Dear World: We are equal. Photo: Grace Chung

The harsh taste of dust in the air, the whirring sound of helicopters circling above, armoured military convoys speeding past horse-drawn fruit carts. This is Kabul — a major waypoint along the old silk route; a crossroads between the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, the former Soviet states and the Far East.

You don’t need to spend much time here to realise that in Afghanistan, everyone has a story to tell. Stories about the people, their hopes for the future of their country — for peace and development. Many are inspiring, but most go untold.

Enter Grace Chung, a postgraduate student at Harvard who spent a summer interning at Roshan, Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications provider. She had witnessed first-hand the positive impact of Roshan’s social welfare programmes on communities in Afghanistan, and she could see glimmers of hope and a level of determination among beneficiaries that had gone unnoticed by the rest of the world.

While at Roshan, Chung came up with an idea to help draw attention to the ordinary people in Kabul. She decided to implement a Dear World campaign.

Dear World: Sharing time and knowledge. Photo: Grace Chung

Dear World is a global movement that gives voice to people’s messages through stark yet compelling photography. Having started in post-Katrina New Orleans, the movement’s distinct portraiture became a signpost for human inspiration.

On the face of it, Chung’s plan was simple enough — collate a selection of messages and share them with a global audience. However the logistics proved more complex, especially in a city like Kabul. The challenges included identifying participants, arranging to meet them and complying with the stringent security regulations in the region.

Fortunately the stars aligned and Chung was able to photograph a number of participants from various organisations. Roshan Community, the corporate social responsibility arm of Roshan, facilitated the gatherings as part of their commitment to support and empower communities.

Dear World: I like the environment to be clean. Photo: Grace Chung

At each photo-shoot, there was an air of excitement. Participants — some as young as nine years old — came up with their own messages without any help from others. Timidity gave way to boldness, as the initiative gave them a sense of empowerment.

Through the Dear World project, participants had opportunity to articulate their aspirations and share them with a wider audience. It also encouraged them to craft positive, inspirational messages and bond around common dreams, while feeling valued and satisfied that their voices could be heard.

Despite suffering the ravages of conflict, poverty and insecurity, participants looked to the future with optimism and determination. They envisaged something better, refusing to accept the status quo. Even young girls came forward to have their photos taken and share their messages with the world.

Glimpsing into people’s hopes and aspirations, Dear World Afghanistan revealed a common will to strive for a bigger and brighter future. Most importantly it gave voice to some of the many stories that the people of Afghanistan had been waiting to tell.

Diyana’s story

Dear World: I want to become a doctor (Diyana). Photo: Grace Chung

Diyana sits at the back of the classroom, a reticent expression on her face. Even as her classmates compete for attention, she remains preoccupied with her own thoughts. She has plenty to contribute to the discussion, but her voice is often drowned out by the boys, who outnumber the girls four to one.

But Diyana is confident and content. She dreams of a future when her views will be sought after. One day —Diyana hopes — she will be a doctor.

Afghanistan suffers from a lack of female professionals, especially in healthcare. The country’s maternal and infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world. If Diyana realises her dream, she will be able to serve her community and contribute to improving the quality of life of the people of her country.

Diyana goes to school through Aschiana, an Afghan NGO that has provided services and support to street working children and their families for close to ten years. It services close to 3,500 children, including 680 in a school sponsorship programme.

Satar’s story

Dear World: Nothing is impossible (Satar). Photo: Grace Chung

It’s 6:00 PM on a Thursday — the end of the work week in Afghanistan. As other employees at the Roshan call centre grab their bags and head for the exit, Satar is just arriving. He works the evening shift, having spent the day at English classes, studying for the TOEFL — a test of English language proficiency.

Despite having been unsuccessful three times previously, Satar is not deterred. In order to be accepted into university, he needs to pass the exam, and he is willing to do what it takes.

As a teenager, Satar spent a number of years fixing computers after school, outdoors in the cold, using a diesel generator as the sole source of energy. This helped buy books and support the education of his siblings. His family have lived through difficult times, but they have worked hard to stay above the poverty line.

Satar has big plans for the future. He would like to study Business and wants to manage a large team. While he recognises that the odds are stacked against him, he draws inspiration from his faith. In order to succeed, he says he would prefer to struggle now while he is young, rather than later in life. To Satar, nothing is impossible.

Satar works at Roshan, a project company of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. Roshan believes that businesses have a powerful role to play in building communities. It sees itself as a catalyst for growth and socio-economic development in Afghanistan through its commercial operations and its corporate social responsibility programmes.

