"A Rising Tide Floats all Boats"??

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97630/Aid-for-Trade-does-it-help-the-poor

I found this to be very interesting. 

Lost Cause or Course?

A friend of mine sent me this earlier. I couldn't agree more. We lose a lot of talent in our communities because they don't fall within the margins of what we define as proper or correct.

Knowledge: A Vessel We All Need? (Continued)

(University of Dar es Salaam, Nkurumah building)

Many nations, having understood the importance of knowledge for development, have invested on education. And this is education, not as a stage of growth, but as growth itself.  Here I quote one of the most recognized leaders in the world

“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” J. F. Kennedy

Education should not be about teaching what to think, it should not limit free thought or expressions. It should be about learning how to express free thought coherently. It should not conform one to a uniformity of what to think, or sever ones’ talent because it does not fall in with an existing uniformity. It should be about discovering, nurturing and encouraging abilities so that each one makes a place within their environment.

Just as the cultures in history differed in acquisition of knowledge, even individuals today differ in how they learn. However, practice still remains the most adopted means of learning. With practice one attains and expresses not only knowledge but also skills. Therefore, education should perpetuate the production of knowledge and skills. Education should help a person use the knowledge and skills to grow ones-self and their environment. This is discipline and not conformity. Discipline includes rules and responsibilities, consequences and expectations. Discipline helps one to strive and excel, to persevere in a course, to give dedication to ones abilities despite resistance or challenges. When we are not disciplined, we lose focus easily; we become easily swayed and lose our chances in learning or playing ones part in changing our environment.

All this requires a great effort. Knowledge and skills speak of untold wealth. And to acquire any wealth, investment is inevitable. Every nation that has invested sufficiently on education with a purpose has yielded great fruits. Here I stress on “education with a purpose.” Let’s take an arrow as an example. When a person makes an arrow, they have to consider the length and distribution of weight appropriately. And when one throws the arrow, they have a target. They throw the arrow with the force needed to hit the target. Everything is done with a purpose. When one single mistake occurs, or when a calculation is overlooked, no target will be hit. Similarly, we should have education with a purpose and work towards it. We cannot have shortcuts, loopholes, or mistakes; because we will never hit the target.

(...to be continued)

Say NO to Drugs

This is not where we would like to see our children, our brothers and sisters, our friends and companions. This is not a place we would like to find ourselves in. Before you embark on a journey, think of the destination; is that where you want to end up?

Knowledge: A Vessel We All Need?

From the day we are born, we learn. From the moment we learn, we project.  What we learn over and over and project over and over becomes habitual. It becomes a part of us and that forms our attitudes and our perceptions. What sustains from our learning is knowledge. Knowledge comes from exposing all our senses to the environment around us. And in turn what we are exposed to changes us just like what we project changes the environment around us. What you are reading here is an impact of what I have learnt from being exposed to the environments around me. 

This is a very crucial observation. It means that when what we are exposed to is negative, we learn from it and most likely project what is negative too; as it applies to what is positive. However, this also depends on what has the strongest imprint in our lives. Change is inevitable then because every moment of our lives we learn, acquire new knowledge; which changes our projections.  When we want change in our environment, we should instill knowledge that is sufficient to support the change we want. As humans we have evolved to appreciate the power of knowledge. In every culture across the world, knowledge was treasured and was a tradition. Acquisition of knowledge, whether through teachings or experience, differed from culture to culture just like the content of the knowledge. Even so, it was a mirror of the people and their environment then just as it is today. A friend of mine once said “there are no good or bad people, we are simply a reflection of our environment.” A society that supports the advancement of knowledge, embraces every individual’s effort to learn, that does not limit unique ventures, or even fear the changes that come with them; is a society that grows and prospers.  

(To be continued...)