“If” by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen speaks on the House floor

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered the following remarks earlier today on the decades-long series of atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Ros-Lehtinen expressed her support for current legislation before the U.S. House of Representatives designed to assist in bringing Kony and the top leaders of the LRA to justice. Additionally, Ros-Lehtinen commended her constituents’ efforts to raise awareness of Kony and the LRA’s horrific acts against the innocent.

Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

I would like to begin by commending all the citizens and young students in my Congressional District and indeed throughout the country who have worked to raise awareness about Joseph Kony and his brutal crimes. Joseph Kony is a mass murderer whose campaign of violence against innocent civilians spans decades. The predatory forces doing his bidding, is known as the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, and they have perpetrated some of the worse human rights abuses of our time.
Under the direction of Kony, the LRA has murdered, raped, mutilated, and abducted tens of thousands of innocent people, many of whom are children. They target remote villages, butchering civilians and abducting women and children to serve as sex slaves and fighters. Kony’s bloody reach now extends to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and the newly formed Republic of South Sudan.

Happy World Water Day!

If you’re used to purified, fortified, drinkable water flowing from taps in every kitchen and bathroom in the house, it can be difficult not to take the life-giving substance for granted. Even so, somewhere in the back of our minds we are aware that it’s not that easy for everyone.
In fact, according to a news release earlier this month from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in rural parts of the least developed countries, 14% of the population drinks water from sources like rivers and ponds, greatly increasing the risk of disease. UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake says that 11% of the world’s population, or 783 million people, still lack access to safe drinking water.
And yet there is also cause for celebration!

Joseph Kony captures Congress’ attention

 

The global movement to bring Joseph Kony to justice has reached the halls of Congress.
Lawmakers can’t avoid him: Delaware Sen. Chris Coons was recently asked by his 12 year-old twins and 11-year-old daughter what he’s doing to stop the ruthless African warlord. Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen learned about the Kony 2012 movement on Twitter. And Sen. Roy Blunt said he was at a Missouri caucus in St. Louis when a constituent quizzed him about Kony.

Now, Kony 2012, the viral web video created to spotlight atrocities committed by Kony and remove him from the battlefield, is starting to spur action on Capitol Hill.

Becouse ... we are not just faces

I’m Human

The broadcasting team at Liberty Middle School in Madison, Alabama created this video to show what makes us different as individuals. It is a true, sometimes heartbreaking, reminder that we are all human. The fact that a Middle School produced this makes we want to move to Alabama, go back in time and attend Middle School all over again.
-Krista

http://invisiblechildrenblog.wordpress.com

The most beautiful people ...