PTW: February 2016

PTW HEALTH|EDUCATION|WORLD|CHARITY

Volunteer Edition

VOLUME 4 EDITION 1

February 2016

CONTENTS Scroll through and read the magazine, or click the article you wish to read.

Fight or flight Editorial

February Edition

Writer’s Profile

Helping Health Globally

For all animals alike

contact@projectthirdworld.org

Fight or Flight

EDITORIAL

'Stress. No one wants it, and yet it is a natural biological occurrence of many life forms. It is impossible to remove all stress from our lives and so we have to learn to handle it. Biologically, stress is defined in two categories: eustress, which is helpful and prepares us to meet certain challenges; and distress, which is harmful to the body'.

Any stimulus that produces a stress response is a ‘stressor’.

Stressors range from simple disturbances in temperature such as hot or cold water, to environmental poisons and toxins, viral and bacterial infections, heavy bleeding from wounds and even strong emotional reactions.

The human body has incredible ways of regulating everything from temperature to hormone levels and even stress responses. This mechanism of regulating levels within our bodies is known as homeostasis. When it is working properly, the internal environment within our body remains within what is considered normal physiological limits.

CHIRAG LODHIA

Chief Editor and Founder

When the body is put under extreme stress, the mechanisms that control our homeostatic levels may not be enough to return the body to normal levels.

To tackle extreme stresses, our bodies exhibit a ‘stress response’ or ‘general adaptation syndrome’ which involves a sequence of changes in the body. One of these changes is known famously as “The Fight-or-Flight Response”.

Imagine walking from Project Third World’s Rescue Centre in Kenya towards the Kenyan savannah. After walking several-hundred kilometres, you reach the savannah, and come face-to-face with a lioness. In hindsight, you will probably question how you got yourself into this ridiculous situation. Nevertheless, at this point in time, face-to-face with the lion, with all the messages going from your eyes, ears and nose to your brain, your body will perceive itself to be in a state of extreme stress.

At this point, signals going from a part of your brain called the hypothalamus are sent to the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system (all big words). These signals gear your body into immediate physical activity.

It brings about mass quantities of glucose and oxygen to the organs of your body most active in warding off danger: • The brain, to make you highly alert • The skeletal muscles, used to potentially fight the lioness, or flee the lioness • The heart, which pumps increasingly harder to pump blood to these organs.

Several other body mechanisms are also affected, such as the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems of the body to prepare your body to make the fight of its life or run of its life.

Whilst this is a very extreme, hopefully rare and isolated scenario, the same processes and mentalities occur in other circumstances such as within society. Workplace psychologists and human relations officers reference the flight or fight response in relation to how people manage conflict.

In social contexts, flight is considered the avoidance or denial of a conflict or dispute whilst fight is considered competition and aggressive confrontation whereby one person uses power or authority over another.

Fight or Flight Response / Infographic

In Martial Arts, it is well known that masters of the art forms unconditionally enforce a flight approach to any aggressor that may present themselves. In such an arena as handto-hand combat, this would be a wise choice; avoiding a physical fight is the safest and most honourable approach.

This notion of flight becomes more complex when these same human responses are applied to the political arena. World governments, organisations or even social groups which have a ‘flight’ approach to global or even domestic issues tend to deny that there is a problem and ignore or withdraw from the problem. This typically results in a lose-lose outcome where no solution is achieved and both parties leave frustrated and distrustful of one another.

The Japanese whaling program gained global traction in 2013 through to 2015 for this approach, denying that there was an issue with their program despite global condemnation of Japanese whalers killing and profiting from endangered species of marine life.

Vladimir Putin and Barrack Obama have come head-to-head recently over the situation in Syria.

Barrack Obama failed at pursuing a United Nations intervention of Syria due to Putin’s executive use of veto power against this move, claiming that there is no ground or issues with the Assad Regime in Syria.

In both the activist and political scenarios, distrust with poor communications increased and rumours spread rather than facts.

Even during the Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organisation was criticised

for their lack of action during the initial outbreak, leading to a general distrust in the WHO’s ability to tackle global health crisis and led to a global call to review the role which the WHO has on global health.

Albert Einstein famously stated “the world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it”. Handling global conflicts through flight will ultimately let the issue grow or spread.

Then what about fight? Fight typically leads people to attack, blame or put-down of the opposition.

The situation usually escalates when handled in this manner. PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organisation has been the centre of controversy through their global campaign for animal ethics. In 2014, PETA were slammed by global medical and scientific groups for their false suggestion that autism is linked to the consumption of cow’s milk; a statement that was condemned for not having any truthful or viable evidence.

In their aggressive fight to tackle ethical treatment of animals, PETA shot themselves and their cause in the foot, leading many people to discredit any information they have since published, whilst also creating misleading distrust in animal milk and its impacts on human health.

