Magic

From a simple, unadorned tree.....
...to a beauteous sculpture of rhapsodizable pulchritude.
Such a humongous metamorphosis certainly did not transpire naturally.
It was our toil, perseverance and cast-iron will that worked magic on the tree.
Now that it has blossomed into a fruitful success, our blood, sweat and tears certainly paid off.

Haha... I know... too much of exaggeration... EXPLANATION:

The red lines winding round the black branches represent the hostile environment that the poverty-stricken people reside in. They also symbolize their grief, hopelessness, powerlessness and helplessness.

However, amid all the doom and gloom, there's still hope. And the hope is represented in the form of a sunflower. Albeit in all the harshness of the wilderness, the sunflower grows magnificently. It is to instil in us that, hope is the elixir of life; hope gives the power to rise. In the face of undue circumstances, it is hope that drives people through all the ferocious darkness and gloom.

Then, what is the HOPE?

Education is the hope and we had a self-made book and three toy pencils to represent education. Education is capable to bring about a transition in the life of those poverty-stricken people. It is the impetus. It is the most excellent and complete platform that allows them for self-actualisation. Through the knowlegde gained from a wholesome and better education system, they would know about family planning, they would know about their rights, they would know about the better ways to lead a healthy lifestyle, they would know almost everything eventually. This is really VITAL!

Last but not least, we also had a man falling and a massive hand wanting to catch it. The falling man represents the needies desperate of help while the massive hand represents Almighty God. God, in our opinions, is everything. It is omnipotent and omnipresent. Through the creation of this sculpture (the falling man and the hand), we hope that all of you will understand that God creates every human being with equality. No disparagement and no prejudice. It is beyond a shadow of a doubt that we hold on our shoulders the obligation to offer our aid to the needies. We have the responsibility to better their lives and they too own the rights to live a better life.

a THOUSAND WORDS reap NO benefits,
an ACTION sows a THOUSAND FRUITS.

OUR FLAMBOYANCY VIDEO!!!

Please please feel free to give some comments about our Poverty Video.

Meanwhile, enjoy watching it too XD

By the way, before we actually started making our video, we wrote a plan of what we wanted to do for our video to make things more organized. =]

However, we made some slight changes.

What are the changes? Don't ask me.

Watch the video to find out the differences yourself.

Nadia and Sherlin: Jinni
Peyman: Father
Bobby: Mother
Aland: Eldest Son
Nasir: Son
ZiKang: Youngest Son
Bikram: Son

Scene 1#Morning
· Introducing family members of different races, different skin colours. A poor family. Framed photo.
· Mother slicing a grain of rice distributing the sliced pieces among her sons. Everyone still feels hungry.
· Rice and biscuits decreasing day by day, bits by bits.
· Then Mother finds a worm. Slices it into several pieces and wants to feed her sons.
· Her sons – Are we really going to eat that?
· Mother- Why not? It’s crunchy and delicious. Your mama has such a nice complexion because I have been eating this wholesome delicacy since small.
· Sons: Ewwwww!!

Scene 2#Morning/Afternoon
· Meanwhile, Father and eldest son are away to find some food for family, knowing that food at home is running out.
· A triangular model falls out of nowhere, presumably from the sky.
· Father and Son are surprised as it falls right in front of them. Gaze up to the sky. Puzzled looks.
· Pick up the model. Play with it. Then keep it in pocket.

Scene 3#Night
· Eldest son toys with the model. Asks brothers to have a look at it.
· Finally have the model fixed into the right facet.
· Model shines and floats abruptly.
· Smoke effects. Jinni comes out. – your wishes are my commands.
· All brothers get a shock and feel intimidated. Then ask if is it that they will fulfill any kind of wish. The jinni say of course and brag about their might and power.
First wish: Chocolate ( an accident)
Second wish: improves mum and dad’s living condition
Third wish: I want a gigantic tree to be grown in every poor country. I want the people to Tree of heavenly fruits to quell their hunger.
Jinni were touched and grant them unlimited wealth and eternal health.

Natural and Green Architecture

You know what a GREEN BUILDING IS?

Haha... You have visited the right blog. Let me enlighten you with some interesting facts about NATURAL BUILDING.

Yes, a green building is named a natural building too.

A GREEN BUILDING is an outcome of a design which focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use — energy, water and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and Mother Nature during the building's lifecycle, through

• better siting,
• design,
• construction,
• operation,
• maintenance, and
• removal.

In case if you do not know, a green building protects occupant health and improves employee productivity by reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

Do you know that there are 15 Green Buildings which have been dubbed as the Greenest in the entire World?

No you didn't know?

Nevermind.

