El Güegüense

El Güegüense (also known as Macho Ratón, and means "Old Man") is a satirical drama and was the first literary work of pre-colombian Nicaragua. It is regarded as one of Latin Americas most distinctive colonial-era expressions and as Nicaraguas signature folkloric masterpiece combining music, dance and theater. El Güegüense is performed during the feast of San Sebastián in Diriamba (Carazo department) from January 17 to the 27th.

Origin
The theatrical play was written by an anonymous author in the 16th century, making it one of the oldest indigenous theatrical/dance works of the Western Hemisphere. It was passed down orally for many centuries until it was finally written down and published into a book in 1942.

History
"El Güegüense" represents folklore of Nicaragua, therefore, UNESCO proclaimed it a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2005 making Nicaragua the only country in Central America and one of six in Latin America to have 2 proclaimed masterpieces by UNESCO.

The plot

The Güegüense is visited by Captain Alguacil Mayor, who summons the Güegüense to go to the Royal Cabildo to arrange payment of taxes. When the clever Güegüense is facing Governor Tastuanes he uses his ingeniousness to convince the governor of setting up a marriage between doña Suche Malinche and the Güegüense’s loyal son, don Forsico. This way the Güegüense evades having to pay taxes to the authorities he so despises. When speaking, the Güegüense often uses unruly phrases with a double meaning and he frequently imitates a deaf person to mock and ridicule the authorities. He glorifies his marvelous merchandise, which he checks on various occasions. According to his son don Forsico the merchandise is real, but the other son, don Ambrosio, angrily classifies them as being false, accusing his father of being a fraud and a cheater. The play ends with festivities at the Royal Cabildo.

Alternating the spoken parts, various dances are performed during the play. Originally only the beasts would perform these dances, according to certain studies, but nowadays the Spanish characters participate as well. In some untraditional presentations performed by professionals, the dances are carried out with creative choreographic innovations.

Characters
The play includes 14 characters.

The three mestizos:
Güegüense (and his sons): Don Forcico and Don Ambrosio

The Spanish authorities:

Governor Tastuanes,Captain Alguacil Mayor, the Royal Clerk and the Royal Assistant.

The women:

Doña Suche Malinche.

Machos:

Macho-moto, Macho-viejo, Macho-mohino, and Macho-guajaqueño (the four beasts of burden; referred to as ‘machos’)

Unagi no Kabayaki

Today is Midsummer Day of the Ox in Japanese calendar when we eat Unagi no Kabayaki,you can read about Kabayaki here.

We eat it to improve strength and get through the hot summer.

Highest place in Estonia

Estonian highest place is Suur Munamägi. It is 318m high and located in the South-Estonia.

If you visit Estonia, please come and see it yourself, because nature is beautiful in Estonia.

Poor Africa

This is a post that was on my personal blog, that a friend suggested could do witha wider audience.. So here it is :)

Call it pride (if you are kindly disposed). One of the things that irks me the most is the “poor Africa” tag that “poor Africa” has to live with. It is something I have always been aware of, but perhaps am even more acutely aware of now that Zimbabwe has become “poor Zimbabwe”. I don’t know exactly why, but it bothers me to no end. I think a lot of it has to do with how so few people acknowledge the history of Africa when they consider its problems today, and also, perhaps, the fact that people do not seem to realise that most of the resources that make the West work so very well come from Africa. The diamond you are wearing is likely to have originated in Botswana, and the gold from South Africa; the coffee you drink at Starbucks comes from Equatorial Guinea or the Ivory Coast. (It didn’t originate in the shop where you got it from- but we never really think that far).But I think on some level people know this… It just doesn’t really figure when you see those infernal pictures of African children with large tummies and flies buzzing around their mouths.

It irks me even more when I see those same awful images on Christian TV, as part of an appeal to Western pockets for Christian missions. It feels like Africa is still stuck in the dark old days of missionaries coming over to “enlighten the natives”. Sometimes I agree with my more militant friends that it’s like there’s a conspiracy to “keep Africa down”, because who doesn’t know how you can destroy the spirit of a people by treating them like doormats? The easiest way to dominate a people is to offer handouts, make them aware of their “low status” (this of course in relation to you), be condescending. I am in no way saying that charity for Africa is a bad thing- I know I am one of the privileged few, and there are many who truly are in trouble and are helped by kind souls from the West; what I hate with a passion is the propaganda associated with African aid. And I know many in the West come to Africa with their eyes and minds closed, and so never see the good things we do have here. What about the fact that although we have AIDS and malaria, we have less heart disease, non-AIDS-related cancer, depression, and all the issues of social malaise that so plague the West? What about the fact that no one is falling down because they have been working continuously for four years with no chance of a holiday? How come people don’t “go postal” in Africa? Why is Africa so consistently demeaned by the Western press, as if nothing good ever happens here, and nothing bad in the West? (This is why I only watch BBC!)

I wish someone somewhere would start to point out Africa’s REAL problems- absolute mismanagement by the leaders, corruption, lack of visionary leadership- and put the “old” problems – famine, conflict, lack of access to resources (education, water, power, etc) in context. There is no way that all the money the West gives will ever solve Africa’s problems. I’m not always hopeful about Africa- I think only time will tell, really- but one thing that is actually going right is that there is a reduction in conflicts across the continent. That counts for a whole lot. The money that is currently used to give aid to the people of Africa (and so allowing misrule to continue) would be better spent on think tanks or pressure groups to plot a new direction for leadership in Africa (if it came to that). But most of all I just wish people would stop calling Africa, land of gold, silver, copper, tin, platinum, aluminium, diamonds, emeralds, coffee, tea, sugar, corn, tobacco, cattle, etc etc etc “POOR”.

When I was in Australia, the nicer people wanted to know more about Africa, were genuinely curious and open to what I had to say. There were others who could not help asking me if I had been to the United Kingdom (educated there you see) because why else would I speak English? (I have not). They were the same people who could not fathom that there are laptops in Africa and internet access, that we also do have digital cameras and cellphones- because these people think we “still” live in trees (actually, most of us never did). I find it incredible that there is still so much ignorance about this continent that I have such a conflicted relationship with… And sometimes I think I should make it my cause: to educate “them” about “us”.

Call any vegetable

I’m a fan of vegetables and fruits, and I also have a lot of free time so I go to the market about 2 or 3 times a week. I don't have a very appropriate picture for a Romanian farmers' market but I will try to describe one as good as I can.



Here’s how a Romanian market looks like. It’s a rectangular place, a part of it is under a roof, but not all, with lots of metal and wooden booths.

There are two types of people who come and sell things there. First there are the direct producers, the peasants who live in villages close to the city and bring their vegetables, fruit, cheese, milk and eggs to sell them here. Their merchandise is very different, you can tell their tomatoes are from their own garden because they are not all alike, they are smaller or rounder or the color is more or less intense. There are small producers and big ones, depending of their financial power. The small producers are usually older and they bring small amounts of varied merchandise. It’s like they bring a little bit of everything. It is possible to find even old women selling two or three bunches of flowers they’ve picked from their own garden or from the fields. They also sell some wild plants we use to make tea of, I won’t tell you what plants because it’s hard to translate. These people bring and expose their merchandise directly on the booths, on pieces of news papers, or on pieces of old clothes. At first, at the market, there was only this kind of people. Now they are a minority and, because of Romania’s entrance in the UE, they’ll probably completely disappear soon.

