Land of tomorrow II

An inspiring poem by Waine Visser (www.waynevisser.com):

I Am An African

I am an African
Not because I was born there
But because my heart beats with Africa’s
I am an African
Not because my skin is black
But because my mind is engaged by Africa
I am an African
Not because I live on its soil
But because my soul is at home in Africa

When Africa weeps for her children
My cheeks are stained with tears
When Africa honours her elders
My head is bowed in respect
When Africa mourns for her victims
My hands are joined in prayer
When Africa celebrates her triumphs
My feet are alive with dancing

I am an African
For her blue skies take my breath away
And my hope for the future is bright
I am an African
For her people greet me as family
And teach me the meaning of community
I am an African
For her wildness quenches my spirit
And brings me closer to the source of life

When the music of Africa beats in the wind
My blood pulses to its rhythm
And I become the essence of sound
When the colours of Africa dazzle in the sun
My senses drink in its rainbow
And I become the palette of nature
When the stories of Africa echo round the fire
My feet walk in its pathways
And I become the footprints of history

I am an African
Because she is the cradle of our birth
And nurtures an ancient wisdom
I am an African
Because she lives in the world’s shadow
And bursts with a radiant luminosity
I am an African
Because she is the land of tomorrow
And I recognise her gifts as sacred

A dream of a soundtrack

It may not be a surprise for many of you, but one of my recent discoveries is youtube. It has been an useful source for me on news and music, especially. It is like being connected to the different worlds there might be in this world.
I made a list of what I will call "A dream of a soundtrack", the songs I will take with me forever, wherever I go. Some of them I discovered with my friends at UPEACE, others I brought from Brazil, my home country. Enjoy them!

o Clocks (Coldplay)
o Talk (Coldplay)
o The hardest part (Coldplay)
o Don´t panic (Coldplay)
o Good Luck – Boa Sorte (Vanessa da Mata & Ben Harper)
o Gigi (singer from Ethiopia)
o Is it like today? (World Party)
o Man on the moon (REM)
o All Good Things (Come To An End) Nelly Furtado
o Try (Nelly Furtado)
o Saa Magni (Oumou Sangaré)
o Yala (Oumou Sangaré)
o Iowya (Angelique Kidjo & Dave Matthews)
o Ngomorera (Oliver Mtukudzi)
o Dzoka Uyamwe (Oliver Mtukudzi)
o Outro Lugar (Milton Nascimento)
o Aquarela (Toquinho)
o Requisitoire (Taby Ley Rochereau)
o Sisters are doin´ it for themselves (Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox)
o Ooh, child (Nina Simone)
o O Relicario (Cassia Eller & Nando Reis)
o Dreams (The Coors & Fleetwood Mac)

Long time no see!

I have not been around for a long time... Since January, to be more precise. But I promise that I will be back soon. I am still in Costa Rica, in the last weeks of my masters program in Gender and Peace Building at the University for Peace (UPEACE). There is so much to do and to think about that I almost forgot my blog. Today I learnt about my friend Karla Santos´s blog (dublinenses2008.blogspot.com)and just loved it! This is just a quick text to say that I am still around, learning and living in a speed that reminds me of my time in New York City (1994-1997), where everyday was different from the previous one, and that in every corner you found a new surprise.

Life encounters

My trip partner in the Central America is Marcia Ribeiro, a friend I met in 1999 during a course in the Archipelago of the Azores, in Portugal. Marcia is a Portuguese born journalist who has been living in Montréal, in Canada, for 16 years. She visited me twice in Florianópolis, after had worked in the World Social Forum, in Porto Alegre, for the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC). This is the third time we meet after our first encounter in the Azores.
After Nicaragua, we head to El Salvador.
Hope that there will be more trips together!

Under the Nicaraguayan sky

Nicaragua embraced us with a warm breeze and a starry sky. There is no better way to start a visit to a new country. We arrived yesterday in the largest country in Central America, after a ten-hour bus trip from San José, the capital of Costa Rica. Managua, the Nicaraguayan capital, was busy on Christmas day. Nearly 60,000 Nicaraguans left Costa Rica to spend the holiday season with their beloved ones, back home.
The country has been part of my imaginary since my childhood. More specifically, since 1979, when a revolution overthrew the Somoza family´s dictatorship and installed a socialist government, led by the people who followed the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN)´s ideas and ideals.
As usual, the United States´ and Great Britain´s interference didn´t allow the country to go beyond most of its projects. Nicaragua, as most of the Central American nations, is seen as economically and politically strategic for the big potences.

Sunday tunes

Sunday morning feels like listening to Malpaís, one of the my finest musical discoveries in Costa Rica. I missed two of their concerts, but hope to see them in 2008. New year always comes with new expectations.
A bit of Malpaís here, in the lyrics of "Contramarea", by Jaime and Fidel.
"Adónde estabas perdida, sueño del alba, espuma de los remansos donde crecí? Adónde estabas durmiendo, lírio del agua? Nací solo para verte...Nací solo para verte llegar a mí..."
More information about them on anaclaudiamenezes.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

State of belonging, state of being

The last issue of the Refugees Magazine, edited by the United Nations Refugee Agency, brings a special report about "The Excluded - The strange, hidden world of the stateless". One of the people mentioned in the article is the German philosopher Hannah Arendt, who was stateless for 16 years until she became an American citizen, in 1969, six years before her death. As the report states, Arendt had a successfull career, as one of the most influential thinkers in the 20th century, but most of the millions of the stateless people in the world remain anonymous and marginalized by their situation.
Here is Arendt´s reflection on the issue:
"To be stripped of citizenship is to be stripped of worldliness; it is like returning to a wilderness as cavemen or savages... they could live and die without leaving any traces" (Hannah Arendt, in "The Origins of Totalitarism")
The full report can be seen at www.unhcr.org