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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.

 

World Day for Safety and Health at Work – 28 April

This year, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay) and the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) are coming together in a joint campaign to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour.

The campaign aims to accelerate action to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.8 of safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030 and SDG target 8.7 of ending all forms of child labour by 2025. Achieving these goals for the benefit of the next generation of the global workforce requires a concerted and integrated approach to eliminating child labour and promoting a culture of prevention on occupational safety health (OSH).

The 541 million young workers (15-24 years old) – which includes 37 million children in hazardous child labour – account for more than 15 per cent of the world’s labour force and suffer up to a 40 per cent higher rate of non-fatal occupational injuries than adult workers older than 25.

Many factors can increase youth vulnerability to OSH risks, such as their physical and psychological stage of development, lack of work experience and lack of training, limited awareness of work-related hazards and a lack of bargaining power that can lead young workers to accept dangerous tasks or jobs with poor working conditions.

The 2018 SafeDay campaign highlights the critical importance of addressing these challenges and improving safety and health for young workers, not only to promote decent youth employment, but also to link these efforts to combat hazardous – and all other forms of – child labour.

 SafeDay History
Since 2003, the ILO observes the World Day on Safety and Health at Work on April 28 capitalizing on its traditional strengths of tripartism and social dialogue.

Source: Text: www.ilo.org Image: whatcanido.blog
 

5th Sunday of Easter, Year B

At times, we may feel that we need some encouragement in our life as Christians.
We try to be faithful to God’s message.
We struggle to follow God’s way from day to day.
We strive for the kind of life we know he expects from us…
But, somehow, we feel we fall short of the ideal and we are perhaps tempted to get discouraged.

If so, the text of the 2nd reading of this Sunday (5th Sunday of Easter, Year B – 1 Jn.3:18-24) can give us some needed consolation.
In his first letter to the first Christians, the apostle John says:

“We… be able to quieten our conscience in his presence,
whatever accusations it may raise against us,
because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.”
 
In fact, John is repeating the message of Jesus – what he had said privately to Nicodemus:
“God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.”   (Jn.3:17)

And what he had said openly to the Jews listening to him:
“I have not come to condemn the world but to save the world.” (Jn.12:47)

 We, human beings, can be strange people…
And so we are when we ‘create’ a vengeful and fearsome God intent on punishing us!

We make mistakes, we go astray, we may commit awful acts for which we are indeed guilty.
But what God wants from us is that we acknowledge our wrongdoing and our sin,
and that we return to him, the God of compassion and mercy.

That simple? Yes!
That wonderful, indeed!
And… absolutely TRUE!

Note: Another reflexion is available in French on a different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/5e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b/

Source: Images: CreatingGreatDay.com   Pinterest
 

World Malaria Day – 25 April

World Malaria Day gives people the chance to promote or learn about the efforts made to prevent and reduce Malaria around the world. It is observed on April 25 each year.

Good healthcare is important to prevent and treat diseases such as Malaria.

Background
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. About half of the worlds’ population is at risk of malaria, particularly those in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people each year and kills more than one million people, according to WHO. However, Malaria is preventable and curable.

The World Health Assembly instituted World Malaria Day in May 2007. The purpose of the event is to give countries in affected regions the chance to learn from each other’s experiences and support one another’s efforts. World Malaria Day also enables new donors to join in a global partnership against malaria, and for research and academic institutions to reveal scientific advances to the public. The day also gives international partners, companies and foundations a chance to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked. 

Source: Text: TimeAndDate.com  Images: MalariaWorld     WHO

Earth Day – 22 April

What is Earth Day?
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 with events worldwide in support of the environment and to raise awareness for the environmental protection and care of our planet.

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 is considered to be the birthday of the modern environmental protection movement. It is said that nowadays more than one billion people worldwide take part in activities on Earth Day, making it the world’s most widely observed secular (non-religious) holiday.

In 1969 peace activist John McConnell proposed to hold a day in honor of the Earth on the day of the spring equinox (around March 21, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere). The UN adopted this idea and since 1970 celebrates equinox Earth Day every year on the day of the March equinox with the ringing of the Japanese Peace Bell. At about the same time, US Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic politician famous for his environmental work, proposed to hold a teach-in about environmental issues on April 22, which developed into Earth Day.

