Creative writing †The Meeting Essay

They were coming to get him, creeping through the undergrowth towards him. As they drew near he jumped up to run on, but tripped. He had been spotted. The savages drew in, their spears all pointing at him, moving around him as he stared up at them, chanting ‘Kill the pig. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.’ As the chanting got louder, and the spears nearer, he screamed. He woke up breathing heavily, covered in sweat, his hair adhering to his forehead. A nightmare. The same nightmare it always was. He was back on the island again. Except this time the officer hadn’t saved him, the savages had killed him. Ralph sat up haltingly and went to fetch a glass of water. He checked his watch, six forty-five in the morning. No point going back to bed now, his appointment was at seven thirty. He knew why the dream had come back this time. Today he was going to meet Jack Merridew for the first time in fifteen years. As they stood outside the door the psychiatrist quickly briefed Ralph before he entered. â€Å"Remember everything we’ve talked about. This is for you to sort out what happened. To sort out, if you can, why it happened. Let the anger out. Don’t let him intimidate you into not saying anything.† Ralph entered the room alone. Jack was already there silhouetted against the window. He turned and surveyed Ralph as he entered, holding out his hand in greeting. Ralph was tall and thin with fair hair. Jack was bigger and looked stronger, with brown hair and dark eyes. They shook hands confidently, and then Ralph stepped back and was opening his mouth to speak when Jack began. â€Å"We both know why we’re here, don’t we. You want answers and I’m to give them to you. So here you are. When we arrived on that island, I believed that I would be leader, that I would lead everyone, just as I had led the choir. Then you blew the conch, everyone was already there when we arrived and you were in control. I liked the look of you but I hated that you had found the conch, that you were always making the sensible suggestions. When you gave me the responsibility of looking after the fire and hunting I thought I’d show everyone that I could be just as powerful as you. Then I let the fire out. You and Piggy hated me for that. You lost your respect for me. So I had to gain it in another way, the beast. But the beast separated us even more. I then knew that there was no way I’d ever earn your respect so I tried to earn the respect of everyone else to show you that I could lead a tribe. I started my tribe and persuaded others to join me. Then to show you that we could live without you we invited you to our feast. Then the incident with Simon happened. You didn’t come back after that. I was in control, you and Piggy were on the other side of the island and we didn’t mention you. We had rocks ready in case you ever came, but we didn’t expect you to come. I thought that if you did you would be impressed with the idea of protection. But then you came. You came with the conch and tried to call a meeting, and I heard you talking to my tribe. Then Roger set off the rock that killed Piggy. That’s when I knew that you had to die. You confused everyone because you used to be their leader and they still respected you. So I organised the hunt. Anyone who wouldn’t hunt you would be hunted themselves. We hunted you all the way to the lagoon, I know that we would have killed you if that officer weren’t there. But luckily for you he was. I’m sorry we killed your friends but they had to die.† Throughout his speech Jack had stared out of the window, a dazed look in his eye, using his hands to emphasise what he was saying. But during that last sentence fire had returned to his eyes. He turned and Ralph was filled with a sudden terror. This was Jack as he remembered him, dark and murderous. â€Å"They had to die Ralph, and you had to die. You escaped then but finally you have returned to me. I agreed to this meeting so that I could finish off the episode on the island. You have to die now Ralph. You have to die.† As he finished speaking he advanced on Ralph, pulling a knife out of his pocket. A low chant emerged from his mouth. ‘Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.’ Ralph’s body slumped to the floor, blood oozing out of the mortal cut to his throat.

