Child labor is a widespread and persistent global concern and waste picking is one of the most hazardous and worst forms of child labor; as the children are exploited in the most unhygienic conditions. Child waste workers are exposed to numerous health problems and various accidental risks such as being injured by glass and sharp objects; contaminated needles; being run over by waste vehicles; fires; explosions and also death. In addition, most of them are affected by some sort of physical violence, which include beating, physical torture and punishment. Along with these, they lack basic education and vocational training opportunities. This deprivation prevents children to develop their development and therefore it is hard to uplift oneself out of poverty.
Every child has the right to a childhood and access to basic education. Waste picker children have neither time for attending school nor time for playing games and have fun. They must work hard all day long. But the main questions are: who is responsible for them? And how to help them be free from this horrible life?
I think everybody who sees children in the streets collecting garbage is responsible. It is important to promote ethics and create a sense of responsibility in all members of society to be able to take effective steps in this regard. Waste picking violates human dignity. It is a kind of modern slavery and must be stopped.

I was in a hotel near the beach in Kish island. I like walking along the beach but I couldn’t because it was hot and humid. At night it was a bit cool, so I decided  to walk. While I was walking , a tall girl came and started a conversation with me.

The girl: Hello, Can you speak English?

Me: Hi, Yes, I can.

The girl:  I was looking for someone to speak with. It’s nice to see you.

Me: It’s my pleasure to meet you. Where are you from?

The girl: India. It sounds you are from Iran. Aren’t you?

Me: Yes, I am Iranian. I’m Saba by the way.

The girl: My name is Mina.

Me: Nice name. It is a name for girls in Iran, too.

The girl: It means myna (a kind of bird) in Indian language.

Me: Why did you plan to visit Kish Island?

The girl: I’m going to visit my brother in Dubai.

Me: Are you going there alone?

The girl: No, I’m with my family.

Me: It’s 2:30, I should get up early in the morning, I’d better go to bed.

The girl: Ok. It’s really nice to talk to you. Good night.

Me: Good night.

The next morning, I saw Mina again. I said good morning to her and smile but, she didn’t reply back.

Me: You don’t remember me!

The girl: I don’t know you.

Me: You were looking for someone to speak with, and started to talk with me.

The girl: I’ve never talked to you before.

Me: Why pretend you don’t know me?

The girl: I’ve never seen you before, why can’t you believe?

Me: Do you think I’m a stupid? Go to your brother in Dubai.

The girl: What?! Dubai! How do you know I’m going to my brother in Dubai?

Me: I’m a fortuneteller.

The girl: Kidding?

Me: No, I’m serious.

At that moment, a girl just like Mina came.

Mina: Good morning, Saba! This is my twin sister Sita.

Me: Goodness!...you are twins.

Sita: You talked with my twin sister last night! I’m really sorry for my behavior.

Me: No problem. I’m sorry for my rude words, too. Let’s take a selfie.

Mina & Sita: Good idea! Let’s take a selfie.

Ten years later, Mr. Fox increased his wealth four times as he had before. The sixty-year- old rich man married a beautiful girl of 23. They lived in the villa with the best furniture and facilities.

His driver was Daisy’s cousin. He said that Mr. Fox was alcoholic and very bad tempered and his children didn’t like him at all.

One night, Mr. Fox’s son phoned his father’s driver and asked him to take his father to a hospital because he was in critical condition. Daisy’s cousin went to the villa immediately; he found Mr. Fox was lying on the bed holding a bed sheet on his neck. He removed the sheet; there was a cut on his neck which was bleeding. His pulse was weak. The driver took him to a hospital.

The next day, all local newspapers headlines were “The famous millionaire was killed by his young wife”.
One newspaper in an interview with the killer wrote: “That night my husband had some guests, after dinner, he talked about some estate sales with his guests but they failed to reach an agreement, then he drove them back home. When he came back home, he sat on a sofa drinking alcohol. His eyes were red as blood. He wanted to hit me, I took a knife from the kitchen and defend myself and I didn’t know how I hit him on the neck.

But some people said that Mr. Fox’s son was addicted to drugs, he needed money but his father avoided giving him money. He deceived his father’s wife. He had told her to kill his father when he was asleep, then they divided his wealth between them and he would never tell anybody about that.

Although Mr. Fox was a bad man, Daisy and Rose felt sorry for him.

Daisy and Rose are two sisters. When they were teenagers, they went to their aunt’s house every weekend. It was in a beautiful village in a mountainous area. They had good times there; they went to the mountains with their cousins, they enjoy watching the cattle grazing and the fresh smell of mountain flowers.

In the mountain, there was a small cave that the children liked it more than other things. There was a large farm on the mountain slopes where a villa was being built.
The villa belonged to a rich man who had not a good background. His name was Mr. Fox. He had spent four years in prison for a bank robbery. Furthermore, his wife had been separated from him due to his bad behavior.

When the villa was completed, Mr. Fox had his workers fence around his farm including the cave. He didn’t allow anyone to enter the cave. He had stolen the cave, too.