Merza and Fazila’s stories

Dear World: I love skateboarding (Merza). Photo: Grace Chung

In a state-of-the-art dome on the outskirts of the city, children on skateboards glide across the wooden boards, pulling stunts as they go by. Skateistan is an NGO run by volunteers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. They see skateboarding as a tool for empowerment in Afghanistan, where the sport previously didn’t exist.

Merza used to wash cars during the freezing winters in Kabul. He joined Skateistan to escape from the conflict around him and two years later, is now the facility manager at the skate park. While maintaining equipment and encouraging younger children to take part, Merza is also learning how to manage teams and projects, building capacity in preparation for a brighter future.

As a child, Fazila used to spend her days selling chewing gum on the streets of Kabul, skipping school in order to make some money for her family. Now 14, she works part-time at Skateistan, which enables her to attend classes while providing an income for her family.

Dear World: Skate 4 Afghanistan (Fazila on the right). Photo: Grace Chung

The facility has opened a number of doors for her. Fazila recently returned from the San Patrignano skateboarding event in Italy, where she represented Afghanistan as part of a team of four girls. It was her first time outside of the country, her first time on an airplane and the first time she got to see the ocean.

Now she is an instructor to younger girls, encouraging them to attend school and teaching them how to skate. Fazila hopes for a future of peace and freedom in the country, and would like one day to be the director of Skateistan.

A Kabul-based NGO, Skateistan sees skateboarding as a tool for empowerment. Working with male and female youth, it provides facilities where they can come together to skateboard, forge bonds that transcend social barriers, and affect change on issues that are important to them.

Source: The Ismaili Org

 

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The research published in The Lancet journal on Monday, was conducted by the Aga Khan University’s division of women and child health in collaboration with the Lady Health Workers Programme of the Sindh government, the Boston University’s Centre for Global Health and Development and the World Health Organisation’s Department of Child and Adolescent Health.

Read full article at Dawn com Pakistan

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Please click for “Inca Gods” by Mohezin Tejani

Source: Simerg com

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Ute Visions

Please click for “Ute Visions

Source: Simerg com

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After 33 years of making music come to life for Linwood College pupils, Tony Ryan is leaving the school and Christchurch.

The head of music, who led the decile 2 school’s orchestra on a successful European tour last year after raising $220,000, has taken voluntary redundancy and will finish on March 1.

“snip”

Ryan, 60, said he was not ready to retire and was considering options, including moving to Kenya to work at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa.

The academy is headed by former Linwood College principal Rob Burrough.

Read full story at The Press Co New Zealand

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The study, Patterns of HIV infection among native and refugee Afghans, was aimed at characterising and comparing the HIV epidemics prevailing among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the native Afghans in Kabul.

It was conducted by the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University (AKU); Department of Microbiology, Dow University of Health Sciences, and Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University Programme, Kabul. It was published in a research journal, AIDS.

Read more at Dawn com

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This House has no confidence in Bahrain’s promise to reform

Bahrain’s ruling family was dealt a blow after an audience made up of mainly young Arabs used a globally televised debate to say the monarchy was unlikely to make good their promise of reform.

The motion was passed by a resounding 78% in favour and 22% against -  a slap in the face for a government promising its people long-awaited political reform.
The session, part of the eighth series of the award-winning Doha Debates, a leading platform for free speech in the Arab world, comes just weeks after an official investigation found that Bahraini government security forces had used excessive force and widespread torture against anti-government protesters earlier in the year.

Tens of thousands of mainly Shiites took to the streets in Bahrain in February and March demanding political reform and better rights, with some calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa monarchy. The uprising was brutally crushed by the regime and thousands were arrested and sacked from public and private sector jobs.
A government-sponsored inquiry into the unrest, led by respected Egyptian-born human rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, made a series of recommendations, which a special commission in Bahrain is studying. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has promised reform.

In often sharp exchanges between panellists and audience members, Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Christopher Davidson, a Reader of Middle East Politics at Durham University in the UK consistently argued that Bahrain’s monarchy were not interested in taking the country forward.

Rajab accused the government of repeated human rights violations against its people, while Davidson said the recent Bassiouni report amounted to the government “papering over cracks”.

“This is yet more window dressing – short- term measures rather than genuine reform,” he said.

Arguing against the motion, Abdulla Alderazi a lecturer at the University of Bahrain and Khaled Almaeena, Editor-at-Large of Arab News, an English language newspaper in Saudi Arabia, said Bahrain could and should reform. “For any government, reform is a necessity; it’s not an option or a choice,” Almaeena said. 
At one point, Ala’a Shehabi, a Bahraini, whose husband has been a political prisoner for 8 months, stood up in the audience and said: “I don’t want to live off a whim of a king that decides to jail people.”

