It is a new day and it is a hopeful day for you and for me.

It is a great day to wake up to.
thank you for voting Obama
not just for you
but for the rest
of the world.

Cheers!

- E

Loud/Big Hoorah for the Peace Corps!

Peace Corps returns to Liberia after long absence

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer – Wed Oct 22

DAKAR, Senegal – The Peace Corps will return to war-ravaged Liberia on Sunday for the first time since fighting erupted nearly two decades ago, its goal to help rebuild the West African nation's shattered education system.

Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, has struggled to turn itself around since the brutal war ended in 2003 and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office two years later. The return of the Peace Corps, which pulled out shortly after rebels invaded the country in late 1989, is a sign of confidence in Sirleaf, a Harvard-edcuated economist and Africa's first elected female head of state.

"Sirleaf has done a tremendous job of bringing this country back from chaos and we want to be part of moving her country forward as rapidly as possible," Peace Corps director Ronald A. Tschetter told The Associated Press in an interview from Washington, D.C. "This is a huge step for us to go back."

Liberia's back-to-back wars, which lasted from 1989 to 2003, sparked vicious factional fighting that killed an estimated 250,000 and displaced millions. Charles Taylor, who launched the 1989 invasion, is now jailed in The Hague facing war crimes charges.

Tschetter said Sirleaf had been calling for the Peace Corps to return and urged it to focus on what she saw as the most crucial need: education.

The 12 volunteers arrive Sunday and will be sworn in the following day. They come from a program called Peace Corps Response, which mobilizes former volunteers for short-term humanitarian assignments worldwide. Tschetter said he hopes their experience will enable them to "hit the ground running" and get the program moving faster.

Volunteers normally serve two-year stints, but the first group will stay eight or nine months — about the same length as the school year — as the program begins rebuilding. Their numbers are expected to double or triple by the end of 2009, and if all goes well, the program will reach 75 to 200 volunteers within a few years, Tschetter said.

The volunteers, aged 24 to 68, will be assigned to rural teacher training institutes where they will mentor administrators attempting to revitalize the country's teacher training infrastructure, the Peace Corps said in a statement. Others will work with local libraries, parent teacher associations, local high schools, and health training programs.

The statement quoted Sirleaf as saying "such short-term projects aimed at raising the capacities and capabilities of Liberian teachers would have a profound impact upon civil society as a whole."

Earlier Wednesday, Tschetter met with Sirleaf in Washington and said two officials with her — the Economics minister and Liberia's U.S. ambassador — had been taught by Peace Corps volunteers in the 1980s. "Clearly the 4,400 who have served (before in Liberia) have made a tremendous impact," Tschetter said.

Late U.S. President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, challenging college students to serve their country in the cause of peace. Since then, the Peace Corps has sent more than 190,000 volunteers to 139 countries around the world to help people in developing nations and serve as goodwill ambassadors for America.

About 8,000 American volunteers are currently serving overseas.

Political spats or conflict have forced the suspension of several programs this year. After Bolivia's president expelled the U.S. ambassador for allegedly inciting opposition protests in September, the Peace Corps pulled out its 113 volunteers.

The Corps' program in Georgia was also suspended when Russian tanks and warplanes invaded in August. The Kenya program was suspended at the start of this year after disputed presidential elections sparked nationwide violence, but volunteers began returning in June, Tschetter said.

So proud.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari has won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday.

Ex-Finnish president Martii Ahtisaari twice worked to find a solution in Kosovo. "Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. "Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts." The committee cited Ahtisaari's "significant" part in establishing Namibia's independence and his "central" role in solving the question of the Indonesian province of Aceh in 2005. Ahtisaari twice worked to find a solution in Kosovo -- first in 1999 and again between 2005 and 2007. He also worked with others this year to find a peaceful solution to the problems in Iraq, the committee said. Ahtisaari and his group, Crisis Management Initiative, also contributed to resolving other conflicts in Northern Ireland, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa, the committee said.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to express the hope that others may be inspired by his efforts and his achievements," Mjoes said.

----- How legendary!

- E

Dirty words.

What

the

heck

is

that

old

grey

man

about?

- E

P.S Please vote.

On my travel.

I have managed to break my camera.
But I have friends.
I am happy. Happiest.
Mycket lycklig.

- Elena

080808

Where I live is the most beautiful in the world.
To me it is so safe.
I have my family and my friends and my loves and my losses.


My home.

Last night I was watching my parents sitting on their porch enjoying a glass of rose and discussing life. There was something so very touching about the connection they share.
Then I thought of the military coming with their tanks, their bombs and their guns. How we would run to get away. Maybe loose each other on the way and possibly for forever. How they would burn down the house that to me feels so safe.
How our lives would get demolished. It felt so horrendous.

My heart goes to all the people in South Ossetia who are being bombarded by the Russian and the Georgian troops. It seems like we learned nothing from the Cold War and that the only way to change things would be to....you know.The thing everyone knows. Take them down. Force them to start acting like the rest of us. Respecting each other.
And the same goes with the Olympics.
Without respect for humans rights the good spirits of the Olympic sports can not live on.

So I am sorry. I will not be watching the Olympics. I will not be cheering for the world as we know it.
I will be praying for world peace. As cliched as it may sound.

- E