Curiosity is an itch in the thoughts.

I was feeling impatient; I wanted to stop thinking…

To prevent myself from thinking, nothing better than start doing crafts. I grabbed my scissors, the needle and the threads, and started counting the squares of the fabric; The needle going in and out three times for the left and going in and out three times for the right. I got a perfect cross stitch.

Out of a sudden, came my daughter with a friend about her age or younger. She was a negress child, wearing braids in her hair. “She is the neighbor’s maid’s daughters” Amanda replied,” Her name is Evelyn.”

What I assumed was that they would get boring watching my work, but they’ve surprised me by sitting one at a side of me and starting making questions:

“What is this?” she asked.”It’s an embroidering in cross stitches” I replied. But the questions never ended.”What will you make?” “What are you doing now?””Why have you changed the color of the thread?””What are you counting?”Is this a square?”

And I felt good by her curiosity and answering her queries I kept on saying:” No dear, it is not a square. It is a measuring-tape.”

All those materials amazed her. She wanted to learn.

That was one of the greatest experience of teaching I had, it wasn’t necessary to use any kind of motivational argument to draw her attention. Her motivation was what I was doing, the stuffs I was using. Her eyes and thoughts were itching in curiosity.

Aristotle stress that mankind has a wish of acknowledgement. For children the world is a big amusement park. It is fascinating. It keeps teasing their eyes.

Around the world there are millions of children out of school though. Their precocious join in the market place prevent them from receiving education, blinding them to the amusing world around.

According to data from the International Labor Organization, worldwide there are about 250 million children working.
• The work is performed by children aged between 5 and 14 years.
• About 120 million work full time.
• About 80% do not enjoy the weekly rest.
• Most of these workers live in rural areas.


- In Portugal there are about 200 000 workers aged inadequate for the job.
- In Spain are approximately 500 000.
- In Germany, about 600 000.

- Latin America has approximately 7% of child labor worldwide.
- Africa accounts for 32% of child labor force in the world.
- Approximately 61% of children working in the world inhabit the Asian continent.
- In India alone about 120 million children and teens play some kind of work.
- In Oceania there are about 500 000.

From these data we can see that this is a problem that encompasses an international dimension. These working children could be at school and playing around, given that at this stage of life, they should be devoted exclusively to it.

As Evelyn, they want to learn at least to write and read. They need to have their queries answered.

the magic of trees!

The mere presence of them awakens a peace and quiet in the human soul. This is a secret that explains why - from the earliest times - in all corners of the world, the sages and mystics have used forests as places of refuge and inspiration. There is a natural and instinctive bond between trees and mankind. Even their breathing modes are complementary.


It's hard to imagine beings as beneficial as the trees. They beautify the landscape, providing shade, timber, fruit, and are the refuge and shelter for birds and other wildlife. Communicate underground with the atmosphere and purify the air. Attract clouds, regulate rain, stabilize the climate and ensure the soil moisture. Combat erosion and prevent excess of wind.
Every human being, as each tree is a miniature and a summary of the universe.
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote that a tree is "something nobler than a prince in his coronation costume".

Trees have a strong magical nature. They are universally regarded as a symbol of the relationship between heaven and earth. With its vertical structure - the trunk - the tree establishes a symbolic axis linking the physical world and the divine world. Moreover, its branches, twigs, leaves and fruits gather a whole community of birds, insects, reptiles and small mammals, which is a symbol of the infinite diversity of life.
Imagine the universe as an inverted tree that has its roots in heaven and their leaves and fruit on earth.
This tree represents mythological every human soul, and whose origins are rooted in eternity, but whose leaves and fruits are the practical activities of the concrete world.
Every human being, as each tree is a miniature and a summary of the universe. This is one of the reasons we have much to gain by living with the trees. The experience of communion with them is part of a larger communion with all nature and the human soul freed from their suffering.
There is nothing better to relieve the suffering of the soul than walking through the forest, feeling its energy to revitalize the spirit. Be baptized in the waters of a stream.
But mankind forgot to supply their forces in nature and go for searching consol in rampant consumerism that destroys forests.
In the ancient world, new civilizations appeared healthy in forested regions as well. Some time later, populations have multiplied and wood consumption grew excessively. The trees were used as firewood - something essential to melt metal - and also as material for building houses and boats.
Our poor human intelligence can only win when we realize the intelligence of the trees. The content of the lessons they bring to us, however, depends on our ability to put aside the little things that we think we know, and open ourselves to the magic of life ...
To the magic of trees!
 

Piracy in modern times

The modern piracy involves many different products, from clothing, household items, medicines, books, software and any other type of product that can be copied.

The first pirate activity is recorded of beginning of the VII century in the Aegean Sea. At this time, the Assyrian king Sennacherib tried to expel some pirates at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

In the year 331 BC, Alexander the Great ordered the expulsion of the pirates of the Aegean, and asked to one of them why they made the seas unsafe. The pirate replied, "The same reason why you are making the world tremble. But as I do what I do on a small ship, I am called a pirate while doing the things you do with a large fleet, you are called Emperor. "
Modern pirates use the same tactics of pirates from the Golden Age.
Today, they no longer seek to bury their treasure in Islands where they mark the site with a large X, but they are seeking trade of illegal goods.