Behold~~

1. Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, New York

When it comes to green architecture they don’t get much greener than the Bank of America Tower in New York. This $1 billion, 54 storey, 1,200 foot tall tower will house 2.1 million square foot of office space. Cook + Fox designed the tower to be extremely efficient so that waste and rainwater is reused, heat from the sun is maximised and office space is flushed with natural daylight. Most of the raw materials used in the construction of the tower are from renewable and recycled sources within 500 miles of New York in line with the ideology of sustainable building practice. It should come as no surprise therefore that this tower has been accredited with US LEED Platinum status, the only skyscraper with the reward at the time of writing.
2. India Tower, Mumbai

When first announced many commentators reacted with aghast to the renders of India Tower claiming it looked more like a stack of misaligned boxes than an intelligently designed building. I know there are similar towers around the world but I still quite like the India Tower, if only because it symbolises an environmental awareness in the world’s second most populous country. India Tower will be 74 storeys tall with 882,000 square foot of multi-use space when completed in 2010. Each rotated block in the tower will have a completely different use, ie. residential, office, retail, recreation etc. The design incorporates the use of solar shading, natural ventilation, daylighting, rainwater harvesting, and green interior finishes and materials to make this one of the greenest buildings in India. The India Tower has already achieved the US LEED Gold rating.

3. Residence Antilia, Mumbai

Believe it or not but this 70 storey, 803 foot tall tower is going to be the home for a single family, that of Indian property mogul Mukesh Ambani. The tower has been designed by Perkins + Will using traditional Vastu design, which means this will be the tallest living wall when completed and act as a large carbon sink in the heart of Mumbai, India. Not all of the floors will be occupied, some are going to be used exclusively as gardens in the sky. According to Vastu philosophy the central column of the building will angle upwards to symbolise enlightenment. The design is certainly innovative and should add at least some weight behind the whole idea of rooftop gardens and inner city farms that seems to be gaining some well-deserved traction.

4. Burj al-Taqa, UAE

Well it had to happen: it just wouldn’t be a post about green architectural and innovative construction without a mention of one of the emirates. The Burj al-Taqa is a totally self-sufficient office tower to be constructed in Dubai, Bahrain and Riyadh that will use wind, solar and water to produce all necessary energy with zero emissions. Designed by Gerber Architekten the 68 story “Energy Tower’ (as the name translates) will have an air conditioning system based on Iranian wind towers to draw air inside that gets pre-cooled with seawater before distribution round the tower. There will also be a 200 foot tall wind turbine with a Darrieus-type rotor on the roof of the 1,056 foot tall tower. The wind turbine will be accompanied by 2 rooftop solar arrays with another floating array offshore to augment power generation. If this building does prove to be totally carbon neutral when completed it will help usher in a new generation of super-green buildings.

5. San Francisco Civic Tower, SF

After a long time on the drawing board, the City of San Francisco finally gave the green light (no pun intended) to the 12 storey Civic Tower. The building incorporates a plethora of green design features including integrated solar panels on the building exterior and rooftop, a raised floor ventilation system, chilled ceilings, light shelves to increase the penetration of natural daylight into the workspace. In order to improve the quality of life for the workers KMD Architects also designed greenhouses on each floor. These features combined will help the Civic Tower consume 20% less power than required by Californian environmental law, which is why it has been accredited with a US LEED Silver rating. Admittedly not the coolest building, but a sign of things to come.

6. Masdar, Abu Dhabi

Even the largest of green projects pale in comparison with the sheer scale and ambition of the Masdar Initiative. This 64,583,462 square foot development takes environmental design to a whole new level. Foster + Partners were commissioned for this mixed use, high density new walled city which promises zero emissions and no waste. Inhabitants in Masdar will never be any further than 200 meters from some form of public transport or personalised rapid transit, which will be useful considering the city will be car free. Carefully positioned wind turbines, solar arrays and plantations mean Masdar will be completely self sustaining. Awesome.

7. Khanty Mansiysk Tower, Siberia

This 917 foot tall tower in Khanty Mansiysk is designed by Foster + Partners to be a multi use living and workspace capable of withstanding the hot and cold extremes of the Siberian climate. In the renderings provided it looks like a diamond on the hill thanks to the faceted glass Foster has used to maximise penetration of natural daylight, increase solar gain, provide insulation in winter and decrease the power needed for artificial lighting. OK, we’re Foaster fanboys … but who isn’t?

8. Crystal Island, Moscow

OK, we know, it is another Foster project. But this one is more equal than others for Crystal Island will be the largest building in the world when completed. Crystal Island’s vital statistics are, well, huge. The volcano-shaped superstructure will be 1,500 foot tall with 26,909,776 foot squared of floor space, that’s enough room to house 30,000 people. As you would expect from a Foster + Partners project, the self-contained city within a city has energy conservation and eco-friendly energy management at the very heart of the design. Crystal Island will generate low carbon energy from solar arrays and wind turbines located on the building with vast atriums to regulate the internal air temperature during the extremes of the Russian summer and winter.

9. Transbay Tower, SF

The 1,200 foot tall obelisk-shaped Transbay Tower is set to joint the Transamerica Building and the Golden Gate Bridge as one of the most iconic structures in San Francisco. A new Transbay bus terminal will be constructed from glass with a rooftop park to absorb the C02 from buses. Transbay Tower will have wind turbines located on the roof, intelligent ventilation of 100% fresh air, lightshelves to control lighting and reduce energy demand, solid exterior panels near the floor to remove undesirable solar gain as well as sunshades to allow for solar control. This is a thoughtfully designed green building, we especially like the use of rooftop turbines.

