It is possible to believe that the many problems that Africa faces - war, genocide, poverty, famine - are the faults either of Western governments and financial institutions and/or the result of natural disasters. How is that an entire continent, pretty much, can be in such dire straights? Why is it that it is afflicted with so many deep-rooted and intractable problems? Martin Meredith's 'The State of Africa' seeks to explore the recent history of the continent, throwing much light on the answers to these difficult questions. Meredith's work has an enormous scope, covering as it does the entire continent,...

From Wikipedia   Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet is a non-fiction book by author Mark Lynas about global warming. The book looks and attempts to summarize results from scientific papers on climate change. The first chapter describes the expected effects of climate change with one degree (°C) increase in average global temperature since pre-industrial times. The second chapter describes the effects of two degrees average temperature and so forth until Chapter 6 which shows the expected effects of six degrees (°) average global temperature. The effects are also compare to paleoclimatic studies, with six degrees of warming...

  I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.  And I water'd it in fears, Night and morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.  And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.  And into my garden stole, When the night had veil'd the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath...

I'm Explaining a Few Things. You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs? and the poppy-petalled metaphysics? and the rain repeatedly spattering its words and drilling them full of apertures and birds? I'll tell you all the news. I lived in a suburb, a suburb of Madrid, with bells, and clocks, and trees. >From there you could look out over Castille's dry face: a leather ocean. My house was called the house of flowers, because in every cranny geraniums burst: it was a good-looking house with its dogs and children. Remember, Raul? Eh, Rafel? Federico, do you remember...

A city in Brazil recruited local farmers to help do something U.S. cities have yet to do: end hunger. By Frances Moore Lappé , posted Feb 13, 2009 in Yes!Magazine “To search for solutions to hunger means to act within the principle that the status of a citizen surpasses that of a mere consumer.” CITY OF BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL In writing Diet for a Small Planet, I learned one simple truth: Hunger is not caused by a scarcity of food but a scarcity of democracy. But that realization was only the beginning, for then I had to ask: What does...

Example from India - one farmer every 30 minutes commits suicide.... During the 1990-s, the World Bank and IMF encouraged the Indian governements to adopt new economic policies such as "structural adjustment" and privatisation. Indias markets were opened to global trade and multinational corporations. The Indian government removed government support for farmers, and promoted heavily the change from subsistence farming to to cash crops, especially cotton. These changes made the Indian farmers very vulnerable - to international competition, to price falls...and without the safety net of government support. The rights of the farmers to a decent life, where they could...

W ho will teach? The programmes at CICD demand out-of-the ordinary teachers. The school’s teachers have a wide range of experiences and knowledge from travelling and working in many different countries. They are a diverse bunch, of different ages and nationalities. The teachers at CICD have as their biggest passion to create a life changing and high quality programme, teaching and training adults to make a difference in the world. You will find the teachers living at the college and engaged in every aspect of the school and the programme. You will find them active in their teaching and leadership...

O n teaching and learning The school’s learning and teaching is a rare bird and definite¬ly out of the ordinary. It has each student and the student body in the middle of everything and playing the leading part. This is deepened through a collectively based organisation of the school’s programme. The content and methods used within teach¬ing and learning demand that all, students and teachers alike, act together both theoretically and practically within the programme topics and their elements of life and learning, as well as within all matters of running the school and its everyday. A sprightly programme and...

A few weeks ago this very encouraging little greeting from Michael Moore arrived with his newsletter                                                                                       - and hear! He is not only a award-winning film-maker but also a talented singer! Michael Moore writes: "Friends, Here's a free song for you: http://soundcloud.com/occupy-this-album/01-michael-moore-the-times It's my contribution to "Occupy This Album", a compilation CD (99 songs!) featuring David Crosby & Graham Nash, Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Willie Nelson, Ani DiFranco, Third Eye Blind, Immortal Technique and Jackson Browne to be released Tuesday, May 15th. All proceeds from this album will go to fund the Occupy Wall Street movement (all the musicians...

Adopt, adapt and improve One thing you can expect here at CICD, and when you are in Africa or India, is the unexpected! Making plans and trying by all means to follow through with them is an essential part of accomplishing something and reaching your goals ... and you will do a lot of that here. We always say that it is good to have a plan, and to have a plan B and even plan C! It is not at all unusual for unexpected things to happen in the course of the programme, so you will have to be...