It's been about 6 months since my last LJ entry .. and strangely enough I haven't really missed writing. But I've come on from time-to-time and read through other people's blogs and have decided I'm really not quite ready to let it go completely yet! In fact, I think I have missed the writing.. I think I'm just telling myself I haven't!

So here I am .. it's lunch time on the first day of the New Year and the new decade even! There's a pile of dishes in the sink awaiting my attention and an even taller washing pile. But they can wait!

Have another few days of work which is nice. Plans for that time include a bit of a clean-up from the Christmas period, a bike ride down by the beach, and perhaps a little baking.

Hubby bought me Adobe Photoshop Elements for Christmas so I also have plans to see if I can begin to make sense of some of that. And then there's the digital photos that need to be sorted, disks of photos to be burnt for family members, more photos to be uploaded to the photo frame - I'll have no trouble filling in the 3 or so days I have left I don't think.

Next break will be the Australia Day long-weekend at the end of January, which is not really a long-weekend, but as I've arranged to take the Monday off work I'll have a nice 4-day weekend available. Our plan is to go camping with friends again, and that will be lots of fun! I love camping, it's been part of my life since I was a youngster and I do miss it a little. We used to pack our bags each Thursday night, go to work on Friday and head away for the weekend straight from work on Friday. We used to camp wherever, cook whenever, walk to wherever, swim in some gorgeous beach-side and riverside places, and stay up late chatting and drinking around a campfire - they really were good days! We have a good tent and there's so many awesome places to go even here in my home State of Victoria .. I really should do it more often!

Travel is a part of my life and I'm looking forward to new travel possibilities in 2010 as well. I don't know that we'll have any great adventures to the other side of the world this year, but there's a possibility of a couple of work trips to SE Asia, and hubby and I are planning a few weekend get-aways and I will look forward to those occasions! My life of being a global nomad for work has ended, but I think the nomad in me lives on and is very happy to spend holidays travelling, and even enjoys those interstate and international work trips!

My Uncle wrote in my Christmas card "let's aim for less hospital admissions in the new year", and that too will be my aim for this year! Between hubby and myself we ended up in the emergency department 4 times during 2010 and I'd like to think that this can be reduced drastically! Here's to a healthier 2010 - if that's all the new year brought, then I would be very happy!

OK, so these dishes and washing are not going to do themselves .. I probably need to get a move along!

Happy New Year everyone - looking forward to all the possibilities that the New Year may hold!!

If you're a Facebook user, you're welcome to find me there also - http://www.facebook.com/Kafechick?ref=name

Minimalistic New Year Wallpaper by ~Lazlo-Moholy

Happy New Year to all my friends downunder in Australia and in New Zealand!

May 2010 be a year full of joy, prosperity, and health!

 

PRESS RELEASE 

 MONUC Expresses Serious Concern Over Death Threats Received by BCNUDH staff and members of human rights organisations in Kalemie  

Kinshasa, 30 December 2009 — MONUC is deeply concerned by recent death threats against members of the UN Joint Human Rights Office and of local human rights organisations in Kalemie.

On 24 December 2009, three members of the UN Joint Human Rights Office and seven members of local human rights organisations received anonymous death threats on their mobile phones.

MONUC immediately informed DRC Government officials and has offered its assistance in the conduct of an investigation. MONUC condemns such threats and urges DRC Government to take all necessary action to ensure the security of the members of Congolese human rights organisations who have been threatened, as well as that of MONUC staff.

 

Until further notice......

Sorry to say, another blog has plagiarize my public entries, which weirds me out. If you'd like to join my friends list, please leave a comment on this entry and tell me a bit about yourself.

In today's Minimum Security comic, Nikko diverts shipments of PopTarts: http://ping.fm/OiarL

"Whenever I hold up the gun against the enemy, my dream is social equality." -- Navmila (sp?), a Maoist guerrilla/squad leader in India

UN-backed health insurance plan provides coverage for Refugees in DRC - People's Daily Online

Hat tip AFRICA IS A COUNTRY

Faithful readers may recall that I've benefited mightily from freecycledc, but have only given away stuff once (pots and pans in response to a request). This time, however, I actually had something to give.