10. CH2, Melbourne

Located in the center of Melbourne, the 10 storey Council House 2 aka CH2 is a United Nations award-winning building with sustainable design and energy efficiency at heart. It took AUD$50 million to construct CH2 but it has paid dividends in terms of the recognition it has bestowed on Melbourne. CH2 was the first purpose built office building in Australia to achieve the six Green Star certified rating. It ticks just about every box you can imagine: thermal mass cooling, photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, sewage recycling, chilled ceilings and an amazing tapestry of photovoltaic-powered recycled wooden louvers that track the sun and promote a healthier internal environment. The City of Melbourne expect these green features to pay for themselves inside 10 years, but the real benefit for the city has been the prestige heaped on them from around the world. There’s a message in there.

11. 30 The Bond, Sydney

When Lend Lease decided to move their headquarters to Sydney they consulted their staff with regards their priorities for the building. As a consequence Lend Lease came up with a design brief that put an emphasis on an improved internal environment, better water management, waste management, fewer emissions and pollutants. 30 The Bond has achieved a 5 star ABGR rating (the equivalent of Gold LEED) by using chilled beans for cooling, individually operated external shades to manage heat and solar gain, wintergarden rooms and rooftop gardens with drought resistant plants that increase biodiversity. Lend Lease say that 30 The Bond emits 30% less CO2 that a typical office building.

12. Cor, MiamiIf ever there was an example of strikingly beautiful sustainable architectural design, this is it! Cor is a mixed use 25 storey tower in Miami’s design district costing $25 million to build and due for completion in 2009. Much of the expenditure will go towards the integration of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and solar hot water generation with the innovative structural design. Cor’s exoskeleton will provide structural integrity, thermal mass for insulation, enclosure for terraces, armatures for turbines, shading for natural cooling and loggias for congregating on the ground. This unique exoskelton will enclose 20,100 square foot of office space, 5,400 square foot of retail units and 113 residential units.

13. BMW Welt, MunichThe BMW Welt in Munich is one of the finest examples to date of German engineering at it’s best. The standout feature of the 785,000 square foot BMW Welt is without doubt the 157 foot wide Double Cone, which provides support for the roof (in a rather stunning manner). On the roof of the building there is a large photovoltaic array, also made in Germany by Solarwatt, to produce a minimum of 824kWp. The designers also installed a network of steel panels on the roof that helps to heat the building via solar gain. Solar gain is also encouraged through the materials on the external facade of the structure. It is somewhat ironic that a car manufacturer should spend so much on a building project like this, but if this is in any way demonstrative of where BMW are going with their vehicles then there is hope.

14. DuBiotech, Dubai

Set amidst the skyscraper-sprawl that is modern Dubai, the new 22 storey headquarters of DuBiotech will be one of the largest green buildings on earth at 60,000 square foot when completed in 2009. The 2 connected buildings will house research laboratories and are designed as a representation of DNA migration in an agarose gel as seen during electrophoresis. DuBiotech will be oriented to maximise daylight, minimise solar gain and regulate the internal temperature in what is one of the hottest climates on earth. There will also be a 500,000 square foot nature reserve for the conservation of indigenous species.

15. Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock

The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas was rated LEED Platinum in November, 2007 after it was reincarnated with bang-up-to-date green features. So what is it about this library that makes it so green? For starters they added a rooftop garden to absorb carbon, reduce rainwater runoff and regulate temperatures. Polsek, the architects who are responsible for the updates, also added increased recycling capabilities, green cleaning (green cleaning chemicals and increased recycled content for paper products), a reduction in the waste through local sourcing and carbon offsetting of all non-renewable energy used. It might have reached the highest level in terms of LEED ratings but we believe they could and should go further by implementing renewable energy production on-site with photovoltaics or wind turbines.

These 15 buildings are fantastic and marvellous structures and edifices. Their incomparable architecture can just render one non-plussed.

Haha. Be mesmerized by the ravishing pulchritude of those archictetures.

Education is the key to progress.

First of all we should recognize that there are different forms of poverty, and each has a different solution.

Third-World Poverty - The one that is “advertised” the most is third world poverty. You see TV commercials trying to get people to donate money to support a child who lives in a squatter city. The ad really gets you going. You feel sorry for the little girl who has lost her mother and has little to eat. It is sad that the child is not privileged to eat three meals a day. But the question is do we need to help the people in squatter cities?

Solution: I believe sending money to these third world countries is extremely inefficient. Naturally, things will get better. Pouring more money in has a minimal effect. Putting money into to technology that would provide free energy, free internet, or open source architecture would be a much better investment of our time and money. So the solution is to do nothing. Yes, I did say do nothing. Market economies and technologies will be the solution.

Situational Poverty - This form of poverty occurs when Bob loses his job or has a severe medical condition, and is unemployed for a long period. The loss of a job should not mean Bob’s family should become homeless.

Solution: Make sure Bob gets support when he loses his job or help with the medical bills. Provide training and education if necessary. Make sure that he can get to and from job interviews. This form of poverty is very simple. Bob can get another job or can recover from his illness, we just have to give him a chance.

