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This
Horse is a Trouper for Sure.
Meet
Molly.
She's a gray speckled pony who was
abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA.
She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were
stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became
infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know
how that goes.
But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on
different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured
leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious
survival ethic.
Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the
clinic and her story really begins there.
'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with
pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to
Moor, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required
over the lifetime of the horse.
Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a
comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.
And she asks for it! She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it
on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.' And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad
when you can't catch a three-legged horse', she laughs.
Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals,
nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went,
she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it.
'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life', Moore said, 'She survived the hurricane, she survived
a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.''She's not back to normal,' Barca concluded, 'but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New
Orleans itself.'
This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo
shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face
embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.
You
can read more about Molly at www.wildhorserescue.org/molly.htm
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West Africa
Development Experience.
Mar 4, 2008
Positive News Issue
Building on the
huge success of previous years events, and in response to demand, this is a
unique opportunity to explore the full spectrum of African farming in the
global market place and the role of organisations such as Concern Universal
in the fight against poverty.
The 2009 West Africa Farm Experience will link 3 issues together: these will
be simultaneously explored during the various visits, within the overall
context of agriculture, horticulture and the sustainable livelihoods of
people living in rural areas in the Gambia; 1) Climate change, 2)
Alternative renewable energy (e.g. Bio-fuel) and the harnessing of carbon
financing opportunities through effective collaboration between business and
development organisations 3) Disaster risk reduction.
This experience is aimed at anyone with an interest in the issues
surrounding global food production and the challenges facing developing
countries. The high level of support provided by the organisers and good
quality local accommodation and transport make this event ideal for those
visiting Africa for the first time. Never has there been a more appropriate
time to take part in the debate surrounding free trade. Danny Lawrence of
BBC Radio says "This was the most enriching trip I have ever been
on. If you're busy trying to see the world, you won't get better guides than
the CU staff."
By negotiating with buyers in the tourist industry, the team from Concern
Universal have also created a market for the produce and by collecting,
grading and delivering it, can ensurep producers a fair and consistent
price. By taking part in workshops and discussions with buyers and chefs,
this is your chance to make a direct contribution to this pioneering
development project and help shape the future policy of a well-respected
development agency.
For all enquires please contact
Catriona Lennox on 01432 355111
Email: catriona.lennox@concern-universal.org
Website: www.concern-universal.org
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The true significance of Hathor in
the Egyptian creeds and myth.
Hathor the mother goddess who protects the newly born child for seven
successive days until he/she becomes healthy and safe. The myth of the seven
protective Hathors is often repeated in almost every birth-chapel and always
ends with the seventh-day party where gods all are invited then Hathor would
present her rattle-toy to the child. Modern Egyptians had inherited many of
these traditions as they still to celebrate the seventh-day birth party and
invites all families and neighbors, then the seven grain-seeds should be
scattered on floor of the child's house. Also the rattle-toy is presented to
the children. Probably the division of the week to be just seven days world
wide is after Hathor patronage. The most charming figure for Hathor is the one
that represent her melting with a woman face her triangular face, elongated
eyes and ears next to a woman cheeks, chin and mouth.
THE
MORAL QUESTION.
Earth is a planet like no other. It carries in it the beauty of
generations, the strength of nations and the mark of a life time of
endurance. Always I ask myself when are we going to put an end to this
continuous torture and pain we put this mass of beauty through.
Yes, everyone talks of climate change and what will happen in time if we
do not change our lifestyles. Everybody seems to understand the consequences of
our reckless use of scarce natural resources. However we fail to stop because
most of us seem to have a clear understanding of times and is wise enough to
know the most devastating effects will not occur in our life times.
However this is the moral question I wish to address in this article. Do
we really have to be careless about the way we live because we may not live long
enough to see or face the full consequences of our actions?
That is the question we must ask and search deep
into our hearts to find the answer. Let us peel out the thin film of greed, the
shallow feeling of pride and go deep into our hearts and find love, love for the
things we don’t see, love for the things we see and might never see again,
love for our unborn children. If we do find within us these answers then we
wouldn’t have the problem of climate change.
Sent in by Ndenge
Godden Zama
Executive President.
AFREDECC, Head
Office
Limbe
South West Province
Cameroon
Central Africa
Telephone: +(237)75894104
+(237)96854340
www.freetocharities.org.uk/afredecc
ngo.afredecc@yahoo.co.uk
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It's
dove at first sight
1852-1926
Born in 1852 in
Reus
(Camp de Tarragona) and son of a copper maker from
Riudoms, from childhood Gaudí was an attentive observer of nature and felt
attracted to its forms, colours and geometry. In 1868, he decided to study
architecture in
Barcelona
, in a college dominated by neo-classical and
romantic trends. Thus, his first architectural production swung between a
reinterpretation of historical canons with oriental influence and the recovery
of medieval events.
