TAP - Immigration Services - The American Place

Spring 2002

Abel L.--RATS

Ajet Ajeti--ASTHMA

Albana Lici--ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Alfredo Brito--LEAD POISONING

Buturuga Gne--LEAD POISONING and MERCURY

Carolina Palacio--ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION, MERCURY

Enrique Guerra--LEAD POISONING

Lidia Gzula--HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE

Luis S.--ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

Mary--ASTHMA and RECYCLING

Sonali--ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

Fall 2002

Yolanda Boria--LEAD POISONING PREVENTION

Jack Gieras--LEAD POISONING PREVENTION, RATS

Maria Gnat--LEAD POISONING PREVENTION, RATS

        The rats are a big problem for society because they are a pest. Rats belong to the Rodents family, and they are omnivorous because they can eat anything. These animals are nocturnal, and they can bite. Rats can transmit serious diseases, which can be plague, typhus, and salmonellosis. The rats can destroy property (garden, furniture, etc.) Rats can start fires by gnawing through electrical wires. Rats can transmit illness directly to human by biting.
        To prevent this problem, you need to clean your house, you need to arrange your firewood and other materials in and out of your house, like a pile of lumber. You need to use trash cans with lids and plastic bags, you must be sure to tie the bag tightly. Reduce areas of moistness and standing water, repair clogged drains, leaking pipes and dripping faucets. Fix holes in door and exterior wall, keep door to outside closed, and keep your yard clean.
        This class was very good for me because I train my writing skills. I learn many new words and this topic is very interesting to keep our environmental clean and our health.

Asthma is a condition which is caused by many factors. Today many people in the world suffer from asthma. Asthma's cause can be hereditary, but it causes too many environmental factors. The factors can be indoors and outdoors. Among indoor factors are irritants, smoke from tobacco, fire places, wood-burning stoves, aerosol sprays, pesticides and many chemicals in nature. However indoor irritants are cockroaches, rats and mice. Allergens are a group of factors which cause asthma like dust, dust in rugs, cockroaches, and cockroach dump, mold, pet fur, dander and urine. There are also outdoor irritant that live in exhaust, smog and pesticides. Allergens are plant pollens and molds, so they cause infections and colds and many emotional stresses.
Signs can tell us about asthma such as: tightness in the chest, rapid breathing, coughing or wheezing, itchy chin or neck, red eyes and cheeks under eyes. Treatment for asthma to prevent it we need to identify triggers and eliminate them, keep the environment and house clean, follow doctors recommendations and use medications and prescriptions from doctors.

I think it's very important to know about the environment because its good to know about health risks for all people including children; it's good to know what I need to do for this; it's good to know what I need to know to take care of us. I have heard what I think may be rats in my garage. I think I'm going to call the people to get rid of them, to make sure they are rats. I care about my health and my baby's health. I think it's bad for all people to be exposed to rats. The environmental information affects my life in a positive way. Now I know something about rats, lead, mercury, asthma, hazardous waste. I think it's good information. In my country I know something about these things but it's good to know the English words for these things.

The lead poisoning is dangerous. The bad use of lead causes poisoning. We have to be careful in using the element that can cause lead poisoning. Example: pot, pottery, paints, old wall paint, window sills, wooden furniture and wooden toys. I think it is very good and learning a lot about the problem, it is very interesting for me.

Since I studied about lead poisoning prevention I am worried and I think seriously. I covered my walls with wallpaper and I repainted the frames of windows. About mercury: I'm not going to eat fish from Connecticut River any more.

        My biggest concern on the environment is the entire environment, I mean everything that has to do with nature, is stupid how we, humans, destroy the beautiful place that we live in.   We cut down the trees, just to use one part of it, so we can have comfort; but we don't count with the hunger that the animals that lived in that forest are going to feel, and even people that live from the fruits and uses the trees and the entire nature to survive and we go there like its our place and cut everything off.
        I believe that we don't have the right to do that, to destroy something that God gave us to use it properly, with respect toward Him and his creations. We are even killing animals and it's our fault that there is so many animals extinguish; I justify the Indians that killed because they needed to kill to survived they lived from the plants from nature and we even took over their property, we throw them out of their lands. Why do we need all this comfortability? Why can't we have simple lives?
        Every generation is going to get worse, I'm sure that two generations from me are not even to care about animals, and tress, there might be some people that would care but they won't do anything because people think that caring about nature its going to cost them their comfort, their scare of not having a T.V., or a comfortable bed, and we are scare of being in that situation, and even though we see what's happening to them we go there and cut down their forest and killed their animals, just for sport, that's another thing why do humans have that hunt game?   They think is very Machoman, to go out there with a gun and killed a lion just to have them like a carpet, or a bear, I think that's sick! But there might be a lot of foundations to help in this Big problem and I'm sure God is blessing them for that; but if the rest of the world don't cooperate we are going to die because that's the end we are going to have if we don't stop destroying what give us oxygen and gives beauty to our world.

        Mercury is a toxic chemical and when is mistreated it can be harmful to wild life, humans, the air, it can contaminate everything that has life. If mercury is mistreated; for example, a person drops mercury or breaks a thermometer, or the residue from the factories can go into the air and when a person drops it and doesn't clean it in the proper way it can be very harmful.
        We can look for information about it, look for places and people that know about its treatment so they can teach us and explain to us how to be careful with it. Or if a person has already dropped it, I think the best thing to do is call someone immediately for help and keep it out of the reach of children, pets and everyone else until a professional tells you what to do or how to do the proper job with it.
        I think this is a good way of learning English because we're practicing writing, and we're being informed of the problems that are so close to us and we don't even know. I learn a lot today.