Generational Poverty - This is the form of poverty that is absolutely unacceptable in the 21st century. This is when children are unable to succeed in school, unable to get a decent job, and will have the same fate as his or her parents and grandparents: poverty.

Solution: The solution is Education! We are setting up our children for failure. Education fails to teach students the basic understandings of life. A good example is finances. Students should not be able to graduate unless they understand finances. This is one of many reasons we are currently in the economic crisis we are in today.

Too many people did not

1) understand adjustable rate loans

2) know when to stop spending and

3) know how to manage their money.

Children should be taught these basic understandings in high school. Who cares if the student learns anything, if they can’t survive in the real world its all MEANINGLESS.

Education is also important when it comes to health. Students are not taught about healthy diets, the importance of regular sleep, and exercise (not to mention many schools are eliminating PE and recess).

What happens in generational poverty is children are very narrow minded, all they see is their parents. Their parents are continuously getting government handouts, and that is all the child sees. Why work? My parents don’t work and they get money. They don’t understand that there is a better life that is achieved by working and earning your own money. It is the responsibility of education to show students the world. They should be able to see what is out there.

Experience it.

Education is the NUMBER ONE issue in the world. It should be the number one issue in the presidential debates. It is education that will rid the world of poverty. It is education that will end wars. It is education that will provide universal healthcare. It is all about education.

EDUCATION VERSUS POVERTY

Let's make Poverty History, a thing of the past.

A Magic Silver Bullet - to end Poverty?

NO.

What are the issues that confront us in bringing an end to hunger and the worst aspects of poverty and what are we doing about them?

There is NO magic silver bullet that will end hunger.

Persistent hunger is directly related to conditions of poverty and the issues that keep both in place are complex and tenacious. Ending hunger is not simply a matter of feeding enough people.

So much has been said and written about strategies to attack poverty. The development experts at the World Bank are supposed to have been working all these years towards the reduction of global poverty.

So how do we solve poverty?

Education is the key.

In fact, teachers are critical in the attainment of our goals for education. Unfortunately, I heard that the teachers of today no longer taught the way excellent teachers of bygone days did a few decades ago.

Let us therefore invest in good quality teachers!

Let us pay our teachers well, very well, so that they will not even think of leaving their families behind just so they could earn more elsewhere doing chores other than what they were trained for.

Let us ensure that no family is going to be without a member who has finished tertiary education.

Let us make sure that all children are in school.

Let us have the political will to eliminate corruption in the education sector.

Mind you, I do not know how all these can be done, but if the priority of our development planning is good quality education, I am convinced we would not have to worry too much about many things…population management, corruption, violence against women, bigotry and all the other evils of our society. You agree?

On the lighter side, have you heard about a flashy Italian creation shown recently in an exhibit called “Group Therapy” at a modern art museum in Bolzano that has become the object of a complaint from a right-wing political party? The National Alliance Party called the creation of artists Eleonora Chiari and Sandra Goldschmied a “massacre of respect” - the creation being a patriotic toilet that flushes to the strains of the Italian national anthem! To pee or not to pee? Tell me the answer!

Let us invest heavily in education. But not for corruption in the education sector!

People can take care of themselves. Sometimes they need a little help to get started.

Hope you enjoy this post=)

Give your HEART

'Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle in life'.
- Edith J Gomes -

Give them your heart. Help them. Don't neglect them.

This video will shatter your heart.

.

Complain Less and Give More

If your society is unfair to you, how about her?

If you think you suffer in life, do you suffer as much as he does?

If you think you have no money, how about her?

Are you still complaining?

We are fortunate, we have much more than what we need to be content.

Let's try not to feed this endless cycle of consumerism and immortality in which this

modern and advanced society forgets and ignores

the other two thirds of our brothers and sosters

We can choose to be their Guardian Angels.

Philosophy: The Society of Mankind - The Poor

Social difference is dismissed as either natural to, or inherent in, the human species . The attitude of the Society toward such differences where they nevertheless exist is then discussed. It is concluded that the Society has obligations to the poor and disadvantaged which are limited only by its commitment to its Aim. It is also found that the enduring poor gain and enjoy moral superiority over their more fortunate contemporaries.

The moral stance of the Society of HumanKind on social difference in human society rests on the Principles of Unity and Peace. Those Principles, and other implications of the Axioms and Dogma, are applied to this aspect of our social lives in the Treatise on the Individual. The Treatise dismisses the possibility that social difference is natural to the human condition or inherent in our species. The conclusion must be that such differences as do exist in our societies, whether based on standing, status, power or on any other criterion, are a consequence of our own actions, or of our inability to control all those factors in our environment that have an influence on our social life.

The uncertainty of all human knowledge and understanding, set out in the Treatise on Knowledge, reinforces that conclusion. The limit on our ability to understand ourselves, or grasp all that affects us in our environment described in that Treatise is such that it leaves open the possibility that we may never be able to determine fully, or control effectively, the structure and outcome of our relationships with each other. In effect, the Treatise suggests that we may not have the faculties or abilities required to eliminate difference between individuals within our societies.