Entrepreneurship Reflection Essay Essay

1. INTRODUCTION From this reflection, I am glad that I came to this talk because this kind of discussion taught me a lot on how to be a good and excellent entrepreneur. Maybe before I came, the first think we will think after being an entrepreneur is of course the profit that we gained. We never think about the responsibilities as a Muslim to do the job properly and wisely. Sometimes the entrepreneur itself forget to donate the money, to give zakat and others. We only think that the profit that the business can give us. But we forget that everything come from Allah and everything is his’. We do not absolutely own every single money that we earn. But of course if we earn it by ourselves the money is ours, but if we do not give zakat, the money is nothing to us as a Muslim. 2. REFLECTIONS ON KEY LEARNING POINT 2.1 Islamic entrepreneurship There are secrets to be a successful businessman which is following the way from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).There are 10 qualities of Prophet Muhammad in being a successful person in business. First is honesty. Undoubtedly, no one can be more truthful and honest than the Messengers of God. Of course we must be honest on doing works to get barakah from Allah on what are we doing.. Second is trustworthy. Trustworthiness further enhances the integrity and sound moral conduct that is inherent in the notion of honesty. Being trustworthy implies being honest, fair in dealings and punctual as well as honoring trusts and keeping promises and commitments. The third one is flexibility. He always observed justice and equity while he was trading  and avoided telling lies and fraud, which was the practiced by many tradesmen. Prophet Muhammad was never strict in his business dealings with others. Sa’ib ibn al-Sa’ib relates: During the age of ignorance, I was his [the Prophetâ€⠄¢s] trade partner, and I found him the best of the partners in every respect. He neither argued with anyone nor was he obstinate and nor did he blame anything on his partner. Fourth is his consciousness of responsibility. In a hadith reported by Abdullah b. Omar Prophet Muhammad said: â€Å"We are all shepherds and we are all responsible for those who are under our hands (i.e. in our flocks). Fifth is good manner with his companions. The prophet was very close to his companions, and this is well known when one reads the detailed reports about the prophet’s biography. The sixth one is prophet Muhammad always seek his companions to consult with them. The Prophet (pbuh) would consult his companions, and take their opinions and points of view into consideration in issues and matters for which no textual proofs were revealed. The prophet (SAW) was concerned about his companions and would make sure that they were well. If he was told about a companion who was sick, he would rush to visit him with the companions that were present with him. Seventh is Prophet Muhammad would serve himself such as washed his own clothes and milked his sheep. The Prophet’s excellent manners, not only made him serve himself; rather, he would serve others as well. Next is he recognizes his companions’ skills. A good leader is one who sees the positive traits of his team members and invests in them. This is exactly what the Prophet (pbuh) did with his companions. There are many examples that show how the Prophet (pbuh) discovered where his companions excelled and how he utilized their potentials and wisely invested in them. The second last is correcting his companions’ mistakes. Correcting people’s mistakes is a Quranic guidance. The Quran has many references to situations in which a certain conduct is blamed and corrected. These situations apply to Muslims in general and to the Prophet (pbuh) himself. Last but not least is the gentleness of Prophet Muhammad. Gentleness is a key quality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When he wanted to teach his companions, he used a very wise method which involved both respect for the recipient of such knowledge without embarrassing him. 2.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture There are 4 types of person after lots of researches has been done. First is sanguine. Sanguine is a sociable person. They laugh for the hard days, wise words when squeezed by the burden, creative, enthusiasm, and always have the energy to start. Sanguine love to be popular. They have a lot of friends. They love to talk, to perform, and help each other and they always curious. Sanguine love to be children forever. Second is choleric. Choleric is a strong person. They have a strong leadership. They are faithful, brave, and have the freedom to be on one’s own. They all forced and always want to make a change. Strong-willed and assertive, goal oriented, well organized, and they don’t really need friends. They always be the superior one in the emergency time. Next is melancholic. Melancholies is a sensitive person. Depth to see the heart and soul of life. Artistic to appreciate the art. They are thoughtfully, analytical, serious, and have a talent. They are perfectionist, so they love details. Last but not least is phlegmatic. Phlegmatic is a peaceful person. They always stable, patient, and have a compassion for the other. They always keep calm, when the other was in confusion. They are humble, silent, controlled, good listener, and always happy with their life. They always be the mediator, and easy to get along with. 2.3 SALES AND MARKETING For sales and marketing, there are 4 marketing techniques that can boost up our business. First is product. In the case of services, the â€Å"product† is intangible, heterogeneous and perishable. Moreover, its production and consumption are inseparable. Hence, there is scope for customizing the offering as per customer requirements, and the actual customer encounter therefore assumes particular significance. Second is price. Of all the aspects of the marketing mix, price is the one, which creates sales revenue – all the others are costs. The price of an item is clearly an important determinant of the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Next is place. Place is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the  customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. The last one is promotion. Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organization to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective. CRITICAL FINDINGS 3.1 Islamic Entrepreneurship Islam is a complete way of life. There is no separation between business and religion. Islam has its own entrepreneurship culture and guiding principles based on the Al-Quran and Al-Hadith to guide business operation. The aim of the group is to highlight the guiding principles of entrepreneurship in Islam, especially in the Arab heritage, by Al-Quran, Al-Hadith and the entrepreneurial ethics based on example of conducts from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In business, entrepreneurs has to have objectives and targets but these are subservient to the ultimate objective of acquiring the blessing of Allah s.w.t. In Islam, to indulge in business is to perform an obligatory duty (fardhu kifayah). Profits gained from the business by entrepreneurs are merely incidental in the fulfillment of the fardhu kifayah. In business we must have a role model so that their actions can guide us in our development stages of life and more so, they help us make meaningful decisions. Many children grow up imitating their role model’s behavior, for example, if they see their role model smoking, then they are likely to smoke. We as Muslims have our own role model that can’t be changed even in another life none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). There is no community has been without its righteous guides and teachers to help its people towards the truth and to lead them from the depths of darkness to the light of Islam. Aristotle believes that we learn to be moral (virtuous) by modeling the behavior of moral people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has maintained the best characteristics in his roles as father, husband, friend, ruler, governor,  teacher, statesman, protector of the weak, widows, and poor, a guide to the rich, a guardian of the orphans, and a servant of Allah. No one could ever equal the Prophet (pbuh) in the whole history of mankind and no one ever will, insha Allah. 