SI MONTHLY NEWS JANUARY 2007 Editorial
From SI Exco News
Presumptions
Oh, I supposed that.......................
But you did that last time .........................
But I told you last year why should I tell you again .........................
I assumed that ....................
How often do we expect things to stay the same? How often are we put out when someone asks for the same information again?
Yet the world is not static, things are constantly changing. Whether it be Host Lists, Letters of Introduction or details of the SI News contacts we ask you to give your details each year. This way we know that at least once a year they will be up to date. People change their email addresses or perhaps something was just copied down slightly wrongly. We ask for the details to ensure that we get it right.
And for some analogies: Before I go out on my push bike I check the tyres. Just because they were OK last week does not mean that they are fine now. In the morning I do a quick walk around my car. Just because it was OK last night does not mean that some one did not vandalise it for example pulling the wing mirrors off. When hiring an aeroplane I do all the safety checks. Just because the person who had it for the last hour says it is OK does not mean it is still OK. I had been happy with the aircraft one time, the next person found that one of the instruments had failed, presumably between the time of landing and parking as this instrument was not needed on the ground.
We need to make sure that we get the information correctly and not presume that it has stayed the same.
Peace
We are an organisation with Peace as a major concept. Most countries have Peace Secretaries with varying roles depending on the wishes and possibly the political restrictions of their country. It is generally being felt that we need to review our action on the Peace side, and consider that we are not yet another host/traveller organisation. Nandee as the Exco Peace Secretary is now working on making a Peace network to involve all the Peace secretaries, so that we can be more active in this line. This does not mean joining protest marches (as I well remember from my youth!). It does mean being far more aware of what is going on and being ready to offer help and encouragement to those who wish to be active, for example in various forthcoming UN conferences. We look forward to a development in this area. After all that is the base meaning of our organisation.
Sharing useful websites
So much information is available on the internet. Sometimes it feels like information overload with so many choices. Hence it is useful when people come up with websites that they have found useful It is good to share these. Hence when people send ideas to me I try to include them to share.
Gary Sealey has sent: Global Voices Online:
Hi, here is a website forwarded to me. One of the founders was interviewed on TV today. I see blogs on it in English, French, and Spanish. Also see RSS. www.globalvoicesonline.org/ www.globalvoicesonline.org/top/faq-frequently-asked-questions/
and Peace Pedallers: Peace Pedalers Africa Newsletter: Mozambique 1 of 2 Peace Pedalers < newsletters[at]peacepedalers.com> with pictures on: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AauGbRi3aNBu¬ag=1
Mary Jane Mikuriya found this one about a UN Youth assembly. Details are on page 9. www.faf.org/hl_youthassembly.htm
What do YOU have to share with us?
Contact
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