The fight approach to global issues takes the most extreme stance when governments engage in war. We don’t need to look further than the World Wars and Civil Wars that have emerged in recent years to see the collateral damage that the ‘fight’ approach can have. Much like the dismissal of ‘flight’ approach, Einstein also dismisses the outright fight approach: “I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.”

It seems as though our natural response to stress through flight or fight, are not the best tools for managing conflicts.

There is however another: flow. Flow is equated to problem solving in addressing a conflict and involves discussion about the problem without insulting or blaming another, with both parties on the same page and admitting that there is a problem.

The two parties identify a problem involving one another, and think of ways to solve it and decide on the best options. This approach often requires objective thinking, detachment from emotion, listening and learning. The outcome of such an approach is most often win-win with some compromise.

Whilst these may all seem very obvious, it is seldom actioned. Perhaps the most fundamental component and realisation is that fight and flight are both natural biological responses to dealing with stress, and by extension conflict. Flow comes from rationale thinking and higher-thinking. It is not typically a natural response.

Herein lies a fundamental aspect to solving world issues: it requires humans to go beyond their natural tendencies and beyond their natural impulses.

Whilst ignoring an issue will achieve nothing and allow the issue to become worse, outright fight mentality can also make the situation worse. Once again from the great scientist and philosopher, “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.�

Whether it be animal rights and conservation, global peace and justice and more; a strong foundation of education, good health and experience will be required to tackle the issues our world faces along with a way of thinking beyond what comes natural to us. The natural tendencies and natural impulses of humanity have often led us into troubles. Now, it is important to realise this and change our way of living and thinking that has caused many world issues, and become something greater in order to solve them. â–

Helping Health Gl My name is Rebecca and I’ve been supporting PTW for nearly two years. My initial interest in PTW was towards the exercise classes held in Melbourne, Australia.

Rebecca Meldrum

lobally

from home

Once I learned of the shared values and vision between PTW and myself, I was eager to learn more and be involved. I continued participating in the exercise classes for some time, then offered my time to write for the PTW magazine as the Health Promotion editor. This experience allowed me to apply my research and writing skills, whilst adapting them for a different audience than what I was used to.

My most recent involvement in PTW is in the event planning, in particular events focusing on promoting physical health.

Health Promotion Editor

My interest in PTW is not surprising, as I currently work in health promotion. I have previously volunteered in community health, refugee health and women’s health.

This theme stems from my belief that it is important for each individual to have ownership over their health and be able to make informed decisions. So long as preventative diseases and health inequalities exist, so too will my drive to promote optimal health and wellbeing. â– Rebecca Meldrum

Writer’s Profile

Prashneel R. Go

Greetings readers, this is Prashneel R. Goundar. I am a citizen of the beautiful island; Fiji in the South Pacific. Presently, I am employed by the Fiji National University as a Lecturer in the School of Communication, Language & Literature and I teach the English Language courses to undergraduate degree students.

oundar

Prashneel Gundar Lecturer II School of Communication, Language & Literature College of Humanities & Education Fiji National University Lautoka Education Campus, Fiji

To date, I have taught English to over 19 different nationalities including students from France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Taiwan, Turkey, China, Italy just to name a few. I love travelling and have been to some of the most breathtaking places in Fiji. I have also been to New Zealand, China, South Korea and Hong Kong and plan to go to a few exotic places in time to come. This year I have been involved in a lot of writings and publications which has been done on a voluntary basis.

Some of the articles have been published in

Fiji, Australia and Tunisia. These have mostly been on social issues, academic journals (International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies) and global issues.

Further, the articles which received positive reviews include “Dying Alive”, “Out of Depression”, “Nation at Heart” and most recently “A Materialistic World”. The aim of these writings and to do this on a volunteer basis is to raise awareness on critical issues and how individuals can contribute in making their society a much better place for everyone.

I am planning on writing more on national and global issues but time can be a drawback as well. I am trying to keep focus on the topics which I select for writing and have mentors who are guiding me in accomplishing that.

I joined Project Third World as a Volunteer Writer because of my close friend Chirag Lodhia. In 2012, Chirag was a volunteer in Fiji for Projects Abroad which is a UK based volunteer organization operating in Fiji. Whistle he was a volunteer there, I worked for the organization as the Deputy Director. He and I became acquainted then.

Over the years we kept in touch and he updated me on the progress of PTW which I found very interesting.

His vision and friendship led me to contribute my words to the PTW magazine. The magazine is a great platform to educate readers on various issues and matters of public interest.

I am thrilled to be part of this journey.

Volunteering gives us a sense of belonging to the society and when we give back to the community, it’s just an amazing feeling. For example, in September 2012 as part of our community outreach program we went to a Fijian village and renovated their preschool school. This was done by putting new carpets in the classroom, washroom and a playroom. Further, a general cleanup was done. I found this very rewarding because people from the village came to see us help them and their smiles, friendliness just won everyone’s heart. That is certainly one volunteering experience which will remain unmatched.

