Africa Day, Sunday 25th May.

Come join the celebrations of all things African in music, song, dance, sport and film.

Over the next few days all across the country parks and cinemas, theatre and football pitches will be with brought to life with the sights and sounds of Africa, as Ireland plays host to Africa Day celebrations.

Dublin Castle is centre stage on Sun 25th with music and guest appearances by leading Irish and African acts including: Mundy, Kila, Sinead O Connor, the Republic of Loose, The Discovery Gospel Choir, Stone & Jezreel.. and many more. If that gets too much you have a wander around the bazaar comprising of stands from Egypt to South Africa. And if that gets to much you can always head over to the IFI (Irish Film institute) for free screenings of African films. But before you go, be sure to pop over to the cultural corner in Dublin Castle’s coach house, where I will be taking portraits along with fellow photographer Al Higgins, for the 2008 1000 Family Album, hosted by Suas and Concern. The photos comprise part of a larger project initiated by photographer Uwe Ommer, who spent 4 years traveling the world to record images of 1000 families, celebrating the diversity of the faces and places he encountered along the way

And it is all free of charge.

For more information on Africa Day of see:
http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/africaday2008/default.htm

And for more information in the 1000 families exhibit see:
www.buildingunity.eu

(Africa Day is supported by Irish Aid)

Suas looking for volunteers for St. Patrick's Day

Yes, it is that time of year again- time to paints the cities of Ireland green- with the annual Suas Facepainting extravaganza. Suas are on the hunt for more volunteers, to help beat last year's record of €32,000.
All money raised will go to Suas' partner projects in India and Kenya.

I met up with TV presenter Sile Seoige in Galway the other day where she lent a hand.

To sign up visit www.suas.ie

Launch of Suas Alumni

Greeted by the vibrant drumming of Happy City Samba Band, over 250 guests packed into Dublin’s City Hall last week for Suas’ Alumni inaugural event. ‘From Aspiration to Action’ was held to honour the achievements of Suas since its inception five years ago, and crucially, to engage more people in helping to make Suas’ vision a reality.

Speakers included Colman Farrel, Suas’ current CEO, and Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics Ireland, both of whom acknowledged the importance of young people in helping to create a more inclusive society.

An exhibition (put together by myself) accompanied the evening. To view images from the event click here. You can read Suas’ news item about the event here.

Next on the Suas Alumni calendar is the annual St. Patrick’s Facepainting fundraiser. The challenge has been set to beat last year’s €32,000 record. To find out more, and to get involved, check out www.suas.ie… the more the merrier!

Volunteer Programme- another year on

For those of you who have been following this blog- and my own journey, you will have heard me mention the organisation Suas (www.suas.ie) on more than one occasion. I still feel the air time is justified. Much of my own learning about social change issues started out when I was running the Suas Volunteer Programme a few years back. It was meeting young people interested in making a difference through Suas, and meeting Suas’ partners in India and Kenya, which got me started on the ‘Exceptional Lives’ Journey; and I own a huge amount to the people behind it.

The volunteer programme has since grown from strength to strength- and last weekend saw this year’s 80 volunteer’s gather for a weekend of celebration, and reflection, on their experiences of working in education projects in India and Kenya this summer. The volunteer programme is a powerful experience in the life of a young adult- being exposed to grassroots development issues, learning about a new culture, and working as a team under often difficult circumstances.

I was lucky enough to be able to join in- and put together an exhibition of photos at the annual return reception, this year held in Maynooth College. Below are a few images;

(For those of you who may be interested in applying for the ’08 programme, applications will be open from Nov of this year. Check out www.suas.ie for updates).

A poet of conscience

Cecil Rajendra was in Dublin town over the last few days, as part of series of events organised by Suas and Concern to promote cultural diversity (Building Unity through Diversity)

Who? Yes, Cecil Rajehndra. He is a Malaysian lawyer, human rights activist, political critic, environmentalist, founder of Malaysian’s Free Legal Aid, poet .., and has been nominated, twice, for the Nobel Prize for Literature. His poems have a cutting edge to them, prizing open minds and calling people to account for the world’s injustices. They happen to be very beautiful too. Below is a poem Cecil wrote specially for the event.

A DIFFERENT SAMENESS


Each one different
yet akin ….
under our tent
of skin
our bones are white
our blood is red
& when dead
all flesh, as a poet
once said,
is food for the maggot.


Race, opinion, religion ….
little
more than brushstrokes
on
a galactic canvas.
Yet
rather than celebrate
our
diverse variegations
(as one often rejoices
in the colours of Spring
Sunset, Flowers, the Rainbow)
We
choose to exterminate
blow
up each other over
less than
minor shades of difference.



Cecil Rajendra
July 2007