While initially only held in the United States, the idea was taken global in 1990 by the Earth Day Network, and Earth Day is now celebrated globally every year on April 22.

Source: Text: www.calendarpedia.com

Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution Countdown to April 22

Plastic pollution is poisoning our oceans and land, injuring marine life, and affecting our health!

Help End Plastic Pollution by finding out how many plastic items you consume every year.

Earth Day 2018 is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally
change human attitude and behavior about plastics.

Source: Text: www.earthday.org Image: Alphr

 

4th Sunday of Easter, Year B

The gospel of this Sunday (4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Jn.10:11-18) is well known with its text on the Good Shepherd.
The words of Jesus are familiar and the picture they suggest to our minds is one similar to the picture here – a man concerned about his sheep and caring for his flock.

The example may not speak to our daily life in modern cities far away from a village in Palestine of old.
However, a book published by a well-known author expresses very well in a modern metaphor what the message of Jesus is about.
I speak of the book The Shepherd of Frederick Forsyth – not intended for spiritual reading but with rich spiritual overtones that can inspire us!

It is the story of a pilot going home for Christmas and, suddenly, his aircraft suffers a complete electrical failure en route. Lost in fog and with little fuel left, he fears the worse. Literally out of the blue and absolutely unexpected. he is met and led (or shepherded) by another pilot who has apparently been sent up to guide him and bring him to land safely.

You will say it is a clever plot from a no less clever author, and you are right.
But, strange to say – and is it really strange? – our own life can provide us with no less wonderful experiences.
We, too, can feel lost in the occasional fog of daily living and our energy may be low, depleted by the struggle to cope day after day…

To me, today’s gospel presents us someone, yes Someone, who is aware and who cares – aware of

  • who we are,
  • what we are faced with,
  • what we need.

Aware, indeed he is, and he cares – he cares enough to provide for our needs
and more abundantly than we could ever dream of!

A fairy tale? No!
A fascinating thriller? Not at all!
The on-going experience of someone (it can be you and me) who dares to believe, to trust,
and to say with the Psalmist:

“I am wandering like a lost sheep;
come and look for your servant..   (Ps.119:176)
 
Note: Another reflection is available in French on a different theme at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b/

Source: Images: catholicteacherresources.com  pinterest.com
Book illustration: Wikipedia

World Hemophilia Day – 17 April 2023

Nicking your finger with a knife while chopping some tomatoes for a salad is just a nuisance for most of us—we utter a choice word or two, rinse the cut, apply a disinfectant and maybe a band-aid, and then proceed to go on with our lives. The same goes for, say, tripping and falling—most of us will just get up and keep on going, not giving the situation any more thought and barely noticing the bruise that may appear afterward. Unfortunately, there are people whose very lives may be put in danger because of such seemingly minor accidents: hemophiliacs.

Hemophilia affects approximately 400,000 people worldwide, many of whom are not fully aware of their condition or are not getting the treatment they need. Because a relatively small percentage of the world’s population suffers from hemophilia, many people are not aware just how serious this condition is and how much more difficult and dangerous it makes the lives of those who have it. And this is where World Hemophilia Day comes in.

The History of Hemophilia Day
Hemophilia was first discovered in the 10th century, when physicians started to take a serious interest in people, especially males, who were bleeding to death after sustaining only minor injuries. At that time, it was called Abulcasis. Unfortunately, due to the limited technology of the day, it was impossible to research the condition properly. Numerous famous historical figures are thought to have had hemophilia, especially members of the European royal families, and it was often treated with aspirin which thinned the blood of the hemophiliac further, causing the symptoms to worsen.

Then, in 1803, Dr. John Conrad Otto of Philadelphia began to study people he called, “bleeders” more extensively, recognizing it to be a hereditary illness that was most often passed onto males from by their healthy mothers. In 1937, hemophilia was officially divided into two types: A and B. Though no cure for hemophilia has been invented till this day, the sickness can be controlled by administering clotting factors on a regular basis in order to avoid spontaneous bleeding episodes.