The two sisters couldn’t go to their favorite place anymore, and for this they hated the villa and its owner. They wished the villa bring bad luck for Mr. Fox.
To be continued……

Islam and Muslim have the same letter root (s,l,m) in Arabic. Islam means “submission to the truth” and Muslim means “one who submits to the truth”. The best definition for both words are mentioned in Quran.

Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 83

Al-Qur'an Grammar     

أَفَغَيْرَ دِينِ اللَّهِ يَبْغُونَ وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ         

Malik     :               Are they looking for a religion other than the Deen (religion and Way of Life) of Allah knowing well that everything in the heavens and in the earth, willingly or unwillingly, has submitted to Him? And to Him they shall all return.

In this verse, the holy Quran explains the broad meaning of Islam and says:

Everything in the heavens and in the earth is Muslim, meaning that everything submits to Him, but some groups willingly submit to the laws of God and some others unwillingly submit to Him.

Note that God has two kinds of commandments; one kind is natural and supernatural laws that control the whole universe with all creatures in it... all creatures have to obey them, if they disobey them, they will be destroyed. This is one kind of submission to God’s commands. Therefore, the sunlight that shines on the sea, water vapor that rises from the sea, the clouds that come together, the rain drops that fall from the sky, the trees that grow and the flowers that bloom,…. all of them are Muslims, because each submit to the creation laws.

But, there is another kind of God’s commands that submission to them is optional, and only true believers willingly submit to them. Of course, disobeying them lead to destruction, too.

From what was said, it is concluded that “ everything” in the sentence “everything in the heavens and in the earth”, refers to both groups, those who willingly submit to God (they are true believers) and those who unwillingly submit to God ( they are unwise creatures and disbelievers).

Reference: The interpretation of Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 83, by Sayed Saeed Hosseini

http://quransara.mihanblog.com/post/category/3/page/2

He has to go to a secret island. He doesn’t know anything about the island. A man said to him that he knew everything about that mysterious island, he said: “There isn’t any water or food there, and you can’t find any shelter. There aren’t any medical facilities and first aid, so it is necessary for you to buy a big backpack and all required thins before going on this trip”.

But another man said: “I know the secret island very well, there isn’t any shortage of water, food, housing, medical care in the island, there are plenty of them”.

“It’s waste of money, time and energy to take them with you” he said. “ You can go there without any backpack or something  backpacks or anything.”

He was confused. He couldn’t trust any either of them!

He thought logically and made a wise decision.

Six months ago, when it was early winter, he began to write a story. He worked on his story day and night. Whenever, he was tired he drank a cup of coffee with milk to reduce fatigue and boost energy.

Sometimes, he was so immersed thinking of his book that he forgot to do things right....One day he forgot to add black pepper and salt in food :( another time, he bought chocolate mousse instead of orange mousse :( and once he couldn’t remember where he had left his glasses :(  He couldn’t see anything like a blind person, while looking for some water to drink, he bumped his head into the refrigerator, and when he opened the fridge, he found his glasses there :)

After that, he decided to get a good balance between his work and life……he only wrote at nights, then he could focus better on writing in the darkness rather than in the brightness.

Winter was over, the snow melted and turned into mud. He had written half of his story book, but still working hard on it. At last in summer he finished his book .

Nice and Simple as an Iranian Lady

Yesterday, I went to a park to walk and enjoy the fresh smell of spring. It was a sunny day. A man was sitting on a bench, he was reading a newspaper. A little boy was sitting beside him, then a woman came with three ice-creams in her hands. She sat on the bench beside the little boy and gave him an ice-cream. The woman gave the man an ice-cream, too. They were a family.

Sizda Bedar is an Iranian festival, held annually on the thirteenth day of Nowruz, Iranian New year. People leave houses to join nature, and spend the day outdoors. It is an ancient ceremony and a public holiday.

Today, (the thirteenth in outdoors), I woke up and felt my eyes were very itchy, because I’m allergic to spring……I went to a Day-night pharmacy to buy eye drops, there were two girls working in the pharmacy, one of them was working with a laptop, she was crying quietly!

I asked another girl “why is your colleague crying?!”
“ all families are going on picnics and enjoy but we have to stay here and work till night” She answered.

Tina came back home from school, the lunch didn't taste nice, so she ate a bit and went to her room to study for her exam.

In the evening, she was very hungry but the dinner was too unsavory for her to eat, she ate some junk food instead.

She became ill and couldn't take her exam.

It was raining heavily and she was in a hurry to go to college. She fell down near the college and got wet from head to toe. She came back home angrily and didn't attend her class that day.

What do you think is the best section in EC that has made your English learning improved? Why?

The answer to this question depends on the learner’s purpose, interest and level of English. I joined EC in order to improve my English especially speaking skill. At first, I didn’t know much about all sections, and just visited forum section. I read discussions and comments and enjoyed. It was interesting to me.

Then I decided to start a discussion, after I started my first discussion, some EC members replied to me immediately and encouraged me to put more discussions.

