By Lelety Mabasa
Zimbabwe

Mariah turns on her back. She winces from pain as she stretches her arms. She sleeps on the ground, and her thin blankets hardly protect her from the rough surface. From her room, she calls out to her neighbour in the other room, telling her to bathe the kids as she will not be bathing early today. She is normally the first to use the bathroom, but she will be the last today - she is not going to work because nurses are on strike.

As she continues with her “sleep,” Mariah reflects back on her college days, when she and her friends could not wait to graduate. They dreamt of “making names for themselves out there. ” They fantasized about owning houses in the country's posh surburbs, being the first to have the latest model cars, having happy marriages and a modest family with three children who would all go to the best schools the country has to offer. These naively hopeful students also planned on buying nice houses for their parents.

That was four years ago.

by D-L Nelson
France

People talk of capitalism, socialism or communism as if these were the only three economic systems for the world to choose from. Little is said about co-operativism, one of the least-publicized economic systems,

View larger image
El Salvadorian women were able to finance a fish farm because of their savings co-operative. Photograph courtesy of the World Council of Credit Unions

Part of the reason co-ops are so infrequently discussed is that they aren’t traded on the stock market. They seldom make the business news, yet they are responsible for generating billions of dollars.

By Katharine Daniels
Executive Editor, The WIP
USA

On Monday we celebrated Memorial Day, a federal holiday commemorating soldiers who have died at war and a tradition in our country since the Civil War. Most Americans have the day off and spend it with their families at picnics or sporting events. Some visit cemeteries or memorials and flags around the nation are commonly flown at half-staff from dawn until noon.

• Photograph by Sarah McGowan •

by Juliette Terzieff
USA

View larger image
School children in Rajasthan.
Photograph by Sarah McGowan

By Vera von Kreutzbruck
Germany

Ever since the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe was inaugurated in Berlin two years ago, it has become a major tourist attraction. The vast monument consists of a sprawling field of 2,700 stone slabs near the Brandenburg Gate and is dedicated to the millions of victims as a whole. Together, the slabs symbolize a collective loss. But it’s not the only memorial in the capital city. A daring German sculptor has implemented an original project to remember individual victims.

Photo courtesy of the artist - www.stolpersteine.com

The idea is both simple and original. These discrete yet provocative memorials are small brass plaques containing the personal details of victims of the Holocaust, embedded into the sidewalk in front of their former homes. About six million Jews were murdered in Germany and Europe, as well as political dissidents, homosexuals, gypsies and people with disabilities.

by Constance Manika
- Zimbabwe -

On March 30, 2007 Zimbabwean journalists here woke up to sad and disturbing news: Edward Chikomba, a former cameraman with the government-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (the country’s only television station), had been abducted from his home by state security agents.

The circumstances of his abduction were chilling. According to his brother, unknown assailants had arrived at the journalist’s house in the capital, Harare, the day before, on March 29. They hit him savagely on the mouth with rifle butts in full view of neighbors, then threw him into an unmarked vehicle. In a desperate attempt to save him, Edward’s brother ran after the vehicle, but he could not catch it, stumbled and fell hard on the tarmac.

We had every reason to worry about Chikomba’s safety. Edward’s abduction occurred just two weeks after police had disrupted a scheduled prayer meeting organized by a Christian opposition organization known as the Save Zimbabwe Campaign in Harare.

by Imelda V. Abaño
Phillippines

Body tattooing is one of the world's oldest art forms having been widely practiced for thousands of

Lagya Aturba remembers her mother who bore intricate tattoos all over her body.

In many cultures, tattoos were not just drawings on the skin - they were elaborately decorated testaments to the life of the culture. They often depicted men’s and women's status as warriors in society. They served as profound depictions of their cultural identity, emblems that embodied the story of their life experiences. And for some cultures, tattoos were simply a convenient way to identify and brand criminals.

