Africa's peace seeker: Lazaro Sumbeiywo
NAIROBI, KENYA – Until a single phone call from the president of Kenya changed the trajectory of his life, Lazaro Sumbeiywo had spent the whole of his illustrious career focused on making war. After that phone call, and over the next 3-1/2 grueling years of peace talks, he would muster the persistence of the biblical Joseph, the wisdom of an African chief, and the ingenuity of a modern mediator. Eventually the process would become what many now see as a gold standard for making peace in Africa.
Part 1 of three.
By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Features
Kenyan camel library
Ships of the desert
The Camel Mobile Library was set up by the government-owned Kenya National Library Service to improve literacy rates in the north-east.
Ships of the desert are the best way to travel in the Garissa area, some 400km from the capital, Nairobi.
Librarian Rashid Farah tells the BBC News website about their efforts to provide books and reading materials.
"The people whom we serve lead a nomadic life. They are here today but tomorrow they might be gone."
Attention
Special Feature Articles:
an essay
by Board of Directors Member
Lady Sandra Jimenez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thotlines
By Mkawasi Mcharo, 2006 Inspire Peace
Award Recipient.
Dated yet still "Good News"
Intel has new initiative:
We Challenge You: A Call to Action on Global Issues
Intel’s INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge is calling for the best technology solutions to address four areas of global need – education, healthcare, economic development, and the environment. The contest will award seed funding of $100,000 USD to one winner in each category. The Challenge is designed to inspire developers, individuals, and organizations to innovate and empower them to deliver new ways to apply technology to these issues. The INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge advances the commitment of the Intel World Ahead Program – to connect people to a world of opportunity.
Visit their website soon and here is the address:
http://www.intelchallenge.com/?iid=smallthings+intelchallenge
Film Club Introduces Americans to Global Issues
Films for the curious" is the motto of Ironweed, a movie club that offers a monthly DVD selection to subscribers around the United States and Canada. The concept of a film club is not new in the United States, but Ironweed doesn't feature Hollywood blockbusters. Instead, it chooses films that encourage Americans to learn more about important social issues, mostly in other parts of the world.
"I want our films to be surprising," says Ironweed president Adam Werbach, "and for people not to think that they're left or right or up or down. They're interesting films that make you think.'
Werbach looks for what he calls "socially relevant" films that try to make faraway issues compelling for viewers in the United States. "They're films that represent issues going on in your everyday life or things you maybe know might be happening halfway across the world, but you haven't had a chance to actually see," he explains. "So, we're looking to bring those films into peoples' homes, and give them a chance to see the rest of the world."
The film club began in December with Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary. It told the story of two friends who journey from Nicaragua, planning to get into to the United States. January's selection, the documentary Power Trip, focused on an American company's efforts to take over the electric system in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Werbach says this month's selection, Salt of the Earth, is set closer to home. The film was made in 1954, but he says Ironweed chose to distribute it because it was not publicly shown when it first came out. "It was banned in the 1950s by the House (of Representatives) Un-American Activities Commission, and it was banned in the fear of Communism at the time. But it's
Scene from the 1954 film 'Salt of 'The Earth'
this extraordinary film about a labor uprising in New Mexico, the New Mexico mine workers' strike."
While this docu-drama looks back in time, the Ironweed president says there is no shortage of current material to keep the club going. He says new digital technology makes it easier and less expensive for more people to make films, which means there are many more stories out there that can reach an audience.
The name Ironweed comes from a saying by American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'a weed is a flower whose virtues are not yet recognized.' Werbach says "we just love the instinct, that there are these amazing films out there, by these fearless filmmakers that yet haven't gotten the type of acclaim they deserve."
Ironweed currently only has several thousand subscribers in the United States and Canada. But Werbach says he is surprised at the expressions of interest he has received from Asia, and hopes soon to make the film club more international. In the meantime, he says, people who are interested can visit the group's website www.ironweed.com
Werbach says this month's selection, Salt of the Earth, is set closer to home. The film was made in 1954, but he says Ironweed chose to distribute it because it was not publicly shown when it first came out. "It was banned in the 1950s by the House (of Representatives) Un-American Activities Commission, and it was banned in the fear of Communism at the time. But it's scene from the 1954 film 'Salt of 'The Earth' this extraordinary film about a labor uprising in New Mexico, the New Mexico mine workers' strike."
While this docu-drama looks back in time, the Ironweed president says there is no shortage of current material to keep the club going. He says new digital technology makes it easier and less expensive for more people to make films, which means there are many more stories out there that can reach an audience.
The name Ironweed comes from a saying by American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'a weed is a flower whose virtues are not yet recognized.' Werbach says "we just love the instinct, that there are these amazing films out there, by these fearless filmmakers that yet haven't gotten the type of acclaim they deserve."
Ironweed currently only has several thousand subscribers in the United States and Canada. But Werbach says he is surprised at the expressions of interest he has received from Asia, and hopes soon to make the film club more international. In the meantime, he says, people who are interested can visit the group's website ironweed films.com
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