exclusion
january 2012.
_editorial
The year 2012 is starting and here at Libertas we decided to pick a tough topic already. This month our contributors have written about exclusion. The story of inclusion can be followed together with that of democracy, for the more people have their rights granted, better a democracy works. On the other hand, many episodes in history have shown us that minorities are often oppressed or neglected, in some ways being victims of violence. But exclusion has also been changing with the 21st century. Now, besides the ‘traditional’ types of exclusion, we also have to pay attention to exclusion from the digital world, keeping in mind that it is important but not the type the needs most care. Here at the Libertas headquarters we are preparing some surprises and small changes to be implemented this year, and we are looking forward to your feedback. We wish all of you a wonderful 2012, filled with creative ideas and healthy challenges. May you all grow and and learn, and we hope you’ll stay with us for another twelve issues and many more! Daniel Nunes
_contents
04 it feels like you don’t belong 06 jewish exlision during the holocaust 08 when english is not enough 10 I’m an Alien, I’m a legal alien, I’m a Welshman in Nkoranza 12 world aids day as celebrated by young south africans 14 the importance fo being selfless 16 when you’re invisible... 18 be positive, stay negative 19 pigs in maputo 20 13th taksirat festival 21 how to integrate in a new school? 23 the man with no lips 24 events
Libertas 28 exclusion published january 2012
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Katerina Kostadinova photo by Alexandre Fonseca
Why some kids make us feel like we are
less important or like we are not worthy of respect just because we are different from them? There is a large number of kids, students around the world who feel discriminated, humiliated by others because they live in a poor area, or because they belong to a different religion, color or another reason. The school violence has become a serious problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved. First of all, the reason, or the explanation of this behavior of the kids lies in their home education or the home environment. Most of the cases where kids bully other kids are when they are frustrated of the way that their parents treat them. Parents often beat their kids, as a punishment for doing something wrong, and as a result the kids do the same. Furthermore there are cases where kids follow the behavior of their parents. Violent behaviors such as punching and kicking are often learned from observing others. The Constitutional Rights Foundation suggests long-term exposure to gun violence, parental alcoholism, domestic violence, physical abuse of the child, and child sexual abuse teaches children that criminal and violent activities are acceptable. We can effect on them easily with
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our bad behavior sending them bad example to follow. Children should be educated well in their schools so they can better them self’s. Secondly, the problem of this issue also lies in the school system, or the school way of approaching the problem. Recent research has linked the school environment to school violence. Although is known that in the schools, kids can change their behavior if someone show them a way. But the schools don’t take the problem with violence seriously, no matter if it’s physical or psychological. As an example there are cases, when there is a disagreement between two or more kids and they start to fight, but the teacher doesn’t do anything to stop them. With this the teacher lets them know they can do what ever they want, without been afraid of some sort of sanctions. However some teachers try to inform the parents, but sometimes they don’t see this as a serious threat and say that it’s nothing. Being bullied and hearing bad words from someone is not something that should be ignored. I know what it is like to feel like you don’t belong somewhere. I walked in those shoes too. I’ve been bullied and called different bad names from the kids in my school. I know how big the pain is. I can barely remember the bulling, but the words, the insults, the feeling will stay
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forever. My parents taught me to be nice with everyone, and never to start a fight. So as a result I’ve never defended my self. I told my parents and they went to the teacher to complain about the situation. The teacher promised that nothing else will happen, but that didn’t help me much. My classmates understood the matter and sow me as weak person and tortured me with insults more than before. Every time they get the chance, when the teacher wasn’t there they made me feel like I don’t belong, like it’s a bad thing that I live in a poor area, they made me think the worst for my self. Treating me that if I tell someone it’ll get worst, I was afraid and I didn’t told anyone. I didn’t ask my parents to move me to another school, because the quality of the teaching was significant and it built me
as a strong and smart person. Sometimes I tell my self that wasn’t their fault, but to the parents who didn’t teach them to accept people with their differences and the teachers who didn’t stopped them. People often join together in actions to stop the school violence. There are different programs against violence for the youth, different methods for teachers and the parents. Currently the program against violence from UNICEF in my country Macedonia has finished and hopefully it’ll get with results. “Be example for positive behavior and the others will follow you. Start now, make a difference. Make the world a better place to live in. ” ] ! [
Jewish exclusion during the Holocaust
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Aneta Dimoska
image: http://veracityvoice.com/?p=6560
One
of the darkest periods in human history is the one during the World war II. Millons of people were dying for someone’s aims, for someone’s lust...for someone’s ideology. The race for larger teritories and authority was endless. Inocent men, women and children suffered, but those who survived tell the story about an humiliating life. Many countries were involved in the war, some of them looking for occupation and others seeking for their freedom and safty. But seemed like situation in Europe, especialy in Germany was the most frightening. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, everyone who was not racialy superior was an alian threat for the German racialy community. Nazis, lead by Adolf Hitler, developed an idea that only German race (Whites and Christians) were superior. All thoese who didn’t belong deemed inferior and were bezmilosno persecuted and killed. This period of masovno persecutions in history is known like Holocaust. The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of million Jews by the Nazi regime and
