World Unplugs for Earth Hour 2010

More info:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTPC5ic6tJh9PiHscwgOANkJ17-wD9EN7KJG0

What about YOU? Did YOU turn YOUR lights out????

27th March - EARTH HOUR 2010

PLEASE observe EARTH HOUR next Saturday 27th March from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m.

Earth Hour Banner in Vietnam: "Turn off the electricity, turn on the future"




Don't miss the video that follows!


If you are interested in this topic, follow these suggestions:
http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx
http://www.wwf.pt/o_que_fazemos/hora_do_planeta/hora_do_planeta_2010/ (IN PORTUGUESE :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0TDvHSBiBM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_hour
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour (IN PORTUGUESE :)
Are you joining in with Earth Hour? Post details of your event under "comments" below.

22nd March: WORLD WATER DAY

The Portuguese have already proved they are deeply concerned about the environment especially now after PLP - an ambitious clean-up project that took place on the 20th March. Congratulations, really, first to the coordinators of the project and second to all the 100,000 volunteers who gathered to collect over 70 thousand tonnes of garbage spread around the country. Let's hope we can keep the forests clean for a long time...

Now (?!) it's WATER / WASSER / ÁGUA / EAU / H20 that needs everybody's involvement - not only for a day but every single day!

Life on earth is based on water. The quality of life directly depends on water quality. Healthy ecosystems are sustained by good water quality, which leads to improved human well-being. On the contrary, poor water quality affects the environment and human well-being. With waterborne diseases causing the death of more than 1.5 million children every year and 2 million tons of sewage and other effluents draining into the world’s waters every day, we ALL need to be more aware of what water quality is all about.
It's important that we all do our part to make the best use of the resources we have, which means finding ways to reuse water and reduce our daily consumption. I am sure that most of you already follow some of these tips but it's never too much to remember...some simple steps to save water:

• Fix what's broken. Check on all the faucets and toilets in the house, and if you notice a leak, break out your wrench, or call up a plumber.

• Install aerators that work by mixing air into the water stream, which gives you a nice even pressure, even though you're using a fraction of the water.

• DIY (do it yourself) low-flow toilet. Again, if you worry about the water we waste in our daily hygiene rituals, introduce a bottle of water in your toilet tank which will prevent wasting so much potable water every time you flush the toilet.
• Install rain catchment systems on your roof or rain barrels around your home and this way you can use this precious liquid to water plants, to wash,...

• Even if you don't do it to save water - the so-called blue gold of the 21st century - do it for your own purse!

 Please watch this slideshow for WWD 2010:

Remember: 22 March - World Water Day held annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of these resources / 5-11 September 2010 - World Water Week / 2005 - 2015 - World Water Decade!!!!
SOURCES and SUGGESTIONS
http://www.unwater.org/flashindex.html
http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://www.allaboutwater.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkIyWoayMAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pXuAw1bSQo

Second Round - ANSC 2 performances

As you can see below, these ladies are becoming real pros and achieving a lot of success, especially among primary school children (for obvious reasons ;)) and already have some requests for performances, what about that, hem???
They started with "A Raposa e o Corvo" by António Torrado and "Que bela Festança!" by Natércia Rocha; this week, the remaining group of 16 ladies made their stage debut with another play by Natércia Rocha, "Onde estará o Limão?"
Enjoy!

Brutalized Afghan Women...

Still on IWD...
PLEASE click on these links:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/brutalized-afghan-woman-finds-strength-10079406
http://vodpod.com/watch/579750-afghan-women-cry-for-help-self-immolation

Shocking, right?
Then... click on this one, too:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/926134765?z00m=19830371

International Women's Day - In praise of... YOU!

Dedicated to YOU...

International Women’s Day (IWD) is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least a century of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

IWD is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for “liberty, equality, fraternity,” marched on Versailles to demand women’s suffrage. The idea of an IWD first arose at the turn of the 20th century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In 1903 Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst established the Women’s Social and Political Union to press for female suffrage, i.e. votes for women. Their claims were met with amusement, and the Word “suffragette” became an easy term of mockery. She and her colleagues, most of them well educated and from good families, thereupon began a campaign of offensive / annoying tactics which intensified as repressive measures were taken. They chained themselves to railings, broke windows, set fire to pillar-boxes, and harassed the government spokesmen with impertinent questions and attitudes. When arrested, some went on hunger strike and were forcibly fed. On 4th June 1913 Emily Davidson even committed suicide by throwing herself under the king’s horse at the Derby. These tactics brought attention to the cause of votes for women, but finally it was the 1914-1918 war that changed their position in society.

