Build Happy Earth Links!

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Magic Monday
VIA Africa initiated Magic Monday in 2001, The UN International Year of the Volunteer, as a forum for potential Volunteers and Volunteer Hosting Organisations to meet face-to-face. ...

It's a networking opportunity for people who share a passion for service to humanity. Even if your day job is in the commercial world, here's your chance to meet people who champion not-for-profit networks, other Volunteers, Volunteer hosting organisations, and Volunteer Agencies to meet, share and energize!



Dear Volunteers...Visionaries in Action across Africa

Visit:
http://volunteer.co.za/asp/gallery8.asp

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"Super" ... Power... INDIA!



India: The Next Knowledge Superpower
There's a revolution afoot in India. Unlike any other developing nation, India is using brainpower rather than cheap physical labour or natural resources to leapfrog into the league of technologically advanced nations. Every high tech company, from Intel to Google, is coming to India to find innovators. Leading the charge is Infosys, the country's first publicly listed billion-dollar IT company.

But the revolution is not confined to IT. Crop scientists are passionately pursuing GM crops to help feed India's poor. Some intrepid molecular biologists are pioneering stem-cell cures for blindness, while others have beaten the odds to produce vaccines for pennies.

And the country is getting wired up as never before. Mobile phone networks have nearly blanketed the country and the internet is even reaching remote villages.

Looking skyward, India's unique space programme has fought international sanctions to emerge as key player in India's development. Meanwhile, India's nuclear industry is boldly building cutting-edge fast-breeder reactors.

However, there are dramatic problems of poverty and infrastructure. To transform the nation, Indians will have to change their way of thinking about science and technology, take risks in research, and deal with the issues of education, infrastructure, bureaucracy and corruption.

Visit:
http://www.newscientist.com/special/india

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** HOW to LOVE your LIFE **:

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.

- Jim Rohn



Visit:
http://personal-enterprise-self-help-resources.com/

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Strength of Man

The strength of a man isn't seen in the width of his shoulders.

It's in the width of his arms that encircle you.

The strength of a man isn't in the deep tone of his voice.

It's in the gentle words he whispers.

The strength of a man isn't how many buddies he has.

It's how good of buddies he is with his children.

The strength of a man isn't in how respected he is at work.

It's in how respected he is at home.

The strength of a man isn't in how hard he hits.

It's in how tender he touches.

The strength in a man isn't in the hair on his chest.

It's in his Heart...that lies within his chest.

The strength of a man isn't how many women he's loved.

It's in can he be true to one woman.

The strength of a man isn't in the weight he can lift.

It's in the burdens he can carry.

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Life Sparkles

"Nobody, as long as he moves among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble," said psychologist Carl Jung.

The woman wrote:

I have discovered the gift that can come from adversity. In January my husband, who is in his 50's, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. My whole world was turned upside down and I was devastated. It was a relief to know finally what was wrong with him, but also I am all too well aware of the grim reality of the hideous effects of such a disease.

"Sometimes it is really frustrating as well as heartbreaking to see the way he struggles to communicate and express himself. In addition seeing him standing in front of his closet, not sure why he is there but knowing there was something he needed to get out of it, tears me apart.

"However, this disease has brought us closer together. I find myself cherishing moments with him which I might never have given a second thought to. I find myself letting the dishes wait if he suggests that we take a bath together or go swing outside in our garden swing. He looks at the world with new eyes, and scenes I might never have noticed he points out to me. It may be the way that the light plays on the fountain or a delicate spider web glistening in the sun.

"I am learning to live in the moment and to be aware of all the beauty and wonder that surrounds us in this world. My husband's illness, as insidious as it is, is molding me into a better person, a more tolerant and patient person, and full of gratitude for each moment we spend together.

"Trouble will come, there is no escaping it, but trouble can richly bless us. We may find our life changing direction and seeing possibilities we may have missed if trouble had not brought its gift to us."

A woman I know was diagnosed with cancer and has struggled through surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She was recently asked how she is doing. Her response was, "Life sparkles." Isn't that wonderful? "Life sparkles!"

She went on to explain that ever since the disease she has appreciated life more fully. Now she sees a sunrise or the way the sunlight reflects on new-fallen snow as if she were looking at it for the first time…or the last time. The world is awash in beauty in ways she has never before noticed. Kindnesses done for her by friends mean more. Life sparkles!

Nobody can live without trouble. But for those with eyes to see...life sparkles.

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Life Sparkles ...

As she closes her eyes
to blind the world
of the tears inside
of this desperate girl.



She closes her eyes
to dance and sing
and pretend that
all right is everything.


The enchantment you know
in books you've read
is what she pretends to be
in her room; in her head.


Twirling about
like a queen.
Forgetting her troubles
and forgetting what was last seen.


Her brain becomes washed
with pictures of romance.
Her lips paralysed
to words of enchantment.


A sensation runs down her
with glitter and galore
making her feet
barely touch the floor.


Her eyes closed gently
not letting them open,
but inside of her eyelids
they lay and just glisten.


A smile upon her face
(something not seen for days)
she caresses the music in her head
and upon the wind her hair lays.


Pretending to be something
she never will be,
but not knowing this
she thinks it will be reality.


Caressing the wind
with words so sweet.
A voice so beautiful
but one you'll never greet.


She is wearing an apron and dress
but this she'd never believe!
For in her eyes
a gown and glitter is all she sees.


Pure golden accesories
with a gown of silk.
Becoming filthy rich
she becomes numb to guilt.


The floor below her
sparkles with reflections of the skies.
In reality it's only wood
covered with old tears she has cried.


The pearls she wears underneath her eyes
glimmer in the evening's light.
Her baby soft hands touching
a man of marriage; she might.


Dancing in her room
with an apron and socks.
Don't tell her she is dreaming
as it is to her, she is not.


* * *

Caressing the winds
with breath so sweet.
The sparkling skies above her
cry in her defeat.


Twirling and dancing
with eyes now closed so tight
in fear that if she opens them
reality will come back to her sight.


I wouldn't dream
of letting her know
her dreams will soon
have to go.


She wouldn't mind
if you laughed at her dreams
because she'd close her eyes
and start to dance and sing.


She sweats not once
while dreaming of a dream
and twirling around
on air, as it seems.


Humming along
to the music in her head
keeping her dream alive and well
and with desire it must be fed.

- A Dreamer's Song : Brittany Renée Herbert - "in dedication to my mum"


Visit:
http://www.poetrylifeandtimes.com/brittany.html