What is the GLEN cycle?  It starts out when partner organisations working in development issues in southern countries (including many African, Asian and Eastern European countries) propose projects which are accepted by GLEN and assigned to each of the partners according to capacity and interest.  The projects are then promoted locally and participants are chosen from the numerous applicants.  The budding Participants undergo intensive training in the coming months in several training seminars.  Here they meet many other Participants from the other GLEN partner organisation and led by experienced GLEN Tutors, they are given a strong Background in Global Education and prepared for the working experience.  The 3 month working experience that follows is the heart of the GLEN cycle as participants work in pairs or triplets with local hosting organisation, seeing first hand the joys and sorrows of the people they work with as well as the local political and cultural situation.  On return from the host country, Global education work is carried out in the home country.

The GLEN 2007 cycle was very successful and 2 Maltese participants have returned from South Africa and Kenya where they worked in projects with young children and youths.  The 2 projects offered this year are very promising.  The first project is in South Africa, a continuation of last year’s project in Cape Town where the participant needs a background in pedagogy and works with children and maintenance of schools run by the local organisation.  The second project is in Zambia where the participant will work with a local organisation in Sport and Education especially football.  Description of the projects may be found in the websites listed below.

Applications for Participants and further information about the projects can be found in www.thirdworldgroup.org and www.glen-europe.org.  Kindly mail any queries to info@thirdworldgoup.org.

The Deadline for application is the 20^th of January 2007.  Hand written applications are to be handed in at the Local Fair Trade Shop L-ARKA,  306, St Paul Street, Valletta.

Other GLEN activities include Eurizons which is a group of Young Europeans hitchhiking through several European countries to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) see www.eurizons.org

Manuel Fenech

38, fl2, Tanks Street,Birzebbuga.

GLEN coordinator for Third World Group.

L-Esperjenza f’Napli 

Xi gmiel nies!! Qatt ma bsart li l-esperjenza se ttini daqshekk sodisfazzjon u fl-istess hin gghalitni nikber u nimmatura (ftit) J Gimghatejn kienu wisq ftit, ghalkemm fl-opinjoni tieghi ghajjejt fl-ahhar ftit. Dan ghaliex ix-xoghol kien jinvolvi l-fizika, fejn ridna nqattghu u naghzlu haxix, frott. Gieli kellna nnaddfu parti mill-kunvent filkaz tieghi u ta’ Amanda.. filwaqt li konna nghejjew nnadfu,xorta dhakna dahka bl-affarijiet li konna naraw u nisimghu.

Bejn wiehed u iehor il-gurnata kienet tibda b’breakfast enormi li jinkludi nutella, hobz, gallettini, kafe jew ilma. Wara konna naghzlu l-haxix ez patata, basal, tadam, brungiel (tac-cikkulata skond Suor Bruno, immagina l-kulur u texture..) mbaghad nqattghuh cubes jew twil. X’hin nlestu mod sostanzjali ta’ kannestri tal-haxix mmorru nlestu ghall-mensa. Il- Mensa kienet ikla (starter – dejjem ghagin, main course—hut, haxix jew laham) li tinghata lin- nies bla dar li kienu jigu l-kunvent fil- 5pm. Konna noqghodu kju u konna ntuhom tazza, furketta, hobz u gieli kien ikollna d-dezerta. Gieli kien ikun hemm min hu makakk u jerga’ jghaddi ghat-tieni darba.. heh

Wara hafna mid-drabi jien u Amanda konna nnaddfu s-sala tal-Mensa, filwaqt li s-subien konna nsibuhom fil-kcina jew inaddfu, jew jahlu l-hin..insomma bhas-soltu. Mbaghad konna nghallu ftit ghagin ghall-ikel fejn ikkalkulajt li kilna madwar 34 darba ghagin fi tmintax-il gurnata !!!!!!!! Viva l-carbohydrates…

Nsomma nies, ta’ min taghmlu esperjenza simili jew f ‘Napli stess jew f ‘postijiet madwar id dinja mas-Sorijiet ta’ Mother Theresa fejn ilkoll xieraq nwettqu xoghol volontarju taghna madwar id-dinja.  Minn dan il-link tistghu taghzlu fej tistghu tmorru ghall esperjenza.. mhux ha jkollkom skuzi li ma tafux fej ha tmorru heheh J

http://www.geocities.com/ronnie.johnson/addmot.htm

 nsomma nissugerixxi li taghmlu esperjenza ghax zgur tibqa’ f’qalbkom, tghinek taprezza hafna aktar l-affarijiet, u wkoll skond  Stephen.. « Izzid il-Punti mal- Mulej » J

If a child dies in a family it is an earth shattering tragedy. All relatives are informed, Old rivalries are forgotten to mourn the loved one. The moral of the whole family is destroyed. Friends are at a loss what to say for no words can comfort a parent that outlives her children.  Even the most God fearing man begins to doubt the Almighty's infinite love when faced with the finiteness of death.

What makes the death of child so devastating?. Its rarity! We as a country have one of the lowest child mortality rates of all the world. In the developed countries, losing a son or daughter in not a thought one considers. It is something that happens to others. Something talked about in hushed tones in case the person it happened to is listening. An event.  A Mystery.  A curiosity.

Did the mother drop him? Was it the doctor's fault? Did the father leave dangerous tool running around? Was it a strange new exotic disease? There has to be a strange extraordinary reason because the death of a child just doesn't happen.