Despite his youth he received the
first assignments from the ecclesiastic world and the bourgeoisie, who would
always be his main clients. Among these, the Association of Devotees of
Saint Joseph
stands out as they commissioned him with the
Expiatory
Temple
of the Sagrada Família (the cathedral of the
modern
Barcelona
). Of equal importance was the industrialist Eusebi
Güell, the best client and essential patron, who entrusted him with the
construction of a palace, the church for an industrial colony, some pavilions
for his summer residence and a city-garden.
It appears that Gaudí achieved his greatest fame and
renown in 1910, gaining the attention of some Americans who asked him to build
a hotel in New York. An exhibition on Gaudí's work, promoted by Eusebi Güell,
was held in the Grand Palais in Paris, from April to June of 1910, and some of
the plans and photographs exhibited there were also taken a year later to the
I Salón de Arquitectura (First Annual Architecture Show) in Madrid. In 1911,
he had Maltese fever, and stayed for a time in Puigcerda, where his condition
worsened and, believing his time had come, he made out his will. To the day of
his death, he worked exclusively on the Sagrada Família, and in 1925 moved
his residence to the studio he had on the premises.
Old Gaudí and his death
In his old age, Gaudí was a man that was conformed with
little and dressed without much care; so much so that the day of his accident
nobody recognized him as he lay on the ground. On June 7, 1926, he was run
over by a tram at the intersection of Carrer de Bailén and the Gran Vía, and
the taxi drivers refused to take a poor vagabond to the hospital (the
municipal police fined them later for not assisting an injured man). He did
not seek out contact with journalists and he avoided cameras, so there are few
photographs of the architect.
This change in attitude may have been caused by a series of
events that took place beginning in 1912. That year, his niece, Rosa Egea, who
lived with him in Barcelona, died. In 1914, his faithful collaborator,
Francesc Berenguer Mestres, died, and for matters of professional fees, he was
confronted with the Milà family in litigation. In 1915, the continuity of the
construction of the Sagrada Familia was endangered by a serious economic
crisis. En 1914, construction of the Colonia Güell was definitively
interrupted. Two years later, his friend, Doctor Torras i Bages, Archbishop of
Vic, died. In 1918, his best friend and patron, Eusebi Güell, passed away.
They were sad events that affected him but did not limit his energy and desire
to see his greatest work, the Sagrada Família, come into being.
Gaudí died at the age of 74 (June 12, 1926), but if it
hadn't been for the tram he may have lived many more years, since his father
had lived to the age of 93, with all his vigor. Half of Barcelona dressed in
black to give final homage to a man that had become very popular, although few
had ever met him personally. His body was buried in the crypt of the edifice
where he had worked for the last 43 years of his life, the Sagrada Familia.
After his death in 1926, he and his
work entered a period of ostracism until the avant-gardist trends and the
international movement recuperated his figure while presenting him as an
example of modernisation and renewal of 20th century architecture.
www.gaudiclub.com
Sent in by L
Stephens. Wales UK
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Irish Luck.
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor
Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard
a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the
bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and
struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have
been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's
sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced
himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. I want to repay
you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." No, I can't
accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied waving off the
offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family
hovel. Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer
replied proudly "I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of
education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll
no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of." And that he did.
Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in
time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on
to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the
discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from
the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name?
Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: What goes around comes around. Work like
you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's
watching. Sing like nobody's listening. Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
An
Irish friendship wish:
May there always be work for your hands to do; May your
purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be
near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
Sent
in by Tracy Thomas. Wales UK
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World Harmony Run.
Pictured with Mr, Mrs Nelson Mandela is the founder of World Harmony Run, Sri
Chinmoy is 74 and currently lives in New York. He is internationally renowned
for many initiatives which promote global harmony. As well as sporting
activities Sri Chinmoy is also a prolific poet, artist, musician and
philosopher. He has dedicated his life to serving the ideal of world harmony and
oneness.
The World Harmony Run started in 1987 with the hope of bringing people
together from all over the world in a spirit of friendship, and harmony. Since
its inception the World Harmony Run has crossed many geographical and social
barriers to touch the lives of many 1000s who have participated in the Run.
Sri Chinmoy believes sports can play a vital role in promoting good
health and also understanding between different peoples. A global relay run is
therefore a very dynamic and practical initiative to bring the ideals of harmony
and understanding to many people.
The late Pope John Paul.
