In the world of HIV/AIDS, communications is vital. In many communities, often the initial reaction is to say, "we do not have any men who have sex with men; we do not have any men who visit prostitutes; and, we do not have any HIV/AIDS." Reality is a bit different than the words. Today, according to the World Health Organization, approximately, 33 million people are living with HIV and 2.7 million new cases were reported in 2007. The face of HIV/AIDS is everyone's face. HIV/AIDS knows no economic, race, ethnic, gender, age or religious boundaries. It is an equal opportunity disease. As people move around the globe - so too does the virus.

A rural clinic physician is setting the tone for HIV/AIDS leadership. Dr. Thubten Phuntsok from the Kham region of the Tibetan plateau in China is a bold leader. The silence around HIV didn't quiet the facts that patients were trickling in for HIV treatment. The first patients - possibly non-Tibetans - were identified in Lhasa in the 1990s. A year later, the first Tibetan AIDS patient was identified. Gradually, more patients were identified in the region.   Read more...

Compassion.

That’s the reason why Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill released Abdel Baset al-Megrahi who was serving a life sentence for his role in the bombing of the Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Doctors have given al-Megrahi only a few months to live making him eligible for compassionate release www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1993/ukpga_19930009_en_2#pt1-pb1-l1g3.   Read more...

The East 13th Street Theater in New York City is hosting an evening of music, poetry, monologues and dance to support EarSay’s work with teenagers from war zones and workshops in prisons. The event, Transforming Trauma Into Art, will take place Tuesday September 15th from 7-9 PM and will benefit EarSay, " an artist driven non-profit arts organization dedicated to uncovering and portraying stories of the uncelebrated," according to EarSay.org.   Read more...

My husband has a high-powered magnifying glass which he’s put on a string to wear around his neck. Mostly, he forgets about it, and it’s come out quite seldom in the past few years. When we were heading to Newfoundland last month, I asked him to make sure to bring it. For some reason I always forget the term “magnifying glass,” and as I’ve struggled to recall it, I’ve begun referring to it as the “microglass.” I was the one who mostly wore the microglass in Newfoundland, and on my birthday in July, my husband handed me a small gift wrapped in a Newfoundland brochure. It was the microglass.

So now it’s mine, and I have a few things to say about it. First, this was a great gift, and choosing great gifts for people who don’t need any more things, who try to live by the MOGO (most good, least harm) principle, who don’t want to contribute to waste, etc., can be tricky. How perfect that my husband passed on something already part of our household that I loved so much.   Read more...

Green Life Smart Life is a green home building project on the coast of Rhode Island driven by homeowners searching for integration of a modern lifestyle with green, sustainable living.

Green Life Smart Life embraces the notion that modern day living can and should go hand in hand with sustainability and environmental stewardship, according greenlifesmartlife.com, and demonstrates how families can make lifestyle choices that are both sustainable and realistic to meet their needs without compromising the environment's needs.   Read more...

Peaceful Schools International is a non-profit, charitable organization providing support to schools that have declared a commitment to creating and maintaining a culture of peace, according to peacefulschoolsinternational.org. Students are taught peace education and learn to value each other without aggressive behavior, violence or bullying.

Over 300 schools from around the world are members of the organization, founded by Hetty van Gurp in 2001. Peaceful Schools International's member schools promote a community where the teachers, students and community members collaborate in an environment of safety and respect.   Read more...

As the morning light welcomes a new day, so too does an ice cream shop in the heart of Rwanda.

Marlene, a young woman with a big smile, opened Unik Ice Cream five years ago. She offers ice cream to the children and young at heart at Union Trade Center Mall on Avenue Justice in Kigali, Rwanda. Currently, Marlene imports her ice cream from South Africa and shares this delight with many.   Read more...

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Within the last two decades a quiet revolution has been occurring in the legal profession. Largely ignored by the media, it began when various pioneers around the country got to the point that they just couldn't practice law in the typical polarizing, adversarial way any more. Innovators like Stu Webb, a family lawyer who lost his best friend when they were on opposite sides of a contentious divorce, created Collaborative Law and other new approaches and models to law. Judges like Peggy Hora and Len Edwards couldn't stand putting the same people behind bars time after time and transformed their courts into problem-solving courts that got to the root cause of the criminal behavior and supported defendants in becoming responsible citizens. Lawyers began to inquire into what it was to be a conscious lawyer, exploring meditation, well-being and balance.   Read more...

In Every Language, a Louisville-based interpreting and translating provider, has joined the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association’s (KDVA) council for the development of domestic violence interpreting certification. As there is currently no domestic violence interpreting certification available in the United States, the certification will be the first of its kind. Lead by Isela Arras with the KDVA, the Interpreter Certification Project hopes that its certification model, once complete, can be used to qualify or certify domestic violence interpreters in other states. This project therefore only not impacts victims of domestic violence in Kentucky, but has the capability to help people throughout the nation.   Read more...