3.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture As for me, I would like meet new people, having works with bunch of friends so that we would not feel the works is burdensome for us and we also find that doing work in group is fun. As we know the more the merrier. Meeting new people will teach me to handle every kind or every type of people. I think the type of personality suits me best is sanguine. This is because I am a person who is very talkative an also extrovert. I am not good for keeping things inside. In the future I have planned to work not only in the office but have opportunities to meet new people so that I can increase the number of friends. I also like to socialize instead of having works in front of the computer for the whole day. I also tend to enjoy social gatherings. From the research, they state that sanguine personality is affected by chemical called dopamine, which makes these people intensely curious and creative. Their curiosity can be expressed in their love for reading and different kinds of knowledge and t hey usually possess high amounts of energy, so they may seem restless and spontaneous. Some findings also stated that if you have a sanguine business personality, your strengths lie in your interpersonal relationships. You’ve got people skills that are out of this world. People warm to you quickly and you understand how to make a good first impression. Your business relationships are solid and effective; social media and networking come easily to you. You’re probably very popular in your workplace amongst your co-workers as well as your clients. Even though like that, everyone must have their own negative sides in their own way. For sanguine we need a little help in the non-social aspects of owning a business. ‘On Your Own’ we may have trouble focusing when you’re working alone or you may find solo work boring and tedious. Timeliness Sanguine tend to be chronically late. You may have trouble getting in on time or keeping up with your appointments. Like any other bad habits, the first step is admitting that you’ve got a problem t ime management. Sanguine also often  struggle with leadership positions if they’re too concerned with how their employees see them. Of course it would be some good sides of a person and some bad sides. But, with such an extroverted business personality, we should not be afraid to focus on networking and building strong customer relationships. Just make sure that we’re not losing sight on the other aspects of your business; though your social interactions may have built your business, it’s the legwork that keeps it running. Your personality type might affects everything in your life. It is how we interact with others, how we spend our free time, how we build relationships. It even affects how we do business. This is why we need Islam in our life so that we do not go astray from what we should do. And this is one of the reason why we must have to make Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a role model so that we know why we do all of this on this earth. 3.3 SALES AND MARKETING For IIC marketing and sales, they also follow the rules of marketing which are 4Ps. 1. Product This year (2013)2 certificates, 10 diploma programs and 2 degree programs are offered. For December 2013, online executive diploma program will be opened. Next year additional 2 certificate, 1 foundation, 7 diploma programs and 3 degree programs are offered for registered students. IIC also is IIUM branding which is apply Islamic values and also Intensive English classes. 2. Place IIC is placed at Taman Batu Muda, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Batu Caves is a center of Malaysia. This is because Batu caves is one of the most popular temple in the world. So people might be easy to know the place of IIC by searching it in the internet. This place also easy access by public transportation. 3. Promotion There are some promotions has been held by IIC which are advertisements in newspapers and radio stations, participating in educational exhibitions locally and internationally and road Tour while conduct briefing and interview session nationwide. IIC also promotes using telemarketing and Facebook. They also held some programs with school counselors to persuade  the students to join IIC. Registered agents also has been practiced in IIC promoting actions. 4. Price Certificate – RM5,580 Diploma – RM14,260-RM18,400 Degree – RM42,000 (3 years), RM28,000 (2 Years) Registration fee of RM440/RM975- Cert/Diploma Registration fee of RM1,000/RM1,500- Degree Hostel Fee of RM250 per month From the talk we can see that the sales and marketing part for IIC has been given as listed above. It follows everything from the 4Ps. 4. ACTION PLAN After the speech given by the speakers, we can tell that IIC is a good high education institute because it is near to residential area and lots of facilities around the campus. This will ease the student of the institute to get the essential needs. As for me I will promote the institute to others as it offers the course that widely needed in this global industries. This campus also offers a very conducive environment of studies to help the students to develop their critical and logical thinking as well as develop their creativity and good personal traits. I also thinking about joining the road tour with IIC so that I can get some experience about marketing and promoting. From the road tour, IIC will distribute goody bags to provide all the information needed for the customers. I also will help to promote IIC using social network as we can see internet is the fastest to spread the information all over the cyber community. 5. CONCLUSION From the talk we can see that everything that has been discussed is important. First is they let us know that the qualities to be the best business man is we must have our role model which is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) so that we will not go astray from what we should do and from we should be. They also taught us about the personality types exist so that we well prepared for anything happen in the future on how to overcome our emotion and our greediness and so on. Next is the 4Ps which are the most important  things in marketing and entrepreneurship. 4Ps stands for product, price, promotion and place. Every aspect must be clear before we run any business so that we know what exactly going on to our business.