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its collaborators. Not only Jews but also other groups were targeted by Germans authority. This includes Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. Jews life during the era of Holocaust came downl only on survival. They were excluded from all kind of citizen participation. Education and other forms of society involving were banned. German government established concentration camps and forced-labor camps for Jews in war years. Between 1941 and 1944, millions of Jews were deported from Germany, from occupied territories, and from the countries of many of its Axis allies to ghettos and to killing centers, where they were murdered in specially developed gassing facilities. Figures say that approximately 6 million Jewish men, women, and children were killed during Holocaust. There were about 1.6 million Jewish children, living in Europe at the start of
World War II. Of these, only about 11 percent survived the war. Many parents chose to hide their children in order to save them. Hiding a child meant to leave it forever. Jewish children were often hiden in convents, boarding schools, and orphanages. These places were located far from the children’s homes but for their own safty they must travel under difficult conditions to unknown destinations. Germans created ghettos to facilitate concentrating and monitoring of the Jewish population. There were many ghettos throughout Europe during the Holocaust period. Some of these were the Amsterdam Ghetto, the Lodz Ghetto, and the Minsk Ghetto. However, the largest was the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, with about 400,000 people crammed into an area of about 2.5 square miles. Many Jews suffered from disease, for example, a typhus epidemic broke out about a year after the ghetto was created, killing many people. Those who were alive, and who could not support
any longer the starvation, the phisical and emotional pain rather chose to suiside. When the war has came to its end and especially with the German capitulation, seemed like the world has finily came to its aquired peace. But 14 years after the end of Nazi regime, in America emerged some ideas for reviving Nazi ideology, the so-called neo Nazi movement. This idea was primary developed by American war veteran from a prominent New England family who served as a Navy pilot in the Pacific, George Lincoln Rockwell. What he presented to the people was the idea that the Holocaust was a fabrication created by the Jews to gain a sympathetic advantage for their political and economic interests. But after Rockwell death the Neo Nazi Party stopped with its activities. Namly, American authorities monitored hate groups like the Rockwell’s and fought against furthur spreading around the world.
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] ! [
events Cairo International Book Fair
The Cairo International Book Fair at Cairo International Conference Centre is one of the leading cultural activities in the Middle East, attracting over 3000 exhibitors and three million international visitors. Go along to a discussion with a world-famous guest speaker.
what where when
Cairo International Book Fair Cairo, Egypt 24th of January to 6th of February
website http://www.cairobookfair.org/ default_en.aspx
When English is
not enough 8
Anita Kalmane
Not often, but sometimes I think that speaking English is not a privilege, rather a bad thing. Once you learn English and discover the huge amount of information in it, you start thinking and expecting that everybody – or at least every youth - should speak English... Needless to say, that’s not true and there are a lot of clever people who don’t speak English or prefer speaking in other languages because of various reasons.
Does English language open all doors? But my story is not about them who? or about English. Although no, wait, maybe it is about English language just to show you how good it is to learn English AFTER, not before other foreign languages. I have been learning English since the first year of my primary school and by the time I moved abroad for the first time I spoke quite some decent English (or I would like to think so). Besides that and my mother tongue Latvian, I also had some amount of knowledge and ability to speak in Russian, German and a bit of Spanish, although all of them I learnt much later. And then I moved – first to Malta, a small, tiny and very beautiful island-country in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Africa. Probably you don’t know, but they have two official languages – English and Maltese. Almost everybody speaks not only those two, but also fluent Italian and sometimes even French or
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another language. At first I was relieved that English is the official language of the country as I thought that therefore I will have no problems integrating and speaking with people. How wrong I was and how little I knew about the life on the island – or on an island, in fact! Maltese love to speak in their own languages as much as possible, which seems to be a typical island mentality and can be understood if one knows their history and amount of invaders. Probably I didn’t try as hard as I could to find opportunities and learn Maltese, but throughout all my stay (which was almost a year) I didn’t get further than basic phrases you can learn without living in a country – hi, how are you, cheers, good night, darling etc. Meetings at work? Friends’ gatherings? Official announcements? Inside jokes? Don’t ask me about anything of that, please – but imagine being in any other country without knowing the language and you’ll
understand how was it. Mistakes shouldn’t be made twice Then I moved again and again, and again. few more times.Now I am finally living in this amazing country, called the Netherlands, where I am committed to learn and speak Dutch. Luckily I am one of the few people who don’t think that it’s extremely difficult or ugly, just the opposite – I find Dutch language nice, funny and cosy as whenever I hear it I feel like being in the right place. Strange enough, but the Netherlands and especially their capital Amsterdam are between those places where it’s the easiest to live without speaking anything in their language. Almost everybody speaks English, almost everybody switches to English as soon as he/she hears your Dutch is not good and almost nobody looks at you angry or wonders why you don’t speak
Dutch. Although my Dutch is not fluent and I can have just easy conversations with my friends, I still remember various occasions when I have been writing them e-mails in Dutch, they have been replying in English, me writing in Dutch and they replying in English again... It might take some time to become very confident and be able to work in Dutch, but I know that it will feel very good and worth every effort. I have been to the other side, you know... I didn’t quite make the connection between your intro and the explication. It seems you started with saying that> knowing English is a bad thing and then transferred to > you just might learn some other language beside English. Try rephrasing the intro to make a connection with your Maltese and Dutch experience. ] ! [
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events Blues, Brew s and BBQs: Hastings Blues, Brews and BBQs: Has tings combines th ree key ingr edients for a perfec t Kiwi sum mer at Hawke’s Bay Showground Visitors can s. try boutique beers produced by local brewer listen to la ies, id-back mus ic and feast on barb ecued food fr om top chefs.
