Disarm from your passivity and Arm with passion in action! (The International Day of Peace-September 21st)

Dear fellow citizens, respected politicians, dignified statesmen, all people of the earth,

I plead with YOU:

Cast off your shadow of vanity

tear apart those imbecile lies

cut off the chains of arrogant misery

forget about your selfish self/plot!



Let gentle winds and pure waters

cover you with new sensations

Let children's laughter and human's touch

permeate within your twisted vapors.



Oil spilled and blackened the water

Diamonds glittered and caused massive slaughter

Gold, Silver, Jade and Gems,

oh, Nature's wonders revealing

the ugly face of humanity

in total disgrace!



And power balance, games unfold

nuclear warheads and missiles,

they are all part of the plot

cruel dictators, ambitious politicians

merciless and greedy multinational corporations...



will anyone "surrender" their greedy wishes?

And favor the excluded, the poor, the needy?

will anyone stand up and speak out the truth?

will Any powerful person dare make a move?

and once, once and for all end this theatre brutal, absurd?



will anyone raise the banner of peace?

without just being all self-righteous, full of pretense!?



it's not too late for a total make-over

our world still has a chance to survive

our destruction total

Nature is weeping for the oppressed

their bodies, their bruises, their hunger and grieves

they'll flood the earth, Nature will revenge!



the tides are changing...


So, dismantle the weapons, forget ancient ways

let 21st century be remembered as the age of the The Change

a grand and magnificent, an all-encompassing sublime phase

of human's highest moral standing and unselfish acts/deeds


change your weapons of destruction

to such that yield mass Construction (development)

create a Force of children-

empowered by knowledge and wisdom!



take oil, take diamonds,

take all that you like

turn it in Precious investments

in real human lives



Recycle your weapons

Recycle your ways

Recycle your governance

Lead your people with humility and grace!


No, don't wait for the government or for someone else


YOU are the change!


the citizen, the fighter, the voice of the oppressed,

Raise the banner and with peaceful voices, actions and faith

Speak Justice, Speak PEACE! in this torn land


in this confused and twisted world

there is a truth that lies in you:


Raise the white flag! Let PEACE be the fruit!



DISARM from your passivity, your neglect, your diconcern

and ARM with the truth, passion (in action), and a heart of love full!

p.s. in some tribes in Nigeria the raising of a white flag signifies PEACE

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE...

I WISH FOR A DAY TO COME, WHEN WORDS LIKE WAR, VICTIMS, WEAPONS, PAIN...

WILL BE ONLY PART OF HISTORY, NOT AN EVERYDAY REALITY!

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The High Price for Pursuing Knowledge in Some Parts of the Developing World

how much does it cost to go to school?
you might automatically answer - much.
but just how much?

well, most people will argue that no matter the cost, education is an invaluable and essential asset for the development of any individual. i will not refute the least such a statement, since i, myself, believe in this!

nevertheless, despite all arguments in support, i want to ask you -

what if it might cost you your life? will you still go to school? will you be willing to expose yourself to life danger just so that you can get to the classroom and learn?and why yes, or why no.

i suppose there will be those denying the possibility of such radical outcomes as the loss of life, but the facts are against such claims.

the reality in which some people 'survive' and actually pursue knowledge and development is utterly different from ours,immensely complicated and striking, and while we might wonder how to pay for the best schools, how to take advantage of the best options available to us and in one way or another consequently to succeed, or simply how to skip going to school...some people go to school at the risk of their lives.


who are these people? where is schooling being persecuted and why?

whether we talk about a war-torn area like Somalia or Darfur, or a radical Islamist town in a country like Afghanistan, controlled by the Talibans (or other extremist groups for that matter), or destitute places like Cambodia or Ethiopia, we can find parallels everywhere!

the 'price' of reaching school might differ, from being raped and beaten to being sold into prostitution or..as the latest of these cases shows, being the victim of a an attack with acid by some coward who just couldn't stand the thought of women's empowerment and emancipation.

the story of the several Afghan girls who were attacked with acid in the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan just days ago, is another proof of the high price some children, and especially girls, have to pay, to have the chance to overcome poverty by acquiring education. Education is Power. And those who seek to halt the educating of girls know that very well. They fear immensely even the slightest possibility of being overthrown by an empowered new generation of women who have sacrificed much in their lives and who are ready to see radical change and improvement in society. And they have definite reasons to fear because their cowardly attacks will ultimately prove unsuccessful! Some people are ready to pay the High price...and pursue knowledge. Take Shamsia, for example, she received the most severe injures in the recent attack, and yet, while still in the hospital, with her face burned from the acid, she claimed: "I'll continue my schooling even if they try to kill me. I won't stop going to school"... this is courage, this is spirit, this is strength, this is power!

you might wonder, why on earth will someone walk 5 miles a day, like some girls in Sudan and Congo (or many other areas around the globe where the protection of the citizens is beyond any measure!), just to attend classes, at the risk of being attacked and raped; you might think why some girls will not let their chance of being schooled pass by and choose to risk their lives to learn merely how to write and read...and here is Shamsia's answer to you all: "I'll continue going to lessons. I'm studying to be able to build our country"...the response to the same question, given by a little girl whose leg was chopped off by some rebels in Congo and who nevertheless, continued walking the 5 miles to school, without protease, just a crunch (risking to be raped by gangs on the way to and back)...was this "I dream to become a teacher when I grow up and be able to teach children and help them "...

the answer to "why would someone be willing to pay a price so high for education?" is simple: it's the will and desire of every man and woman to develop and reach their full potential, to be all that they can be, dream and pursue their dreams, and live a dignified and decent life!

the answer is simple - it's man's highest aspiration to reach to the stars, and to fly with the eagles, to be all that God made him/her to be, and live like a human!!!

the next time you start complaining about how much you wish u didn't have to study for exams, attend classes, or have to write papers and listen to lectures...i urge you to take a deep look at yourself and see...just how very blessed you truly are.
and when you see it, i urge you to give the Lord the glory and the praise and Pray that all may be privileged to have a chance like yours, a chance to become all that they are meant to, a chance to fulfill their dreams and reach their stars...a chance to be free (of torture, fear, abuse, despair, poverty) to not just survive..but LIVE!

