NGOs gather in Bonn for sustainability summit
From the Red Cross to Fairtrade, NGOs are meeting with UN bodies in Bonn this weekend to discuss ways of making societies more sustainable. It's a message that's been falling flat, but NGOs say time is running out.
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Filipinos sow seeds of hope, opportunity on foreign soil
Their reasons for leaving tend to surprise Philippine immigration officers.
In a country where practically every other household has a relative trying to earn bigger bucks abroad, they chose to go overseas not to seek greener pastures—but instead sow seeds of hope and opportunity where nothing much ever grows. But then, compassion thrives on stony ground.
Denis Vanguardia, for example, helped a poor community in Indonesia start livelihood programs. Liza Lopez worked with refugees at the border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar), while Lea Acallar attended to HIV/AIDS patients in Nepal.
They are the overseas Filipino volunteers—“OFVs,” if you will—a largely unheralded but growing tribe of mission workers and global adventurers who devote a part of their lives helping other nations, and in the process develop a deeper appreciation of their own.
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Desire to make a difference
Enthusiasm rarely seems to be in short supply around this group – this year volunteers will rescue puppies, leave their homes to teach children in another country, clean up kilos of plastic, teach simple skills, erect houses and work in hospitals (among many, many other things) and they’ll do it all with no strings attached.
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