what where
Blues, Brews Hastings Hastings, New
and BBQs:
Zealand w.bluesbrew s.co.nz/
website http://ww
I’m an Alien, I’m a legal alien, I’m a Welshman in Nkoranza text and photos Daniel John Carter
10 On the 20th of October 2011, I arrived a naive white Welshman for the first time in my life in Africa, more specifically, Ghana. A three month volunteer project with Love Kids Orphanage was about to start within a culture that was nothing like my own and, with what usually comes with being Welsh, a culture that barely knows mine exists. Unfortunately for me I arrived at 10:30pm in the capital Accra and the orphanage I was volunteering at was in Nkoranza, a minimum of 6 hours travelling. So after a few taxis with issues, three bus stations, a number of half built roads, a second-hand Chinese coach and what can only be described as an estate car turned into a mini bus I arrived in Nkoranza at 1pm the next day. This was relatively good timing as I arrived in time to have a wash and then have 13 children come home from school and pile on me. After a lot of screaming and shouting I had a brief introduction with the kids, with the help of a stick and some dirt I managed to vaguely explain what and where Wales was. So that night I have my first Ghana dish, Fufu, a sort of super smooth mash ball of plantain, yam and cassava in what appears to be a spicy meat dish. Unluckily for me it’s a spicy meat and fish soup. I will eat anything, anything but fish, fish tastes to me like a mixture of rotten flesh
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and a landfill site, especially dried fish, which it was. So at that exact moment I had one of those thoughts you dread “hmmm, I’m here for three months...” After my interesting meal my hosts took me out into the town in the evening, where I have to be honest, I absolutely pooed myself. As soon as I entered the streets of Nkoranza people were shouting at me left, right and centre. “Obruni! Wasee! Whiteman!” These people came out of nowhere! After a night’s sleep I was up at 4:30 am, apparently getting up time in Ghana! To take the kids to school, where on the way I was swamped by a sea of children from all over the town shouting at me, grabbing me, stroking my skin and tattoos. Following these initial shock factors i decided to head to the local ‘spot’ (bar) on my second night for a relaxing beer. Now, in Ghana English is an official language, but not everyone speaks its. The local language in Nkoranza is Twi and what you get a lot of the time, especially when beer is thrown in, is a mixture of the two. So on my first night in a Ghanaian bar after a few beers, some broken English and a lot of Twi I apparently agreed to marry somebody! So after about a week, with the help of my host Eric, we go ourselves a free broken motorbike and fixed it up. Now I’ve never ridden a
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motorbike before, but I have learnt to drive in the UK. Unfortunately, like most of the world, Ghana drives on the wrong side of the road! After a bit of an incident involving a roundabout, myself looking right instead of left and a large tractor, we can safely say some intercultural learning had occurred! Thanks to my host I Eric I also learnt that Ghanaians will try and ride a motorbike anywhere. This involved 50/60 Kg of Maize, a large single track farm path and the two on a flipped bike. The fact about Ghana is that generally if you are a white European there will be massive shock factors. Shock factors that can seem scary and intimidating. In fact they have to potential to isolate you, but this is not the intention. If you take the time to observe and embrace not only the culture, but the actions and language as well, you will realise that Ghanaians are the some of the friendliest people in the world. Yes, they shout a lot, but it’s pretty 99% always a friendly
shout! The children are incredibly curious and just want to speak English with you. There are stereotypes and prejudices about white people, but then there are also ones about Africans. They pretty much just throw food at you and if you can speak some of their language they will love you forever! I’ve been two months here and I’m regularly on my own in the two speaking Twi with local friends. My colleague from my NGO Globallove Youth Trust has just joined me and together we are embrace Ghanaian life. It could have been lonely at first, but now it’s brilliant (even if there are still some issues with the food...).
