For A Change articles from June 2006

For A Change archives from June 2006

Ear to the ground: from Mary Lean in South-East England.
June 1, 2006... Turn off the tap During England's last 'great drought', in 1976, I was in Africa, where people tended to fall about at the suggestion that the UK might be short of rain. Thirty years on, the drought threatening the south-east of...

Change for a change.(Editorial)
June 1, 2006... When we chose the name For A Change, nearly 20 years ago, we were pleased with the pun. It expressed our aim, and subject matter, but also the fact that we were offering our readers something different--a bit of hope. From the outset we...

Declaring war on a brutal killer: corruption and world poverty are inextricably linked. Mike Brown and Chris Breitenberg discover how Indian bureaucrats and industrialists are cutting the knot.
June 1, 2006... INDIA'S 'GOLDEN Quadrilateral Highway' project--a 5,846 kilometre loop linking New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata--is a symbol of national pride in this emerging economic power. Clogged pot-holed roads are being replaced by fast-moving...

Scourge of Delhi's rations thieves.(Parivartan)
June 1, 2006... SANTOSH'S SMALL size is no indicator of her gutsy fight for justice. Nor of the mammoth task she's taken on in her resettlement colony in Delhi's north-east. In theory the residents of Sundernagari have been moved out of appalling slums...

History and all that jazz.(South Carolina)
June 1, 2006... CHARLESTON, on the coast of South Carolina, USA, abounds with Southern charm. Pillared buildings sit in magnolia-filled gardens, visible from streets which date back to the 18th century. Two centuries of plantation economics have left behind...

Adopt a village.(Beryl Browne Foundation, Judy Browne and Denzil Nurse serve at Gambia)
June 1, 2006... IMAGINE YOURSELF in a small village in the Gambia where the sun shines over a landscape of big trees and colourful birds. The river Gambia, which is the biggest in Africa, meanders serenely around the village, producing a soft breeze. ...

Tending the garden of hope: Andrew Stallybrass meets a man who is bringing rabbis and imams together to work for peace.
June 1, 2006... THERE ARE PARTS of the world--and of ourselves--that cultivate despair. So hope needs watering. Chief Rabbi Marc Raphael Guedj is a gardener of hope, with a generous watering can--but with his feet firmly on the ground. Formerly Chief Rabbi of...

Hope for the children of Palmarejo: Pedro Aybar and Ingrid Guyon visit a small school with a big mission.(PHOTO ESSAY)
June 1, 2006... This year is the tenth anniversary of La Escuelita (the little school) in the shanty town of Palmarejo, in the capital of the Dominican Republic. It provides education for children of Haitian descent who are often refused admission to state or...

Love triangle: John Lester gives a Christian perspective on marriage.(ESSAY)
June 1, 2006... AS A DOCTOR I have the privilege of getting to know families from a wide variety of backgrounds and I am offered a window onto their lives. There are couples among them who choose not to get married, or never seem to get round to it, yet...

Changing the country one vote at a time: in the run-up to the Solomon Islands'April elections, Mary-Louise O'Callaghan met a group of young people fighting corruption with themselves.(CLEAN ELECTIONS)
June 1, 2006... THEY WERE SMALL slips of paper, and yet what they represented may be the most powerful force to hit the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific since a 3,000-strong military intervention force landed nearly three years ago. Distributed by a...

Dispelling fear of the other: Mary Hatton describes a unique series of exchanges between Britain and the Arab world.(BUILDING BRIDGES)(British Arab Exchanges)
June 1, 2006... LAST AUGUST I found myself attempting--and failing to steer an Oxford punt, much to the amusement of my passengers: a judge, a lawyer, a teacher and an IT professional, all from Lebanon. Such escapades are a feature of a British-Arab exchange....

Hands up for the big picture: Peter Everington returns to Sudan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence.(first person)
June 1, 2006... JANUARY 2005 saw the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the South Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) after 22 years of civil war. A year later thousands gathered in Juba, capital of the new...

Overcoming the stigma: Richard Shrubb describes his battle with mental illness and perceptions.(LIVING ISSUES)
June 1, 2006... I AM RUNNING toward the end of a media course in Cornwall, England. My tenancy in my student house is coming to an end, but nothing to worry about since a top news organisation has shown great interest in taking me on. Life rocks and the music...

Travelling the good road together.(A DIFFERENT BEAT)(interfaith relations)
June 1, 2006... IT WAS AN American clergyman who introduced me to the importance of valuing other faiths besides my own. He was ahead of his time in appreciating that you did not need to water down what yon believed in order to find unity. He was never slow to...

What am I attached to?(REFLECTIONS)(influence of greed)
June 1, 2006... ANTHONY DE MELLO tells the following story: The disciple went into the forest to meet the Master. 'Master', he said, 'I have come to you with nothing.' 'Then drop it, drop it at once,' said the Master. 'How can I drop it?' replied the...

Meet the neighbours.(interfaith dialogue)(Column)
June 1, 2006... NEAR WHERE I live there's a monastery called Kirkstall Abbey built by the Cistercian monks in 1172. For 400 years monks meditated on the Psalms whilst laying the economic foundation for the area through farming, education, and healthcare. Their...