But as tattooing has become less about tradition and more about fashion, people of all walks of life, especially young adults, are joining the ranks of the “inked”. Tattooing is no longer the exclusive tradition of indigenous peoples and many fear that this once unique practice is dying out.

by D-L Nelson
France

It is easy to talk about a problem; it is much harder to do anything about it.

Two Canadian women, tired of hearing about leadership crisis, decided to kick-start a national dialogue. Françoise Morissette M.Ed., P.C.C. and Amal Henein CHRP spent almost three years developing their book, Made in Canada Leadership: Wisdom from the Nation's Best and Brightest on the Art and Practice of Leadership.

All types of organizations and governments need a steady supply of people with real leadership skills to reach their goals and ensure a positive future. Waiting around for a knight in shining armour doesn’t cut it; the wringing of hands is a waste of time. Their book was researched and written to find and propose alternatives. In an interview, Morissette pointed out that the world spends more time and effort training athletes than they do training leaders.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

In Nkombanyama, a village in Malawi’s northern district of Chitipa, a 14-year-old girl was saved by a traditional chief as she was about to be married off to a successful farmer. Sadly, her father was using her as currency to settle a debt with the farmer.

The girl’s father, identified only as Hannock, reportedly made a habit of borrowing money from the farmer, using his daughter as collateral. He eventually ordered her to sleep with the farmer after he failed to settle the loan.

The issue only came to light in March of this year after the girl fell pregnant having “settled” her father’s debts for some time.

The culture of using female children to settle outstanding debts has existed in this part of Malawi since time immemorial among the people in Chitipa and other surrounding districts.

The custom, locally known as Kupimbira, has forced children as young as five years old into sexual relationships with men as old as 70. The children are swapped for material goods such as soap, sugar, bread and cattle or as settlement for outstanding debts.

By Suad Hamada
Bahrain

A young girl has faced the threat of being expelled from her primary school only because her mother is infected with AIDS.

This secret was neither known to the girl nor the school, but was exposed by a parent who insisted on suspending her to protect other children from infection. Despite the mother’s adamant protestations that her daughter was not infected with the virus, the school persisted until a blood test was performed on the girl. The test revealed what the mother passionately claimed from the beginning - her daughter is HIV negative.

The girl’s story is but one account of the many injustices suffered by youngsters with infected parents and those children who have HIV/AIDS.

By Juliette Terzieff
USA

• Photograph by Sarah McGowan. •

“The best way to deal with violence against children is to stop it before it occurs. Parliamentarians can and should be among the foremost champions of children protection,” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Toshi Nawa said upon the handbook’s release at the IPU’s 116th assembly in Indonesia. Delegates from 126 countries were in attendance.

“Governments and parliaments must build a protective environment that allows children to live without the threat of abuse and exploitation,” Nawa insisted.

by Binalakshmi Nepram-Mentschel
India

The human society is now drifting in the direction of a self-contradictory, multi-layered ‘new middle age”.. a world in which the significance of territoriality declines and the range of the claimed authorities and conflicting types of legitimization expands dramatically … a world defined by the spread of plagues of private violence and permanent ‘civil war’ sanctioned by uncontrolled powers – new warlords, pirates, gun runners, gangsters, sects – to which the modern state was supposed to have put an end.
- John Keane, Reflections on Violence

by D-L Nelson
France

Geneva, Switzerland - “The chair is back,” Geneva residents are saying to each other.

The Broken Chair

The simple brown wooden chair would look good at any dining room table if it were of normal size and if it had four instead of three and a quarter legs. The fourth leg is broken off, leaving shards of jagged wood, yet the chair does not tip.

by Sarah McGowan
Content/Photo Editor, The WIP
- USA -

Denise and Esteban, both in their early 50’s, moved into my apartment building eight months ago. Our first encounter occurred in the hallway while I precariously lumbered up the 53 stairs leading to my apartment on crutches, my leg in a cast. Their moving boxes dominated our shared landing and while at first I flushed with frustration, both were so instantly compassionate, offering their assistance and clearing out of the way, that I immediately forgave the transgression.