The other people that come and sell are people who buy the merchandise from the great importers. Their fruits and vegetables are sometimes less tasty and, probably, less healthy. They bring them in boxes, they are all the same shape and size… like waxen fruits and vegetables.

Prices in the market place are usually lower than in the supermarkets. And the fruits and vegetables, be it from the peasants or not, are fresher and look better. And besides, it’s a great place to feel alive and in touch with real people and real life :)

L.G

Bikes in Copenhagen

Copenhagen (capital of Denmark) is trying to make itself the image of a 'green' city. Though hypocracy flourishes, fact is that transportations for work is roughly 1/3 drives their own car (one person in each, of course), 1/3 take train, bus or other collective transportation, and 1/3 their bike. It's also a fact that bikes have their own bike streets, like on the picture.
Actually, it is faster to go by bike to the centre of Copenhagen, as the streets are overcrowded and velocity slow. And you do not have problems parking. And no expenses either. And it is healthier, as people tend to eat too much and too fat. But the trend is not for more bikes. Denmark is a wealthy country, and the trend is rather that families have their second car. So maybe in a few years, there'll be even more cars, less bikes.

5385 km per litre

This little miracle of Swiss engineering travels an equivalent of 5385 km per litre of petrol. For our American friends: that's 12'666 miles per gallon. The Pac-car runs on a hydrogen powered fuel cell.

3000 X each year !!

it's official now, each year, 3000 kids, are born in Algeria, under X, which means the mother is not married. as a result the government has introduce a new law to use ADN test to identify the father.

damn it, our society is doomed, words like single mum,sex before marriage, are no more a taboo.

fu.....

Weight carrying in Haiti

In Haiti, people often have to carry more or less heavy weights over a certain distance. Whether it's a bucket of water, a bag of cement or a stack of chairs, the top of the head is the preferred way of carrying weights for people who have to walk around with them.


Very often you will see young people carrying gallons or bucket of water on their heads; because most people don't have running water in their homes, they have to get the water from another location and carry it back with them. Many street sellers walk around with their merchandise on top of their head as well, only putting the weight down when selling to a customer or to take a break. As you can see those people have extraordinary balance.

heheheh i am permanent now!!!

we had a small party in the office this morning, to congratulate the new lucky workers who has now permanent job, i am one of them, in my short work experience (7 years) i had got 5 jobs, my first job was a French teacher in the local high school, it was rather an interesting position although it has nothing to do with my diploma, a Bsc in civil engineering, the most amazing thing was that i taught girls who were merely three years less then me. but as a good Algerian i did not take advantage of the situation, not really for moral reason, but the truth is that i live in a small country side we all know each other, so if you do something wrong, they'll catch you for sure.

anyway the teaching experience lasted just one year, then i worked for three others construction firms, to be short, it was a lost of time, except the meeting with river of paradise ( a female name in Arabic) but this is really another story.

then my last position which is a junior planner in a general contractor, here in the south of Algeria, i don't know why but whatever i told people( specially from north's earth) that i work in the desert, they'll get excited. i think people has a phantasm about desert, sand, sun the never ending places. ok for me it's not , i hate desert , it's boring,it's hot, i get up at 7 AM and it's already 35 °, and the obligation to work for 42 days before going home, which is 600 kms away.

still, i am happy, i have to be, it's a kind of a miracle to have a permanent job, in this country, now, i can take a credit from a bank for buying a car, a house.

Wheelchair ramp building

CASA (Care Assurance System for the Aging and homebound) is a locally based organization that works with elderly and disabled people. One of their regular projects is building wheelchair ramps to enable handicapped people easy access to their homes. In June, my youngest son and I had the opportunity to help build a wheelchair ramp for a local family. It didn’t take long, just a Saturday morning, and we only had to help with some sawing and hammering, since the leaders are quite experienced with the process. But it was a good experience for us, especially when the man who lived there was able to roll out his front door and down to his yard without anyone having to carry him or struggle with his wheelchair.

More pics

Healthier...

The picture above was taken just four hours ago… The picture is not upside down- that is the scene of an accident just outside my window. We call those “Kombis”, and that is the form of transport most people use to get around (not just in Zimbabwe, but in many parts of Africa). Believe it or not, no one was overly damaged in this accident… It does not stop a crowd from gathering though :)

In the meantime, the average Zimbabwean grows ever more healthy- as ironic as that may be. Most people continue to walk to and from work, forget about having sugar in their tea or meat on their plates, and join whichever queue they happen to come upon (after a while it is appropriate to ask what you are queuing for, but a lot of people will just stand quietly and find out when they get to the front). To be absolutely honest, this week has not been the disaster predicted in (mostly) the South African press: for some reason, there are deliveries of some things to the supermarkets, although not in any huge quantities (and no there’s still no sugar). Unfortunately people have gotten used to hoarding, and unless the supermarket management limit quantities, people will buy extra just so they can have it at home (or, in some cases, re-sell it on the black market). It would be unfair not to point out that in a way the “price slashing” brought relief to Zimbabweans; a lot of things had become unaffordable, and one had to scramble more and more for extra cash just to buy basics. If there is no worsening of shortages in the coming weeks, I imagine that people will forget that it seemed like an insane idea in the first place :)

And I am told that Zambia went through something like this (or worse) when they had their troubles… I recall travelling there in the mid-nineties (I am actually part-Zambian!) and laughing in amazement at how many “zeros” there were on all the price tags. I believe a bottle of coke (300 ml) was K250 then. Well, it’s a fact that the same bottle costs Z$20,000 here today. How things change!

Digitizing Eco-Tourism in Lebanon

Lebanon’s rural eco-tourism sites represent a great tourism attraction for international tourists visiting Lebanon as well as for the Lebanese themselves.

Although a relatively small country, Lebanon is naturally blessed with many eco-tourism sites of great diversity.

The first Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) navigation guide to tourism and eco-tourism sites in Lebanon was launched this month at the Ministry of Tourism. The PDA Navigation Guide fully utilizes the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to increase the competitiveness of rural tourism by encouraging tourists discover landmarks and natural beauty hidden in rural and remote areas. The PDA Guide to tourism provides hand held digitized maps of Lebanon with directions and guidance to over 11,000 Points of Interests across Lebanon.

Now this news may seem strange or even surreal given the current state of affairs in the country but nevertheless it was done with the hope that things will eventually get better.

More on the topic can be found here and here.

SOS - GREECE IN FLAMES

Following a dry winter, this summer proved to be the worst for Greece as regards fires:

Greece is in flames....

We lost by the fire the only Attica forest, the National Park of Parnitha, and the fires continue to burn all Greece. According to the authorities these fires are not accidental, there are foundings which prove that the fires were raised on purpose.....

Villages have been evacuated, tourists were forced to abandon hotels, people lost their properties, dosens of children were forced to flee their summer camp, nature is destroyed, forests are burned, rare species of animals and plants have been lost. .....Following the fire at Parnitha several burned bodies of red deers (a rare species of deer) who live in Parnitha have been found.



People lost their life when trying to stop the fire. In Crete island at Rethymno three firemen were killed and one was injured when trapped in a forest fire!!! Another two young men were killed when the firefighting plane that they were driving crashed while trying to extinguish a fire near Styra on the island of Evia.