In sum, the first founding book of the Society, the 'Foundations', rejects difference between individuals as an inherent or natural condition of human society while accepting that it may nevertheless be unavoidable. However, 'Foundations' does not then go on to discuss the question raised by that conclusion, i.e. that of the attitude of the Society toward that aspect of our social order where it exists. That issue is examined in this Essay.

It is best to begin the discussion by repeating the inference drawn from the Axioms, Dogma and Principles in the Treatise on the Individual. Acceptance of the Axioms and choice of the Dogma removes the possibility of there being any necessary correlation between the social position of an individual and their merit or value. The Society will reject any implicit judgement of the worth of any individual based on their occupation of any particular position in our social hierarchy during life. Final adjudication on that issue must always be deferred to the period beyond the achievement of the Objective of the Dogma.

However, as has already been noted, that stance does not address the problem of the attitude the Society of HumanKind and its membership should take toward social difference. In particular, it provides no advice or guidance on whether they should tolerate hierarchical systems of social relationships or willingly accept any social position other than one of their own choosing.

To the first of those issues the Principle of Progress applies. It requires adherents of the Society to accept the need for a level of social order which is compatible with the maintenance of the Conditions of the Dogma, a demand also directly derived from an acceptance of the Axioms and choice of the Dogma. When the effect of the Principle of Unity is added to that of Progress it is clear that social difference can properly be tolerated by those who choose the Dogma. The Society and its adherents can therefore accept such distinctions where they can be seen to be necessary to maintain the level of social order required by the Conditions of the Objective of the Dogma and the Aim of the Society.

If however, human society ever progresses to the point at which social difference is no longer necessary for those purposes then, at that moment, all followers of the Dogma, and thus every adherent of the Society of HumanKind, will cease to regard difference and disadvantage as justified. They will come to that conclusion even if those features of our society remain unavoidable due to our inability, identified by the Treatise on Knowledge, to effect the changes in our social structures that would finally remove them.

That stance of the Society has a consequence for the second issue raised earlier - that of the attitude of members of the Society to their own social position. While social distinctions and disadvantages do remain either necessary or unavoidable to the maintenance of the Conditions of the Dogma, they must be endured by all who choose the Aim of the Society. That requirement on adherents to the Society arises from the Principle 3.2. Every adherent of the Society of HumanKind should therefore be prepared to accept and tolerate whatever social position it falls to them occupy in life.

However, that tolerance should not preclude them from striving to change or improve their social standing or advantage, provided always that they do not breach the Principle of Peace in consequence. The Society requires all its adherents to confine any self-serving effort they may make to improve their own lot strictly within the limits set by their overriding obligation to discharge their Responsibility to further its Aim. Which, in simple terms, means that they should not put the stability of our social order at risk by any attempt they may make to change their social, political or economic standing.

By an extension of that individual precept it follows that the only acceptable justification for any purposeful effort by the Society as a whole to change a pattern of hierarchical relationships, or the social structures that support such distinctions within any human society, arises from its obligation to pursue its Aim. Only the pursuit of that vital purpose will allow the Society, in rare and unusual circumstances, to seek to use its authority to bring about a change in the degree of difference or disadvantage as between individuals or groups within any community. Even then such action by the Society should only emerge as an incidental adjunct to actions designed and clearly intended to achieve its Aim or discharge its Responsibility to its successors.

The negative form of that argument can be set out to reinforce the point being made. None of the exceptions mentioned in this Essay will justify a forceful change in either the position of an individual or the structure of any society when it is undertaken solely for the purpose of increasing, removing or reducing social difference as such. The limitation on the range of choice available to the Society in these matters is set by the Principle of Progress. The Society and its adherents should always tolerate an unjust or unequal social system, or a position of personal disadvantage, rather than risk our future by unnecessarily tampering with the continued stability of the society on which our survival and progress, and hence the achievement of the Aim of the Society, depends.

It will be apparent that the privileged in any particular social system will more easily accept these restrictions and requirements than those who may be disadvantaged by them. It is on the poor and dispossessed of our communities, however that disadvantage may be defined, that the weight of the discipline of the Principles will fall most heavily, a burden which will be especially irksome to adherents of the Society who may find themselves amongst the disadvantaged. They will clearly appreciate that their endurance and tolerance will benefit, not simply themselves, but equally those who might seem to be their oppressors. They will know that the whole of humanity will be the beneficiaries if their sufferings contribute to a realisation of the Aim of the Society.

What comfort then, can the Society of HumanKind offer the poor? First, the Society can support the disadvantaged by an affirmation and proclamation of the moral credit they gain by their endurance of suffering during life for the benefit of others. The Society will value their patience under an unjust imbalance in human society, recognising and appreciating it as a proper effort to discharge their wider obligation to protect the Conditions of the Dogma. It will acknowledge and proclaim that their tolerance of disadvantage contains an element of altruism and self-sacrifice that justifies a position of moral superiority by the poor over their more fortunate fellows.
Secondly, the Society can comfort the disadvantaged by placing a constant injunction on all its more fortunate members to honour and respect the enduring poor, and always have in mind their sacrifice made for us all. The outward expression of that obligation must be an acknowledgement by all adherents that they should give thanks to the poor for their endurance in foregoing all the comforts, benefits and securities available in our present social life in order to allow the whole of humanity to gain the apotheosis which will follow a realisation of the Aim of the Society of HumanKind.

