School: ITESM-CEM
    Mexico, State of Mexico, Mexico

3 students, ages 16,16 and 17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 10, 2006. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Classes and Teachers: Lic. Maria de los Dolores Garcia Piera, Lic. Octavio Muñoz Roman, Stephannie, Adriana and Hilda

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.cem.itesm.mx

1. Description of Our Team

We are Pamela, Stephannie and Adriana each of us are 17, 16 and 16 years old. We decided to make this project together because we are friends and we are all concerned about war and we think that diplomacy is required for solving conflicts rather than fighting. To divide the different tasks that this project involved we organized the subtopics and we gave them out according to our abilities and specific interests. We would like to thank Maria de los Dolores García for giving us her help in historical matters as well as keeping us informed about the news in this project. Also special thanks to Octavio Muñoz for his technical support in our website’s construction.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our Doors to Diplomacy Project gives an overview of three important wars to emphasize the diplomacy position in international relationships in times of war. It also contains a reflection that stands for diplomacy as the way of solving conflicts among nations. We also analyze some of the wrong means on which diplomacy is currently being held. We believe that war is a waste of time, resources, technology and human lives, so we decided to develop some topics to reinforce this conviction.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:not sure

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Most of the problems we had to deal for making this project were related to technical matters such as finding an internet server that could allow us to publish our page. One of the hardest problems we had to overcome was that in one occasion the access to our webpage constructor was denied because of a system breakdown. The next morning when we were about to call the website service supplier, we noticed that the problem was already solved.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

This project has been of mayor importance in our lives because it has changed the way we used to see international conflicts. Now we know that it is not as easy as it seems to maintain negotiations among countries and that it is even harder to get to an agreement that benefits everyone.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

Fortunately the same characteristics that Doors to Diplomacy requested were the same that our school system demanded. We learned how to use the internet applications more effectively; also we used new organization techniques learnt from our school classes. We tried to accomplish all the requirements asked from both, by reading them before working. With this we noticed that we saved a lot of time and that we could understand better what this project main objective was. We think that internet gave us a lot of facilities as a reference tool and as a way of spreading our ideas to the entire world.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

The material that we used during the project’s creation is the following: Three computers (Toshiba, IBM and Hewlett Packard), computer software, books, oral interviews, internet and libraries. In general, these tools gave us facilities because we could achieve our goal. Each tool was found in our house, school and library, it wasn’t difficult the search of this sources. The principal tools that helped us were internet, books and oral interviews.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

We would like to have the opportunity to defend our thoughts in a forum where people are opened to new ideas and try to work to apply them. In order to achieve our project’s objective (which is to make a social conscious about the need of real diplomacy in solving problems) it is important that it gets to the people that are in charge of solving international problems, so they can use diplomacy in their solutions.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

We wrote this project to make a difference, we hope it gets to everyone, but if it only gets to one person and makes a difference in his/her life it would be worth it. We can not change the world, but we can change our world. If other people join to our cause, perhaps we could avoid war. Conflicts occur between nations and between people, but if nations and people make conscious that an unselfish and respectful dialogue can solve their conflicts, most of the suffering that a war causes would be eradicated. The largest part of the problems is caused by the lack of communication or misunderstandings.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

Our project involved members of our community as helpers and volunteers. We thank to María de los Dolores García and Octavio Muñoz because they supported us in the website’s creation. We asked them if they wanted to be our advisers because they were teachers that have a relation with our topic and they accepted. They provided us experience and knowledge that is a primordial base for our project. Thanks a lot.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

This project provided us a great experience because it opened our minds to Diplomacy. At first, we had an idea of what is Diplomacy but after the investigation we could appreciate that Diplomacy has a relevant roll in the world. Also, it made us conscious about all the world’s wars that bring only losses and no solutions. The right way to solve the problems among countries is through dialogue and discussions.