I spent the last weekend of october with a youth group in the NGO i work for. It was such a renewing experience. Not that just I whiled lazily away the hours in the resort outside of Manila. I facilitated a process which was aimed to train youth leaders to handle group discussion of issues affecting young people in their respective communities. It was refreshing because it got in touch with my own youthfulness and vitality. Over the past few years I heard myself say, "That is not for me,...

It has been more than two years since I left Zambia. And these days always fill me with memories that make want to go back. It is warm there this time of the year. The last rain fell in April and the chill of June and July is replaced by a crispy dusty warm wind. The grass if not burned are brown. But the trees are exploding into foliage. Buds shoot and clothe branches stripped naked during the cold months. Hues in between deep red and green reach out and fly in the wind. But what I rememb...

In july, the memorial looks solitary. From a distance its shady pine and eucalyptus trees stand isolated amidst undulating landsacpe of burnt grass. This place is the site of the aeroplane accident on 18th September 1961, when Dag Hammarskjoeld was killed. He ,together with seven others was on a mission to bring peace to the Congo. The police officer smiles and waves me through the gate with an air of familiarity. Usually, gentle breeze, birds flying about oblivious of human presence ...

indeed! i started with a case of a child having to be brought to the hospital because of severe UTI. then i had to visit another one, a victim of physical abuse. i interviewed several children having parental problems after that. then i had to write a report for these, submit the usual requirements to our office and then make a case study. i left my house at seven thirty. i left our office at eight in the evening. this is ordinary for me and most of my co-workers. but it is a rewarding work...