However, the Society and its members should not otherwise ignore the suffering of the poor, nor fail to mitigate their privations in ways that do not conflict with the maintenance of a social order permissible under the Principle of Progress. The Principle of Peace imposes a general injunction on the Society that it should foster the full development of every individual as a requirement for the achievement of the Objective of the Dogma, and hence the realisation of its Aim. Accordingly, the Society is under as clear an obligation never to forget the poor, nor ever cease to have their individual welfare, progress and development in mind, as it is to promote and protect the stability of our society.

All an application of the Principle of Progress to this question implies is that the concern of the Society for the improvement of the conditions of the poor should always be limited by the need to protect the social stability and continuity on which the survival and progress of our species depend. There are some difficult distinctions to be made here, and much for the Councils and Committees of the Society to ponder. Finally, the poor for their part should draw comfort from the teachings of the Society in the Treatise on Morality and elsewhere, on the subject of our salvation and our life following the realisation of its Aim.

From that source will come an understanding that to endure a life of poverty and privation in life is to accumulate wealth and standing in our immortal epoch, when all the moral debts and credits of our mortal era can be fully and finally reconciled.

-by Lawrence Stephens,

author of the Best Seller Different Strata and Facet of Mankind

You feel the Melancholy of the Night?

At dusk, the welkin grows dark,
The resplendent glare fades and vanishes,
From the heavens in the Land of Death,
The black vultures take flight.

In a land, hunger ravages its path,
Like a beast, an unstoppable behemoth,
Led by its master, poverty and despair,
Tearing homes and families, its breath fraughts the air.

Day by day, hunger makes its way,
Through a village, its land a shade of gray,
Its poor people, wishing for food day by day,
Not because they don’t have it, they just can’t afford.

The rich has it all, lavishness in their grasps,
Beyond tall concrete walls, shiny ebony gates,
Fields of crops, dying in the wind,
Thick smoke in the air, from factory’s ventilation grates.

Its black, evil claw is a plague,
It slashes through the land,
And with every home it rampages,
Bringing death, hunger, famine wherever it goes.

Another village falls in its might,
Lives cease to exist,
Vultures, fly away from the land of plight,
With their thirst for blood gratified.

At dawn, sorrow fades,
It leaves, countless deaths in its wake,
Behind innocent who lies,
Victims of its ravage, chosen for its sacrifice.

-originally created by Bobby, editted by zikang

Beatrice: Hunger bites Kenya

This is Beatrice's Global Food Crisis.

One small girl in Kenya in the early phases of malnutrition.

As food prices double, her family can no longer afford to eat.

*****************

Lot of hunger and having no food is poverty,

Not having spare cloth to take bath is poverty,

Needing a shelter but not having one is poverty,

Child's sick but cannot buy treatment, is poverty,

Fainting child dreaming a mouthful of rice is poverty,

Searching warmth in cold flesh in winter nights, is poverty,

Sitting with umbrella on wetting bed in showering night, is poverty,

Thoughtful mother, two mouthful of rice and three children, is poverty,

An ill, deserted mother selling her child wishing it will survive, is poverty.

A defeated and desponded mother poisoning and killing her child is poverty,

*****************

Dear readers, do something to help them. Don't you feel like crying after watching the video.

Have a heart please.

Magnum Opus

We were given an assignment to produce an A2 painting that depicts our choice our issue.

And since the issue we picked is POVERTY, my group has produced some sad-looking drawings.

Here you go, our magnum opus...

Peyman's

Nasir's

Bobby's

Sherlin's

Nadia's
Bikram's

Zi Kang's [mine]

Aland's

Healing one soul is as natural to us as breathing. When, like a tree dropping its leaves in winter, we stand unadorned, without self-consciousness, the Light enters us and we spontaneously heal.

The healing energy is at the core of our being and so, as we express our true nature, we become effortlessly creative. We discover that our lives are in fact delightfully choreographed and that an exquisite harmony lies at the heart of all things.

Whatever we create is beautiful, like the simple paintings splashed onto paper by young children or daubed onto rock by cavemen. Whatever we create is powerful, like the Diary of Anne Frank, written from a place of truth, not sophistication. Whatever we create is moving, like a peasant flute player in the Andes filling his stark valley with a sweet melancholy.

Sometimes our natural gifts sink out of sight in the stagnant beliefs we have soaked up like a sponge from our culture. Seeing this sets us free. Seeing that our vitality and well-being flow from an inner spring, not from outer phenomena, reconnects us with our source.

Poverty is the climate of insensitivity and intolerance. We should let loose our unique inner energy, our natural gifts, our healing power to cure this malady, shouldn't we?

3600 filmmakers joined a film making competition in 2006 in relevance to the theme - Food, Taste and Hunger. This film topped the competition by being adjudged the most popular short film.