Saudi Arabia, which helped Bahrain put down the protest movement, had become the “counter revolutionary force” in the Arab Spring, Davidson said. “I think one of the most dangerous things in the Arab Spring are the Saudis,” added Rajab.
Asked a straight question Alderazi, who said he had confidence in Bahrain’s promise of reform, nevertheless called for the prime minister to resign after more than 40 years in office. The kingdom, he said repeatedly, needed to move forward.

Source: The Real News com

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 The ego is always trying to dupe us we need to crush it before humanity. Paulo Coelho is always my favorite writer and an inspirational figure. This is a must read story and don’t underestimate your comments after reading it. Thank you Paulo for your contribution to the world of mutual understanding. God Bless you!

Abrazo

Nooru

Por Rosa Montero

We are at the restaurant of a German University. A red haired student, and undeniably German takes her tray and sits down at her table. She then realizes she has forgotten her cutlery and gets up again to pick it up.(…)

Read more at Nooru wordpress com

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By Lillian Aluanga

A group of students from Kenyan schools will be Africa’s representatives to one of the world’s most prestigous Mathematics tournaments, scheduled for next month.

The Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament is an annual competition for high school students held at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This year’s event will be held on February 11 at Harvard, and will have participants from North America, Europe and Asia, with countries like Canada, USA, China, India, and South Korea represented.

Kenya is the only country from Africa participating in the tournament, which will have about 900 students tested in various topics, including Algebra and Geometrics. A team comprises of between six and eight students, with countries allowed to enter a maximum of three teams. (,,,)
 

Read more at The Standard media co Kenya

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Fullscreen (28 Mb)

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View of the Galaxy

12/29/2009

Our Sun is just one out of over 200 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The Sun is located in the Orion arm of our galaxy about 25,000 light years from the center of the Galaxy. Kepler will be examining over 100,000 stars in our neighborhood of our galaxy in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. Most of these stars will be somewhere between 500 and 3,000 light years from our solar system.
Credit: NASA Kepler Mission/Dana Berry

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NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form….

“Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky,” said Doug Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now, in just two years staring at a patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This tells us that our galaxy is positively loaded with planets of all sizes and orbits.”

The artist’s rendering depicts the multiple planet systems discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. Out of hundreds of candidate planetary systems, scientists had previously verified six systems with multiple transiting planets (denoted here in red).  Now, Kepler observations have verified planets (shown here in green) in 11 new planetary systems.  Many of these systems contain additional planet candidates that are yet to be verified (shown here in dark purple). For reference, the eight planets of the solar system are shown in blue. Credit: NASA Ames/Jason Steffen, Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics

Each of the planetary systems contains two to five closely spaced transiting planets. In tightly packed planetary systems, the gravitational pull of the planets on each other causes some planets to accelerate and some to decelerate along their orbits. The acceleration causes the orbital period of each planet to change. Kepler detects this effect by measuring the change, or so-called Transit Timing Variations (TTVs).
Planetary systems with TTVs can be verified without requiring extensive ground-based observations, accelerating confirmation of planet candidates. The TTV detection technique also increases Kepler’s ability to confirm planetary systems around fainter and more distant stars
Five of the systems (Kepler-25, Kepler-27, Kepler-30, Kepler-31 and Kepler-33) contain a pair of planets where the inner planet orbits the star twice during each orbit of the outer planet. Four of the systems (Kepler-23, Kepler-24, Kepler-28 and Kepler-32) contain a pairing where the outer planet circles the star twice for every three times the inner planet orbits its star.
“These configurations help to amplify the gravitational interactions between the planets, similar to how my sons kick their legs on a swing at the right time to go higher,” said Jason Steffen, the Brinson postdoctoral fellow at Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics in Batavia, Ill., and lead author of a paper confirming four of the systems.
“The approach used to verify the Kepler-33 planets shows the overall reliability is quite high,” said Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the paper on Kepler-33. “This is a validation by multiplicity.”

Click to Read,view and watch video at Kepler NASA

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IYA KeplerA Short BiographyA List of Kepler’s FirstsKepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion People and Events Contemporary to Kepler (1571-1630) Articles about Kepler Biographies and books on Kepler Links to Other Sites about Johannes Kepler (music, drama, animations, lectures, museums, sites with biographies)

(Picture courtesy of Sternwarte Kremsmünster, Upper-Austria) 

Johannes Kepler was born about 1 PM on December 27, 1571, in Weil der Stadt, Württemberg, in the Holy Roman Empire of German Nationality. He was a sickly child and his parents were poor. But his evident intelligence earned him a scholarship to the University of Tübingen to study for the Lutheran ministry. There he was introduced to the ideas of Copernicus and delighted in them. In 1596, while a mathematics teacher in Graz, he wrote the first outspoken defense of the Copernican system, the Mysterium Cosmographicum.

Read more http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/JohannesKepler/

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