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buy custom History of Haiti essay Before the Arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish explorer, in 1492 during his first voyage, Haiti was inhabited by the Taino and Arakwan tribes who referred their country as Ayiti or Hayti meaning land of mountains (Coupeau). Christopher declared the island a Spanish colony and named it Hispaniola. He went ahead and established a temporary settlement on the Northern coast of the island which he named Christmas or Navidad. At first the tribes were friendly to the settled Spaniards but after discovery of their abuse and intolerance they became very violent against them. On his second return in 1493, Columbus discovered that the settlement at Christmas has been destroyed and the settlers disappeared presumably slain. He was bent on establishing this island as a Spanish colony and therefore made another settlement on the Eastern coast, which became known as Isabella (Girard). Spain established the island as its colonial administration headquarters after the disappointment of lack of gold as expected. The conquest and colonization of the other islands was to be conducted from here as Coupeau says. The Spanish system of repartimiento was tested here whereby the Spain born people were given land and the right to force the Indian inhabitants to work for them. Columbus and his brother who were in charge of the colony fell out with the settlers and consequently with the crown because they failed to maintain order. A new governor, Nicolas De Avando took over and under him the system of encomienda was enforced. This meant that all the land was the property of the crown and the Spaniards were stewards of huge tracks of land and could employ the inhabitants labor which in practice was slavery. Under the colonial rule the Taino Indians were almost eliminated from hundreds of thousands according to accounts to about 150 by 1550 (Coupeau). This was attributed to diseases, forced labor and the emergency of Mulatos or Mestizo and saw the near elimination of the Taino people and their culture. Interest on the colony however, was lost to the Spanish crown after the discovery of gold in the Mexico and South American colonies. Agriculture became the backbone of the economy but did not thrive as much as it experienced under the French rule. The Spanish neglect of the Island gave other colonizers a chance to invade the island. The French established their first permanent settlement in Tortuga, an island off the West coast of Hispaniola, in 1659 under King Louis XIV. Another group of French colonizers were already settled in the north coast of Hispaniola. Skirmishes with the English and French forces had weakened the Spanish in Hispaniola and therefore the invasion of the French into the island was easier. They established the French West India Company to give direction to commerce in the colony. In 1670 the first major community was established at Cap Francois now named Cap Haitien and in 1697 the Treaty of Ryswick was signed where the Spain relinquished sovereignty of the Island to the French and was renamed Saint Domingue (Girard). Under the French rule the colony became prosperous and the richest colony in the Western hemisphere. By the mid eighteenth century produced about the 60 percent of worlds coffee and 40percent of sugar imported to French and Britain. It also accounted for two thirds of the French commercial interests abroad and brought luxury to plantation owners and jobs to the mother country, but its major flaw was slavery (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The slave labor for the sugar and coffee plantations were brought from West Africa which were greatly abused and remained impoverished. Men mainly provided labor and few lived long enough to reproduce while women were made slave masters concubines. The slavery system produced a mixture of races and consequently classes of people. At the top were the white colonialists or the blancs, then the mulattoes or the people of color who were also free and then the masses of black slaves. This is what is what has shaped the modern Haiti society(Morss). This slavery system and the discriminative legislations brought a lot of resentment and conflict. The people of color were not permitted take certain professions and other detailed restrictions but they could purchase land and rend money to the planters and some accumulated substantial wealth. The black slaves on the other hand, runaway and waged guerilla warfare against the settlers and the inhabitants too the most common one being led by a man named Francois Macandal between 1751 and 1757 (Coupeau). This eventually culminated to the 1791 slave rebellion, which evolved to Haitian revolution. The French with the help of the people of color was able to repel the attacks of the maroons but the maroons wanted more than what they had, they wanted equality with the settlers. This delicate balance of the slavery system crumbled down don during the 1789 French Revolution. The French national assembly required that the colonial assembly give suffrage to the landed and tax paying people of co lor which it ignored. This led to a revolt from the people of color, which failed. The colonial authority was faced with massive slave rebellion in 1791 which was supported by some people of color. This saw a lot of damage wrecked on the plantations and factories and killing of the white people. Soon this spread to Cap Francais and people of color staged attacks, which led to widespread revolution throughout the island, which attracted Spanish and English intervention (Books LLC). Then, came the leadership of Toussaint Louverture to the rebellion with the help of the French authority. Louverture together with his allies, successfully fought for the independence of the slaves in Haiti after the French abolished slavery in 1794. In 1802, French under Napoleon Bonaparte tried to take back Haiti to slavery where he sought help from America and Thomas Jefferson who at first supported him but later remained neutral after realization Napoleon wanted to colonize his land. Louvarture was arrested in 1803 bu his colleagues continued with the resistant eventually attaining in dependence in 1804 and in 1805 the island nation drafted it first constitution. Soon after independence the French imposed a trade embargo against Haiti and demanded a compensation for the loss of slaves which was an astronomical figure of 125 million francs which the country finished paying in 1947. This left the country on a struggling economy for those years (Borgy and Chojnicki). This was further worsened by the attack and invasion from the US marines in 1915 as fear of German occupation heightened from the small population of German people integrating and owning property in the island. The French and US took control of Haitis economy and the central bank, amid resistant, to make sure their debts were paid ward off any resistant from the Haitians with brutal force. This lasted until 1947 when their debts were cleared and was marked by imposed dictatorship, death squads, torture and enslavement, which resulted to a revolt in 1986.