Globallove Youth Trust www.globallovetrust.org.uk ] ! [
World Aids Day as celebrated by young South Africans text and photos Dumisa Sofika
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South Africa is the country that has the highest proportion of HIV infected people in the world. It is estimated that 5.9 million (out of about 45 million) people in South Africa are living with HIV, and those that suffer the most are people from lower socioeconomic status levels. The highest prevalence rate is among 15-49 year old people (www.avert.org). There are many problems that affect people living with HIV/ AIDS, from poverty and poor health care and healthcare and insurance policies to cultural issues and misinformation about ‘cures’ for HIV/AIDS. People have been killed by their communities because they have openly stated that they are HIV positive.The disease is also very tragic because it often deprives family members of their breadwinners and many children are AIDS orphans in South Africa. Children who are born with the disease are born into families that are already poverty stricken who have no way of supporting them adequately with their health needs. However, the biggest problem that people living with HIV/AIDS face in South African communities is the problem of stigma. People
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living with HIV/AIDS often have to deal with being turned away by their families, churches and friends that are close to them. They are often scorned and ridiculed, constructed as sexually licentious and irresponsible because of the sexual nature of the transmission of HIV/AIDS. As a result they are shunned by society. There is often a veil of silence surrounding the disease, and people have been known to die from fully blown AIDS without ever telling anyone what it is that is really making them sick for fear of scorn ridicule, without anyone ever giving them the proper support and care. On the 1st of December every year, South Africans celebrate World AIDS Day to commemorate those living with HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness about the seriousness of HIV/AIDS, and to let people know how they can contribute meaningfully to this devastating disease that is tearing apart communities and families. Although the youth and young adults are arguably the most severely affected, there is very little initiative from this group when it comes to AIDS drives and consciousness raising. Most work of this nature comes largely from
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registered NGOs. This year however, a young Kwanele Finch conducted his exhibition, Living Performance Art, as part of an AIDS initiative on World AIDS Day. What he did was he covered himself with black, white and red cloth with five other members of his project, at the front entrance of a well known and heavily populated mall. It was a silent performance with no words but lots of movement. Kwanele describes the performance as “devised to raise awareness about the rise of HIV/AIDS among young adults. It aims to highlight and break the stigma that is attached to the virus. It seeks to show the ignorance that surrounds the virus and hopes to empower people to decide and to adopt healthy and positive living�. His aim therefore was to put AIDS on public display and raise public conversation about it, to counter the veil of silence that often surrounds the disease. At one point he was blindfolded to convey the sense of ignorance and apathy that people living with HIV/AIDS are affected by.
Kwanele has been a performer since 2000 and has featured in a number of prolific drama/ theatre performances in South Africa. The performance arts in South Africa do not really get that much support or attention and young artists often struggle to make a name or a living for themselves. This project was one way in which the arts were making a statement to society and the public about AIDS, but also making the world feel the presence of the performance arts at large. The Living Performance Arts AIDS initiative will be held next year on the same date in an effort to raise social consciousness about AIDS through the performance arts. For more details about the initiative, Kwanele Finch can be contacted at www.kwanelethusi@ gmail.com ] ! [
text and photos Tiberiu Iacomi
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Baby, do you believe in love at first sight or should I pass by you one more time? LOL, LOL. This was one of the cheesy pick-up lines of the 90s. Of course, it was used in restaurants, clubs, on the streets, everywhere a macho guy saw a beautiful girl. The difference from nowadays is that the macho guy actually saw the beautiful girl and the beautiful girl actually saw the macho guy. It doesn’t matter if the line generated love at first sight or instant rejection. It matters that people saw who they were really talking to (or deciding not to talk to) on the spot. Of course, people saw only what they perceive but, at least, they were influenced only by the way they construct
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their own reality and vision of the world. Let’s hear the supposed macho guy of our days now: Hello, baby, as you have seen from my Facebook profile, I am 1.90m tall, I have perfect abs, I work at a big corporation, I drive a Ferrari, etc., etc. Really? Let’s also hear something from her: Well, dear, I for myself look stunning as I am a worldwide renowned model and I am also on my way on becoming an actress. And when they actually decide to meet, what happens? Most of the times, as bad as the caricature looks like; this is the most recurrent outcome:
How so, you might ask. As social networks have opened and globalized so much our world, we may feel so free to say things about ourselves that no matter how many flaws we have, we may share them with no fear of getting not liked (both in an online and offline sense). On the contrary – we tend to forget that we have always built (second) personas, glamour faces, social personalities for ourselves in order to impress our friends, lovers, managers, etc., etc. But now, when we are out in the open again in the online environment, we hide like never before. We hide behind a profile, a nickname, a photoshoped picture, an avatar, behind everything because, as they say, there is no second chance for a first good impression – at the dream job candidate selection, in the online matchmaking and even in the frantic friending and sharing activities. And while we are hiding, we exclude ourselves from ourselves. We live a second life, we have another face, we share the coolest messages because it’s cool, and we get people to know that we are in the fanciest locations because it’s fancy. We live in the ME generation, no doubt about it but while cultivating the so careful and attentive management of the online ME, we forget who the offline ME is – where the online ME started off in the first place.
And as the online ME grows, the offline ME is more and more excluded from the conversations, from the praising, from all activities. We tend to think that social networks offer us a rebirth while they give us (as most of them state from the very beginning) only a chance to show and share who we already are. We do not create fake profiles – just dreamt of profiles. We want to reach those idealized qualities but the online sometimes gives us a sense of already there that we exclude the actual self from the equation of evolution and we simply replace it. In the line of the trendy stats that go viral on the web nowadays, we could probably say that, if they were the population of a country, the idealized profiles of the people online could easily form a top 10 state of the world. Is it big, is it small, who cares? What is important, from our point of view, is that the online lack of authenticity determines an offline lack of desire to ever go for that authenticity. All in all, I am not saying that we should not build better selves. I am just saying that we should not fabricate better selves without actually starting to build them. After all, I am a renowned author, with a house on the beach, writing on my expensive MacBook – I would never lie to you. Sitting in front of the Christmas fireplace of your dreams, yours excluded, The_Charming_Hunk PS This article was written in Microsoft Word.