"I salute the runners... who are carrying a
torch to the destination of peace through the streets of the world.”
www.worldharmonyrun.org
Sent in by C Sullivan. Wales UK
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Transformation.
Normally most of what I write
is a way of venting negativity, however, on this page, everything is positive.
About a week ago (8/23/07) I got sick and tired of how things were going
for me. I found I had fallen into what I now call SSI Syndrome. SSI Syndrome
is simply one who grows lazy, unmotivated, and complacent. You know the type,
they sit home with their free living, watch their T.V. programs all day, eat
and snack all day. Most drink their beer, or coffee, smoke their cigarettes
and complacently watch their life go by not doing a thing about it, but piss
and moan that their life ain’t what they wanted.
A week ago I had had enough. I went to limewire.com and searched self-help,
and motivation. Below are four of the recordings I downloaded. Little did I
know that what I had intended would actually work.
The first thing I did was make up my mind I had to change things. Not, had
to have things change, but I had to change things. I started with the
subliminal stuff, I had also downloaded a sleep/meditation. I had no idea what
was to come. A couple of days of listening to these things, I started to
stretch out. I was also tired of not being able to touch my toes; not because
I’m too fat to reach, but just not limber enough to reach them. I also
started a regiment of typing affirmations. All positive things; like ‘I can
do what I will’, ‘I will find peace and happiness from within’, ‘I can
be a positive thinker’, and many more things. I type fifteen lines of each
affirmation.
A couple of days of doing this, and I got the notion that I wanted to take up
jogging. I had never had the motivation to do that before. I always wanted to,
but just never did. But after listening to those recordings for a few days, I
actually felt I could do anything. So, I went to the local park, and started
to jog the mile long track around the park. The first day I jogged the
majority of it, walking about a third of it. The next day I jogged the whole
two laps, and the day after as well. I still have no clue where this power of
motivation came from.
Now, I get up in the
morning, start the recordings, and start stretching. I go for my jog; which is
up to three laps, come home, stretch out again, do my affirmations. I put on
the subliminal recordings and let them repeat all day. While I shower, while I
cook, while I watch TV. I have listened to them well over a hundred times, and
I listen to them while I sleep. I don’t know if this motivation really came
from the recordings, or if it was just me wanting to change, but things
changed none-the-less. If you are having any motivational problems, I would
recommend this regiment, but first you got to want it!!!
Today, I like myself like I
have never loved myself before. I am proud of who I am, and am willed to
continue to take better care of myself. I have finally found I am worth it. I
value myself now. The affirmations are important. If you do them, make sure
you use no negative words. No; no’s, nots, won’ts. If you say “I won’t
be negative.” You have used two negative words and your mind knows it. So
use, “I wills”, “I cans”.
Let
me know if this works for you.
Proudly,
Joseph J Boyle
New York. USA.
An extract from
Joseph's website.
www.id-laberynth.com
*********************************************
People with disabilities.
People with disabilities should be judged as individuals and not merely on being
disabled. - By: Lynda Appell.
I have a disability myself. I am being treated for a mood
disorder, plus I have a learning disability. Last I was diagnosed about five
years ago with Adult ADD. So I suppose you could say I'm an addult. So this is
also a personal essay. I discovered many aspects of the world of people with
disabilities. The most important fact in my humble opinion, I learned that
disabled people don't want people feeling sorry for them. At least the persons I
discovered on the net definitely do not pity themselves. They emphasize the
positive, the things they can do. In other words the disABILITY. The
HandiCAPABLE. Instead of whining on what one can't do, these people concentrate
on what they can. They also stress the importance of rights for people with
disabilities and self-empowerment. There's a say in the disability rights
movement. "Nothing about us without us. That is disability professionals
and those they serve need to work together. By this I mean disabled people must
have their say in any policy, program, law that affects them. This includes
people with developmental disabilities. There is a local group where I live
called "Speaking for Ourselves." It is an organization where the
higher functioning mentally retarded can and do decide what is right for them in
their community. People with psychiatric disabilities are included too. Unless
someone is completely psychotic, people who are mentally ill are capable of
making decisions. At the very least they should be listened to by mental health
professionals, families and not presumed they don't know how to handle their
situations. I work in an agency for such persons and most, if not all are
perfectly able to decide for themselves. They also like to be as independent as
possible. They are also all individuals. They are people with disabilities. That
is they are people first. Their disability is just one part of them. The issues
of independent living, inclusion, mainstreaming are ones that can't be
compromised. Independent Living is living in the community as independently as
possible. That is without assistance. Inclusion is being involved in one's
community. Mainstreaming is being as much a part of the community as any person
who is not disabled is. Even if a person is severely disabled that person has
the right to be able to do whatever they can do. Anybody, everybody should be
able to contribute and do as much as they are capable of. That is how I feel
about my disability. My conditions do not define me who I am. They are some of
many facets that make up Lynda Appell This is of course, true of anyone and
every one who has a disability. Of course this goes for everyone in the world
People with a disability for the most part, do not want to be seen as just their
disability but as having abilities as well. After all people with disabilities
are and should be seen as individuals and their disability should NOT be the
sole defining factor of anyone. Bottom line, Be emphasizing the positive. I have
been a disabled disability activist for over 12 years. Mostly for my local
Community Support Program. CSP helps disabled persons access local services so
they can be as independent as possible. Also involved with Artists for Recovery.
