The United Cerebral Palsy's Transition Employment Center or TEC Students in Pensacola, Florida recently took an all expenses paid "trip" to Egypt! The Global Corner International Learning Center visited TEC and transported the students to Egypt by presenting interactive lessons.

About forty students began their trip with learning that Egypt is located in Africa, and that most of the country is compromised of a desert. Students also actively participated in the introduction by learning to say hello, teacher, and goodbye in Arabic, and then saying the words to one another.   Read more...

Last month I visited Norway, to attend the folk and world music festival in the small town of Førde. It turned out to be a major event -- one of the largest of its kind in all of Scandinavia -- with an audience easily twice as numerous as the town's usual population (11,000).

One of the highlights of Førde 2009 was a fantastic "unplugged" performance by Skáidi at the former bank building of Førde, a beautiful wooden house from the nineteenth century. Skáidi is a very unusual duo, consisting of Sami joiker Inga Juuso and jazz bassist Steinar Raknes.   Read more...

A rather old man who lives in my Tokyo neighborhood came shuffling along on his way to go shopping. He stopped and talked with a girl of about six who was playing in the parking lot of my apartment complex. It was obvious by their animated conversation that they knew each other well.

The man asked how she was doing in school and she replied that she was working hard and even though it meant less play time, she was studying a lot every day. He praised her for her effort and exhorted her to do her best. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a candy bar which he offered her as a reward. She bowed and accepted without hesitation. The old man smiled, bowed back to her and continued down the street.   Read more...

For Paul Romer, Stanford economist and one of TIME magazine's 25 most influential people in America in 1997, global progress and growth could begin with cities. His project, charter cities, is based on the idea that struggling countries can break the cycle of poverty by implementing a new set of rules.

He proposes that the scale of the city is the proper venue for the implementation of new administrative zones, which would allow people to potentially leave areas with bad rules that stifle growth and progress and enter into a charter city with better rules that allow the community to thrive.   Read more...

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...

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Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros announced that he will donate $35 million to the state of New York to provide money for school supplies and clothing for low-income youth. The gift leverages federal stimulus money bringing the total amount to about $175 million going toward the program. To access the federal money the state must provide 20 percent of the funds, but due to recession-related budget cuts New York couldn't put up the money, so George Soros stepped in. The program will give $200 to about 850,000 low-income families in New York state to help pay for back-to-school supplies and clothing.

"Even in the toughest of economic times, starting the school year right is key to a child's success," said Mr. Soros in a press release announcing his gift.   Read more...

Professor Muhammed Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, was honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside fifteen other individuals being honored for their work as “agents of change.”

Dr. Yunus, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, challenges the notion of hopeless poverty in his country, Bangladesh and now in the United States. Currently, Dr. Yunus is expanding into health care services in Bangladesh and offering financial services in the United States - striking in the epicenter of the financial world of New York.   Read more...

Traveling has become more personal than ever, and the well-seasoned traveler is looking for something more than tourist-filled plazas and resorts. The modern day traveler wants to experience the places they visit hands-on and many desire to also make a difference. With a perfect blend of service, community and raw experiencing of local spirit, Travel for a Cause is the answer for globetrotters with heart.

A vacation with a cause touches all levels of mind, body and spirit while providing true cultural immersion and contributing to greater good. Independent tour operators are popping up to provide travelers with philanthropic travel itineraries that allow meeting regional natives, participation in ceremonies and giving back either in dollars or volunteered time. This is Travel for a Cause.   Read more...

You may be the type of person who tells yourself that you need to get away in order to rest or that you will rest when you have time. Perhaps you say that when the job or project is done, then you'll rest. Maybe you are even waiting for "the kids to be grown up" before you'll rest. This way of living life, where we are consistently putting off what is essential for us, makes no rational sense at all. Rest is already in our presence and the purpose of this article is to assist you in making a crucial, subtle shift that may enable you to fully experience rest in at least one of its many facets.

There are many ways of looking at what rest actually is. It is not only a multifaceted word but also, in life, a richly nuanced expression -- an attitude that we can bring into our daily lives, no matter what we are doing. There is no need to wait to rest when we can rest right now in the moment or between moments. We don't need to strain to live. As counterintuitive as it may seem in today's culture, for the most part life can be lived in a relaxed, restful way.   Read more...

Greenwashing. A particularly evil practice used by companies to fool you into thinking you are buying an environmentally-friendly product or service. Here are three ways to out-smart cunning companies with deep pockets.

1. "Natural" isn't a regulated term, and products labeled as such are often quite the opposite. Because no laws govern the use of terms such as "derived from natural ingredients" or "all-natural", these phrases are frequently abused. Arsenic and formaldehyde are both naturally-derived, but that doesn't mean we want them in our products.   Read more...