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When you are invisible... Petra Huijgen painting by René Magritte
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''How
come I’ve never seen you people before?” a doctor in the film Dirty Pretty Things asks when he meets the African protagonist Okwe and his Turkish friend Senay. “That’s because we are the people you do not see. We are the ones who drive your cabs. We clean your rooms.” – Okwe answers. Stephen Frear’s Dirty Pretty Things raises this issue effectively, and tells the story of immigrants against the background of underground London, immigrants who play a role in everyone’s life and yet are invisible. Almost every country in the world has to deal with immigration, and the International Organisation for Migration (the IOM) estimated that there were approximately 214 million international immigrants in 2010, from which 25 to 32 million is estimated to be illegal. This is difficult to measure however, for illegal immigrants are usually extremely difficult to trace. Some authorities rather use the term ‘undocumented workers’, which is another way of describing their
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role in society. Reasons for leaving one’s country behind vary from person to person, but what all the immigrants share is the dream of a better place and a better future: Leaving everything behind in order to build a new life, at all costs. Most immigrants however undertake the journey to another country to find work, where they end up doing jobs without being protected by legal rights whatsoever. Especially in countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom the illegal immigrants are an important part of the workforce. Food preparation, janitorial jobs, service-related work and the building maintenance industries are well-known for hiring these immigrants, for example: studies done by the Pew Hispanic Research Center show that 12% of the food preparation industry in the United States relies on Hispanic immigrants, and other studies show that 22% of the maids and domestic cleaners in the hotel industry in the United States are
undocumented. In an interview published in the New York Times, hotel owners explain that it is extremely difficult to find people who are willing to take up cleaning jobs for low wages, and undocumented workers offer a possibility to fill the gap which would come into existence if these workers were not hired. But statistics cannot tell stories, people can. Every person has a unique reason for ending up in this situation, and every case is different. In an online interview conducted with a young man from South America who is an illegal immigrant, he explains what the faith of undocumented workers is. He emphasises what it means for a person to be undocumented – invisible for the government and as invisible for the rest of society as possible. Even though life as an undocumented worker is though, exhausting and uncertain, the fact that so many people prefer
such a life over the life where they come from allows for a conclusion. So they are there, the people who are willing to take the jobs that no-one else wants to do – they are just invisible. On one hand they play an important role in the society of many Western countries, on the other hand they are not noticed by anyone, because most work is done behind the scenes. They cannot vote, have no papers and staying out of trouble is vital, for the moment they get in touch with the police or Immigration Services, deportation is difficult to avoid. If there is any group that is literally excluded, it is them. These people live in silence, in shadows and on the edge of society. Dirty Pretty Things tells about the fate of a few of them, in reality there are millions of people out there.
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events
l Jazz ternationa
a In Providenci Festival
tional top interna A galaxy of s e’ il h join C performers the usicians at m zz ja t fines al Jazz on ti a Interna ci en id v ro P in ery January Festival ev ue de rq a P s e’ il Ch rongs Santiago de th e ras. Join th ars. las Escultu st e th er s und of jazz-lover
what where when
Providencia
International
Festival hile Santiago, C 11th to 13th
Jazz
Be positive,
stay negative Have you ever felt like nobody cares? Have
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you ever feel there is no one to help you? Have you ever feel lonely in the world full of people. In the world where every minute somebody pass next to you? Stop! Look over you and start thinking. Start thinking about others. Don’t be afraid of people, of people with ADIS. People who live with AIDS are exposed to prejudices, gossips and discrimination which are the biggest problem today. Although the findings in the epidemiology of HIV infection has progressed significantly, large number of people still have negative attitudes for people who live with AIDS and they tend to measures bans for education, employment and housing. Adults are not only who are discriminated. The worst thing in this whole situation is discrimination and isolation of children who are forced to live with this disease. Do you know that nine out of ten children with HIV were infected through their mother either during pregnancy, labour and delivery or breastfeeding. In high-income countries the transmission of HIV from mother to child is rare, due to preventive measures. In those cases, where it does occur a range of treatment options, mean that the child can survive - often into adulthood. The treatment for children slow down the progress of HIV infection and allows infected children to live much longer. There are different ways of getting HIV. The majority of HIV infections are acquired through unprotected sexual relations. Also HIV can be transmitted if infected blood comes into contact with open wound, using drugs intravenous and in previous years during the blood transfusions. Health workers, who don’t use common measures of protection (protective gloves, glasses, etc. ) can lead themselves into a risk to infect during the
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Jelena Gavrilov
contact with infected person. What is very important, but a lot of people don’t know or don’t want to know is how HIV can’t be transmitted. HIV is one of the most sensitive microorganisms in the environment. It can’t be transmitted from infected to uninfected person with casual contact, except unprotected sexual relations and using drugs. You can’t get HIV from sharing cups, kissing, touching, holding hands, sharing towels, soap, contact with sweat, being spat at, using a toilet that an infected person has used. Friendly contacts are harmless, but they are of great importance for infected person. Don’t think that people with HIV are different. Don’t think they are incapable. HIV positive persons are socially useful, they can be great friends, conscientious, spouses, teachers, doctors etc. Coping a person with a fact that is HIV positive can cause a storm of emotions, from a seemingly complete indifference to the shock and blaming others. Many people who find out that they are HIV positive refuse that fact, but when they become aware of the reality they are going through the psychic crisis. When the psychic crises begin is the real time when disseisee needs support, because when symptoms begin to manifest they will start to be afraid of discrimination, isolation, stop smiling, to associate, fall into a depression. They need friends and support, because they are afraid of losing friends, rejection by family, have a fear of being alone, of death, of dying. People in that situation need friends, need support, real friends who will understand them and who will help them to overcome the shock and difficult time. Those, difficult moments are present in anyone’s life, especially in life of person who is HIV positive and who lives in fear that someone will find out about that disease. Be positive, stay negative. ] ! [
Pigs in Maputo Pig cartoons of life in Mozambique
by Iris Yan
Do you know why the Chinese are developing much faster?