World Hemophilia Day was created by the World Federation of Hemophilia in 1989, and the date it’s celebrated on, April 17th, was chosen in honor of the founder of the organization’s birthday, Frank Schnabel. The day’s purpose is to raise awareness about the disease as well as other bleeding disorders and also to raise money for the treatment of those who cannot afford it.

Source: Text: DAYSoftheYEAR   Image: Pngtree

The theme of the event this year is “Access for All: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care”.

Building on last year’s theme, the call to action for the community in 2023 is to come together and advocate with local policy makers and governments for improved access to treatment and care with an emphasis on better control and prevention of bleeds for all people with bleeding disorders (PWBDs). This means the implementation of home-based treatment as well as prophylactic treatment to help those individuals have a better quality of life.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://wfh.org/world-hemophilia-day/

 

World Day Against Child Slavery – April 16

Today we will tell you today is national what day.  Parallel to the day of struggle for the abolition of slavery (December 2 ) or the commemoration of the abolition of slavery in metropolitan France (May 10), we also “celebrate” a Day of fight against slavery of children.

This day was instituted in 1995 after the death of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy who had tried to denounce the mistreatment suffered since he was sold to pay off a family debt. It’s not a shell, you read “sold”!

10% of the potential workforce
Children represent more than 10% of the potential of the global workforce, that is to say the stakes. Slave children contribute more than 13 billion Euros each year to world GDP.

A commercial war instrument
The slavery of children has become an instrument of the global commercial war that sees arriving in our linear clothing, sports shoes and other manufactured objects.

Some big companies, broadcasting well-known brands around the world, exploit girls and boys in the poorest countries. Children are thus the most vulnerable and least protected working group.

Fortunately, other companies are also engaging in ethical battles to try to eradicate this scourge.

Source: Text & Image: NationalPedia, by Zyppia (October 26, 2017)

 

 

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B

In today’s first reading (3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B – Acts 3:13-15,17-19), we see Peter addressing a group of Jews.
Of course, the scene takes place after the resurrection and Peter is now brave and bold in speaking the truth as he sees it.
He openly accuses those before him of having killed Jesus, “the Just One”.

But he goes on saying:
I know that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing…”

I pause and I realize that this is exactly what sometimes happens in my life.
I can make stupid mistakes and do foolish things.
I may even commit serious actions that cause harm to people.
I may be sorry for it now… but I feel there is little I can do about it.

Then, some light comes as I move on to the 2nd reading where John writes to the first Christians
(1 Jn.2:1-5), and I read:
“I am writing to stop you sinning,
but if anyone should sin,
we have our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ who is just.”

“We have our advocate…”
Perhaps the greatest mistake we can be guilty of is that of wanting to… manage on our own…
Pope Francis has been speaking quite a few times about ‘Neo-Pelagianism’ –
a big word but with a straightforward meaning:
it means that I choose to act on my own without reference to a greater power.
A person thinks and dares say that he/she can manage without God’s help for all practical purposes!

Pelagius was a philosopher (v. 305-420) who was the spiritual guide of a number of Christians to whom he was teaching this doctrine.
Pope Francis corrects this attitude in no uncertain terms: we need God to please God – it is as simple as that!

It is interesting to note that a search in Google shows it to be a ‘lie’
to imagine and believe that we could manage depending on our own resources alone!

Plenty to think about,
some serious truth to face,
and the necessary conversion to make, as Peter calls for: “Now you must repent and turn to God.”

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b/

Source: Image: SlidePlayer

World Parkinson’s Disease Day – 11 April

World Parkinson’s Disease Day marks the birthday of Dr. J Parkinson.  On this day there are efforts made to increase the public awareness of this terrible disease, as well as all the good works put forth by the world’s organizations dedicated to eradicating this disease. 

Dr. Parkinson first described the disease in “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”, he described a pattern of lessened muscular power, involuntary tremulous motion, even if these are supported.  There is at tendency to bend the body forwards, and to involuntarily switch from a walking to a running pace, while the sense and intellect deteriorate.

One of the prominent symbols of Parkinson’s disease is the red tulip, and this was established at the 9th World Parkinson’s disease Day at the Luxembourg Conference.  The story of the Red Tulip can be tied back to J.W.S. Van der Wereld, a Dutch Horticulturalist who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.  He had successfully generated a Red and White Tulip, and named it in honor of the man who named his medical condition. On the tail of this, the Tulip received the Award of Merit, granted by the Royal Horticultural Society in London, and then was granted the Royal General Bulb Growers, Trial Garden Award.