A couple of months ago I went to Crafty Bastards and the gift bags included two VIP guest passes to Landmark Theatres which is a chain of art house movie cinemas. The passes expire on 12/31, and I called the theatre in DC to confirm that they were indeed free movie tickets. Well, MoBob and I weren't really into any of the currently screening movies (they all seemed either really depressing or quite gory) so yesterday I decided to put them out on freecycle.

Wow. I got over 50 pleading responses. I gave the tickets away to the first response I received, and the gentleman picked them up that afternoon. In hindsight I should've made a contest out of it - like which movie the recipient would want to see most.

In 2001, I went to Kigali to be an intern with an international NGO and conduct focus group interviews regarding knowledge of HIV and need for services in Umutara province.  I remember riding up and down those hills with an entire mobile health clinic team, to and from Nyagatare each beginning and end of the week. 

The UNHCR sponsored housing stood out because it was arranged in neat rectangles made of rows of tin roofed square homes, very different from the local round homes usually covered with thatch and falling in a random pattern (according to land ownership, of course). 

Every so often, we would spot a group of men in pink pajamas, prisoners following the 1994 war and genocide, and every so often, we would pass a group of villagers on the hillside, whom I were told were being trained to participate in the gacaca process. 

Now - this process has ended.  I'm not sure why the author of this article calls them the "so-called" Gacaca courts.  That is what they were called.  Although the system was criticized, I think the article makes two important points: first, Rwanda's Minister of Justice points out that an alternative was not offered by critics; and second, the author provides an example of how the process has, for some, been cathartic.

Rwanda Hears Last of 1.5 Million Genocide Cases

By SARAH CHILDRESS

KIGALI, Rwanda -- Rwanda's community courts are processing the last of more than a million cases tied to the country's 1994 genocide -- closing a vast experiment in local justice that the government hoped would move the country forward but that some human-rights groups have criticized for corruption and mismanagement.

Rwanda's so-called Gacaca courts, which are set to close in February, were the government's solution to addressing crimes connected with the murders of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis as well as some Hutus.

Having jailed some 130,000 suspected assailants following the murders, Rwanda devised a three-tier court system. Suspected architects of the genocide would be sent for trial in Western-style courts in neighboring Tanzania. Rwanda's courts would take on mass murderers and rapists. The rest -- people who had participated in killings, assaults, theft or destruction of property -- would be tried in a network of tribunals based on the country's traditional community courts.

Some 2,200 cases remain out of 1.5 million Rwanda says have been heard since the Gacaca system was officially launched in 2005. According to Rwanda's National Service of Gacaca Jurisdiction, the courts impaneled nearly 170,000 judges. The service estimates 40,000 of those were dismissed because they themselves were implicated in the genocides.

 

( Full text )

In today's Minimum Security comic, Nikko hacks under protest: http://ping.fm/b7Zsj

In today's "Minimum Security" comic, the lion denies eating anyone raw in days: http://ping.fm/XtinI

We did all the usual Christmas stuff, like attending Midnight Mass at the local Episcopal church (where the celebrant recognized us from last year) and seeing the Festival of Lights, and, of course, eating and seeing lots of our favorite people. But this year's Christmas was pretty mellow in comparison to previous years, probably because a lot of people who stayed in town didn't really get organized to socialize (including us) and the snow didn't help.

There was an additional logistics factor for us as we were house dog-sitting for friends for a few days. Neither of us had ever looked after a dog before. Luckily Daisy was really sweet, quiet, and well-behaved. Well, mainly well-behaved, except for a couple of forgivable Unfortunate Incidents. It helps that she's super-adorable. I think even MoBob, a self-identified cat person, can admit to liking Daisy - at least well enough to take her out on poop patrol.

I noticed though that I picked up the habit of using Daisy to comment in an agreeably passive-aggressive manner on MB and myself. "Daisy! Mohamed is being unreasonable, isn't he? Yes, sweetie. I think you agree with me."

... and I couldn't help myself ...

You see, I bought a laptop today! *blush*

Well, I was going to get one for study next year in March, but took the chance and bought it today. Since Uni starts in February, I justified buying it early on that basis.

I'm not connected to the net yet, but I will be on Tuesday! YAY!

Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it!

May your day be full of joy, wonder, good food, and good people!

In today's "Minimum Security" comic, the economy beats even the most avid bomber: http://ping.fm/neLGU

Free coffee at Peet's today.

I'm going out to get myself some, and get some groceries.

Rogazionisti del Cuoro di Gesù