Out of Athens lots of fires continue to burn......Some villages are evacuated because of fires burning pine forests and reaching inhabited areas. In one case in Corinth, tourists visiting the Acrocorinth's ancient castle were trapped by the fire together with a fireman who was trying to save them.



I feel that after this disaster local people have decided not to allow to anyone to change the use of land in areas where forests were burned. Several unions and groups of individuals are preparing to take action in the form of planting trees and protecting the areas. I am afraid though that our generation has lost for ever the ability to breath.....The trees need so many years to become forests again.........

The following videos are from Parnitha, the only Attica National Park which has been burned.

Freedom

I wrote twice about the Bulgarian medics sentenced to death by Libyan court for deliberately infecting more than 400 children with HIV. During the court hearings it was proved that the infections began two years before they went to work there; many renowned scientists, including the co-founder of the HIV virus, testified for them; the Libyan authorities used torture to extract confessions; there were major mistakes in the arguments of the prosecution, etc. The international community is certain that poor hygiene in the Benghazi hospital is to blame for the HIV epidemic.

This morning the medics arrived in Bulgaria! With the help of the European Commission and France an agreement was reached and after eight and a half years in a Libyan jail the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor (he obtained Bulgarian citizenship so that he could be transferred to Bulgaria in case of pardon) returned home.

You can read about this story on BBC.com

The Marula Tree

In my last post I spoke of the relationship between the elephant and the marula tree and indicated that it is also very important to the local rural communities.

In South Africa the fruit is eaten fresh and brewed to produce an alternative to traditional sorghum beer. The pip of the fruit is eaten as a snack and the oil extracted while bark and leaves have medicinal uses. The tree and all its products have very strong links to customs and traditional practices. A lot of this was recorded in the "Winners and Losers in Forest Product Commercialisation" project which aimed to improve the benefits derived from this natural resource for the rural poor.

The following is a fascinating extract from a report of this project.

Although young, just 26 years old, this female marula tree is famous in the local area. Her name, “Depu” describes the sound a plank of wood makes when it hits the sand. As the owner Maria Kafula explained, “When you drink the marula wine made from the fruit of this tree, it is so strong you will not be able to walk home, and you will fall down with a big bang; “Depu!”.

“Depu” and her sister tree “Mwanunaldeni” on the same plot in Endola the Ohangwena Region have exceptionally large fruit. These are examples of fruits from highly desirable trees. The trees themselves are small and compact, and produce large quantities of large, sweet, juicy fruit with large kernels; ideal candidates for propagation trials to try and improve marula fruit yields in the marula growing areas of north-central Namibia.

The uses of the marula outlined here are mainly limited to poor black people in the rural areas, where the marula contributes directly and significantly to livelihoods. The industrial uses of Marula are on a very different scale and are focussed on the needs of first world consumers.

The most succesful product is Amarula Cream - the second biggest selling cream liqueur in the world. Amarula Cream is fermented, distilled and blended at Distell in Stellenbosch near Cape Town using pulp produced by Mirma of Palaborwa in Limpopo Province. The success of this product is hard to grasp - with sales around the world generating in the upper $100s of millions / year while the women who collect the fruit earn a few hundreds of dollars for a month or two each year.

The second product is the oil, which is mainly exported by Phytotrade Africa and has found a niche market in cosmetics, notably with Body Shop. This is a much smaller market with annual sales in the low $millions / year range.

Following this there are new attempts in other food markets such as juice, dried products and jam which are significantly smaller.

NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATIONS IN BRUSSELS

King Albert II and Queen Paola

Each year on July 21 Belgium celebrates its National Day. At this date in 1831 Léopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was elected king of the newly-formed independent state of Belgium.


The national day parade took place in the afternoon and everybody was surprised that it didn't rain ! Usually it's almost tradition that on this day it rains and the Belgians call it affectionately "The National Shower" But the weather was sunny and nobody got wet as in other years.

Like France, Belgium put its parade under the sign of Europe. 28 young people carried a gigantic European flag and opened the parade. Danish, norvegian and portoguese pilotes flew the airplanes F 16 (whatever that is) and officers from the 27 member states of the EU marched by the King. It was the first time that the parade was made up under the sign of Europe because at the same time 50 years of the European Union were celebrated.

King and Queen and the whole royal family watched the parade cheerfully and apparently weren't bored at all ! After the parade, just in front of the city castle a big city party started, people dansed, children played, there was a show of country animals, like cows and pigs which is not so evident to see for city children. The youngest son of the king Prince Laurent and his wife participated at the party and mingled with the crowd. She was wearing Jeans and a blouse and it seemed that they had a lot of fun. This couple is very much liked by the Belgians, because the prince is very jovial, funny and plenty of humor. His wife Claire, not noble and half british is the same.

Claire and Laurent

At 11 pm fireworks lightened the whole country and parties were going on until early morning. As Belgium is such a small country (only 10 million inhabitants) it just was like a big family feast.

All is calm, all is Swiss

It would be a pity if you missed this unexcited travel essay about Switzerland in Saturday's Financial Times. Granted, it's stereotypical, but there's a grain of truth in it nonetheless.

Beautiful Sun Rays

Hi everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've just been a little busy. I would just like to share with you a picture I took yesterday after hearing mass in our village. Sadly I didn't have my camera with me and had to use my cellphone camera to take this photo. I wish I could capture the real beauty but it was definitely more magnificent if you saw it with your own eyes.

It was a breathtaking sight. Rarely do I see the sun rays appear like this. It was breathtaking. After the final blessing in the mass, it felt wonderful to see something so beautiful. It gave me a sense of peace deep inside.

The mountain in the picture is Mt. Makiling.

Dusty Kuwait

Before I start the post I would like to reply to old comments that were posted in earlier posts & I did not have the enough time to get back to them :D sorry for the delay every one!

(1)

Soulful_SensitiveStreak [aka.. Rach]

Thank you for your nice wishes I also wish you & every one around you to be happy & have a great "rest" of the year ;p

(2)

Ahmed

Thank you for sharing the information in that post :) the union "generally" as a concept is good, but not all concepts work in reality, that one you referred to didn't, however one day I do hope that ALL people unite for the sake of their humanity & be gathered by their humanity. Peace is a lovely word :)

(3)
Tanvir Anwar

Gathering up is always a nice thing to do :D try to meet up as much as u can :D

(4)
Gattina

Its my pleasure :D

(5)
Jane

Good question :D & Deshevelled answered it, I only want to add a few points the work week in Kuwait is from Saturday till Wednesday, we have Thursday & Friday off... That will be changed soon, there was a general government decree to move the weekend to Friday & Saturday, it is said that by September 2007 it will be applied in Kuwait. However Fri & Sat is the weekend for some sectors in Kuwait like the banking one, but the generalization came now after the need to cope with the international market in different sectors, like banking & investment,, etc.

but till now, we still have our good'old Thurs & Fri :D

(6)
dishevelled

Appreciate your reply to Jane :D thanks for helping fellow q80'girl ;p

----

Dusty Sunday in Kuwait




The following picture was caught today, Sunday 22.7.2007 around 3pm Kuwait time, by me on the way home from work. I work in an area that is almost 50 KM far from Kuwait City, that is fairly greened ,, so the dust is not as bad as it is on highways "like the one in the picture"! that are closer & more exposed to the un-planted area's. Noting that this dust is not so bad really compared to other dusty days in this year.