When they invited me into their apartment months later, I was enthralled by the beauty of their home and the artifacts they had collected on their many travels.

Photograph by Sarah McGowan

Denise and Esteban had relocated from another large city, where both had worked for over a decade with the homeless population on Skid Row, Denise as a psychiatric nurse and Esteban as an advocate. When referring to his 17 years on the Row, Esteban demurred, “It’s not that long, really.” An interlude in Mexico had found the couple contented personally, but the reality of a paycheck had brought them back to California and their respective professions.

by Imelda V. Abaño
Philippines

The Philippine government will award its highest decoration to slain United States Peace Corps volunteer, Julia Campbell, describing her as a "martyred volunteer."

Campbell, 40, of Fairfax, Virginia went missing April 8 during a trek at the mountainside rice terraces in Northern Philippines. She was found buried in a shallow grave 10 days later.

The citation honors Campbell for bringing "light and joy into the lives" of many Filipinos. "She epitomized the ideals of the Peace Corps and of the American people," the citation says.

Campbell, also a freelance journalist, had served as a college teacher in Donsol, Sorsogon, in Southern Luzon, since she began her Peace Corps service in the Philippines in March 2005.

by Natasha Dokovska
Macedonia

“…Even after getting out of prison I’ll be on the streets again…”

“I’ve been in prison already seven months and ought to serve my 36 months sentence. I was convicted for prostitution…I can’t believe what I’m charged for! Those people who charged me, have they asked themselves how would I have lived if I hadn’t been a prostitute? Well, this is my own individual choice: to earn money and to enjoy! When I come out of prison I’m still going to do the same job…”

These are the words of a 20-year old female prisoner. She is one of about 50 women at the Idrizovo prison in the Macedonian capital, Skopje. Her story is similar to the stories of the women who share their days in prison with her, or as she refers to them—her colleagues. But, unlike the others, she doesn’t give up. She speaks out all the time. Her temper is high-spirited and she craves activity. But, unlike her, most of the women prisoners are introverted; they don’t want to talk much, don’t like visits, and don’t believe strangers.

They simply don’t trust anyone.

by Imelda Abaño
Philippines

On May 14, 2007, as the Philippines is scheduled for national elections.

For this year's general mid-term elections, 87,000 candidates are running for 17,000 national and local positions, which include all of the 250 seats in the House of Representatives and half of the 24 Senate seats. All of course are wooing the women's votes as half of the estimated 40 million voters are women.

In short, the absence of the women's votes is really a big factor considering that there are more women registered voters than men and considering that there is always a higher female voters' turnout than the male counterpart.

It was 70 years ago when over 400,000 women in the Philippines voted for the first time in an election that eventually paved the way for their participation in government.

Since then Filipino women have always been an important electoral force.

by Viktorija Plavcak
Slovenia

Many European countries, as well as Slovenia, are facing the problem of refugees and illegal runaways. Slovenia is merely a transitory country for many, but since it acts as a divide between the East and European Union states, the customs authorities boast a large number of discovered runaways, some of whom are children. A few are accompanied by their parents, but quite a large number travel unaccompanied. In European terms, these children are now called separated children.

Who are these separated children? They are children who have entered a country escorted by a non-custodial parent or stranger. In many cases they are accompanied by predatory adults entangled in the international network of trafficking, and have made a good bargain by purchasing a child from parents who were lured with false promises of education, employment, happiness, and opportunities.

There are numerous reasons why these children leave their mother country. Refugees flee due to fear of persecution or because of the clashes or political unrest in their native country. Economic migrants flee because of unbearable living conditions such as poverty and want of food, or simply because they are left without parents or have been discarded or abandoned.

Their agony is indescribable. They have been separated from their parents or have lost them. They are often undernourished or suffer inhumane conditions while traveling. Organized networks prey on these children, knowing that they will go unpunished due to the tender age of their victims and the inherent power differential between them. They are trafficked across international borders for labor exploitation and are used for domestic servitude.

by Juliette Terzieff
USA

Petur spent much of his childhood scrambling on the streets of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, begging and doing odd jobs to afford the basic necessities. The 21-year old no longer worries about finding a place to sleep for the night, but lives in fear that his infant son may someday find himself in the same position.