(Buss and Gardner) In 1990, Haiti voted for Jean Bertrand Aristide who tried to put an end to corruption and improve the lives of the countrys poor but did not last long before he was ousted by the Catholic Church with the help of the CIA. Eventually Aristide was put back to power by the Clinton administration at the cost of the countrys economy, which, saw it open up to the trade from the US reducing the country further into poverty. However, Aristides government made a few milestones in the provision of education and health care to the poor in the country and had promised to double the minimum wages (Morss). These policies put into motion a lot of political resistance from mainly the wealthy landowners with the support of many interested parties including foreign governments. Aristide was eventually forced to step down and since then the country has been plugged into one coup after another and deteriorating conditions of living for the poor. There have also been claims of killings, rape and torture f rom the powers being to the rebellious people in the countrys poor slums. Since 2006, after elections hoped to return the country into sanity, Haiti has experienced political turmoil one after another. In this elections allegations of election fraud were raised after Rene Preval, a former prime minister and Aristides friend was declared the winner. In 2008, the current prime minister, Jacques-Edourd Alexis was ousted by the senate for poor performance of the countrys economy. Another prime minister was appointed by the president and rejected by the lower house and finally Michele Pierre was approved as the prime minister. In 2009, the senate was at it again when they ousted Michele Pirre who the international community thought was competent to bring change to the country and replaced her with Jean-Max Bellerive (Books LLC). Last November, poll also presented the same debacle as allegations of massive election fraud were raised in the first round. A former first lady was declared the winner by the electoral commission and was to face Jude Celestin in the se cond round. This brought protests in the country. Eventually Jude Celestin was put under pressure apparently by the United States to withdraw leaving Manigat to face Martely who worn by a landslide (Kelly). There is some hope that the countrys unstable politics would end and bring the much-needed investment into the country. The Haiti economy The country has been described as the poorest in the western hemisphere and its capacity to attract investment is very low (Sletten and Egset). By the time the country gained independence in 1804, it was the richest and most productive colony in the world, however, years of political instability and international isolation in diplomatic engagement in earlier years coupled with a huge debt to both US and French has left the country reeling. During the period between 1996 and 2001, the country tried to implement some reforms in order to attain economic stability. These included cutting government expenditure, down sizing the civil service and modernization of state owned entities among others. Structural adjustments were also implemented as required by financial institutions funding the reforms such as World Bank, IMF and inter American Development bank. Modernization of the state corporations was a major policy issues during this time however only two have been privatized as the issue has turned into a political one. External aid has been and continues to be of great importance in the economic development of the country(Books LLC). The major sectors supporting the economy of the country are agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining. Most of the Haitians rely on substance farming although an export agriculture sector exists. The agricultural, fishing and forestry sector contributed to 28% of the GDP in 2004 and employed 66% of the force (Borgy and Chojnicki). The major cash crops in the country are coffee, cocoa and mangoes. The mining industry is small with total earning of around $13 million per year dominated mainly by Bauxite, calcium carbonate, copper, gold and marble. The manufacturing sector is consisted mainly of beverages, butter, cement, detergents, flours sugar and textiles among others. Growth in this sector has been undermined by lack of investment. This sector accounted for 20% of GDP employing less than 10% of the labor force. The sector has been declining since the 1994 UN embargo on trade that saw as many as 80,000 workers put of work. The years following the military rule since 1991 contributed to the decline in the sector. The service sector in the country has the sustained little growth in unstable years of 1990s. It employed 25% of the labor force in 2004 and contributed to 52% of the GDP. The impediment to economic growth in the country has been the lack of reliable banking and financial sector as banks collapse with regularity and mmost of the banks are in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The country boasted of no stock exchange by 2009 labor (Buss and Gardner). Tourism was an important sector of the economy in the 1970s and 1980s however political instability in 1990s and early 2000s discouraged any growth in the industry. Lack of infrastructure and up to date hospitality industry has also been a turn off for visitors. One can not conclude a discussion of the economy of Haiti without mention of the labor force. In 1995 the USAID estimated the labor force to be about 3.6 million but