Kuwait's summer is VERY hot, usually the temperature here varies from 40-50 Deg. Cel. :D yes! that hot.

But I don't really mind it, in fact I love Kuwait's summer! although its extremely hot & in mid August it gets Humid too!! However with modern technology & the magical power of AC we can survive :D never the less there are other factors from nature that effect on the heat & can reduce it, Dust is one of them [we call it Alghubar, in Arabic], which is why it is not so bad in my opinion in the hot summer days, as long as its not tooooo dusty.

An other natural factor to reduce the heat is Humidity, which is as much as I hate it, but I have to give it to Humidity it does reduce the heat of our summer.



Dictionary ::

الغبار = Alghobar = Dust

Fireworks exhibition in Summer

Many fireworks exhibitions are held in summer.
It's a signature summer event of Japan.
Some people go to see fireworks exhibition wearing Yukata which is one of Japanese traditional clothe.

You can see when and where the event are held at here.

Fouzia wants to live

her name is fouzia, she is a woman, she has 37 years, she is from Constantine, one of the oldest city of Algeria, she has cancer disease from seven years, she is poor, she has a poor mother, all her revenue is a small wage, the journalist did not write about the father, perhaps he is dead, they live in a small apartment in a crowded building, a crowed city, she has no money to buy drugs, the hospital did not accepted her, they rejected her, her mother tried to sue them, no one care, the justice don't care,the general attorney don't care , neighbors don't care, she is just another ill poor Algerian, they care about other people. 

she has a cancer near her neck, he already get all her shoulders, she has worms who eat her body, the mum can't do anything to stop the worms, she has no medicine, she use pesticides to kill them, so they go back to fouzia shoulders, she is so pained that she kick her head against the wall, she cries, she has a lot of tears, she flowed something like a green liquid. when the journalist asked her to show her body, she did not accepted, she is shy, she don't want to be seen naked.

sometimes, the mother come to her room, and found it full of worms, she can't support the scene, she fell down.

i hope, they help her, after the newspapers has published her story. in this country it's hard to be a poor, it is hard to be a woman, it's hard to be sick, but if you are a poor sick woman, you have no luck

Slovenian Stock Exchange high growth

This year we are witnessing very high growth of Slovenian Stock Exchange index SBI20.

SBI20 consists of our Blue Chips such as Petrol, Telekom, Krka, Mercator, Sava, ...

Companies in Slovenia are in a very good shape and producing very good results.

Interestigly enough - the index is (by numbers only) at Dow Jones Index levels ... :)

2007 GENERAL ELECTION IN TURKEY

There is an election this Sunday in Turkey. We will vote new government for the next 5 years. In my opinion, there will be 3 or 4 parties in the new parliament. The parliament consists of 550 members. Istanbul has 70 members of the parliament. I took this picture early this morning, you see a lot of flags of several parties. Whoever the gets happy result, my wishes The Turkey wins.

deNijmegenaar.nl

It has been some time ago since my last post. For good reasons.

First I went a few weeks on holidays to Corsica (France). Great island!

Secondly I have been working on a new website about the city I live in: Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
It took me some time and is not completely finished but it is a good start.

Enjoy http://www.denijmegenaar.nl/. Please note that most texts are in the Dutch language.

Jos
Closing the gap...from the Netherlands
http://www.josjaspers.nl/
http://www.denijmegenaar.nl/

This is my first post here; My name is Claudia and I live in a small village in Austria called Reichenfels in Carinthia. I was born in Austria but my family emigrated to Australia when I was 3. While on a backpacking trip around Europe in 1989, I fell in love with an Austrian and Austria and I´ve lived here ever since.
Carinthia (Kärnten in German) is the most southern state of Austria as you can see on the map. We have a 1 hour drive to the Slovenian border, 1 1/2 hours to Italy and 2 1/2 hours to Hungary or Germany. The major cities near here are Graz and Klagenfurt, both an hour away and to our capital city Vienna there´s a 2 1/2 hour drive, so it´s quite a central location.The reasons why I love living here are; the location; the fresh air and water; the fact that it´s very easy to be considered exotic and a little crazy when most of the people here are conservative; the government policy which allows you to have children and NOT lose one income; the distinct differences from season to season; white christmas.
What I don´t like about living here; both men and women are discriminated against...it´s frowned upon when a woman has a career and when a husband is too "hands on" at home(this is changing slowly though); the school day starts too early and is too short (from 7.45am to 1.10pm ) ;the long distance and price to travel from here to Australia; the much too long winters and much too short summers; people don´t speak about their problems much, they would rather complain about the weather and other things that they can´t change.There were many times when I felt homesick and misunderstood here but I´m glad I held it out, life is good!

The love of football

Greetings, I'm Marguerite Jasmin and I'll be writing about my country Haïti.

Haitians love football (soccer) very much, it's the most popular sport in the country. Sunday, July 15th, was a very important day for the many football fanatics in Haiti, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince. It was the day the Brazilian football team -by far the most loved football team of the country - faced the Argentinean football team -the second most loved-. It was the finals of the Copa America. Thousand of enthusiastic fans gathered in front of TV sets all over the city to watch this epic match.

Dressed in brazilian colors and celebrating Brazil's victory (picture from archive)

When Brazil is playing a major competition, if you are staying in Port-au-Prince you don't need to listen to the radio or watch television to know when the team scores. Not long after the match started on Sunday after noon, a very loud clamour alerted me that Brazil had already scored its first goal.

I don't know if the phenomenon is similar in other cities but in Port-au-Prince there is no escaping it. Every goal scored by Brazil is accompanied by loud cries of joy. Brazil won by 3-0. After the match came the time for the fans to celebrate the victory in the streets. In most neighborhoods groups of fans will gather outside for a while, singing, dancing and nagging fans of Argentina. In some big agglomerations where the fans are the most numerous, well organized and equipped, they take over the streets with music, dances, noise, gun shots etc... to celebrate the victory of their beloved team. Apparently Haitians always loved Brazil's football team but only in recent years have they celebrated its victories so fervently and demonstratively or maybe I was just too young and uninterested to notice?

New York, New York

New York City, home to over 9 million Americans, is well known the world over.
However, I have only had a passing glimpse of it, so I asked my good friend, Tony, what it was like to grow up in "The Big Apple". He responded:

This picture of Church and Flatbush Avenues is one of my old stomping grounds. It doesn't show the old RKO Kenmore Theater, (subsequently the Keith) where my twin brother and I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons.
Anything you could ever want to buy was available in New York and most any form of entertainment was only a subway or cab ride away. If you owned a car and didn't live in Queens or Richmond Counties, it was either kept in a garage or parked all week and used to "get away to the country" on week-ends. All the beaches, parks, and museums: Jones Beach, Riis Park and Fire Island, Coney Island, the Statue of Liberty on Bedloes (now Liberty) Island, the Cloisters, Fraunces Tavern, the stock exchange, Macy's, Gimbel's, Sack's, Museums, the Fulton Fish Market, etc. were just a short bus or subway or ferry ride away.
We learned to appreciate all of the ethnic groups in the city by exposure to their food, ceremonies and holidays. We all celebrated the feast days of San Gennaro & Saint Patrick, the Leif Erickson Day parade, Chinese New Year and donned yamukes to attend weddings and even sit in on a Minyan.”
New York, to me, meant lots of people who thought it rude or "pushy" to get involved, uninvited, with the every day activities of a neighbor or co-worker. However, if help was needed or asked for they became "Johnny on the Spot".