Coming back to my voluntary writing for Projects Third World, it gives me a good platform to express and contribute globally. Writing is a powerful tool and it’s great that my talent is being utilized and to volunteer for such an organization is much more than satisfying. ■ Prashneel R. Goundar

A Guide to Vocabulary Learning Strategies It is common knowledge that English is becoming a global language and individuals need to learn it in order to find better jobs outside their own countries.

English plays a vital role in terms of doing business and education.

However, one of the key factors to learning any language is the vocabulary. This component is not easy to master and if one employs the appropriate strategies he/she will be successful in acquiring a language. For many countries English is not their first language (L1) but actually their second language (L2). Therefore, in the learning process it's essential to use Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs).

English as a foreign language (EFL) is an enormous field which is made up of various areas for example lexical components, phonetics, morphology, writing, speaking, and listening. Also, all the fields have been well researched to focus on different strategies which can suit the learners (Goundar, 2015).

Vocabulary learning is one of the major challenges foreign language learners face during the process of learning a language (Ghazal, 2007). One way to alley the problem is to assist students in becoming independent learners during the course of L2 vocabulary learning.

In fact, researchers have stated the superiority of vocabulary over other

components of a language. Wilkins (1972) puts it “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed�, this simply shows the importance of having adequate vocabulary nevertheless acquiring it can be very challenging; therefore learners need to be equipped with strategies in-order to confront this major component.

So what exactly is VLSs? Goundar (2015) Vocabulary learning strategy is considered as a tool that learners use to acquire vocabulary which is one of the most important elements of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learning.

Vocabulary learning strategies are one part of language learning strategies which in turn are part of general learning strategies (Nation, 2001).

According to Paul Nation, it is essential that a strategy must: 1. Involve choice, that is, there are several strategies to choose from 2. Be complex, that is, there are several steps to learn 3. Require knowledge and benefit from training 4. Increase the efficiency of vocabulary learning and vocabulary use Moving on, there are various strategies which learners can use in order to increase their vocabulary. In 2014, a study was done in Fiji by Goundar (2015) in which a total of 53 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners took part from countries that included, Japan, Germany, France and Philippines. The study adopted a mixed methodology approach on Vocabulary Learning Strategies. The findings of the study showed that the data revealed that 89% of learners believed that repetition was the best way to remember words. On the other hand, only 21% of learners agreed that memorization of words lists were the best way to remember words (Goundar, 2015). Furthermore, another strategy that the research showed high frequency was the use of reading strategies which was vetted by 91% of the participants.

Moreover, the study conducted

by Goundar (2015) showed that majority of the respondents used their background knowledge (96%) such as experience and common sense in guessing the meaning of the words.

One of the strategies that 85% of the respondents use after guessing the meaning is to look at the dictionary for its meaning and compare the answers.

Guessing is an explicit tool to employ when learning new words and the research indicated that 87% of the respondents highlighted that they used knowledge of the topic to guess the meaning of a word.

The use of dictionaries proves beneficial to learners and in the recent research conducted by Goundar (2015) it was found that 66% respondents use an English dictionary. In addition, a higher data revealed that 77% learners used bilingual dictionaries. A research conducted by Akbary and Tahririan (2009) on Vocabulary Learning Strategies shows learner preferences of using bilingual dictionaries. Laufer and Hadar (1997), for example, compared monolingual, bilingual, and bilingualised dictionaries among 123 EFL learners in Israel. Through their study, it was found that, regardless of the learners’ proficiency level, the bilingualised version was rather significantly better than, or as good as, the other two types in both comprehension and production tasks.

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For all animals ali My name is Tobias Homolka and I am a Student at Melbourne University studying the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. I plan to become a Veterinarian and learn the skills to be able to treat sick animals and consult the public about Animal health and welfare.

Tobias Homolka

ike I have previously been involved with an international student volunteering project that aims to conserve turtle species (Green and Leatherback turtles) off the Pacific coast in Cosa Rica. Here I took on many roles within the project from patrolling the beaches at night to watching over the hatchery. I took part in this project for two weeks and assisted in many turtle births, even having the opportunity to create a nest and place eggs of the endangered leatherback turtle inside it for their own protection.

Doctor of Vetinary Medicine Melbourne University

In my experience, I obviously learn a lot about turtles, but also the interaction these animals interplay with the local community. It is apparent, like many situations in the world, that the influence of people threatens the population of the local wildlife. I learnt that in order to help the wildlife, you have to influence the behaviour of the people living alongside these animals and better their understanding of their role in the environment they live in, mainly through education and financial incentive.

I joined Project Third World to be a part of something that is closely aligned to my own beliefs. I respect the morals of the charity and believe we can achieve the goals that have been set in place. I want to work to build up and help PTW progress and persevere against the challenges of running a charity. â– Tobias Homolka