Many people do not understand what Parkinson’s is, or are unaware of how to identify it.  In the interest of promoting awareness of this disease, a simplified description follows.  It is a disorder that results in the degeneration of the central nervous system, and directly impacts those that nerves that handle motor functions for the body as a whole. As the disease advances, it becomes apparent from the slowness of their body, and the increasing stiffness of their limbs that there is a developing problem.  Their limbs will begin to shake uncontrollably as it gets further on, and eventually an entire scope of additional symptoms will develop as more and more motor functions are impacted.  Sufferers are often tired, and memory problems become more apparent as time goes on.

Source: Text (summary): DAYSoftheYEAR  Image: HydroWorx

 

International Day of the Romani people – 8 April

The Romani are an ethnic group found mainly in Europe. They are also known as Roma. In English they are often called Gypsies. Some Roma consider « gypsy » a slur. The Roma are a nomadic people that originally came from the northern Indian subcontinent,[1][2][3] They came from the Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Sindh regions.

A DNA study by Indian and Estonian research lbs shows that the Roma/Romani/Gypsy and Sinti people originate from the Untouchable Dalit community of their ancestral homeland. They migrated northwest into Europe via the Middle East. Today there are populations of Romanis found all over Europe, although the largest populations are in Eastern Europe, and the Religion are: Eastern Christianity, Catholicism and Islam. Baptism by the Christian Roma and Male Circumcision by the Muslim Roma is practise.

There are various groups of Romani: the Roma of East European birth; the Sinti in Germany and Manouches in France and Catalonia; the Kaló in Spain, Ciganos in Portugal and Gitans of southern France; and the Romanichals of Britain.

The Roma language is now an official language in many countries of Europe under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

History

The 18th-century idea about the Indian birth of the Roma is based on the likeness between Romani and languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent and is now supported by genetic evidence. The origins of the Roms were not known until 1763, when a theology student named Stefan Vali met Indian medical students. He noticed that they were physically similar to the Roms he saw in Hungary. He also noticed that they were using similar words.

It is believed to have been around the 11th century that Roms left India to go northwest, through Persia and the Middle East. Around the 15th century, the Roma reached the Balkans. From there, they dispersed through Europe. The first arrivals were well accepted. European people thought they were Christian pilgrims. The local people of Europe were fascinated by their nomadic way of life and their new sciences. The Roms were often recruited as mercenaries, horse trainers and circus artists. Roms were crossing Europe aboard large caravans which contained their luggage.

Roms also left a great musical heritage. Guitars and violins are part of their traditions. They influenced a lot of musical styles in Europe, such as flamenco, rumba, jazz, etc. During World War II, Roma people suffered from the Nazisdiscriminative policies. Statistics show that about 500,000 Roms died in Nazi concentration camps.

On 8 April 1971, the Roms’ nationality was legally recognised in Europe. Since this day, 8 April is the Roms national day.

Persecutions

Even though they have been recognised, they still suffer from discrimination. Some countries still apply discriminative attitudes towards Roms, especially in workplaces and schools, where they are not accepted. The main reason why they are not accepted is that they kept their nomadic lifestyle, which is against the law in some countries like France. Their squatting communities irritate locals. The Romani created an association in 1978 to defend their rights.

The day was officially declared in 1990 in Serock, Poland, the site of the fourth World Romani Congress of the International Romani Union (IRU), in honour of the first major international meeting of Romani representatives, 7–12 April 1971 in Chelsfield near London.

International reaction

Pope John Paul II exhorted his followers to treat Romanies with compassion and respect.

In 2003, the Dalai Lama lit a candle to commemorate the day.

In 2004, Adam Ereli of the US State Department addressed the continuing human rights abuses faced by Romanies and asked European governments to encourage tolerance.

In 2006, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General, stated her concerns for growing Antiziganism and encouraged Europe’s Romani populations to act to improve their poor living conditions, the result of longstanding and widespread discrimination.

In 2009,U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of the U.S. commitment to protecting and promoting the human rights of Romani people throughout Europe.

Source: Text & Image: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia