Humanitarianism
A Headteacher’s “Wish List”
This painting titled “My Village in Sudan”, taken from the UNHCR Refugee Art website was done by a young Sudanese artist named Bor Alier. Bor lives in Kakuma and was aged 17 when he did this. He explained his painting this way: “People came to visit our village and ask how we were and what…
Read MoreRefugees in East Africa
Well, I am pleased to say I got immediate feedback on the last blog including requests for more background on the refugee situation in East Africa. I usually try to keep it short, not wanting to bore the poor reader but as this is an important subject and one in which I have considerable first-hand…
Read MoreRamadan Mubarak
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone, especially my Muslim colleagues, a Ramadan Mubarak. In these times I think it is good to reflect not only on Ramadan, a period of spiritual re-dedication and renewal for the estimated 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide, but also on the religion of Islam itself. In the…
Read MoreA Visit to Kakuma
Background: In a previous blog I discussed a visit to Kakuma, the large UNHCR refugee camp located in northwest Kenya. Here some new arrivals put up a temporary shelter. East Africa has long suffered from unstable governments, rebel insurgency, terrorism, warfare, droughts and flooding. As a United Nations Peacekeeper, I spent several years working and…
Read MoreA Day In The Life Of A PeaceKeeper Part Two
The UN wasn’t created to take mankind into paradise, but rather to save humanity from hell ~ Dag Hammarskjold As I explained in my last blog entry, part one of a two-part series, I recently gave a presentation to the Lansing, Michigan chapter of the United Nations Association as part of a popular series called Java…
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