Greetings to each and everyone of you.
This section for English-speaking viewers –
and all those enjoying the culture –
has developed over the months and is now offering materials of all kinds:
texts, images, poems, videos, etc.
It will continue to provide you with rich contents week after week.
International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action – 4 April
« On this International Day, let us work together to advance the goal of a world free of the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war. » Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
2016 Theme: “Mine Action is Humanitarian Action”
On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
It called for continued efforts by States, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organizations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the civilian population, or an impediment to social and economic development at the national and local levels.
2016 Theme
Mine action is humanitarian action because mine action saves lives. Mine action ensures that landmines and explosive hazards in war-torn areas are found and destroyed, making possible the delivery of humanitarian assistance — so that people and supplies reach those most in need. UNMAS coordinates teams to clear roads and runways of explosives, to block off weapons contaminated areas, and to train local people to demine and dispose of explosives. Our work is a crucial first step in the vital humanitarian effort that follows.
Source: Texte: UN website Image: Mine action saves lives. UNMAS/Christian Lamontagne_PVP
World Autism Day – 2 April
2016 Theme: « Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neurodiversity »
Autism and other forms of disability are part of the human experience that contributes to human diversity. As such, the United Nations has emphasized the need to mainstream disability in the Organization’s development agenda. Mainstreaming disability requires an integral approach in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that inequality is not perpetuated.
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the ambitious new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets that promise to leave no one behind.
While all SDGs are universally applicable, disability and persons with disabilities are explicitly referenced in the following goals: 4) Quality Education; 8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; 10) Reduced Inequalities; 11) Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 17) Partnerships for the Goals.
This year’s observance will look ahead to 2030 and reflect on the new SDGs and their implications for improving the lives of people with autism.
Source: Text: UN website; Image: becausereading.com
2nd Sunday of Easter, C
It may have happened to many of us, the experience of missing an important occasion. We did not know it would take place. It was not planned, we had not expected that a person would come at that moment – but he did and we missed his arrival. Of course, we would have liked to be there but… But did the person REALLY come, or… no, it can’t be!…
This was the situation of Thomas, Thomas the apostle. His character is well-known to us, at least one aspect of it! The Thomas who will not believe without proofs. Thomas who is not easily convinced of things that are just too much to believe. He will not be ‘taken for a ride’, as the popular expression goes! He is not that gullible! His friends tell him that a man who died a few days before has been visiting them – no, this can’t be. The others want him to believe that, unexpectedly, doors closed, all of a sudden, their Master who was crucified has… 
appeared, yes, appeared from… nowhere!
His position is clear: he cannot give faith to that… that story of theirs. He will believe it only if he can make sure that it is true, that it is REAL. He needs a proof – THE proof which will convince him such as touching, yes, putting his fingers into the wounds of Jesus, placing his hand where the spear of the soldier entered the side of Jesus’ body.
One day passed, two days, more days followed and then… the unexpected happened again but this time Thomas was present. Not only was he there but he was addressed personally: “Thomas, put your finger… give me your hand… put it into my side…” It was exactly as Thomas had asked for. And then, the words are spoken: “Doubt no longer but believe” (Jn.20:27).
I close the Bible, close my eyes and open my heart, open that secret place where my multi-faceted doubt is rooted, deep, deep within… Doubt that I am accepted by God as I am. Doubt that I am forgiven and will be forgiven as often as I return to him. Doubt that he walks with me on the paths of my daily experience. Doubt that he will enable me to become what he wants me to become. Doubts, so many of them…
What can I do, what can I say? The words come of themselves – the very words pronounced long ago: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn.20:28). There is really no need to add anything more…
Source: Image: pinterest.com
World Bipolar Day – 30 March
World Bipolar Day (WBD) will be celebrated each year on March 30th, the birthday of Vincent Van Gogh, who was posthumously diagnosed as probably having bipolar disorder. The vision of WBD is to bring world awareness to bipolar disorders and eliminate social stigma. Through international collaboration the goal of World Bipolar Day is to bring the world population information about bipolar disorders that will educate and improve sensitivity towards the illness.
Source: Text & Picture: The International Society for Bipolar Disorders
Why a World Bipolar Day?
World Diabetes Day, World Cancer Day, and even World Egg Day, and now, drum roll please, World Bipolar Day (WBD). WBD is a day to bring about awareness of bipolar disorder. It is the brainchild of Dr. Pichet Udomratn, a member of the Asian Network of Bipolar Disorder (ANBD) who collaborated with International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) to bring his idea to fruition.
There are 450 million people worldwide with mental illness. Of those it is estimated that the global prevalence of bipolar disorder is between 1 and 2 percent and has been said to be as high as 5 percent, which is three times all the diabetes and 10 times all the cancers combined. Why then do we hear so much in the news, on television, and in conversations about other diseases like diabetes and cancer, and rarely anything about bipolar?