Some old habits have been changed by me. After learning some important lessons from 8 environmental topics developed in my English class. I did not know about the existence of lead contamination in water. I used to drink water directly from the tap without care. Now, I usually turn the tap on in the morning and spend one minute before using it for drinking or cooking. I talk with friends who have a baby or a little kid about the necessity of being careful at home. Lead contamination can affects kids' health if it is present in high percentage on paint from old houses. A major consciousness about risk of a contaminated environment is the main result of these lessons.

The problem is that household cleaners are toxic for the soil, water, and air, because we breath it, and drink it, and eat it. We must bring this products to the special place for them. For hazardous waste sites you call the HAZWASTE Hot Line 278-3809 or HAZWASTE coordinator 543-8609. I think this class is very interesting because writing is necessary for people who want live in U.S.A.

My life change because I notice that taken Environmental Action, we can live better. Free of any kind of contamination, radiation, besides a want to leave a good Environmental life to my kids. Also, I learn I have few agency to complaint if I see any Environment problems.

One worry that is growing on me is the number of case of asthma and the contamination of the earth in general. In general I don't see that we, us human being are aware of our natural resources and how much we can do to protect them of contamination and how we the humans are polluting the environment. People in the U.S.A. don't know how much extra we have of everything and how much we are destroying. How much the U.S.A. having been blessing with so many natural resources because of it's extension. But how much the organizations out there from private, government, and other are working special together to educate the people about natural resources, our responsibility to take care of them and to create new ways of recycle; everything we can in order to help the environment for the health of our self. The information I received about the environment was very valuable, but made me aware that we still need more education about it.

        Environmental classes made a great impact on my life. After attending I come to know many things, what mean by environmental action, how is recycling process, how to dispose household hazardous waste and for doing all those things where to call.
        Indirectly or unknowingly before this class I was doing some wrong things like I was not rinsing bottles before throwing, now I started rinsing bottles before throwing. Now I started checking plastic bags before throwing whether it is disposable or not.
        Also I come to know where I should contact if some person is dumping bad soil, waste to public place or doing some wrong things.

Giving people information about what is lead by means of announcements through television, radio, newspaper, pamphlets and telling them where they can find lead. To provide to the community the address, telephone numbers of treatment centers. Also they should know who are going to be more affected. How it can be detected and if the person is affected they should know how to take control of it.

        I am living in South Africa, I have found a beautiful house which I want to buy. The house is approximately 100 years old.   I am pretty sure that the house was painted with paints containing lead.   There are no lead paint regulations in South Africa. I have young children and I am seriously concerned about the lead poisoning.
        Because there are no lead poisoning prevention community resources in South Africa, I have decided to approach the Chemical Engineering Department at local university. After a conversation with the HOD, I have signed an agreement. University will send an expert to the house I am going to buy and I will be paying $500 for this professional service. An expert have used a lead detecting sensor and, fortunately, he did not find any trace of lead. I received a written certificate and decided to buy the house. However, I lost $500.
        After this event, I went to the Municipality and requested to talk to the Building Inspection Manager. I submitted a written petition. I demanded that new rules should be introduced as obligatory. He did not promise anything and said that his department has more important problems than lead containing paints. I decided to submit petition to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism of Western Cape Province. The personal secretary to the Minister told me that Mr. Minister does not have time now. However, she said that every effort will be taken to consider my problem seriously. A letter was sent to me that the Ministry will be discussing my petition as a matter of urgency at the next weekly working meeting. Since then, I have never received any feedback from the Ministry.   I felt disappointed that I could do nothing to resolve lead-based paint problems.

Rats in Cape Town are mainly in city centers and in squatters communities, the so called informal housings. Garbage is removed regularly; however, owners of small businesses not always keep their premises clean. There is very little I can help to reduce the spread of rats in my country except for: 1) keeping my property clean, 2) promote awareness that rats transmit serious diseases, contaminate food, and destroy property. The real threat are some small businesses and squatter camps. The legal system is ineffective and there is no possibility to penalize low income or poor people. Small businesses struggle to survive and do not care of obeying hygienic standards. Squatter camp dwellers live without running water, sewage system, electricity and waste removal. It is impossible for them to live in a clean and healthy environment.

The government should organize anti-rat educational campaign in the case the plague of rats is spread. That campaign should be perform on every level, that means on local, than national. People should know some facts about rats like: rats can bite, they can transmit serious diseases, they can contaminate food, they breed rapidly and can multiply every three weeks. Then local communities should make some steps to eliminate rats. There are many ways to do it. We know the fact, that food attracts rats. So people should keep their garbage in containers, use trash can with lids, rinse recyclable containers well and keep dumpster lids closed. Areas of moisteners can attract rats too. The clogged drains, leaking pipes and dripping faucets should be repaired. Also broken windows and holes in door should be fixed to prevent the rats access to buildings. Also places, where rats can breed and harbor should be cleaned. Finally, there should be form an organization or agency, which should control conditions around buildings. It would be also a place, where people could report rat sightings.