“Things have not improved very much for me,” says Petur, who doesn’t want his full name used. “I have a job, sure, but the salary isn’t all that much more than I made as a child begging.”

“We could easily be on the street again,” Petur laments. “The only security we have is that every adult in our family is working age, so if one loses a job, somehow the others can pitch in until a new one comes along.”

Petur works from before sunrise until late afternoon at a small bakery, earning 200 Bulgarian Lev (about $140) a month, and returns home every evening to a 2-bedroom apartment that he, his wife, and 11-month old son share with 7 other extended family members. Petur has managed to build a life for himself against the odds, and credits the help of Sofia’s dilapidated children’s shelters for helping him through the worst days.

“When I lived on the street, most people just ignored me—only at the shelters was I able to find people who would not only feed me, but encourage me to keep trying. I was lucky,” he recalls.

by Claire A. Williams and Lara Vogel
USA/Kenya

It all started with a note passed through the kitchen window. We were instructed to look at it, and then “repeat for me later.” Dutifully, we read: “I [greet] you. I love you. I pray for you. Please assist me with one ovocando. It is good to be nice.”

After sharing her note with us, a little orphan named Jane immediately scampered to hide behind a tree. Despite her subtle attempts at guilt, we did not provide the requested avocado, in large part because our apartment was, at the time, ovocando-less. But the note provided our apartment endless amusement and hung in a place of honor next to the list of students who planned to run with us for our marathon training each day.

by Katharine Daniels
Executive Editor, The WIP

Photo by Gailf548

Friday, I attended my first Panetta lecture entitled “The Role of the Press in Choosing a Candidate.” The ninety-minute lecture had two parts—a sixty minute conversation moderated by Leon Panetta and thirty minutes of questions from the audience. The guests were author and HDNet News Correspondent Dan Rather and Washington Post News Correspondent and author Bob Woodward. Leon Panetta opened, quoting Edward R. Murrow: “Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.”

by Imelda V. Abano
Philippines

Environmental group Greenpeace called on Asian governments to work in mitigating the impacts of climate change by shifting to renewable energy sources.

The challenge to Asian governments was made April 28, at the launch of the report, Energy Revolution: A sustainable East Asia Energy Outlook, timed ahead of the third working group meeting of the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Bangkok that took place on May 4.

"Developing countries in Asia must stabilize its carbon dioxide emissions by choosing renewable energy and enhancing energy efficiency, while at the same time increasing energy consumption through economic growth," said Jasper Inventor, climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace South East Asia.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

The on-going adoption process of a one-year old Malawian orphan, David Banda, by Pop Star Madonna has highlighted the plight of orphans in Malawi.

A million children are orphaned in Malawi, of which half were AIDS-related illnesses affecting one or both parents, most of whom are cared for by relatives who are already experiencing severe economic hardship. About 8 million of Malawi’s 12 million people live below the national poverty line of $1-a-day. Child-headed households are becoming increasingly common, where many households have been discovered to be run by children as young as 12 years old.

One of the orphanages benefiting from Madonna’s financial assistance is the Consol Homes in Malawi’s Central region. When Madonna visited this orphanage with David on Thursday, April 19, she urged the multitude of orphans and the poor who gathered to see her to help themselves.

"This is a partnership, it's not only for me to do everything, but we need to work together and you have to help yourselves," Madonna said.

But the orphans have already been doing what Madonna is urging them to do.

by Imelda V. Abaño
Philippines

Helena, from Hyderabad, India, lost her father when she was 13 and her mother when she was 15, both from AIDS-related illnesses. And now at age 18, she is the head of the household, looking after her two younger brothers, 10 and 13. It’s an especially difficult task because her two brothers are HIV-positive.