Mental illnesses have historically been misunderstood, feared and therefore stigmatized. The stigma is due to a lack of education, mis-education, false information, ignorance, or a need to feel superior. Its effects are especially painful and damaging to one’s self-esteem. It leaves people with mental illnesses feeling like outcasts from society. Whether the perceived stigma is real or not, it is the subjective interpretation that affects the person’s feelings of belonging. Like most groups who are stigmatized against, there are many myths surrounding mental illness.
Dispelling myths, teaching the signs and symptoms, sharing resources, and pointing out healthy living techniques will be imparted for all to use. WBD is not about “them,” it’s for everyone. We all know someone. Join us!
Source: Text: Muffy Walker, Mental Health Professional, Advocate, Mother and Traveler, http://www.twitter.com/IntlBipolar, Huffpost Healthy Living
He is alive…
John, the beloved disciple, shares with us his experience of the Master, his life, his teaching, and … more…
Easter Sunday, C
“God is dead” – the idea has been proclaimed already in 1882 by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
In fact, this statement could have been voiced – in all truth – on the first ‘Good Friday’, on that day when Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. In Jesus, God-made-man, had died as all human beings do.
And some 40 hours or so later, someone could have proclaimed – again in all truth: GOD IS ALIVE – for this is what Jesus’ resurrection is about!
The simple, astonishing, amazing, staggering truth that GOD IS ALIVE in our midst – this is what we celebrate at Easter.
Who can believe this? Precisely, only those who have… faith.
No miracle is convincing enough for anyone who is not ready to accept this.
No sign is obvious enough for anyone who does not want to see.
No proof is satisfactory for anyone who wants to entertain doubts.
No argument is conclusive enough for anyone who is not ready to make the leap… of faith!
You ask: Is it not irrational? The Corinthians thought so and were told: “God’s foolishness is wiser that human wisdom” (1 Cor.1:25).
You wonder: Is it not childish? Long ago, we have been reminded: “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.18:3).
The texts telling us of the resurrection of Jesus can remain stories relating some event that happened in the past and… belongs there!
Or, they can provide us with the moment that becomes ‘a point of no return’ – the decision of committing ourselves to Him who opens up to us a life beyond all we could dream of, or hope for…
Source: Images: www.age-of-the-sage.org crosswalk.com
Good Friday, C
On this Good Friday, a short reflection only as I believe human words should take away from the impact of God’s word.
A few months ago, during summertime, the news broadcast told the sad story of two young people who had gone canoeing on a river.
Suddenly, an undercurrent started to rock their canoe – they both knew they were in trouble.
The boy threw to the girl the only life jacket in the canoe telling her to put it on.
She did and it saved her life. The boy was carried far away and his body was found only a few days later.
The young woman, remembering her boyfriend, kept repeating: “He gave his life that I may live…”
Today, looking at Jesus on the cross, every one of us can say the same words… in all truth…
Source: Images: www.cathedralmountainlodge.com jesus-story.net
Holy Thursday, C
Have you ever dreamt of something you wanted very much?
Something you would give anything to see happen…
Something that would fill you with deep joy, with utter contentment.
If it did happen, it was, literally a DREAM COME TRUE!
Well, we could say that what happened on the first Holy Thursday, during what is known as The Last Supper¸ is ‘a dream come true’.
Jesus had anticipated this moment for a long time… It was HIS dream…
At one moment, during the Passover meal, he left aside the usual Jewish ritual for that festive occasion.
He took some bread and said: “Take and eat, this is my body…”
Then, he took the cup of wine and said: “Drink all of you… for this is my blood…” (Mt.26:26-27)
This was the realisation of what he had said following the multiplication of the loaves.
At that time, he had spoken these words:
“My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (Jn.6:55).
At that moment, many people had stopped following him – they simply could not accept what they called such “intolerable language” (Jn.6:59).
His twelve friends had not understood either what he meant but they had remained with him… until tonight.
Hearing him speak now, they may have recalled that, when he had first spoken about this, he had added the words: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person” (Jn.6:56).
Some of them may have remembered… or perhaps they had not, overcome as they were by the solemn and sad atmosphere they could feel at that moment in the Upper Room.
They had noticed how Jesus seemed downcast and anxious… he was “troubled in spirit…” (Jn.13:21).
The Passover celebration was to be the most joyful occasion in the Jewish calendar – but for them, tonight, it was not so.
Later, much later, one of them wrote about that night and said: “He had always loved those who were his own in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was…” (Jn.13:1).
They had – finally – understood what that night was all about……….
Source: Images: elderwilkins.wordpress.com saltandlighttv.org
World TB Day – 24 March
The theme of this year’s World TB Day is: « Unite to End TB »
World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.
It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch’s discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.
Source: Text & Image: Website Stop TB Partnership
Background
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the disease. WHO estimates that the largest number of new TB cases in 2005 occurred in south-east Asia, which accounted for 34 percent of incident cases globally. However, the estimated incidence rate in sub-Saharan Africa is nearly twice that of south-east Asia.