with minimal skilled labor. Statistics on employment are sparse due to lack of pub lication of such data and the only available ones are from foreign organizations such as USAID which gave a figure of 50% unemployment in 2003 (Kelly). Geography of Haiti The Republic of Haiti is in the Western hemisphere and occupies one third of the Western of the island of the Hispaniola west of the Dominican Republic and between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). It has an area of 27,750 square kilometers and a coastline of 1, 1771 km of coastline. Haiti has a land area of 27,560 square kilometers and 190 square kilometer of water. The land is comprised of three fourths mountainous country marked by great fertile valleys, extensive plateaus and small plains. The climate is mainly tropical but the eastern side is semi desert as mountains block the trade winds. Rainfall varies in the country and averages between 1,370 mm with two rainy seasons between April and June and October and November (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The country is geographically situated in the hurricane region and therefore prone to strong storms between June and October, flooding is another phenomenon characterizing the country with earthquakes and floods also being common. Demographics The population of Haiti is estimated to be 9,648,924 by 2010 and is estimated to reach 9,719,932 by July 2011 according to the US Bureau of the Census (Eurostat). This averages about 250 people per square kilometer and concentrated mainly in urban areas, valleys and coastal plains. The population is largely composed of Haitians of West African ancestry, mulattos and small number of Asians, Arabs and white communities. There are also Hispanic people mainly from Cuba and Dominican Republic(Eurostat). The CIA fact book reports that the age structure of 0-14 years comprise 38% of the total [population and 15-65 years making up 58.5% and those above 65 years to be 3.4% of the population. The population growth rate is low at 0.787 % per annum according to this report. Social problems in Haiti Poverty Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. A look at the capital city Port-au-prince gives a grim picture of the poverty in the country (Kelly). Most of the population lives in slums which are overcrowded and prone to diseases. In this city most of the population of people who work earn less than two US dollars a day this is hardly enough to cater for the basic necessities like food and health care. The Pan-American Health Organization (Eurostat) reports that child mortality, communicable diseases are very prevalent mainly due to poverty. This situation has been aggravated by the biggest natural disaster in its 200 years history, the January 2010 earthquake that shook the country capital to its core and caused hundreds of thousand of lost life. The president of the country is quoted saying that the parliament had collapsed, tax office, Schools and hospitals and the destruction of the capital as unimaginable. This was followed by a hurricane, which saw an outbreak of cholera that claimed even more life (Kelly). Unequal distribution of wealth In this country, a small elite group mainly of elites and ruling class composed of several thousand families are extremely wealthy while 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. There exist a small middle class group consisting of civil servants and other government employees but the gap between the majority black and the minority lighter skinned people is very wide (Kelly). This has existed since colonization. The minority wealthy live in cooler mountainsides where education and medical services are exclusively private. Their children attend schools abroad either in Paris or United States with most of the families holding bank accounts in United States. In comparison the rural folks live in small remote villages or settlements where they have no access to clean water, electricity, education and other social services. In comparison to the wealthy children, the rural kids have access to elementary education provided by either the churches or charitable organizat ions. The rural children travel long distances to school, cannot afford the books and uniform and have to work at an early age. This only increases illiteracy levels among the poor with estimation that half the adult population is illiterate. Health services are another thing they cannot afford and some areas depend entirely on relief food from aid agencies. Racial divisions Racial divisions in the country are another problem although 95% of the population is composed of black people (Kelly). The divisions occur between the largely black people of the African decent and the mulattoes who act as the ruling class. The mulattoes are wealthy and identify with wealthy classes in other countries and have little to do with the Haitian poor. The country has an underdeveloped social, economic and political institutions and mostly education system which do not allow for upward social mobility making the difference even wider. This is further aggravated by isolation of rural populations from the urban ones with reports indicating that 79% of Haitians have no or little contact with Port-au-Prince or other major towns, which are centers of change. Buy custom History of Haiti essay

Prepaid Wireless Industry

Prepaid Wireless Industry Technology has totally revolutionalized the manner in which we carry our day-to-day activities. The communication industry seems to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the advanced technology since there are so many changes that have taken place.