“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up...

Light One Candle by Peter Jarrow   Light one candle for the Maccabee children With thanks that their light didn't die Light one candle for the pain they endured When their right to exist was denied Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice Justice and freedom demand But light one candle for the wisdom to know When the peacemaker's time is at hand [Chorus:] Don't let the light go out! It's lasted for so many years! Don't let the light go out! Let it shine through our love and our tears. Light one candle for the strength that we need...

The Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie   He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four, He fights with missiles and with spears. He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen, He's been a soldier for a thousand years. He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew. And he knows he shouldn't kill, And he knows he always will, Kill you for me my friend and me for you. And he's fighting for Canada, He's fighting for France, He's fighting for the USA, And he's fighting for the Russians, And he's fighting for...

Le Déserteur English translation copyright © 1983 James Prescott   Your Majesty the King, I'm writing you a letter, Though you might hear me better, if you could hear me sing. There just came through my door, my army papers warning, We leave on Monday morning, we march away to war. Well, I don't fit your plan, I must refuse the shilling, For I'm no longer willing, to kill my fellow man. Your Majesty, I say, with due consideration, It's my determination, I will desert today. I've seen my father die, I've seen my sisters grieving, My older brothers leaving,...

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE A LOVE POEM                                                                 by Shira, Development Instructor,   IICD Massachussetts     I don`t know how to write a love poem But I can tell you what it is like to hear Third world children screaming my name and running towards me with open arms I can tell you what it is like to have lived in Mozambique For only half a year And to return With familiar faces as I embrace The memories they have kept alive of me Calling out my name as if I have been here all along I don't know...

Salut au Monde! By Walt Whitman 1819-1892 1 O take my hand Walt Whitman! Such gliding wonders! such sights and sounds! Such join'd unended links, each hook'd to the next, Each answering all, each sharing the earth with all. What widens within you Walt Whitman? What waves and soils exuding? What climes? what persons and cities are here? Who are the infants, some playing, some slumbering? Who are the girls? who are the married women? Who are the groups of old men going slowly with their arms about each other's necks? What rivers are these? what forests and fruits are...

Manual for Climbing Mountains --by Paulo Coelho, Original Story, Dec 20, 2011  A] Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing. B] Know how to get close to it: mountains are often seen from far off – beautiful, interesting, full of challenges. But what happens when we try to draw closer? Roads run all around them,...

Invictus by William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my...

  IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph...

PREAMBLE   Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse,...

HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 933* Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. The lifestance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance. This...

Secretary General's Envoy has been to Southern Africa. ......"there is no question that the pandemic can be defeated" Notes for Press Briefing United Nations, New York, Noon, January 8, 2003 Stephen Lewis, Secretary-General’s Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa: "Last month, I spent two weeks touring four countries in Southern Africa: Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The primary purpose was to view the link between hunger and AIDS. I want to look back at that visit, because little will have changed between then and now (except, perhaps, that things will have deteriorated further), and then look forward to the prospects for...

The Imperative of Investing in Adolescence From the UNICEF website   Among the multitude of issues, goals, targets and priorities on the international development agenda, adolescents – defined by the United Nations as those between 10 and 19 years of age – seldom come first. Particularly when development budgets are constrained, as now, conventional wisdom might dictate devoting most resources to children in the first decade of their lives. Investment in health, nutrition, basic education and protection for younger children has in recent years secured a significantly better start in life for many.  With this achievement, however, comes a responsibility...

Grameen Bank – a bank for the poor From Wikipedia   The Grameen Bank (Bengali: গ্রামীণ বাংক) is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. The name Grameen is derived from the word gram which means "rural" or "village" in the Bengali language. The system of this bank is based on the idea that the poor have skills that are under-utilized. A group-based credit approach is applied which utilizes the peer-pressure within the group to ensure the borrowers follow through and use...

The charter of Humana People to People We quote from the website of Humana People to People: “Through the 80-r and 90-s Humana People to People grew in size and scope with more countries, more development projects, more activities within the projects and many more people involved. The Charter was written to sum up the status of the organization and to preview, anticipate and herald an even more vivid, active and magnificent future. The Charter of Humana People to People is a piece of art. It is an example of how it is possible to write the history of the...

Malaria Communities Program In Zaire province, Angola – started 2011 The Objective The overall objective of the program is to establish a school based community malaria control network in Zaire province in the northern Angola. The specific objectives are, through the network, to promote: - Increased use of bed nets in the target population, particularly by pregnant women and children under 5 years. - Improved ability in communities to recognize symptoms of malaria. - Increased health-seeking behavior in target communities The Strategy The strategy is to establish a network of 200 teachers, who are specially trained in the key project...

DRH 1970. By Humana People to People. A story of a bus group traveling in Asia, meeting 2 Afghan men with a child at a deserted roadside carrying the load of a very sick child - a desperate meeting posing the question why children die from hunger in the last half of the twentieth century. "Henning, shouldn't we take him along?" "Yes, let's do it. He is standing quite alone. Usually ten others will turn up when you stop." The desert and the unbelievable heat probably did much for the fact that we could not drive past the Kuchi, who...

From the website of United Nations, July 2012 Global partnership key to achieving Millennium Development Goals by 2015 – UN report 2 July 2012 – With three important targets on poverty, slums and water having been met, a new United Nations report stresses the need for a true global partnership to achieve the remaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline. The 2012 MDG Report offers “the most comprehensive picture yet” on global progress towards the Goals, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he launched the report at the high-level segment of the annual session of the UN Economic and...

The United Nations (UN) was founded by 51 member states in 1945 to “work for peace and development, based on principles of justice, human dignity and the well being of all people” 189 heads of state at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 committed governments and intergovernmental institutions to focusing international economic and social cooperation on the achievement of 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Click here to download the PDF

Adopt, adapt and improve One thing you can expect here at CICD, and when you are in Africa or India, is the unexpected! Making plans and trying by all means to follow through with them is an essential part of accomplishing something and reaching your goals ... and you will do a lot of that here. We always say that it is good to have a plan, and to have a plan B and even plan C! It is not at all unusual for unexpected things to happen in the course of the programme, so you will have to be...