www.artistsforrecovery.com
Sent in by Lynda Appell
Philla PA. USA
.www.disabilityinfo.freehomepage.com
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Dear Friends
I founded Peace One Day in 1999 to document my efforts to create an annual day
of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date. In 2001, POD
achieved its primary objective. United Nations General Assembly resolution (A/Res/55/282)
was unanimously adopted by UN member states, formally establishing an annual day
of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace, fixed
in the global calendar on 21 September – Peace Day.
With the Day in place, POD’s main aim is to raise awareness of Peace Day 21
September. POD is a non-profit organisation, impartial and independent of any
government, political persuasion, corporation or religious creed.
Last year on 21 September, 27.6 million people from 200 countries did something
for Peace Day. I hope you’ll make your own commitment for Peace Day and log it
on this website. By working together there will be Peace One Day. We look
forward to hearing from you.
With thanks and best wishes
In peace
Jeremy Gilley
www.peaceoneday.org
Sent in by
Hannah
Evan-Jones. Wales UK
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In my hand is a Stars and Stripes flag which was flown above one of the
mortuary sites at Ground Zero . It was given to me at the memorial by a member
of the First Response Paramedics team for FDNY and I was asked to put it safe.
On return from New York I contacted South Wales Police and donated the flag
for safe keeping . It has now been displayed in the Foyer area of the South
Wales Police HQ in Bridgend for all future visiting police officers
through the world to see when they visit South Wales Police.
Dave Boyce
Wales UK.
A Tribute.
Standing there in the morning sun,
Three Forty Bobbies there as one
All very proud and left to enter,
The scared ground of the
World Trade Centre.
For on that day we all did pray
For all lives lost a year that day.
But hope is there on Nine Eleven
As we pray for those who art in heaven.
For South Wales Police, I was one of seven
To mourn the loss of Nine Eleven.
Many lost, as our greatest heroes
We mourn their loss there at Ground Zero.
As heroes they died, at the World Trade Centre
Most knowing the risks as they did enter
Many lives saved, on that fateful day
By our rescue friends for you to pray.
We stood there whilst they read their names
For candles flicker ember flames.
For all lives lost we will remember
On the eleventh day, every September.
Written by Sc 7061. Dave Boyce
On behalf of South Wales Police. UK
At the Memorial, New York. 2002.
*********************************************
|
In Loving
Memory
Diana
Frances Spencer
July
1,1961
August
31,1997
|
To
dream...
The impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To
bear with unbearable sorrow
To
run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try..
When your arms are too
weary
To
reach the unreachable star
This is my quest to follow that star
No
matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To
fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell..
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To
this glorious quest...
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When
I'm laid to my rest
And
the world will be better for this
That one soul, scorned and covered with scars
Still
strove with her last ounce of courage...
To reach the unreachable star....
... And the world will be better for this
That
one soul, scorned and covered with scars
Still
strove with her last ounce of courage
To
reach the unreachable star
To
fight the unbeatable foe
To
dream the impossible dream
|
From:
Man of LaMancha
Music
by Mitch Leigh
Lyrics
by Joe Darion
|
Sent in by L Stephens.Wales. UK
*********************************************
The
smell of rain.
A
cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked
into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from
surgery. Her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the
latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications has forced Diana,
only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couples
new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.
At
12inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was
perilously premature, Still the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. " I
don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could.
There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then,
if by some slim chance she dos make it, her future could be a cruel one,"
Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the
devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never
walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly
be prone to other catastrophic conditions form cerebral palsy to complete mental
retardation, and on and on.
"No!
No!" was all Diana could say. She and David with their 5-year -old son
Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a
family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away ,
But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana, because
Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially "raw" the
lightest kiss to caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even
cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their
love, All they could do as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in
he tangle of tubes and wires was to pray that God would stay close to the
precious little girl.
