Fragments of session 7 - Cuenca Hot issues in the news Teacher   (back to top) Students The guerrila "Las FARC" Kindapped a Commercial plane in Colombia a week ago. They abducted a senator; and The Colombia's president, Andres Pastrana, decided to cancel the Peace dialogues with the guerrilla. This can cause a terrible war. As you know, Colombia is next to Ecuador; and this war will affect our country. We really regret that Colombia's problem is destroying that beautiful country. Children lose their families and have to emigrate to other countries. Fernanda and Paola (back to top) Some days ago there was an airplane accident in the frontier of our country, in which many Ecuadorian people died. The airline, TAME, is Ecuadorian. This accident was very painful for all Ecuadorians, and mainly for their families. The causes of the accident are still unknown. The government offered a mass in honor of all the dead people.We believe that experts should study the causes of the accident to give clear explanations to their families. Maria Jose and Daniela (back to top) We want to tell you about the presidency elections. They are going to take place in a year, but during these days we meet the candidates. We can also see that the political parties are being formed and people are getting informed from now and on to choose their candidate. One of them who has announced his candidancy is Rodrigo Borja. He was already our president from 1988 to 1992; and he wants to try again. Another future candidate is Leon Roldos Aguilera. He once was vice-president of Ecuador from 1981 to 1984; but now he wants to be president. We think that this is very important because during the past years there haven't been good presidents. It's very hard to make this decision because ecuadorian people don't trust on the candidates because of our past problems with corrupt presidents like Jamil and Abdala. Monica and Paola (back to top) A few days ago the Guerrilla FARC arrieved to Bogota (the Capital of Colombia), They interrupted traffic. Recently Arequipa (city in Colombia)has suffered an attack of the FARC(guerrilla) in which a lot of peopledied. The president of Colombia Andres Pastrana wants to combat this Guerrilla. In our opinion the President of Colombia should talk with the people of the guerrilla, because the people in Colombia are suffering very much... Rosa and Carolina (back to top) We're going to tell you something about the plane that crashed into the 15,721 fl. high in the Cumbal volcano near to Colombia border. On February 28, the airline "TAME" took off from Quito - Ecuador to Cali -Colombia, but it lost radio contact in an Ecuadorian town called Tulcan , near the Colombian border. No survivors have been found in the accident. There were 83 passengers and nine crew members. At least 43 passengers were Colombian but the nationalities of the other passsengers were unknown. Soldiers and farmers walked 5 hours to reach the crash site. They said that the fog was so thick and the rescuers had trouble seeing one another. Shards of metal, burned money and small pieces of clothes were found by Colombian troops. Maria Agusta and maris (back to top) Over the past weeks, it has rained a lot in Bolivia, so many places were flooded. February 2002 was the wettest month in Bolivia. A lot of people died because the rivers in Bolivia have reached critical hight. We think that human beings can`t do anything against this type of natural disasters. Julie and Isabel (back to top) We are very happy to tell you something that will change the face of Ecuador. On Tuesday 26, in Guayaquil, near to Cuenca (3 hours by car) the project called "Malecón 2000"has been terminated (...)It's turning into the most complete and modern center of urban recreation of the country. With multiple green areas of entertainment and commercial service, it's receiving a significant number of visitors everyday (...) we think that we have to say thanks to all the people that daily worked building it to hand us this unique place in Ecuador. Cristina and Johanna. (back to top) In this sesion I am writting to tell you about the poornutrition in Ecuador. One of the effects of poornutrition is anaemia. People with anaemia do not have enough red cells in their blood. In Ecuador, a lot of children suffer from anaemia. For example, 69% of children between six and twelve months of age and 46% of children between a year and two of age suffer from anaemia. Women and men, especially in rural areas, also suffer from anaemia. For example, 60% of pregnant women suffer from anaemia. Another effect of poornutrition is poor physical development.For example, 40% of children under 5 years of age do not have enough vitamins, proteins and minerals. As a result, these children do not develop normally. Sometimes they do not grow very tall. Sometimes their legs and arms do not grow correctly. Sometimes they do not de delop mentally. In Ecuador, a lot of people do not eat well because of poverty or lack of knowledge. A lot of people do not know the type of food they should eat and the correct amounts.   Vero and Naty (back to top) Secondly, In our country we have some problems as: Class interruptions because of the strikes. In our school we have to recuperate the lost classes that were interrupted. Now we start classes at 7h00 o'clock and we finish them at 13h30. We study 9 hours daily. It is very hard, uncomfortable and tired for us. This problem will go on for two months. Jannie and Carol (back to top) In Cuenca there was a terrible bus accident and a 23 years old girl is at the hospital. The doctors said that she will never be able to walk again. Isn`t it terrible? Priscila used to be a student in our school. Cris and Carol (back to top)