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A Congolese woman on the Road (To all the displaced people and all refugees everywhere)

(a displaced woman)

Again on the road

carrying bundles of clothes,

pieces of bread, empty bottles for water...

i am going ahead.

It's the road to my past

paved with strife, blood and pain,
there is no way out...

i am a stone thrown away.

It's a crossroad with no choice

and i'm stuck in the middle
guns, rape, violence, grief

blood money and greed

take over everything...

the rebels suppress us

the government's a mess

this road is our only shelter, ally in this chaos.

i' m holding my son, he's quiet and still

looking straight in the eyes, he whispers:

"what are we punished for? are we so evil?"

are we preys for the beasts?

are we migrating birds?

are we victims of men?

are we people or dust?

are we remnants of the past?

do we have human name/face?

we are the citizens without homes

the forced travelers, always on the road

the free slaves of this land

we are children of this demolished place

even the foxes have holes,

the birds have their nests

the cattle sleep in stables

but all we have... is the stars and our Faith

***

(the world)

are these shadows from our nightmares?

or ghosts haunting us for our wrongdoing?

or are they just the reflection,

of what we cannot see but what's true and apparent?

how would we know...

when their voices are silenced

when Someone has muted the truth

when the world is trying to cover

the names of these human faces

with mere numbers in the news...?

Dedicated to all displaced people and all refugees around the world: Hold on!!!

God has proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah:

"I myself wil gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I
will place shepherds over them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing, " declares the Lord! Jer.23:3-5

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Is Peace just a delusion or an arm-stretch away shore?

Inequalities, Regulations
Incentives and Ratios
International crisis and global response
constipation
Contradictions, world puzzles
Paradigms and Dilemmas,
Paradoxes and Distortions
Truth is False
and
Falsehood True
how come 1+1 still equals 2?

should we live in a cave (of ignorance)
like Plato's heroes do?

***

Justice or Order,
what's on your mind?
again in opposition,
it's - Either / Or
Peace or War -
mutually destroyed?
can Man reconcile
the Self-interest and that of All?

***

Lots are distributed
stocks piled up
flows of money come and go
yet the bottom is lied down
with bodies of the invisible
and the unknown...

***

step on them! close your eyes!
it's clear, you've chosen your path
demise and lethal end are on the way...
but who will dare take a different path
(and be doomed wrong) ...anyway...

***

put down the guns, raise up the flags
is Peace an oasis (delusion)? or an arm stretch-away shore?

...how would you know...if you don't stretch your own?

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CENSORSHIP!!!!read!!!

i am sad to announce that my blog is blocked from China (friends tried and access was denied, which is no surprise!), and freedom of speech as we know it, is compromised so that the communist party may continue to keep its "legitimacy" and control the "development" of its people to a high degree. Bothers and sisters, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION is a universal human right, or so it should be...but helas! it is no more than an illusion, a mirage in the desert in China today!
optimism for change? ye, definetely, but despite all the talk about China, outsiders really know just bits from here and bits from there...all in all...they know mostly, what the Chinese want them to know..the Olympic games are over now and one of my friends assured me that i am going to see a better and cleaner beijing...but i KNOW...it's allll FACADE, it's what the Chinese call "mianzi" (face) and this is what defines them to a large degree...so, anywhos, i understand - why wouldn't my blog be banned?...i should have known better and not have put anything concerning God (christianity is like a curse for the government, or so they believe...) or anything about issues of sensitivity both politically, morally, or socially...and i haven't even started yet...what i pity!
yes, we live in a "globalized world" whatever that means, i think today the vagueness of this expression is extreme and anyone gives it a definition of their own...like the Chinese, for them globalization consists of the fact that they have become the Factory of the World and that they have "opened their doors" to the cruel and imbecile west....extreme? well, right now, i am short of neutral and tolerant words, because i am struck by the reality to which i shall return in 1 day.
Despite all this, i BELIEVE in Human Development, in action, in change. I believe that Where there is a will, there is a way, and no communist, democratic or other regime can make me think otherwise. I don't give up and if anything, i feel more challenged, more motivated and more devoted to a cause higher than me and my mere selfish interests! For me, this is worth fighting for, and it is worth living for! - "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Prov.31)
So, now i will search for a way to penetrate through the Chinese internet police, and once i find it...i will be back with more stuff about our world...us - people, all of God's creation~!
Till then, remember how very very blessed yall are, to be able to do what you like, to say what you think, to go where you want, to be who you are (and who you wish to be)~! YOU ARE BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE, EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU LACK SOMETHING, OR have NOT EVERYTHING!
So, don't waste your life grumbing and mumbling over little nothings and take a step to help those in need, live your life meaningfully!!!! and you will not regret a single day of it...

!it takes little to make YOUR world a different place...it's in YOUR hands...TODAY~!

Love and Peace in Christ!
Be Blessed!!!!!!!
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