Food for Thought

So I've been collecting some quotes that made me think; some relate to international development and politics and others just relate to life in general...

This first one, to me, is the whole goal of international development:
Go with the people.
Live with them.
Learn from them.

Love Them.

Start with what they know.
Build from what they have.

And of the best leaders,
When the job is done, the
Task accomplished,
The people will all say:

"We have done this ourselves."

Lao Tsu, China
700 B.C.

These next two reflect my feelings about the corruption in politics:

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than
those who falsely believe they are free."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I said how come
I can't tell
the free world
from living hell
I said how come
How come
all I see
is a child of god
in misery
I said how come the pistol now as profit
The bullet some kind of lord and king
But pain is the only promise that this so called savior is going to bring
Love can be a liar
And justice can be a thief
And freedom can be an empty cup from which everybody want to drink
I said how come
I can't tell
the free world
from living hell
I said how come
How come
all i see
is a child of god
in misery
I said how come
Its just man killing man
Killing man
Killing man
Killing man
Killing man
I don't understand
Its just man killing man
-Song by Ray LaMontagne

Life:

"Blessed is the Match that is Consumed Kindling a Flame."
-Hannah Senesh

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
-Henry David Thoreau

Here is a map to see where Paraguay is, for those who weren't sure.

THE END!

A Few Thoughts

There are a couple of great organizations that are just starting out and I think deserve some recognition, so I wanted to share a little bit about them with you all.

1. One is Humanitarian Efforts to Lessen Poverty in Africa (HELP Africa) and it has assisted a lot of various nonprofits with projects in D.R. Congo and Togo, but now is just starting to be in charge of their own projects. They have many programs that they are starting to develop and the most developed is a micro-finance program in partnership with KIVA. Their overall goal is assisting in the economic and social development of Africa.

Some cute Togolese children

I'm currently working on a cultural exchange program that includes bringing students from Africa to study at Virginia Tech in exchange for a few hours a week to give presentations on African cultural to schools and community groups. For more info go to HELPAfrica.net


2. When we were travelling through Peru, we stopped at a small town (about 3,000) of Ollantaytambo (between Cusco and Machu Picchu). There, we met an English woman who was running the "Hearts Cafe" in order to fund her nonprofit, Living Heart (livingheartperu.org). They work with the indigenous Quechua high in the mountains of Peru, trying to improve health and education, particularly of women and children, in order to increase their opportunities and quality of life.

3. Project Esperanza (Esperanzameanshope.org) is an organization co-founded by one of the nicest classmates I have had at Virginia Tech. This organization works in the Dominican Republic, specifically in Puerta Plata and does a range of community development programs there. They also have a good amount of projects with immigrants in the new river valley region here in Southwest Virginia.


Some cute Dominican Children from Puerta Plata

These organizations are fairly new and were founded by some of the most sincere and dedicated people I have ever met, so please see if there is any way you can help them out!

On the Paraguay front, I'm having issues with dental clearance, because they won't clear me until I get my crown in place, so hopefully that all works out ASAP!

I probably will continue random-thought posting until May, when I will have something concrete to post about.

Julie

P.S. I have decided I don't want to check my posts for grammatical errors, so I hope that does not turn away any readers! :)