Almost everyone knows someone who cannot resist consumption and has the habit of buying what is not necessary. Living with joy over budget they make the sellers’ day.

Very often in order to satisfy their ego, they buy pirated goods, no matter from which source these goods come from. They ignore that behind all this there are: Child labor, drug trafficking and more.
Consciousness has a price, which not everyone agrees to pay, since that appears to be higher than we wish.
The main arguments raised by consumers of pirated products are the lowest prices. Most people think artists and manufacturers are already rich enough and are not harmed by the sale of pirates CD's and DVD’s, for example.
But behind these lower prices what is being hidden?
Modern pirates also arm themselves: They don’t use swords anymore. They use knives, machine guns, grenades and rocket launchers.
They do not kidnap  innocent maidens anymore. They kidnap our children, preventing them from a decent future.
They no longer mark with an X the place of the treasure; they use technology to determine the best targets and plan attacks.

Walking on the streets, I can see children on the corners 

They are not playing, or studying, or having fun 

They are on the streets; playing a role of workers 

CD’s…DVD’s…CDROM’s…candies, who wants some? 

And in their hands, sometimes can be found not a toy, but a gun. 

Everything flushes in their hearts, but childish feelings 

Poor children living a life of silence 

Homeless, they bear moments of violence 

Swings, tales stories, sweeties and chewing gum 

These all seem a reality lost in distance 

They are not playing, or studying, or having fun 

And in their hands, sometimes can be found not a toy, but a gun. 

Tears drop, bruises and suffering is all they can feel 

And in our hearts there are wounds that time can’t heal 

All these pains will be carried by us for all eternity 

They are victims of our society 

and we all contribute for their misery 

By keeping ourselves aloof of all what is going on 

They are on the streets, hard working on the ground 

And In their hands many times, no toys can be found 

Our children are not playing, or studying, or having fun 

They are hidden on the corners, 

Many times in their hands… 

A gun.

2011 is the International Year of Forests.

Throughout the bowels of the forest, happily flying are the butterflies and the moths; as pure as children, they welcome the happy faces of the daisies that for being so white dazzle the eyes; In the distance can be seen the yellow, purple and white Ipe-tree; multicolored natural arrangements that blend with the softness of the clouds hanging over their top.

The pervasive silence of giant conifers sprout from the incessant singing of the cicadas in their farewell to the brief life they have on surface.Years spent beneath the earth bring them above so as to sing their songs until face their fate; pure symphony. They join the birds in chorus toasting to freedom. They celebrate the harmony of colors and the funny  of dead branches where they make their nests and lay their eggs spreading life.

On the ground can be seen the mushrooms, ears of the forest, home of the toads. In the cri-cri-cri of the crickets mixed to the croaking are the crackling dry leaves fallen on the soil, where death is just a detail in the proliferation of life that turns rot into a perfect meal for the soil; This soil which holds hundreds of tiny beings invisible to the naked eyes, that ashamed hide behind big sunglasses.

From it, the sun, comes so much wealth. Without it there would be nothing but darkness, with it everything lights up, grows and gains colors; those colors play with our imagination; tones mingle making all things new. Green, red, yellow, blue and white when mixed create a magical kaleidoscope through the brush.

Mountain down, fearless clear waters wash the shores of the streams; transposing the obstacles boldly, without being beaten. Bowing down before the big rocks in respect, knowing of its hardness, its power to stall the flow, but bravely waters pierce the barriers cornering unimaginable in order to achieve its ultimate goal: The sea.

And above all, endlessly blue, the sky remains; as if watching this whole miracle of the lush forests.

2011 is the International Year of Forests.
Forests cover 31% of all Earth's land area and have direct responsibility in ensuring the survival of 1.6 billion people and 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. For their importance to the planet, they deserve to be preserved and valued more; therefore, the UN declared that 2011 will be the International Year of Forests. Do your part, care!

Let's change life style in 2011!

Could Science tell us if our attitudes are good or bad, if science itself seeks for ethical concepts in its base and when it declines these concepts there are great controversies? To what extent can we make decisions based on technological achievements, forgetting ethics?
Everything that comes from the heart as emotions, feelings, sensitivity has been set aside to follow reason; it is Reason over emotion.
This becomes more understandable when you consider that we humans are not merely rational animals, but rational mammals. According to the science itself 125 million years ago mammals appeared, broke the limbic brain, responsible for affection, care and love. The mother conceives and carries within herself life. The child is born in care and cuddles. Only in the past 3-4 million years came the neo-cortex and with it the abstract reason, the concept and rational language.
Then I think we should reclaim what is most ancient in us: The affection and tenderness.
Without sensibility, such a technological progress is insufficient. But science with conscience and sense of ethics can find liberating ways for our crisis.
Peace begins within our hearts.
Today is World Peace day; Peace is a gift that demands our responsibility, because it must be cultivated. This year, let’s change lifestyles.
We must not forget the fact that many, who find peace and quiet, feel renewed and invigorated when they come into direct contact with the beauty and harmony of nature. There is here a kind of reciprocity: when we take care of nature she cares for us.
I wish in 2011 that “caring” becomes the key word of our speech and that from it we can find peace within ourselves and take it to the world.

Happy 2011 to all.