There
was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by,
she did slowly gain and ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there, At
last when Dana turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their
arms for he very first time. And two months later, though doctors
continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less
living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the
hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Five years later, when Dana was a petite but
feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life,
She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment, Simply, she
was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from
the end of the story.
One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996
near her home in Irving Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the
bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was
practicing. As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several
other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent, Hugging her arms
across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?" smelling the
air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes. it
smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell
that?" once again her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get
wet. It smells like rain." Still caught in he moment, Dana shook her head,
patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No,
it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on his chest.
Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other
children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and
all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their
hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of
her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was
holding Dana on his chest and it is His loving scent she remembers so well.
"I can do all things in Him who
strengthens me."
Sent in by N Caulfield. Wales
UK
*********************************************
www.peacemala.org.uk
WRISTBANDS A
SIMPLE WAY TO SPREAD PEACE
A Swansea teacher's plea for tolerance in the wake of
the September 11 attacks is now being heard worldwide, as KAY BYRNE reports
Religious studies teacher Pam Evans was only trying to help stop some of her
Muslim pupils from being bullied after the 2001 terror attacks on New York. She
came up with the idea of a bracelet of coloured beads - each one symbolising a
major world faith - and a simple message: "Treat others how you would wish
to be treated yourself." Little did she realise then that the Peace Mala,
as she named the bracelet, would end up being worn by children and adults all
over the globe. Peace Mala has now grown from a little group of pupils in
Coedcae Comprehensive School in Llanelli to an organisation respected worldwide
and endorsed by religious leaders like the Pope, the Dalai Lama and the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
It has just become registered as a charity too and has won a £25,000 grant from
the Community Development Foundation."Being a registered charity will help
us access more funding," said Pam, who has so far run the organisation with
only the help of volunteers from her base in Morriston."As we get busier we
need more professional help. This grant will enable us to employ a part-time
administrator and co-ordinator, and that is something we desperately
need."The money will also help fund the training of around 60 more
volunteers to run workshops and help spread the word."
Pam, of Morriston, has retired from teaching and has been busy taking the Peace
Mala message of religious tolerance out to schools and community groups all over
Britain."The enthusiasm is tremendous, particularly in ethnic communities.
The children always come up to me afterwards and thank me for pointing out the
true meaning of their faiths."Adults love it too. I had an email from a
couple in Scotland who were getting married and planning to give away a hundred
Peace Malas to their guests."
The Peace Mala message will soon be reaching an even larger audience, thanks to
another grant of nearly £5,000 to produce a DVD showing schools and other
organisations how they can get involved. The bracelet is now being used as a
teaching aid in schools all over the UK. It has even inspired a London
interfaith forum to launch an interfaith football team, and all the players wear
one of the bracelets.
The charity's website is also winning Pam fans from all over the world.
"When we launched the annual Peace Mala youth awards last year we had
entries mainly from South Wales," she said. "For this year's awards in
September we have already received entries from all over the UK and even from as
far afield as America. Peace Mala will also reach a global audience when it
takes part in the Llangollen International Eisteddfod this summer. "Llangollen
was set up after the Second World War as a gesture of friendship from the people
of that town to the people of Europe," said Pam."It has grown and
grown and is a wonderful eisteddfod, sending out messages of peace and goodwill
through dance, drama and song. "Peace Mala is doing the same sort of work
but in a different way and we have been invited to have a presence on the field
on International Children's Day and International Family Day."
Pam's vision, and her determination to see it through, was recognised recently
when she was presented with an award at the launch of the Swansea Interfaith
Forum. The Noble Soul Award for 2006 was presented by Racial Attacks &
Harassment Monitoring Association in recognition of Pam's outstanding
contribution to challenging Islamaphobia in schools. "Midway through the
ceremony, I was called on stage and presented with the award. It was completely
unexpected. I was honoured and humbled and absolutely thrilled.
"But what pleases me most of all is the way Peace Mala is growing.
Something that I started for my own students is now helping marginalised
youngsters all over the world."
Article from the
South Wales Evening Post.UK
Sent in by C Sullivan. Wales UK
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This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now
home to the 4th Infantry division. It will eventually be shipped home and
put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood , TX
The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who
for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze
busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad .
Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his
country; he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue
as a memorial to the American soldiers and their fallen warriors, Kalat
worked on this memorial night and day for several months. To the left of
the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as
he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.
Do you know why we don't hear about this in the news?
Because it is heart warming and praise worthy. The media avoids it because
it does not have the shock effect.
But we can do something about it. We can pass this along
to as many people as we can in honor of all our brave military who are
making a difference.
From an American Friend
USA.
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