“When our mother died, we were so scared of being on our own. I remember her telling me to continue to study and make a future for myself and she also told me I had to take care of the little ones for as long as they need me. So I will,” said Helena during an interview inside their small shack.

“When my mother died we suffered so much. There was no food, and there was no one to look after us,” she recalled while pulling out a picture from her wallet of her mother. It was extremely difficult for Helena to make ends meet until recently, when she began receiving counseling, some food, clothes and blankets from a non-governmental organization.

by Victoria Aitken / photography by Piera Constantini Scala
- UK -

Inspired by her friend Piera's lost heritage, writer Victoria Aitken traveled to Western Sahara to understand more about the plight of a people ousted from their land.

The mineral-rich region of Western Sahara, on the northwest coast of Africa between Morocco and Mauritania, was occupied by Morocco (and initially, by Mauritania) after the Spanish, her original colonizers, left. Despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling in 1975 that Western Sahara should not be immune to the rules of decolonization, no other country has stood up to Morocco or tried to make her back out of Western Sahara, or even denounced the construction of a 1500-kilometre fortified wall. No one talks about a wall that divides every Saharawi refugee family from their relatives and friends in the occupied parts of Western Sahara.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

In recent months, Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, has embarked on a series of whistle-stop tours during week days. Consequently, female teachers feel compelled to dance for him for fear of reprisals from authorities. In Malawi there is a lot of hero-worshipping for politicians, which started during the 30-year dictatorial rule from 1964 to 1994.

Malawians, especially women, sing and dance to songs in praise of politicians they support and conversely castigate those they do not. The president, however, uses civil servants for these demonstrations, including teachers.

A spokesperson for the country’s most influential opposition party, Sam Mpasu, describes this tendency by the president as detrimental to the country’s education standards, which are already grim.

Malawi’s education standards started declining as soon as the country attained democracy in 1994 and abolished school fees for primary education; this resulted in an increase in enrollment from 1.9 million pupils to 3.2 million.

by Katharine Daniels
Executive Editor, The WIP
USA

For The WIP’s first article of the 2008 United States election season, I am dedicating this piece to three of the underrepresented voices in American politics: Women, African Americans, and Latinos.

In the United States women make up half the population, nearly 42 million Latinos are residents, and it has been over 135 years since the Fifteenth Amendment gave African Americans the vote. Yet we still have never had a President from any minority group.

I sat among delegates and the press listening to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Denis Kucinich appeal for support. I was pleased to hear both a local and a global message from each candidate.

I wonder if such candidates can change politics through the introduction of a new perspective, a perspective that develops from the bottom-up versus the traditional top-down power structure we are so used to in the United States.

The WIP has invited each campaign to submit stories about their candidates introducing them to our readers worldwide.*

by Constance Manika
- Zimbabwe -

Zimbabwean theatre lovers have had something to talk about for the past two weeks. Cont Mhlanga's riveting new play, The Good President, premiered here in Harare, Zimbabwe, on April 12.

This politically charged satire, written and directed by Zimbabwe's most controversial playwright, summarizes the country’s 30 years against British colonial rule, focusing specifically on events leading to Zimbabwe's independence. It goes on to highlight what has happened in the 27 years since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980. All in one tight hour of compelling action.

The play kicks off with a scene in a police station where two police officers are assaulting the leader of an opposition party, acted by a look-alike of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe’s strongest opposition, Movement for Democratic Change.

In addition to beating him up, they search his pockets and steal all his money and leave him for dead. One of the police officers, Wangu, who had been shown in a previous scene sadly telling his girlfriend that he had no money to meet her demands, is suddenly ready to finance all of her requests.

These events bounce back to haunt Wangu when his grandmother comes to the city for an eye treatment. In one of their many conversations, Wangu is told that his father, himself a former leader of the opposition, was murdered by state agents during the 1983 Gukurahundi, the civil war that erupted in Zimbabwe soon after independence between two ethnic groups—the Shona and the Ndebele.