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I was out of light
for more, every day: pigsinmaputo. blogspot.com/
pigs in maputo.
13th Taksirat Festival Kristijan Nikodnovski
image: http://www.myspace.com/taksirat/ photos/10473472
Have you ever feel yourself like you are in 20
music box and having a lot of fun inside? Skopje was that kind of box during the Taksirat Festival. It’s one of the best and biggest music festivals in Macedonia. The festival is devoted to present the best alternative, pop, rock, hip-hop and dance music. Taksirat festival started in 1999 year and tried to make something that was really hard in that time – to bring all Ex-Yu bands into one performing stage. Nowadays it’s a festival that last 7 days. It’s located in a few cultural centers and clubs around Skopje. This year the organizers again succeed to turn Skopje upside-down which is their motto. Starting with the concert of Dubioza Kolektiv on 25.11.2011 till the main night on 03.12.2011 the whole city was waiting for some of the bands. After the first night, there was concert called “Music without borders day” where Nezni Dalibor, Canon and Kreepr took the stage. B Real & Psycho Realm made the festival continue in a good direction fulfilled with great sound. However, there was time for some interesting exhibition also. So on the fourth day of the off program, there was exhibition called “Multiculturalism in music”. The festival continue with Atari Teenage Riot, Kanton 6, Project 2501, S.A.R.S, Genaral woo, Shurka roma rap,
event.
Kawasaki 3P, Rise of artificial, Jaya the cat and Dj Lazy Face. After the “Positive Concert” there was one day without a program for preparing for the main night. The main night was in Metropolis Arena in Skopje and lasted around 8 hours. The concert started with Verka, metal band from Delcevo, Macedonia. The rock band recognizable from their sound led by Kircho Arsovski was second – T.B. Traceri from Macedonia too. After this two bands the audience arena was going crowded and crowded. Clawfinger took the stage as third band of the night. The singer was everywhere except on the stage that was what the people there were talking about their active performance. The dancing moment started with Asian Dub Foundation when everybody was dancing on their good beats. The music atmosphere didn’t stop here. Fat Joe got a short but good quality time on the stage. After Fat Joe, Kaiser Chiefs made the audience go insane and sing their famous songs as Ruby. The last band was Buraka Som Sistema and they got the honor to close the show. Taksirat festival finished, but still there are unrepeatable memories from the festival. Hopefully Taksirat won’t stop here, so we are waiting for next fest, till then let the music to lead your body. ] ! [
How to integrate in a new school? Svetlana Pecanoska Moving to a new school is facing a new world. The problem is that this new world is just new for you. Everything seems to be so weird, and you don’t know which place to go for your own classes. The person doesn’t know anybody in this new environment and can be the target of bullying. It’s up to school to try to integrate the new kid to the other students and follow her until she is totally integrated. This could avoid a lot of bad situations. The school can organize supportive actions beyond their structure. The main problems that could being solved with such actions include lack of friends, difficult in specific subjects and not being familiar with the area that schools is situated.
Some schools have different subjects or different ways to teach therefore new students may find difficult to learn specific classes. To solve this problem the school could offer support classes and stimulate study groups. For foreign students, local language classes would be helpful. A good thing is to try to develop activities and competitions between kids, or even make rides out of school, so they can have the chance to know each other better. One of the most important thing when you come in new school is making friends. Maybe you’re asking: “What if won’t accept me?” Here are some stepes that can help you to make new friends:
1. Be as confident as you can, but avoid being pushy or cocky. There’s nothing that attracts people more than someone who’s secure in who they are and has a fairly positive attitude about life in general and other people’s ideas, too. 2. Smile and laugh. It sounds like a no-brainer, but it really works: Make eye contact with others, smile at them when they look at you, and laugh when they say something that’s funny or amusing to you. It’s a great conversation starter, and it makes you seem friendly and approachable. 3. Invite others to do things. In a lot of cases, you’ll need to make the first move to find potential friends. Ask some people to share a table at lunch or study hall, borrow or lend a sheet of notebook paper, ask someone to be your volleyball partner in gym class -- you get the idea. Once you’ve found a few people you like, ask them to grab a bit to eat or play video games after school. 4. Join some clubs and activities. A new school and a new group of classmates offer a great opportunities to explore some new interests. Try out for a school play or sports team, join the yearbook committee or try attending a few school-sponsored volunteer activities through groups such as Key Club or Circle K. You’re virtually guaranteed to meet people who share your interests -- and are looking to make new friends, too.
article.