This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

You can make a difference.

Today, over 25,000 children DIE around the world

Over 25,000 children die every day around the world.

That is equivalent to:

• 1 child dying every 3.5 seconds


• 17-18 children dying every minute


• A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks


• An Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days


• Over 9 million children dying every year


• Some 70 million children dying between 2000 and 2007
  

The silent killers are poverty, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

Why is this tragedy not in the headlines?

UNICEF’s 2000 Progress of Nations report tried to put these numbers into some perspective:

"The continuation of this suffering and loss of life contravenes the natural human instinct to help in times of disaster. Imagine the horror of the world if a major earthquake were to occur and people stood by and watched without assisting the survivors! Yet every day, the equivalent of a major earthquake killing over 30,000 young children occurs to a disturbingly muted response. They die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."

— A spotty scorecard, UNICEF, Progress of Nations 2000

Unfortunately, it seems that the world still does not notice. It might be reasonable to expect that death and tragedy on this scale should be prime time headlines news. Yet, these issues only surface when there are global meetings or concerts (such as the various G8 summits, the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, etc).

Furthermore, year after year, we witness that when those campaigns end and the meetings conclude, so does the mainstream media coverage.

It feels as though even when there is some media attention, the ones who suffer are not the ones that compel the mainstream to report, but instead it is the movement of the celebrities and leaders of the wealthy countries that makes this issue newsworthy.

Even rarer in the mainstream media is any thought that wealthy countries may be part of the problem too. The effects of international policies, the current form of globalization, and the influence the wealthy countries have on these processes is rarely looked at.

Instead, promises and pledges from the wealthy, powerful countries, and the corruption of the poorer ones—who receive apparently abundant goodwill—make the headlines; the repeated broken promises, the low quality and quantity of aid, and conditions with unfair strings attached do not.

Accountability of the recipient countries is often mentioned when these issues touch the mainstream. Accountability of the roles that international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, and their funders (the wealthy/powerful countries), rarely does. The risk is that citizens of these countries get a false sense of hope creating the misleading impression that appropriate action is taken in their names.

It may be harsh to say the mainstream media is one of the many causes of poverty, as such, but the point here is that their influence is ENORMOUS.

Silence, as well as NOISE, can both have an EFFECT.

Why do we feed our cars before we feed ourselves?

Especially when so many are running on empty?

Human Pain

بنی آدم اعضای یک پیکرندکه در آفرينش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوى به درد آورد روزگاردگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمینشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

This poem is a famous poem in Iran

talking about poverty afflicting pain to one

and thus, afflicting the pain to a community in entirety.

I can't remember the author of it.

Just wanna share with all of you.

How much do you know about poverty?

• Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.


• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.


• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.


• Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.


• 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).
  

Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations.

Why is this?

Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their GOVERNMENTS? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real.


But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed. Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people. In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless.


As a result, in the global context, a few get WEALTHY while the majority struggle.

********************

Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.

The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of unger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.

By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy, compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering.

Some facts and figures on poverty presented in this page are eye-openers, to say the least.

Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis

Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains our environments and supports livelihoods but it is also a source of risk and vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis is the result of scarcity, this report argues poverty, power and inequality are at the heart of the problem.

In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. And water-borne infectious diseases are holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in some of the worlds poorest countries.

Beyond the household, competition for water as a productive resource is intensifying. Symptoms of that competition include the collapse of water-based ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale groundwater depletion. Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with the rural poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there are large potential human development gains from increased cooperation.

This is so sad...

Hell!!!! Guys I really hate to discuss Poverty. Reality nearly kills my heart. I came in library to do research on it. I opened google.com and typed poverty picture… ohhh!!! God the first picture I saw was horrible. I couldn’t speak; I was just staring at that picture. The picture was of an African baby nearly dieing. No one to support, no mom, no dad, no clothes, no food, no friends and no future. It didn’t even look like baby. It looked like skeleton wrapped with only skin and the worst part was a big vulture was waiting for its prey, as in that boy.

This is that freaking picture.

What is poverty?

Is it the condition that led the child towards death?

Is it the photographer’s indifference to the condition of the child?

I am very emotional person. I can’t see any thing which is very disturbing. I cant see anyone in trouble or in pain. My eyes were full of tears but I was trying to hide it because I was in library.

I asked question to myself... Why is this happening? Why there is so much of difference around the world? I was thinking of my silly idea that how can I support these people? How can I help these children dieing of poverty and starvation. Suddenly my Senegalese friend from West Africa Moussa came and sat by my side. I showed those pictures.

He said it is WORSE than this in Africa.

Then we thanked God that he has given us such a good life without any pain, sorrow despair and suffering . Thank God for the kind of life I have and also for my loving beloved parents.

TERIMA KASIH!

Children on the Streets of Manila

Children in metro Manila, Philippines show us around their city, where every square kilometre houses around 43,000 people.

A truly, remarkably meaningful video.

Imagine My City

Not All Wet

If there is no water, there is no life. The moon is a sterile desert because there is no water in it.

