the street. She wanted to help her and went to her and asked what her name was? Neeva said, “My name is Neeva” and told everything to Mala. Mala thought she could help her. Her mother and father were also kind when Mala said everything to her parents. They keep Neeva in their home. Neeva told them as much as she knew about the woman and her husband. Neeva started to go to the school with Mala. They became good friends.
One day she was going to the school, she saw the woman and cried out "mother". From that day Neeva got a new mother and father. Neeva started living happily with her family.
8 yrs old, Class II, SFX Greenherald Int'l School
A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party.
Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice.
After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, "What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you're out of the office?"
"I give it to them," replied the lawyer, "and then I send them a bill."
The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try.
The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared the bills.
When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.
