Stories of Courage

1) Running for her life

Ana Quirot was born in Cuba, from a early age she love running.

At thirteen years old she had a place at government sport school after work so hard.

Blas Beato one of the Cuba´s most famous ruuning teacher knew Ana, with him she began
winning races, the fastest girl at 400 and 800 meters.

She wan two gold medals at Pan American games in Indianapolis.

She was Cuba´s most famous runner.

But while was washing some clothes over the stove, a Little of alcohol fell and the fire covered
Ana´s body.

Ana spend five long months in the hospital, then she went home and started running outside,
she worked hard one year, and finally ran again.

In 1996 Ana ran with the best running of the all time again, she won the silver medal of
Olympic Games.

2) The river to freedom

Matthew was enjoying a quiete evenning with his father in the south of Sudan , when soldiers
came and shot his father, Matthew was caught and taken to an army prisioner.

Six mothe latera the guard decided to move the prisioners and Matthew noticed something in
the erath, a hole with dirty water that goes to the Nilo River, so he jumped into the water and
he was carried, for days he flotead without sleep or food .

For three months he walked keeping away from people, finally he found a ship and leave the
contry.

3) The house wife spy

Odette was born in France in 1912, her mother helped the fight aganint Germany by offering
romos in her home to British soldiers, during worl war I, because that Odette got merried with
an Englisman, and they move to England.

In 1940 during the world war II Germans moved into France and started a new government
there.

She was a houselife but she wanted to help her country, so she went to France as a spy.
She was working with a British spy Pete Churchill, then they were caught by German pólice,
she was tortured but she didn´t say nothing, just said that Winstone Churchill was the uncle´s
pete.

The court has decided that she must did, but a long time passed.

One year later Odette was move of Germany, Fritz Suren was the boss of Ravenbruck, he kept
her in darness fot month.

The war ended and Suren took her to the Americans, so she return to England and met with
her family again.

4) Fighting for the forest

Chico Mendez was born in Xapuri, Brazil in 1944.

He started working at the age of nine, he earned money by taking small amonunt of rubber
from the forest´s tres.

He learned how to use the forest plants as medicine and food, but large áreas of the rain forest
were destroyed, thousands of tres were burned to make new fields for farms, roads ,
electricity stations and cut down for furniture an paper.

Chico started talking to people about the importance of the rainforest, that people were
agreed with him, because that large áreas of the forest were saved , Chico Became more
popular and he won some enemies.

Politicians and businessmen were angry about his work.

Chico became famous arround the world for this work and many people set money to protect
áreas of the rain forest, chico´s idea became part of the brazilian law.

On Decembre 1988 he was murdered, but people arround the world kept sending money to
the foundation.

5) Prisioner for peace

Aung Sang Suu Kyi, was born in Burma, her father was killer when she was two., because he
was fighting for Burma´s freedom.

The army wanted to form a new government, but Suu decided continued her father´s work for
the freedom of people.

Finally the army took power and they took Suu as a prisionerin her own home.

She continued to organize her political group from her prisión home.
In 1990 people of Myanman (ex Burma) vote and Suu´s politics group won, but the army
refused to gave power to them. Suu continued working for her country.

Her call for Peace and understanding became famous arround the world. In 1991 she won the
nobel prize for peace, but her life as a prisioner continued.

The army decided to left her go in 1995, but she has not stopped fighting, so the army killed
many people of Suu´s politicals group.

6) A montain accident

Aron ralston was walking in the montains after a hard week at work, but a lagre piece of rocks
dropped over him, Aron´s arm was caught under a rock.

Because that he spent the night there.

The next days withot food and wáter he decided to cut his arm, but he cound not cut the bone
so Aron turned his arm the oppositive way to his body to broke the bone.

Aron was free, but he was losing blodd very fast.

After hours Aron saw walkers , whom helped him.

7) The true courage of Erim Brockovich

Erin Brockovich is an American woman with no husband and three children.

She started work with her lawyer Ed Massry.

She discovered that a large electricity Company called PG&E wanted to buy hundreds of
houses in the town of Hinkley, so that she visited people from the city and she discovered that
PG&E was poisoning the wáter, so she decided to fight againt that Company.

Erin returned to the town, hundreds of people has illnes and some were dying.

PG&E knew about it, but the was worried about the posible payments to those people,
because that they wanted to buy all the houses and kept it in secret.

Finally Erin and Ed they sent notive of lawsuits to office of PG&E. the sick people of Hinkly
wanted a lot of money from the Company.

After months The Company had to pay to the people.

Today Erin Works with People who are fighting against big companies.
 8) A doctor, a father and his son

Kenzaburo Oe, a writer who had his son in hospital fihgting for his life, for job traveled to
Hiroshima To write about the people there.

He met thje hospita´s boss doctor Fumio Shigato, he wanted to interview because the doctor
helped to people when the Atomic Bomb was dropped , that was the worse day in japonese
hisrtory, he work so hard and for weeks to helping people.

Before that Oe came back to Tokio and for six years worked very hard to gave his son called
Hikari the best life ever, they played music to him, read stories all the time.

One day after all this hard work , finally his son Hikari could say some words when the wasa
walking un the forest.

Oe learned about the courage from doctor Shigato, when timevare difficult.