At least in this part of the world.

Travel a few kilometers and it’s a totally different story. In developing or under developed countries every family has suffered this loss.  Some even more than once.  Child mortality is 20 times higher in such countries then it is in the developed west. What for us is an abomination we do not even want to think about for them is the norm.

Us and Them. What cruel and at the same time comfortable words to use. It creates a barrier between ourselves and the cruel realities that happen elsewhere.  Ignoring what is happening to them is much easier that contemplating what is happening to us as a human race. A dead child in Chad or Cote D'ivoire is just a statistic. A small annex at the end of the news soon forgotten when, seconds later, the advert for a cheerfully toothpaste or a fast food restaurant commercial comes blaring out of the TV and diverts out attention.

While we are happily thinking of what tie or pair of shoes to wear tomorrow, that mother is pouring her heart out. What was once part of her is now gone forever and no amount of love and care can bring it back. Only one thing could ever make her sadder. If she only knew, like we do, how easy it would have been to prevent her child's death. If the water had been a little cleaner, if the child had had a few more vitamins in his food, if only they could afford basic medical care. Cheap commodities which are taken so for grated and yet are great luxuries in other countries.

But that’s enough on the desperate mother. Dwelling on her grief in not much use. The scope of this text is not to make you pity others and bring a tear to your eye (there are more than enough programs on our TV that do that). It is to show how easy it is to prevent the plague of child mortality.

Yet very few governments do anything about it, for constructing a land mine is more profitable then installing a water pump and building monuments earns more votes than vaccinating children. So it’s our job to occasionally remind them of their obligations. We are disgusted by the state of our world and we want something done about it. With our limited resources we are doing our part and if you do not do yours we will elect someone who will.

by Claudia Calleja

Development aid can make a real difference to the lives of the world's poorest people, which is why European governments have committed to allocate a percentage of their gross national income (GNI) to overseas development aid (ODA).

Every year, EU countries provide a figure to fill in the ODA tables and, at first glance, these figures suggest that the targets are generally being met. But, for several years, NGOs from several countries have questioned whether these figures reflect genuine aid.

These NGOs have worked together under Concord (the European NGO confederation for relief and development) to compile the report Hold The Applause! EU Governments Risk Breaking Aid Promises, to be launched in Brussels today.

The report, the contents of which will be discussed here during a seminar tomorrow, explores the inflation of aid figures by EU countries.

This is not the first report of its kind as, last year, the Real Aid Report Two claimed that almost half of all aid remains "phantom" as it is either poorly allocated, double counted as debt relief, tied to donor goods and services, or badly coordinated and highly conditional.

So what about Malta?

The government made a commitment when, as part of the EU10 that joined the bloc in 2004, it pledged to spend 0.17 per cent of GNI on aid by 2010 and 0.33 per cent by 2015.

According to the European Commission, the island spent 0.15 per cent of its GNI on ODA last year.

Is the government also inflating the sums?

The coordinator of the local STOPoverty campaign, Edouard Coudreau, said that, although figures show Malta is on track, "one is not in a position to ascertain if this is the case as no breakdown has been provided.

"Due to the lack of transparency, we cannot understand where Malta is really sending its aid money," he said adding that the money should be spent in developing countries.

Vince Caruana, a representative of the National Platform of Maltese NGDOs (non-governmental development organisations) added: "We have been telling the ministry that we are not satisfied with the lack of transparency and accountability... As private citizens we have a right to know how the money is being spent."

Mr Coudreau and Mr Caruana further explained that when they asked the authorities for a breakdown of development aid figures, "they gave us a few lines and, when we asked for more, we were told that this was all they could give us".

Mr Coudreau said local NGOs had three main points to put across.

First, there was a need to improve transparency in reporting ODA figures by providing reports of where the money was allocated.

Secondly, there was the issue of the inflation of figures as NGOs insisted that ODA should only include money that is intended to eradicate poverty in a developing country.

Another important point, he said, was the issuing of the Official Development Policy, that has remained stuck at draft stage even though the government had promised that the proper policy would be issued by the end of last year.

"It is important that it is issued as soon as possible. There should be a policy which outlines a framework of where the money is destined," Mr Coudreau said.

Another factor that troubled NGOs was the issue of conditionality where aid is granted to countries depending on certain conditions, such as the repatriation of migrants. This, Mr Coudreau said, defeated the whole point of aid.

Agreeing to this, Mr Caruana elaborated: "ODA is for poverty eradication. So if a country has a government that does not want to respect an agreement between a government and the EU, for us it is still no reason to punish the poor who are probably living under a corrupt government. So, for us, the whole idea of conditionality is nonsense," he stated.

The Times contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask when the development policy was planned to be issued and requesting a breakdown of the figures for development aid.

A ministry spokesman said work on the development policy was in progress and that it "will be launched soon".

He was not in a position to provide a breakdown of the figures for development aid.

Those who wish to learn more about the subject of development aid or participate in a debate on the subject can attend the seminar organised by STOPoverty in collaboration with Concord.

The seminar will be held tomorrow at St James Cavalier, in Valletta, between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m.

Representatives from the political parties have been invited to attend, Mr Coudreau said, adding: "If they do not attend, it means they're not interested."

www.ngdomalta.org, www.stopovertymalta.org, www.concordeurope.org