New York, the 'city that never sleeps', draws the imagination of many people the world over.

The picture above, and more, are here.
More photo galleries of New York City sites and streets, are here.

Tanzania: A promised land

Tanzania, the union of mainland Tanganyika and Zanzibar Island, found in East Africa, is a multicultural and multifaith country. It has marked between mainland Christian and coastal Islamic areas. The population now stands at 38 million, most of them staying in villages.

Despite being peaceful and politically stable, Tanzania's leaders and most her people, especially learned brothers and sisters have failed to build a stable economy and poverty is widespread. There are rooms for improvements if so wish.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 48% of the population living below the basic needs poverty line, despite of having arable and virgin good land, number of wealth minerals, good weather, unique animals and birds spices and the like.

Some tourist says Tanzania is a promised land as Bible stand, but there no clear vision and mission from some class, especially educated to make what found under and on top of the land profit the mass.

The country was one of the first to produce a progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2001 but the absence of an update is creating some divergence of opinion as to prospects for achieving the Goals.

Positive verdicts point to progress in enrolment rates for education whilst others focus on continuing high rates of child and maternal mortality and ineffective policies of government and donors.

Tanzania’s National Poverty Eradication Strategy (NPES) takes the optimistic line, aiming to reach the Goal for extreme poverty by 2010 and eliminate it altogether by 2025. Such aspirations require a positive outlook on prospects for dealing with the crippling HIV/AIDS crisis.


Tanzania suffers from declining health resources at a time when the HIV/AIDS pandemic is at its most devastating. The number of orphans from HIV/AIDS in Tanzania has been estimated to be at least 2 million.

The disease is considered to be the main threat to the country’s economic and human development; some estimates suggest that, if the decimation of the workforce continues unchecked, the economy will shrink by 25% by 2015, destroying all prospect of achieving the MDGs. Recently the sitting president Jakaya Kikwete launched HIV screening campaign to sensitize people to come out and check their HIV status, thanks the turn out has been very good.

Tanzania itself is not embroiled in conflict, but has a firsthand view of the effects of regional crises precipitated by political and civil instability. Refugees originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Burundi, for reasons ranging from the genocide in Rwanda to famine in Somalia.

In spite of assistance from International NGOs, the decrepit state of the refugee camps is a major concern, with outbreaks of illness caused by the cramped conditions and overstretched medical and humanitarian resources.

Refugee flows into the country are ongoing and host communities in the Kagera and Kigoma regions are particularly hard pressed by the mounting pressure on their resources.

The Tanzanian economy is dependent on primary agriculture, with cotton, coffee, tea, cashew nuts, sisal, maize, rice, wheat cassava and tobacco accounting for 50% of the GDP and 85% of all exports. Tanzania is one of eighteen countries qualifying for immediate cancellation of major debts in the 2005 package announced by G8 finance ministers.

Mass privatisation began in Tanzania in 1993 and has continued. The country’s socialist background accounts for the preponderance of state-owned companies. Most proved themselves unprofitable and up to 80% were sold off by the end of 2002. Privatisation is considered by many to be a success in Tanzania, with newly privatised companies proving tax-worthy, creating jobs for Tanzanians and generally improving the economy.

However, major controversy broke out when an international consortium was given control of the water company, which had a detrimental impact on the poor who could neither afford the higher charges nor increase their access to water supplies.

Criticisms have been levied against the World Bank and the UK government in this context, for its ongoing prescription of neo-liberal economic policies. In May 2005, UK water company Biwater was kicked out of Tanzania after failing to provide satisfactory supplies or adequate levels of investment in Dar es Salaam.

Tanzania is a member of the World Trade Organization but has been hit by the slump in world coffee prices, with repercussions for the national health and education systems. The local Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union is aiming to ensure that the farmers are paid a fair price for their coffee.

Tanzania has been described as one of the most politically stable countries in Africa. Tanganyika gained independence from the British in December 1961 and formed a union with Zanzibar in 1964, becoming the United Republic of Tanzania.

State control of the media was lifted after the introduction of the multiparty system and, by 1997, there were over a dozen daily newspapers, scores of weekly and monthly newspapers or periodicals, and eight television stations, most of which were privately owned.

The internet is available in Tanzania and mobile phone technology has leapfrogged shortcomings in infrastructure and is widely used, assisted on occasion by subsidy. Both the internet and mobile phone technologies are being utilised by local people to develop and grow their businesses and likewise by development agencies as a means of communicating at grassroots level.

Climate: Already the snow atop Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world has visibly depleted which is worrying for Tanzania’s tourist industry and more so for the area’s inhabitants as their water supplies have been declining rapidly.

I am not a Tourist Attraction - SOS Morocco

Say No to Child Sex Tourism in Morocco



http://www.sos-morocco.memberlodge.org/

its me Ahmed from Saudi Arabia .

Few days ago I was browsing some blogs and I found something really interesting in this one .

I really had no idea about the demonstrations not because I don’t read news paper or i don’t watch news on the TV . But because no one in the media said anything about it . And I am sure that still a lot of Saudi haven't heard of it yet .

I believe that they have the right to demand a public trail for their husbands and I totally support them and I wish they will get what they asked for .

Punta Cana

The Punta Cana destination is made up of the areas (going from south to north) of Cap Cana (Juanillo), Punta Cana, Cabeza de Toro, Bavaro, El Cortecito, Arena Gorda, Macao and Uvero Alto.
Today, the East Coast beach strip is one of the best choices for those seeking the perfect beach and R&R (rest and relaxation) vacation. Bill and Hillary Clinton in April 2001 chose Punta Cana for their first sojourn after leaving the White House. Punta Cana is that perfect place for a honeymoon – first or second.
This is a place for vegging out… miles of silky-fine white sand, deserted beaches with coconut palms. Unless you rent a car or purchase an excursion, don’t expect much sightseeing or outstanding shopping opportunities nearby. This area is made up almost completely of large all-inclusive resorts populated mostly by couples or families. Some resorts in the area cater to sports-minded people, others are couples only. But most resorts focus on family entertainment. The exception is spring break time when groups of university students fly down from Canada and the US. The better hotels for this crowd are the larger complexes, where night time entertainment is more lively. If you don't mind losing a day at your all-inclusive, Punta Cana can also be for explorers. If you rent a 4x4, venture out to discover a magnificent world of caves, mangroves, private beaches in the nearby Hato Mayor and El Seibo provinces. Or drive west on to Altos de Chavon, Bayahibe, and even to Saona near La Romana. These are at least two hour’s drive away.
What else is nearbyThe Punta Cana area lends itself more to those looking for the type of vacation where the resort has everything and one never has to go outside the gates. Note the nearest city, Higuey, is about a 40 minute drive away. Beyond the resorts is mostly empty countryside. You can literally walk for miles along the beach without seeing anything but an occasional unfinished construction project or the next hotel.
El Cortecito, located between Punta Cana-Bavaro and Macao, is the closest thing to a little beach town in the area. Nearby is Manatee Park, a wildlife ecological/adventure site and the Ponce de Leon house is near Boca de Yuma, a choice for fresh fish lunches by the seaside. Handicraft vendors rotate offering market day at the different hotels. There are several souvenir shops located right on the different beach stretches

this is a really,really paradise, lets enjoit!!