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Prepaid Wireless Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Life has become easier and simpler with the technological advancements. The prepaid wireless industry is one of the industries that has emerged as a result of advancement in technology. This industry is highly competitive and this has seen many companies come up and stiff competition that is characteristic of this industry and has ensured that customers benefit greatly due to the high quality services being offered. The focus of this discussion will be on some of the key players in this dynamic and highly competitive industry. The companies in focus are epay worldwide.com. Emida.net and eurekarevenue.com. This discussion will also look at some of the advantages that each of these services has and which of the companies is stronger. Epay. Com is an international company whose main business is the distribution of payments solutions electronically. These services are instrumental in helping providers of various services reap maximally from the sales of their services as well as products. With more than half a million selling points in various countries of the world like Spain, Ireland, Italy, India and Germany, epay.com has continued to deliver highly innovative and specific tailored services as far as making of payment by electronic means in concerned (Epay 3). The advantage of the prepaid services provided by epay.com is that customers are able to access an array of gift cards which are branded. With this concept of prepaid, retailers are able to come up with categories and destinations that are fully supported by experts from epay. Retailers also hav e the advantage of being able to distribute their services throughout the network. Emida.net on the other hand is a company that operates globally whose main services include the making prepayments globally as well as value transfer market. This company operates in more than 30 counties in the whole American region and part of the African and Caribbean region.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The retail points supported by Emida.com are estimated to be about 46,000 with annual payment of the dollar being estimated to stand at $1.4 billion with estimates of transaction transacted by the company being estimated to stand at 180 million. Some of the advantages that emida.com has included allowing international as well as domestic distribution of various products which are prepaid in nature and services that involve payments. Retailers, ISOs, service providers a nd carriers using emida.net also have the advantage of getting robust revenues. Currently, emida.net is said to be leading as far as proving prepaid services is concerned. One issue that distinguishes emida.net from other companies is the fact Eureka has partnered with most of the well established carriers throughout the world and this has enabled eureka to a great extent to create a reliable network which has proven helpful to clients throughout the world. This company also caters for long distance prepaid services and this has brought about convenience and customers are able to get value and the revenue goes up. Any retailer or service provider who has subscribed with emida will also be in a position to offer all their customers, cost effective, convenient and safe options that they can implement to ensure that their financial needs are well managed. Under the financial services provided by emida, your clients will comfortably be able to purchase stored value cards as well as prep aid debit and also foot their bills. Through these services, it will also be possible for them to make transfers of money to family and friends in convenient hassle free manner. The kind of services that you will receive from Emida will ensure that the portfolio of your products is well built (Emida 2). It is common knowledge especially in the world today that payment of bills especially if they are hefty can prove to be very risky.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Prepaid Wireless Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Besides the risk, the hassle involves is nothing to write home about. Having paid full recognition to the challenges that consumers experience in payment of bills Emida has come up with a way of making it easy for clients to foot their bills which is not only easier but also more reliable and convenient. The payment solution provided by Emida ensures that you gain access to numerous biller s from telecommunication to providers of utilities, insurance among others. With this pay bill solution, all one needs to do is to make payments at a local shop and this helps eliminate the risk factor as well as one is saved the hassle of making the payments and also one is able to save time that would have been wasted in making queues. For those customers who have subscribed to AT T services, you can also make it easy for them through emida.com. Just like the bills, these customers subscribed to AT T can also make payments through the local shops. Eurekarevenue.com though it has been in the market for a fewer years compared to its competitors, it has managed to create a niche itself. This company is dedicated to making life easier for those who prefer the option of truncating using cash as opposed to using credit cards and cheques. The platform created by Eurekarevenue has made it simple for customers the world over to enjoy prepaid services through electronic means and with a w ell established and robust network. The company has managed to partner with different well established and this has ensured that clients get convenient services within their reach. Eureka revenue has various products that they offer which include the ERI web and the ERI terminal. The terminal is an effective simplifies of selling airtime of prepaid wireless. These terminals are used as they are provided by the company without the need to buy additional equipments (Eureka 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The only requirement is a telephone line and you will be good to go. The ERI web on the other hand works pretty similar with the ERI terminal just that in this case, one will require a computer with internet connectivity to enjoy this service Comparing epay.com and emida. Net, it is clear that emida is stronger than its counterpart. This is not only in terms of the number of years that this company has been in existence but also the robust network that it has managed to establish ad the numerous reliable partners that this company has. In addition, this company has managed to penetrate in more markets than epay thus making emida stronger in terms of popularity and client base. Prepaid wireless industry has without a doubt grown tremendously the world over. Emida. Prepaid Wireless. 2011. Web. https://www.emida.net/en/home/ Epay. Welcome to Epay. 2011. Web. http://epayworldwide.com/en-US/ Eureka. ERI helps retail stores increase their revenue and foot traffic through prepaidwireless solutions. 2011. Web.