During the "Notes & Neurons: In Search of a Common Chorus" event from the 2009 World Science Festival, musician Bobby McFerrin treated the audience to several live performances and cross cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s note-worthy interaction with the brain and our emotions.   Read more...

Meatless Mondays, a non-profit initiative started by The Monday Campaigns in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, encourages people to refrain from eating meat one day a week (Monday). The campaign has received global support, endorsed by Paul McCartney and his daughters who started a Meatless Monday campaign in the U.K. as well as Michael Pollan - author of In Defense of Food and Omnivore's Dilemma as well as the shocking documentary Food, Inc. which shows the atrocities of factory farming and slaughterhouses.

Their goal is to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet by reducing our carbon footprint. The campaign offers avid omnivores an opportunity to help reduce the massive waste created by the meat industry while still maintaining their usual diet the rest of the week.   Read more...

How can we work with the masters of globalization? Lawrence O. Gostin, an internationally acclaimed scholar, argues that "McDonald's provides a fantastic service that people value and can afford, even in poorer countries which is a huge advantage." Is there a way we can work with McDonald's to promote healthier products?   Read more...

Music, quite literally, plays on and reflects back to the politics and key social issues of any particular period in time. Modern musicologists emphasize the connection between music, politics and history and how cultural evolution can be traced through a parallel evolution of musical styles. In his publishing debut, A Music Manifesto (published by AuthorHouse), John A. Allegro offers a unique account of musical history as it pertains to biblical tradition, starting from the Psalms and working towards a discussion of modern Zionism and the conflict between Palestine and Israel.

Part informal conversation between a professor and his students and part comprehensive examination of musicology throughout biblical history, A Music Manifesto offers readers an accessible guide into a seldom-discussed topic, linking the distant past with current affairs in politics and cultural studies. Allegro begins by re-describing the musical events and celebrations from the Psalms, including the multitude of references to musical terminology, instrumentation and musical composition, before turning to examine the authenticity of the period of David and Solomon’s reigns and the first temple building.   Read more...

Based in Pensacola, Florida, The Global Corner (www.theglobalcorner.org) provides age-appropriate activities for elementary school children to help them understand the arts, language, literature, customs, culture and food of other countries. Each school year, they focus on bringing one country to life. In 2009-2010, the focus country is Egypt. Our teachers and volunteers keep the students involved with hands-on activities that are designed not only to help them understand the world around them, but also help them learn.

Last week The Global Corner International Learning Center held a three day "trip" to Egypt. The event was open to all children who would attend elementary school this coming fall. The second day of activities was centered around Contemporary Egypt. Students reviewed previous information on the location of Egypt and the eco systems within the country. Students responded to questions during the review by answering yes in Arabic. A presentation by The Global Corner's Director, Lee Little of modern day Cairo and other cities along the Nile were also explored. Students also learned other words in Arabic which they used throughout the day including how to say: hello teacher, thank you and good bye.   Read more...

United Prosperity is a non-profit organization that helps you combat global poverty effectively by multiplying the impact of your money through loan guarantees. We are the world’s first person to person loan guaranteeing website.

There are small entrepreneurs all over the world who cannot afford to start and grow their business alone. Expanding their business may be the only means to adequately feeding their family or sending their children to school. However, banks do not lend to them without collateral, and that’s where you come in!   Read more...

This is going to be an awesome, exciting event at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York. eomega.org Many women of different generations and maybe a few men will come together to speak about their generations' experiences and how we can weave lessons learned in past generations into the realities facing all of us today. Amazing faculty will be present, and there will be keynotes, break-out workshops, evening entertainment, networking and learning about other organizations, and also just enjoying each others company on the beautiful Omega campus. In the past, these conferences always inspired and strengthened me, and have changed my life to the better in more than one way. Find more information about the Conference and the work of the Women's Institute here: eomega.org/omega/womensinstitute   Read more...

The “I KNOW” monster has reared its ugly head today in our home. Yes ... it finally has made its way here and we cannot get rid of it! The “I KNOW” monster has stolen my kid!

You know the “I KNOW” monster, because ...well ...I know you do. We all do. It grabs us while we are sleeping, usually about the time we turn thirteen and does not let go of that tight grip on us until we realize that we DON’T know everything. And of course you KNOW that can take years!   Read more...

Supporting artists in conflict zones reflects the underlying mission of Musicians for Harmony founder Allegra Klein: To promote peace and cultural exchange through music. Her non-profit organization, founded shortly after September 11, 2001, has earned significant and growing attention for its charitable and diplomatic efforts in the years since. Their annual concerts of chamber and world music are the centerpiece of an expansive program of performances, educational activities and cross-cultural exchange.   Read more...

Newsweek's Daniel Stone encourages you and President Obama to have a laugh with Ode's special laughter issue in the magazine's political blog The Gaggle.   Read more...