Finnish schoolkids have a long summer holiday

PICTURE: Football is a very popular hobby among finnish youngsters during the summer break

The schoolyear in Finland in organized in the 19th century, when Finland - as a part of Russia- was an agriculture country . Children were needed to help at home and in the fields. So the school is still over in the end of the 22nd week of the year ( last week of May or first week of June). The schools start again in the middle of August. This year schoolkids have a 72-days-long break (including saturdays and sundays).

Fantastic! Children think so, but the parents have problems. Although also the workers in Finland have a right for a paid summerholiday of 36 working days ( I have heard that our semesters are longest in the world), it is quite difficult to arrange program for the children when both parents are working.

And Silent Banks of Quite River will Whisper Words of Love Forever...

"Aš tave myliu!" (I love you!) The right bank of the river Neris near the Green bridge in Vilnius, Lithuania

"Ir aš tave" (And so do I). The left bank of the river Neris near the Green bridge in Vilnius, Lithuania

Well this beauty in the center of Vilnius must be commemorated in a way or another. I'm not much of a poet but I hope you'll get what I meant...

A silent flow of water separates
Two banks of lonely river.
Two persons like two lonely trees
Are separated from each other.
„I love you“ floats a whisper in the noiseless air.
„And so do I“ reply flys with no fear.
The sun slowly descends behind the trees
And water's just been kissed by breeze.
Two lovers with the wounded hearts
Wait for another day to start
And silent banks of quite river
Will whisper words of love forever...

Another Big Earthquake

As I wrote in my previous post, Japan is subject to the earthquakes.
Today we had big earthquake in Niigata prefecture.
People in Niigata are now afraid of the possibilities of aftershocks.
Until now, the damage of the earthquake is
- 5 dead
- 600 injured
- 298 houses complete collapsed

We had a severe storm (typhoon) and the heavy rains have loosened the ground.
It's a very bad timing for us to have big earthquake....

THE "OMMEGANG"

click on the picture to make it bigger

Each year, beginning of July the Ommegang, which is a traditional pageant is celebrated in Brussels. It commemorates the "Joyous Entry" of emperor Charles V in Brussels in 1549.

That evening every little detail of the first Ommegang procession is reconstitued. All of the then present personalities too. Members of the Ommegang represent Emperor Charles V accompanied by his son Philip, Crown Prince of Spain and Duke of Brabant, and his sisters Eleanor, Queen of France and Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Regent of the Netherlands, William the Silent, ladies, and city councillors all in their historical costumes of course. The mayor of Brussels is the host of this ceremony and it takes place on the centuries old Grand Place.

The procession starts at the "Place du Sablon" and goes slowly through the streets until they arrive on the Grand Place. There a historical show takes place with horses and flag carriers accompagnied with light and music. It is very beautiful to see all these historical costumes.

With the reconstitution of the Ommegang, Belgium wants to offer a historical portrait of the country and the role it played at all levels : history, economy, the arts, culture, etc.

The season begins

Last week was the start of a high touristic season in Croatia. It usually begins on 15.7. and lasts till 15.8. During that time people in areas by the sea, Dalmatia and Istria, live for tourism and of it. In only last two days half a million tourists entered the country. You have to keep in mind that Croatia has only 4,5 million inhabitants. Since most of them come by cars, this results in traffic congestion and it is not rare that, if you travel in peaks, you have to wait in a long queue. But that's nothing comparing to a reward: clean, beautiful sea.

Temperatures all round the country are extraordinary high these days, between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius. Weather forecast says they will be even higher by the end of the week. In some parts they can reach even 40 degrees. You'll know that this is highly above the average if you know that such temperatures are not expected neither in Cairo nor in Casablanca.
Lucky are those who have holidays and can spend the whole day swimming or just drinking a cold drink at the seaside.

Costa Rica among nations with fewer forest fires

(La Nacion) - Costa Rica has set an example for the world as to how conservation areas effectively reduce forest fires in tropical rainforests.

This was confirmed in a study by scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Alberta and the University of Maryland.

Using NASA satellites, the study evaluated the number of fires in 3,964 natural reserves in tropical nations in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Jamaica, Malaysia, and Japan join Costa Rica as the nations with the least fires, while Cambodia, Guatemala, and Sierra Leone recorded the most. Surprisingly, the countries with the highest indexes of poverty and corruption are the ones with the most fires in or around protected areas.

Where truth is stranger than fiction

From Seattle Times- if i am abusing a copyright please let me know!

Well, things are progressing at pace here… The real question is, in which direction? We are still queuing for bread- where and when we can find it, which is not that often anyway- but now we can’t get meat in the shops. You have to understand how southern Africans are about their meat to understand how devastating this is. Was talking to someone about how if Zimbabwe was cruel to the poor before, now it has finally caught up with the middle class…

Last week the government imposed a price freeze for all goods, at June 17 (or is it 18) levels… And asked retailers to cut their prices in half, basically, for most retailers. This caused a literal run on the shops, and people could be seen queuing for everything from shoes to televisions, fridges, and toiletries. Naturally, people were panicked- it was like madness, really- I suspect that there are now people with three extra beds at home, just because they could buy them last week. Supermarket shelves have been mostly empty, with supermarket owners (or chief executives, etc, for the larger chains) arrested if their prices were not slashed. Most butcheries closed their doors, as private abattoirs stopped supplying meat to them, figuring (naturally) that it made no sense to supply at under cost. The government retaliated by withdrawing their licences, so that now a government-run business is the only one allowed to supply meat. Which I still don’t see in shops.

Of course, on the back of all this, vegetables have gone up (that being the only part of the economy that’s been left unregulated, because it is mostly informal). If this wasn’t nearly enough to starve the citizens, the government has also decided to ban the importation of foodstuffs, with effect from the 1st August. Most middle-class Zimbabweans have been relying on travel to neighbouring countries to buy the things we can’t always get in the supermarkets- things like flour, soap, washing powder, sugar, cooking oil. While it is true that there were people (informal traders) going across the border to buy these things to sell on the black market (in itself a source of income for the otherwise indigent), it is a fact that these things are NOT on our supermarket shelves… One truly does wonder what will happen next. It is as if the most ridiculous things are going on, and as if it will not stop until the country has come to a complete standstill. I don’t even talk about the power and water cuts, as I live in an area where we are mercifully mostly spared; but these new developments are in addition to all that Zimbabweans have been suffering under already.

One can only shake one’s head in wonder…

Ps. Am prevented from taking pictures of things on the ground by the fear of being caught doing so, as there are laws against reporting on Zimbabwe without government sanction. Even my blog posts are a little dangerous, really...

A problem of a lot of problems

A view from Syrian traditional market in Aleppo(from Agencies)

Mustafa Hamido

ACTUALLY ,WE ARE FACING A PROBLEM IN ELECTRICITY IN SYRIA. It is not a new thing for people here. They had faced such this problem in early 1990's due to a lot of reasons. The main reason for all that is the corruption . Syrian bureaucratic system is totally corrupted .Changing ministers and prime ministers has not effected any thing here. The problem is not actually in the officials which are temporary in their responsibilities . It is actually in those who have spent decades in authorizations and ministries. The mentality itself should be changed. Any real talk about reform will not be real without a real talk about the mentality. Electricity is not the only problem which the mentality is accused in. it is just a symbol about what we are facing in Syria. Because electricity is more connected to basic people needs, we are talking about it here. If you go to the telecommunication sector you will see disasters. Fortunately we are not enough developed to connect our life to this sector, however, we are at the end of the rank in telecommunication in comparison to our neighbors in the region. Frankly, we need a real change in the officials' mentality to achieve a real reform and development.

my first post

Hey there .

