Hello! Things here continue to be incredibly amazing! Of course, there are bad days...

Friends Forever is arranging sales exhibitions "Master Sculptors of Zimbabwe and their Works" worldwide. Read more on http://www.friendsforeverzimbabwe.com

A Thought into the Future of a Young Generation in Quijingue Area - During the last month of my life in Lagoa da Barra, I often noticed that most of the young men in the community neither went to school nor worked.

to exercise our minds, expand our narrow scale of thought, and learn about things that don't "appear" to directly effect us...

happiness, fear, longing, joy, sadness, and anxiety, a lot! Mozambique is very poor and that can be seen very clearly even before officially entering the country, even at the border.

"Todos familias, vamos tirar barro no tanque por favor!!". This was the call to bring them to prepare their water tank (they call it " tanqui" – it`s like a dry swamp) for the forthcoming rains.

The experiences that I have had have been many, varied, and always interesting. We are in Quijingue in the state of Bahia.

I couldn’t have gone through a better experience… so far. The people are great, the work we are doing is excellent, and the place I am living is something else.

It was very different from our project area in the way that it was really organized and clean. I felt the big gap between the rich and poor in Brazil.

How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

to tell you what to do. Do it yourself. Be proactive. Be open to learn from things and people around you (everything and everybody). Communicate. Share! Live! Experience!

I was so sad when I realized that I had to leave. And I am missing it so much.

Many children have repeated their grades and generally they stop going to school when they are 18 years old, even though they haven’t finish their study.

My mentality before was that it didn't matter whether or not I contributed because the world would go on with or without me.

All our movies collected under http://www.youtube.com/user/iicdmass

During my stay, I got to see first hand how in need the local people are. Working and living with these orphans ranging in age from 5-25 years old, changed me forever!

to experience the world and strengthen my character. After spending some time researching different volunteer opportunities, I came across the IICD website

John, Jennifer and I with IICD joined the Child Aid Project as members of Humana People to People in Quijingue about 1 month ago.

were really happy even though they lived in very poor circumstances. But now I understand how happiness is something really simple.

I nodded my head in agreement as this growth is something we are all looking for; especially those of us on the mountain. A deep want and need for growth.

Join the Fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa!!

It was just one month ago. I was there... in Mozambique... with them.

and a sense of social and environmental responsibiity the main driving force behind our human society then, quite simply, we will not survive.

can do some teakwando or judo or something. I guess they are used to watching it on movies from China. So, when I show some teakwando, they really like it!

You just want to buy some onions and it turns into a whole adventure. People yelling “amiga” or even “chinesa” or “branca”, wanting us to wave hi, acknowledge them

in Praça de Sé, Salvador, Brazil. We met the girl who was selling the acarajé, one of the traditional foods in Salvador, on the road.

We trecked through the jungle, talked to Indians, Saw a lot of animals, chickens, ducks, cows and monkey.

to IICD through v-Dac. A free, convenient service for converting that extra car, truck, or RV into a tax deductable donation benefiting IICD.

Here in Mozambique you will see that everything you do will have an impact in people or around you or your environment....

And now I am doing very fine here! But in the start, I worried about how I could be useful to the people here. Now I know!

In Angola it can be difficult to find variety of any kind…usually you go to an icecream stand and it’s the same flavor for all, or the same chocolate bars, crackers, whatever, wherever you go