During World War I, men went off to fight and the factories and essential services were run by women. Their contribution was so great that when the war ended it was impossible to deny them the vote. Even so, it was not until 1928 that the voting age for women was lowered from thirty to twenty-one to make it the same as the voting age for men at the time.

In the US women won the right to vote in 1928. but this was also hard-won, took more than 70 years to achieve and it was fuelled by an entire Suffrage movement. The 1940’s and 1950’s saw women challenging stereotypes in the workplace. Feminists in the 1960’s and 1970’s burned their bras. For the first time, the pill gave many women some control over their biology.

In 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. In adopting its resolution, the General Assembly recognized the role of women in peace efforts and development and urged an end to discrimination and an increase of support for women’s full and equal participation.

In recent decades much progress has been made in what concerns access to education, participation in paid labor, legislation,...however, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men.
Article 1.3 of the United Nation’s Charter signed in 1945 provides “… fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.” It’s up to the countries that are UN members to let their citizens know these rights and how to obtain them. Knowing one’s rights is one step towards overcoming discrimination!!!
CURIOSITIES WORLDWIDE…
√ women first gained the right to vote in 1893 and that was not in Europe but in New Zealand;
√ the majority of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor are women;
√ on average, women receive between 30 and 40% less pay than men earn for the same work;

√ everywhere women continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide;

√ only 24 women were elected heads of state or government in the last century; of the 189 highest ranking diplomats to the United Nations, only eleven were women;

√ domestic tasks aren’t yet equally shared by women and men and surveys show that mothers take the kids to appointments more often than fathers;

√ in many countries women are still the weakest link: in Algeria, for example, women are forbidden to work outside the home, to drive and must wear a veil or burke; last September, a female Sudanese journalist was jailed for wearing trousers; in China the one-child-per-couple policy has led to a preference for boys and many women abort females once they imply not only another mouth to feed but worse: another dowry to pay - girls are burdens for their families!!!Especially in Africa, female genital mutilation is still widely practised which led the UN to declare February 6 as "International day against Female Genital Mutilation";

√ have you ever thought of how sexist the English language is? Businessman, repairman, chairman, man-made, fireman, salesman,… isn’t this clearly a vocabulary of inequality? What about starting to change it???

Article 1.3 of the United Nation’s Charter provides “… fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, se, language or religion.” It’s up to the countries that are UN members to let their citizens know these rights and how to obtain them. Knowing one’s rights is one step towards overcoming discrimination. Nevertheless, gender discrimination still exists and celebrating International Women’s Day is no anachronism at all…

I wouldn't like to finish this (already) long posting without a famous excerpt by MAYA ANGELOU:

"My name is Maya. I was born 14 years ago in a poor peasant family. There were already many children so when I was born no one was happy. When I was still very little, I learned to help my mother and elder sisters with domestic chores. I swept the floor, washed clothes and carried water and firewood. Some of my friends palyed outside but I could not join them. I was very happy when I was allowed to go to school. I made new friends there and learned to read and write. But when I reached fourth grade, my parents stopped my education. My father said there was no money to pay the fees. Also, I was needed at home to help my mother and the others. If I were a boy, my parents would have let me complete school. My elder brother finished school and now works in an office in the capital. Two of my younger brothers go to school. Maybe they, too, will finish."

SOURCES:

http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2008/history.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women's_Day

WOMEN IN ART:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

OTHER LINKS (videos, songs, poems):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sltFpt9R9vI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBWRb2xFZIY&feature=related

http://www.5min.com/Video/Learn-About-International-Womens-Day-38364124

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tms-ayMYzb8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8b7OUZhK7s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEz6BsYP5vc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4FLuo2oyhI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEiNfDU-ezM

In Praise of ANSC 2 Women

Have a look now at these amazing women!!! They started attending this course on the 1st April, 2009 and are already performing in public - and how!!! Two plays were performed before an attentive audience of children (and adults as well) attending primary school at Escola Básica de Soure and I must say I was delighted to see these actresses "on stage" as a cat, a cock, a donkey... Kudos to you, ladies :)

Now check this out - haven't I got all the reasons to be proud of this bunch of women???

After having enjoyed this selection of pictures, can you describe the animals I mentioned above? Can you identify some more?

In praise of AE 3 Women

First of all, I would like to apologise for having taken so long to post a new topic... I know I have been slow on postings but I can't do much better when other school stuff needs to be done, right?

Well, International Women's Day (8th March) is approaching and I've decided to start by praising some of the Women I know. The first group is composed of my AE 3 class: either single, married or widow, they all work hard during the day and, in the evening - from 7 pm to midnight - there they are, at school, doing their very best!

This is not the first time I write here about them - I am as proud as any teacher can be especially because I am their "mediadora".
Now, please meet them - again!