It is to be noted that it was water that determined the location of human settlements and as Herodotus once said, "Egypt is the 'Gift of the Nile' ". Without the Nile, the eminent Egyptian Civilization that has etched an indelible mark in history would never have developed. Scientists all over the world have described water as a remarkably fascinating fluid which is versatile and beneficial to mankind in numerous aspects.

The question is, what is potable water? Well, Wikipedia defines potable water as water of ample quantity that can be served as drinking water or in other words, water which is fit for the consumption of humans and animals. The issue of access to potable water is of utmost importance. In developed countries, people may not put a great deal of thought into the source of their water. In many First World nations, citizens can turn on a tap for fresh, potable water which may even be enriched with substances like fluoride for health purposes. However, in countries that are still plodding their way towards progress or are still ensnared in the clutches of poverty, especially Africa, an enormous portion of the population still does not have access to safe drinking water.

According to a recent report by the Leadership for Environment and Development, by the year 2025, 52 nations comprising half the world's population, will have a severe shortage of potable water. This devastating news brings to an even more appalling surmise - in the next 25 years, some 3 billion people will be facing water shortages!

People do not give much thought to drinking water, especially the people staying in countries that are abound with a rich supply of water. Whenever the thought of potable water pops up in our minds, we depict fresh water flowing out from our taps, naturally potable water gushing out from pristine springs or water treated and transformed into different forms such as mineral water, flavored water or even carbonated water. This is the outcome of an urbanized life like ours, where we are all so engrossed in keeping up with the Joneses, but never pause to ponder about the little things that actually hold paramount significance in our life. It seems that the only time people truly think of drinking water is during camping trips, whereby there is a shortage of drinking water supply. Most people in many countries across the globe such as Iraq and Pakistan do not have access to drinkable water. What do they have to drink then? Well, to survive under this dire condition, they have no other alternatives but to drink whatever they can get their hands on!

As aforementioned, a vast majority of people from countries such as Pakistan, China, India and Africa, have no access to good drinking water. In Pakistan, for example, the vast majority of the country's 135 million inhabitants do not have access to drinkable water. Pakistan's attempt to raise the living standards of its citizens has meant that economic development has largely taken precedence over environmental issues. Unchecked use of hazardous chemicals, vehicle emissions, and industrial activity has contributed to a number of environmental and health hazards, chief among them being water pollution. Much of the country suffers from a lack of potable water due to industrial waste and agricultural runoff that contaminates drinking water supplies.

Another instance is dry Northern China where the water table is dropping one meter per year due to over pumping. Some Chinese rivers are so polluted with heavy metals that they cannot even be used for production of drinkable water. Due to inadequate investment in supply and treatment infrastructure, even where water is not scarce, it is rarely clean. Also to 600 million people have water supplies that are contaminated by animal and human waste. Pan Yue, the deputy head of the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA), China's environmental ministry, has called the shortage and its associated problems 'the bottleneck constraining economic growth'. China does not have the resources to sustain the rapid economic growth it aspires to. What is more, the nation's current policies make future sustainability even less likely. From this dilemma the China citizens and leaders are encountering, we can comprehend that potable water does play a pivotal role in keeping up with demands of a country progressing, for how can a country grow if its citizens are not well or are inflicted with fatal diseases and maladies? In short health is indeed wealth.

Poverty and high population growth in various countries also contribute to the lack of potable water. Due to water shortage, most people in these countries are forces to use unclean water for their everyday needs such as farming, livestock and ultimately, drinking. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, only 32 percent of the Iraqi population has access to clean drinking water, and only 19 percent has access to a good sewage system. Vulnerable groups, such as internally displaced people (IDPs), have had no choice but to drink from rivers. Anbar province, where Fallujah is located, and Baghdad are the most affected areas for water supply, according to recent reports released by local and international NGOs. On the 18th of February 2007, an article regarding the severe shortage of water in Iraq was published. In this particular report, an Iraqi woman named Umm Muhammas Jalal shared her story with the world; she told the journalist on how she has to walk to a river 7km away every day from her temporary home in displacement camp on the outskirts of Fallujah, 70km west of the capital, Baghdad. Due to the severe water shortage she and many others make the daily trip to the river to collect water for all their needs. Her children are ill with diarrhea as the water in the river is contaminated and polluted, but they do not have any choice because that is the only way to survive. For much of the population, their only water source is the nearby river or pond, rain water bastion or water source used by humans and animals.

It is imperative that countries facing crucial water shortage seek out new and cheaper ways to provide safe drinking water for their people. Some experts have looked at inexpensive desalination techniques, ones that could be employed on a mass scale. To be sure, this precious commodity, the very lifeblood of humans, is getting scarcer and scarcer every day. Governments need to take immediate action and look into this matter seriously.

Most of us who take our daily supply of water for granted, may not take cognizance of the significance of water. We need to realize that many have perished from the face of Earth through the lack of water and many countries have plunged horrendously to the very bottom of the pit due to the shortage of water.

Military men know that the most effective way of subduing any city of fortress is to cut its water supply.

Water is a God-given grace - let us be thankful for it.

FRESH WATER CRISIS