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You shouldn’t be nervous, you’re going to a new school, not to torture. Remember that in your new school you will find kids your age. You’re going to meet people who like you there. Don’t judge others before you get to know them. TAKE A DEEP BREATH! Never change who you are to try and fit in. If your friends don’t accept you for you, they’re not really friends. Most people belong with a certain clique simply because they are being themselves and their unique personalities and interests falls into that stereotype. For example, someone who is naturally athletic may become a jock in high school or someone who naturally artistic or emotional may become part of the emo crowd. Many people can tell you are a fake. Don’t try to hard. BE YOURSELF! Save someone a seat. Say “hi” in the hall. Give congratulations for a job well done. Pay a compliment: “I love your shoes/backpack” It can make wonders. DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE! A smile goes a long way. When you walk in the halls, don’t hunch over your books or keep your eyes on the floor. Stick your chin up and make eye contact with other people. If you see someone you know, give a smile or say hi. Introduce yourself: Tell them your name and where you’re from. Ask a question: “How’s the cafeteria food around here?” Chat about the new school: “How long have you gone to this school?” or even a compliment “I love your shoes, where did you get them?” BE INVITING! Remember, even you go to new envioroment that might made you stronger like person, you’ll have more friends and more fun. Good luck! : ) ] ! [
article.
THE MAN WITH
NO LIPS
image source: http://bogotanitainside.blogspot.com/2009/05/soulmeets-soul-on-lovers-lips.html
braisntorming.
Tiberiu Iacomi
I live in the future. I plan. But I do not live the future. And no, I do not plan for myself, I plan for others. I cannot be nostalgic. I do not have time to be nostalgic. I do not have what to be nostalgic about anymore. I do not remember flirting with a glimpse, kissing, being romantic because I never was. But keep in mind, never is not a word in my future vocabulary. I want to smile and flirt with you, I want to kiss you, whoever you are, girl of my absent dreams, girl of my tiresome short sleeps, girl of my fallen lids, girl of ether, air and flesh and invisible wounds. Do you remember how I kissed you that first evening, half lips, do you remember how I kissed that night on the shore, never-ending, do you remember how I kissed you that day in front of the mirror, time frozen, do you remember how I kissed you on the bridge, on the hallways, in the snow, among the waves, how I kissed you through my every word, puzzle girl of all the girls that made the puzzle of my amnesia? I kissed so many girls that my lips have started peeling off, layer of time by routine layer of time, strip of soul by ripped strip of soul, beat of heart by fading beat of heart. Past by past, present by present, my times have all lead to the dream of a future first kiss. But I am telling you this with no lips, my feelings have learned the telepathy of your possible kisses. I have no lips, I never had lips, just the desire of a kiss that could model the latent shape of my lips. And I do not want to be able to tell you that I love you with my new acquired lips, I do not want to break off our kiss to watch and caress you with my eyes, I do not want to make big romantic gestures towards you. I want to be mute, I want to be blind, I want to have no heart but I want lips to touch yours. Just that. From the kiss comes the sight of the world, the sound of the world, the feel of the world. I do not remember, I do not know but science books say that a kiss is a form of big-bang, a recreation of our world. And, as I was always fond of nuclear accelerators, I want to kiss you until we deconstruct the whole atom of our being and recreate it all over again with new bosons of sensation. But this is what beggars ask for nowadays. Instead of an empty hat at the corner of the street, I find myself begging in the empty holes of my cheeks. I am the man with no lips. Do not love me, do not hug me, just kiss me, kiss me, kiss me and stay like this until the whole future reverses to the present moment, the one I will savor with my whole lips forever. Do not kiss me. If you kiss me, I will be again a normal person, with normal lips. At least, this way, every girl will dream about how she can be the only one to shape my lips for the rest of the present‌ ] ! [
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Dog shelter of „Little Heroes” in Bitola
Animals: out of sight, out of mind?
24
Ieva Baranova
It
may seem that animals live in a parallel world from ours. It is easy not to think about animal issues. It is easy to eat meat and not to see the story behind the dish. It is easy to pass 5 homeless animals on your way to work every day without even noticing. Animal issues are truly invisible for most of us. At the same time majority of people don’t want to be cruel to animals or hurt them in any way. We even love animals but we just don’t think enough about their situation. However, there are people who try to bring the two worlds together and those are enthusiasts who fight for animal rights and welfare. There are animal rights organizations all over the world, who aim to raise awareness about animal issues. Here we look at Macedonia – a European country where fight for animal welfare is still a rather new thing. In Macedonia during the past few years many animal rights organizations have been created. According to a member of Skopje organization “Anima Mundi” Natasa Knezevic, it is very important to raise public awareness about animal issues and encourage people to think about their lifestyle, eating and dressing habits. During the 2 years of existence “Anima Mundi” members have succeeded to find homes
article.
for roughly 1000 dogs and cats. Natasa sees an increase of stray animal adoption habits in Macedonia and points out: “We are happy that people start to realize the fact that you can’t buy a friendship.” Another organization, based in Macedonian city Bitola, also deals with street animal adoption and has even created a permanent shelter for puppies. “Little Heroes” exists for only 10 months but has already managed to find families for 150 dogs and cats. Nevertheless, association deals with difficulties such as lack of financing for buying vaccines and improving the overall condition of the shelter. The location of the existing shelter has been given to volunteers by the municipality of Bitola who is willing to participate in improving the life of animals. This is basically where the state support ends. Macedonia lacks a strong policy in the field of animal rights. Several recent incidents of cruelty against animals have been left unpunished. Also the means of solving the stray animal problem in the country are inappropriate and very often include plain killing of street animals, for example in the state dog “shelter” “Vardariste” in Skopje. Animal activists suggest this could be solved in another way – mainly by sterilization and more active promotion of “adoption instead of buying” behaviour.