Lab#2 concrete mix design and compression tests Lab Report

#2 concrete mix design and compression tests - Lab Report Example Concrete quality control is an essential practice to ensure consistency in both the fresh and hardened concrete. Some of the laboratory methods used for concrete quality control include; slump test, compressive strength test and workability tests. The primary objective for this experimental study was to identify the characteristics exhibited by concrete materials and to familiarize with the commonly used laboratory specimen manufacturing and testing methods. In design and quality control of concrete, the most specified concrete property is strength. This can be attributed to the fact that testing methods available are relatively easy and furthermore; other concrete properties such as resistance to weathering and fire, elastic modulus, and impermeability are directly linked to strength. This means that having the strength data, then the other properties can be deduced. A good concrete mix should take into account the following key attributes: workability, consistency, strength, water cement ratio, durability, density, slump expected, and heat and chemical resistance. The relative proportions of concrete components, either by volume or weight, will closely influence its properties in both fresh and hardened state. The cement-water paste forms the active component in the concrete material, which is dependent on the characteristics of materials used and their relative proportions. The aggregates used must be well graded to minimize air voids in the concrete matrix. Generally, concrete mix designs are currently being over-designed for the fear of production of results that will not meet the minimum strength criteria specified by the engineer concerned. There is therefore need for analysis of concrete compressive strength variance and understanding of the criteria for proper concrete mix designs suitable for various applications. Concrete is a

Reflection ( R-Rent a car) buisness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection ( R-Rent a car) buisness - Essay Example After which a careful scan of competitors around Dubai must be thoroughly made so that I can have a full grasp of how it is to compete in a dense market. It was difficult since as a new entry in this business, other companies have already the advantage of having loyal customers. Nevertheless, I was able to successfully gather enough data that can give me a complete view of the car rental industry. This also meant being resourceful by tapping networks of friends, even relatives who knows someone from this kind of business. On the second week, I doubled my efforts to get primary sources for my data. This entailed doing interviews among two rent-a-car owners so I can have some idea for the marketing strategy. I also interviewed a driver so I can anticipate possible problems in operating this business. I fully realized that this business is not about cars, it’s about giving service which is why I incorporated â€Å"pleasure â€Å" in my tag line. The succeeding week, it was time to put up advertisement on different media and that was not quite easy for a newcomer. There were many phone calls to make just to canvass the price of such ads. Also, I was not familiar with sizes, dimension and design of paid ads. Indeed, the design of the website occupied also another week of the project since many considerations must be made in the B2C marketing. The four principles of marketing are the same but one must view the ad as a browser on the internet with very little attention span. The ad must immediately grasp the attention of the potential customer. There were many skills that I have learned in accomplishing this project. The first set of skills I have developed are soft skills in negotiating, problem-solving, listening, interacting with others, diffusing tension in an argument and even teaching. These skills were learned during my interaction with people in the industry as well as people in the media. The rent-a-car business depends

How can cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) be modified to fit the needs Outline

How can cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) be modified to fit the needs of young children - Outline Example This paper will address some of the ways in which cognitive behaviour therapy can be modified to fit the needs of young children. As it is usually the case with almost all paediatric procedures, they are usually tested with adults before they can be brought to children; therefore, cognitive behaviour therapy is no exception. Due to children’s limitations in metacognition and their inability to classify feelings, clinicians need to adjust their pacing of therapy’s content and the speed of therapy (Butler, Chapman, Forman & Beck, 2006, p22). One of the things that psychiatrist need to adjust in cognitive behaviour therapy for children is the time frame with which they carry out the therapy (March et al, 2005, p813). Children do not have fully developed metacognition abilities therefore the speed at which they will respond to therapy will be slower than that of adults. Due to these challenges, therapist need to ensure that the spacing of the whole course of the therapy is in such a way that the child will not be overburdened by the therapy due to congestion of the therapy or it will be too spaced such that the effectiveness of the therapy will be compromised. The inability of children to express their feelings, which may help in easier diagnosis of the disorders, will require the time required for full cycle of therapy to increased (Wood et al, 2006, p315). Due to the stage of development in children cognitive abilities, cognitive behavioural therapies for children will always focus on the behavioural aspect of the therapy since it will be more effective, however, the behavioural aspect too will require the children to be trained in social and problem solving skills (Nauta, Scholing, Emmelkamp & Minderaa, 2003, p1273; Kendall & Hedtke, 2006, p101). These characteristics among children requires that the therapy be combined with other skills or at least provide an opportunity for the child to learn