Forum section is more helpful for beginners, because they are not good at paragraph writing and it’s easier for them to put a discussion than posting a blog, but every learner that likes to improve in English, s/he must write more, for this purpose, blog section is the best.

If you would be isolated in an island with 3 EC members, Who would these 3 members be? Why them?

My answer:

The first one would be Mr. Josef. As we know, he is a VIP, the founder of EC, the most famous website for learners of English, so when he is absent in his work, English learners from all over the world try their best to find him, soon they learn that he isn't in any country and must be in an island, after they find him, I can be rescued from that island, too. :D

The second person would be Setareh, she speaks English and Persian very well, and whenever I have problem in communicating with my companions, she can help me :D

My third choice, would be Coral. AS we know, she lives in the sea and have good information about marine; therefore, if a ship is coming close to that island, she can inform us so that we can ask for help from the ship :D

I Know myself well. Whenever I decide to do something for new year I’m not strong-willed enough to obtain my goals. At first, I try hard to pursue my goals but soon I got bored and lost my interest.

I haven’t chosen any goal for the new year yet, but I hope to have will-power to reach my goals. The most important thing in obtaining goals is will-power.

English language has very wide vocabulary; there is almost an equivalent for each word, so it is hard to make a new word in English.
I made the words “co-brother-in-law” and “co-sister-in-law” for men married sisters and women married brothers respectively, but when I searched online dictionaries, I found that these words have already been invented in English, of course they are uncommon in English and just used in South India.

Terrible Night

She was asleep, she opened her eyes and saw a man, the man calmly passed her and went into another room, she was so scared, but went into that room...,the window was open, and the curtains were moving with the wind, it was a thief.

Dear Lady Iran,

You are the kindest hostess for me

I like to be your guest forever

I like all the foods you make for me

They are the most delicious food for me

Your food tastes love and smells kindness

I like to live in your house forever

Your house is not modern, but for me It’s the most comfortable house

Stay happy for me, Lady!

Always smile, I smile too

Whatever happens to you, I am with you, never leave you alone

Without you all beauties are ugly

Without you birds don’t sing and all springs are winter

I like to be your guest forever, lady!

Love you
Saba

Page 100 from my Biography

A Terrible Accident

Saba was working on the farm, a trailer was passing on the road, it was loaded bags of chemical fertilizer, the road was winding near the river, and when the driver was turning the wind, the trailer was overturned.

Saba and some villagers were watching that horrible scene, the front of the trailer was on fire, and if the fire came the back of the vehicle where the fuel tank was, the trailer would explode.

No one would dare come close to a vehicle which might explode at any moment.
The trailer driver pulled his hand out of the window and cried for help!
Saba couldn’t stand watching a man burning alive, she went to the trailer quickly and tried to open the door, but the door was stuck and she couldn’t open it.
The driver looked at Saba and begged for help impotently.

“ Don’t worry, I do my best to save you” Saba said.
She came back to the field and took a shovel, this time the villagers went with her too, they broke the door and took the driver out of the trailer.

The driver was so glad, he gave all the fertilizer bags to Saba, she took a quarter of the bags for herself and gave three- quarters of rest to villagers.

A few days ago, I went to my friend’s house, it was windy and the wind had brought a baby dove into my friend’s yard, there wasn’t any bird’s nest in the yard, so we couldn’t put the chick back to his mother. We noticed ants attaching him, my friend said if we left him here, the ants ate him alive, she gently dusted the ants off and asked me if I could accept to look after the chick or not because she had to go to work. “ I like to look after a baby bird but I don’t know how?” I answered.

“ Make a thin mixture with baby cereal and water then feed him with a dropper.” She said.
I fed the baby dove this way, he opened his beak and swallow the mixture.

Next day, I was very glad when I saw that he was alive, but his crop was so big and I thought perhaps the mixture was bad for him, therefore, I decided to make a proper food for him, I searched internet and found an article about nursing and feeding baby doves, it said that food for baby birds should not be watery, it should be like dough, then I thickened the mixture and made a sticky dough and fed the chick with hand, but the next morning, I noticed he was dead. I opened his beak and looked at it carefully. There was some dough in the bottom of the bird’s tongue, the poor baby dove couldn’t swallow dough.

I was sad and angry, every time that I went to the room where I kept the bird, I missed him.
I was curious to find out what was wrong, I searched the net again and found some articles. They all said” Baby doves need very thin food, about the consistency of skimmed milk and this should be gradually thickened over the first 10 days.”

This experience taught me that I must not trust the first article that I found on internet, I should search a lot and study many articles.

Some Questions about Blogging

I like to ask my EC members some questions about blogging, there is no need to reply to all the questions, just one answer or your comment on the blog is sufficient. Your answers are appreciated.

1. How many blogs did you post during June?

2. Can you guess that who will win Blogathon?

3. What do you think about this: A person who is not interested in

blogging in her/his mother tongue, she/he can’t blog in English?

4. What is your recommendation for an untalented blogger?

5. How much English level is needed for English blogging?

6. Which of the following factors are more important in blogging?

a. interest   b. writing talent   c. English level  d. free time