My name is Ahmed and I will be representing Saudi Arabia in this blog .

I am very excited to be part of this blog but at the same I am so nervous , because I just cant post anything here . It should be worth it and valuable . Because the readers of this blog are simply not any one . They wont be my friends like my own blog readers and they are from all over the world . Beside I want to represent my country in a good way . A lot of the readers don’t have a clear vision of Saudi Arabia or don’t know a lot about us except for the bad things . We are being judged by others actions and its my duty as a Saudi and Muslim man to say the truth . And I will try hard to say the truth wither its good or bad . No one is perfect . We have out flues like any one else .

I think this is enough about me and I will make my first serious post as soon as I can .

Floods?

The weather is always a good subject for conversation. Also in Denmark. Maybe especially here, since it changes all the time. What is more, we've had many changes that worries many. Within only decade there's been about 16 new records for weather. That could mean that the climate is changing. The most visible is that it is getting warmer and more rains.
This summer has been with extreme floodings. Hundreds of families with their houses destroyed by water. But even the usual trip in the park can be a surprise. This pictures shows - not a creek - but what used to be the path around a little lake. The path has now become part of the lake, with about ½ meter of water on it.Changes because of humans and their way of living? Just normal changes of climate as it has always been in the history of Earth? Many theories. Any Dane has her view on it. But noone can tell for sure. Noone doubts though that this is going to last, and that the policy makers has to deal with it.

"La Perla del Caribe" The Pearl of the Caribbean: Puerto Rico

Hello again, friends form around the world! Today I will share the beginnings of our people and where the sweet name of the Pearl of the Caribbean came from.

At the beginning of time, through volcano eruptions, a strand of islands was formed in the Atlantic Ocean, dividing this ocean from the Caribbean Sea. These islands are known as the Antilles. Puerto Rico is the smallest of the Major Antilles and the Largest of the Smallest Antilles, postioning itself as the center piece of a necklace in the saphire blue sea. A pearl cultivated and crafted with love by thousands of years among the sand!

The Pearl of the Caribbean was originally inhabited by the Taino natives. People of structured society and oral history passed down from generation to generation. The Taino's lived near the coastal areas and sustained themselves by cultivating the land and fishing. They organized themselves in villages called "yucayeques", and had "caciques" who were the leaders of these yucayeques. The tainos believed in the Earth and nature as deities, and worshipped them accordingly, living in unison with nature and not disrupting it. They worshipped through music and sport called "Areyto". The areyto usually started with a game of what is today known as soccer (with a ball made of roots and resin) and ended with music produced by instruments made out of tree trunks, seed and hollow fruits and dancing.

The physical characteristics of the Taino people are blended in what is the modern Puerto Rican, they had bronze colored skin, straight dark hair, high cheek bones, were of short statue but were very stout. They enjoyed a placid, non-stressful life (typical in the islands!). Nowadays, only 5% of the Taino genes are present in the Puerto Rican genome due to the fact that they became very ill when the Spaniards arrived to the island, most of them died of sickness, others died under slavery and the ones that survived mixed their blood with Spaniard conquistadors and later African workhands.

I have seen the characteristics of these noble people in the eyes of the youngest generation, but we still lack a complete understanding of what happened previous to the 1493 arrival of our Spanish flag.

Next time we will talk about the Spanish conquista. Until then, may the Earth cocoon you amongst its arms and may it let you enjoy life at its finest.

Hasta luego,
Yiara Sofía

picture of the Caguana Ceremonial Taino Center

Tourism grows in Nicaragua

Marsella Beach, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

Surfing Cerro Negro's sands

Apoyo Lagoon & Mombacho volcano

Tourism in Nicaragua is booming, it is currently the second largest industry in the nation, in the last 12 years tourism has grown 394%. Nicaragua has seen positive growth in the tourism sector over the last decade and is expected to become the first largest industry in 2007. The growth in tourism has positively affected the agricultural, commercial, and finance industries, as well as the construction industry. The tourism industry helped produce a construction boom, the majority of which is in and around Managua.

Every year about 60,000 U.S. citizens visit Nicaragua, primarily business people, tourists, and those visiting relatives. The majority of tourists that visit Nicaragua are from the U.S., Central or South America, and Europe. According to the Ministry of Tourism of Nicaragua (INTUR), the colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua is the preferred spot for tourists. Granada city was constructed in 1524 by the Spaniards conquerors.

Also, the cities of León, Masaya, Rivas and the beach of San Juan del Sur, San Juan River, Ometepe, Mombacho Volcano, the small islands of Granada’s lake or Cocibolca, the Corn Islands, and others are main tourist attractions.

In addition, ecotourism and surfing attract many tourists to Nicaragua. You can surfing in sands of the Volcano Cerro Negro too.

Guatemalan Vegetebles

I saw this vegetables on the side of the road on a trip to Xela, Quetzaltenango. There are many mountains around and is a beautiful and very green area in western Guatemala, not many tourists go to Xela as they should because is a very nice city.

It's the second largest city in the country and it is really nice. In fact some people like it more than Guatemala City.

Ashes With That

Indonesia: Gamkonora Volcano

Indonesia – Gamkonora Volcano
OCHA Situation Report No. 2
11 July 2007

This report is developed by HC/RC Office in Indonesia based on information provided by the National Coordinating Board for the Management of Disaster (BAKORNAS PB), Provincial Executing Unit for the Management of Disaster (SATKORLAK PB) of North Maluku Province, District Executing Unit for the Management of Disaster (SATLAK PB) West Halmahera district, PMI, OXFAM GB, UNDP, UNICEF, and media reports.

BACKGROUND
1. Mount Gamkonora, located in South Ibu Sub-district, West Halmahera District, North Maluku Province, Indonesia erupted on 9 July at 14:50 hrs East Indonesian Time or 12:50 Jakarta time. Mount Gamkonora is located 3.5 hours from Ternate, capital of North Maluku Province. The mountain spewed cold lava and the dust is now piling up to 30 cm high with the radius of around 7.5 km from the epicenter. The level of alert remains at the highest level (Level IV).

SITUATION
2. SATKORLAK PB reported that the number of IDPs has reached 8,661. Local government officials are supporting the IDPs in two locations. For northern areas, IDPs are gathering in Gamsungi, the capital of West Sub-district, and for southern areas, people are staying in Tosoa. There is a need for more tents, sanitation facilities, and medical supplies in both locations.
3. PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) sources at the affected area INDICATED possible priority needs to be food, clean water, medical supplies, and dust masks.
4. BAKORNAS PB is monitoring the situation and alerted that in case of a severe eruption logistics will be an issue since the mountain is located in an island to which transportation is difficult.