In these conditions of lack of any state support the improvement of the situation is truly in the hands of animal rights activist organizations. One of their main aims is influencing the animal rights and welfare legislation in Macedonia. For example, “Anima Mundi” have filed amendments to the existing law and proposed a model for creating Macedonian animal police which already exists in other European countries such as France and Croatia. Also “Little Heroes” seek governmental support and plan to cooperate with the municipality of Bitola on animal protection projects. The situation with animal rights legislation in the rest of Europe is also far from perfect. However countries as the Netherlands, Denmark and England have a special police force for animal protection which functions on a basis of people’s reports about animal abuse. In Latvia the situation is slowly improving as the government supports shelters with small amounts of money and finances the sterilization of cats. Meanwhile animal rights enthusiasts and volunteers in Macedonia use any possible means to improve the situation. They organise different charity events, create improvised temporary shelters and actively seek people who want to adopt animals. For this purpose they use Facebook which is a perfect medium for posting, sharing and spreading the realities of animal life, especially pictures of animals that need owners. Also veterinarians help activists by treating animals for free or at a lower price. Little by little Macedonia sees some improvement. Members of “Anima Mundi” and “Little Heroes” are very optimistic, active and full of determination to reach their goals. Natasa Knezevic explains the present situation in the area of animal rights: “It is a process – something that will take time, but it is absolutely something that will happen. But the first thing is to start from changing people’s point of view and then to make a specific change in animal treatment, in legislation on animals.” She emphasizes that each person should set the example for what
they want to achieve – and it starts with small things. It is important to understand that everyone can make a contribution – either by volunteering, adopting, donating, spreading information, even just by changing their own habits. Even “liking” a Facebook page and informing your friends about animal adoption possibilities can make a difference.
Help animals in the ways you can! “LITTLE HEROES” Association for Protection of the Animals and the Environment Bitola, Macedonia maliheroibitola@gmail.com littleheroesbitola@gmail.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/maliheroi For donations (from Macedonia):
Трансакциона сметка: 240150002179757 УНИ Банка А.Д. Скопје
“ANIMA MUNDI” Association for Animal protection Skopje, Macedonia http://anima-mundi.org.mk/ Facebook: Anima Mundi - здружение за заштита на животните
For donations (from abroad) Anima Mundi Skopje IBAN: MK07 240090002006130 Universal Investment Bank, Maksim Gorki 6 Macedonia SWIFT: UIBMMK22 (from Macedonia)
Анима Мунди Скопје Денарска сметка: 240090002006130 Уни Банка АД - Скопје
] ! [
25
PuSh I nt Festiv ernational Perfor al m
Edgy, i nnovat ive, da PuSh I ring, th nterna e tional Arts Fe Perfor stival ming is one o Vancou f ve cultura r’s most ant icipate l event d s and th eatre a . Dance, musi c s well a defyin s genre g work s, perf Canadi ormed an and by intern artists ationa al l citywid ike, take pla ce e.
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The Gothenbu rg (Göteborg) Internationa l Film Festiv al is one of the bi ggest events on the northern-Eu ropean film circuit. Featuring a juried intern ational competition with a Nordi c focus, seminars an d social even ts, it is held at va rious cinemas and venues across the city.
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credits Libertas Team: Daniel Nunes Vladimíra Brávková Dragan Atanasov Kristijan Nikodinovski Scott Pinkster Christine Moore Ivana Galapceva Carolina Santana Evgenia Kostyanaya Marija Gavrilov Marina Danic Rjasnoj
Contributors for this issue: Alexandre Fonseca aneta dimoska anita kalmane daniel john carter dumisa sofika iris yan Jelena Gavrilov katerina kostadinova kristian nikodinovski Petra Huijgen Svetlana Pecanoska Tiberiu iacomi
All texts published in Libertas represent solely the opinions of their authors, not of the magazine or of its publishers. Libertas and creACTive are not responsible in any way for the contents of the articles, or for the photos published with them.
Have you signed up? Send an empty message to hello@ magazinelibertas.com and receive your personal copy of Libertas by e-mail every 5th in the month! Have something to say? Contact us at hello@magazinelibertas.com and read your article in the next edition! about us: Youth Magazine Libertas was founded in September 2009 as a project of Youth Association creACTive. Youth Magazine Libertas aims to be a place where young people from all over the world can share their thoughts and views on topics that matter for them, in this way starting discussions and working as a means of change for the future. Every month, Libertas is published on the 5th, featuring articles about a different main topic and other kinds of articles such as movie, book and music reviews, travel destination, interview and brainstorm.
designed by Carolina Santana
COver and back cover photos are by alexandre fonseca.
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