NATIONAL RESPONSE
5. Local government continues to mobilize trucks to help evacuate people. PMI at the field is mobilizing emergency relief to the affected area including 20,000 masks.
6. SATLAK PB reported that based on the instruction from the Governor, relief assistance should be coordinated through one-door policy through SATLAK PB West Halmahera District, with Mr. Imam Barkah as the Secretary to be the contact person, at +62813 4047 4296.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
7. UNDP Office in Ternate whose program area includes South Ibu sub-district is monitoring the situation through its staff (contact person: Mr. Altakdir, +62812 1292 301).
8. OXFAM GB will send an Emergency Response Team (ERT) tomorrow morning to assess the situation, the needs and gaps while also bringing with them some relief supplies including masks (contact person: Ms. Puspa, +62812 2691 210) UNICEF Office in Makassar will send a staff to assess the situation tomorrow AM.
9. The UN RC/HC Office in Jakarta will continue to be in direct contact with pertinent government and non-government institutions, as well as with the Indonesian Red Cross to monitor the situation.

Source: www.reliefweb.int

Our one of movie stars, DWAY, passed away

(Our beloved Famous Star, Actor DWAY)

(While crying sadly)


(While bringing his dead body to pick up onto car)

(While sending to Morgue)

Our one of movie stars, Actor DWAY(his nick name: Thar Gyi and real name: Htin Lin), (42yrs old) passed away around 3:00 P.M yesterday(11th July, 2007) suddenly by heart-attacked.
I cannot also believe that bad news once I know. I feel so sad and I am praying for him so as to go to good place and rest peacefully in heaven.

Many people from Myanmar make comments as following:

ke8love said...

It is true! I can't believe that!

7/11/2007 9:37 PM

Anonymous said...

I'm in a denial mode. I can't believe he's gone. What a loss! Praying for him right now.....

7/11/2007 9:52 PM

cho said...

=( So sad.. can't believe that..

7/11/2007 10:06 PM

Zar Kyi said...

I'm so sad abt that bad news. Dway who is I like very much actor.

7/11/2007 10:09 PM

NhounG said...

we loss again ! :(

7/11/2007 10:11 PM

khin said...

i don't want to believe that new.i am so sad and also pray him to go good place.THE DEATH IS NEAR WITH US that saying i hve to believe:(love u dwe

7/11/2007 10:12 PM

Anonymous said...

Though it's none of my business.. but cannot believe it at all.. Everything happened so suddenly.. and every unexpected things occur in any time.. Enjoy the moment we have!

7/11/2007 10:36 PM

Anonymous said...

Me too, i can't believe that happened. phyonyi.

7/11/2007 10:41 PM

ngapu said...

i am very sad about this and still can't believe it ... hope you go peace place.

7/11/2007 10:45 PM

Anonymous said...

I'm so sad!!!
can't believe...

Ko Thar Gyi!!
kg yar thu ga ti larr par say...

7/11/2007 10:49 PM

angel said...

I don't wanna believe that...
It's really?????????

7/11/2007 10:50 PM

converse said...

all of the precious artist were pass away.DoeLone..HtooEainThin..Lphyu etc..SaiSaiKhanHlaing Ye`lay like this idiot still stupid...Whaz the unfair WorlD!!

7/11/2007 10:51 PM

Anonymous said...

life is very short. Unbelievable Dwe.

7/11/2007 10:53 PM

cizium said...

oh .. I feel sorry for his bereaved family...

7/11/2007 11:04 PM

sate said...

i really can't beleive.pls let me know it's real or .................

7/11/2007 11:05 PM

Anonymous said...

i agree what converse said!! why jus only precious celebrities passed away ?? Why not stupid idiots such as sai sai khan hlaing ,ye' lay and tun tun passed a way??? The world is not fair at all! Anyway,i sorri for u...DWE!

7/11/2007 11:08 PM

Anonymous said...

yes you are correct

7/11/2007 11:15 PM

Anonymous said...

yes you are correct

7/11/2007 11:16 PM

magyi said...

May! This news will shock to the whole town/world. Hard to believe that he's gone. Why did happen to him? Why he had to leave so soon? He maybe not know himself... was his time up & got to leave the whole world behind just like that. He may have some words left to say his beloved one. 41yr! Still too young to DiE!. It's so..so sad to see him 'OFF' at this age. He could have lived for another 20-30yrs! He is one of the best actors in MM. For sure, he will be remembered and deeply missed by everyone. Hope & pray...he is now..rest peacefully in heaven.
Dwe! KgYarThuGaDiLarBarZayTharr!.

7/11/2007 11:37 PM

Anonymous said...

http://popularmyanmar1.com/cms/index.php?Actor_Dwe%27s_Sad_News%28Scoop%21%21%21%29

I guess it's real. Ko thar gyi, you will be missed deeply in our hearts. Can't even express my sorrows at this moment. With much love and prayers for you.

7/11/2007 11:50 PM

Anonymous said...

Dear all,

I'm very sad about that bad news.

Goodbye Myanmar Rose...
May you ever grow in our Hearts...
You were the grace that placed itself...
Where lives were torn apart...
You called to Myanmar....
and you whispered to those in pain...
Now you belong to Heaven
And the stars spell out your Name,Dway

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a Candle in the wind
Never fading with the Sunset
When the Rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along Golden Myanmar
Your Candle's burned out long before
Your Legend ever will..

We always miss you..
Be happy wherever you are...

Your's lovely Fans,
Shine & Addee

7/11/2007 11:59 PM

Anonymous said...

LIVE & then DIE

7/12/2007 12:16 AM

Anonymous said...

Ko Thar Gyi'll always be in our heart.

7/12/2007 12:52 AM

loimwethu said...

It is hard to believe. Anyway he will be missed deeply. The death of someone we love always reminds us that we are still alive..

7/12/2007 12:56 AM

Anonymous said...

deepest sympathy. this is the bad news.we r so sorry.

7/12/2007 1:04 AM

Naing Win Hlaing said...

So sad....... Here you can see latest picture.

http://www.mandalaygazette.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=114&forum=12

7/12/2007 1:16 AM

Anonymous said...

omg, it's crazy that they have posted that picture online. Who took that in times of grief anyway? People are curious but should still have some respecty for privacy, courtesy and sympathy for him and his family.

7/12/2007 1:37 AM

Khin said...

I am sorry to hear the news.

By the way how can I blog in Burmese?

7/12/2007 2:59 AM

thet said...

I can't believe one of my favorite actor DWE passed away.

7/12/2007 4:47 AM

pandora said...

Sad!

7/12/2007 8:07 AM

chaw said...

Ko Thar Gyi was the frist actor that I crazy and like him since I was 14 years old. Feeling so sad when I heard about this and wish like "can it be a rumour" but..............

He'll be in our heart forever and forever.

7/12/2007 8:47 AM

Nay Min Thu said...

It's a great loss!

May he rest in peace.

7/12/2007 9:13 AM

Anonymous said...

Some memories...
We know him as our afew years senior during YIT days. He was not so famous then, remember him as sitting at Nwe-Aye and Kan Thar Yar. Rmember the time, one of our friends asked his signature and all the ppl around there were like laughing the moment. Remember him as senior and good actor... It is really shocking .. and it is so sudden and it is a really sad news to hear

7/12/2007 9:29 AM

Yan said...

Not enough words to express my grief for his loss....

Just one wish...

R.I.P...

P.S: I got photos from my blogger friend Soezeya and comments from Maydarwi