IVA-Intern or Volunteer Globally: Israel, Moldova, Morocco, Uganda, Ghana, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia and Cameroon by International Volunteer Academy www.volunteeracademy.blogspot.com is dedicated to enhancing the lives of the people (happy people–happy world) by implementing educational, investment, charity and development programs, creating various community service and development projects, providing health care services to those who need it.

  Currently we are looking for youth and partners worldwide.

Volunteer Academy relies on the efforts of interns and volunteers to make its programs to work for good and therefore we are very flexible and easy to work with. Having 14 years + experience we are looking for people with strong written and verbal communication skills with an interest in international relations, social enterprise development, peace building, fundraising, NGOs or simple to have fun and travel.

Groups of any size are also welcome.

Interning or volunteering is unpaid work but you will gain a lot of precious knowledge and experience for your life. Volunteer Academy is able to arrange housing accommodations and provide you with various cultural excursions and experiences. Also by request we could organize business, study, scientific, research, student exchange, youth exchange, schools exchange, medical, religious, visiting holly places, history, wine, food, natural fruits and vegetables, rural, ecologic etc. programs and tours.

We do, however, ask for a one time donation of 40 Euros + local fees (local fees differ from country to country and program to program but are the cheapest in the world also some countries are hosting volunteers for free and some of them even provide sponsorships to volunteers, see below detailed info about) to cover the administration costs of arranging your placement.

IVA COUNTRIES AND PLACEMENTS:

1.  Moldova self care Internship and Volunteer placements. This program is design to travel, study and experience Europe by Internship or Volunteer program in Moldova, close to Russia, apply today! 40 Euros fee.

2. Volunteer in Moldova, All inclusive

Are you looking for a worthwhile project? Do you want to help disadvantaged children?

You can volunteer in an orphanage in the capital city Chisinau, providing children with love, attention and the knowledge that someone cares about them. The project runs all year round but volunteers are particularly in need from Autumn- Spring. 2 meals a day and accommodation is provided and the participation fee is:-2 weeks = 500 EUR, 1 month = 950 EUR

3. Volunteer in Israel, All inclusive

Experience in hosting volunteers 3 years. Fees: $ 60 /day, $ 420/week, $ 1500 /month, $ 15,000/year. Additionally we have internships in aspects of education, youth at risk, environment and so on. There are a guide who will lead the volunteers, make trips for the volunteers around Israel, visits and sport activities.

4. Volunteer in Morocco, All inclusive

5 years experience in hosting volunteers. Fees: /day15EURO,/week80EURO,/month 230euro,/year2860 EURO. Volunteer opportunities and jobs Child Care & Nursery School Program in Marrakech city.

5. Volunteer in Pakistan

Hosting international volunteers since last four years and serve them in youth led activities and in association with national volunteers. Our organization does not charge any participation fee from volunteers. There are field visits for community development projects, engaging volunteers in social action projects and meetings with community, youth groups, orientations, participation in volunteer training and workshop, engagements in humanitarian assessments and participatory rural appraisals. Internships are also available.

6. Volunteer in Uganda, All inclusive

Volunteer work include: Teach English, Mats, plant trees, coffee farms, building classrooms, paint walls, make school furniture, work in community health center etc. 14 years experienced organization. Fees: 10$/day, 50$/week, 240$/month, 1800$/year.

7. Volunteer in Indonesia, All inclusive

Volunteer work Education, Eco-Environmental work . Internships positions: Business field  : Accounting, IT, Nurse, Doctor, TV/Radio Presenter, Education field :  Teaching medical /math/biology/ teach English/ exact Science in  local school/ local college. Participation fee cover : Official invitation,  air port pick up and transfer, Accommodations, Local transportation, Placement arrangements, laundry, Indonesian  language and cultural orientation, 1.000 US $ /month, local excursion during their day off ( 4 different tourism objects/month).

8. Volunteer in Cameroon

10Years experience in hosting volunteers. No Fee is required.  We offer administrative support to all our volunteers and accommodation in terms of scholarship. Our Volunteer and Internships positions are Health services and Educational services. Volunteers are performing diversified community services 7 hours daily from Monday to Friday. Volunteers will be accommodated during their stay and their safety remains our priority also. In weekends we offer Tours for our guests.

9. NIGERIA Full support for volunteers placement

Hosting international volunteers for 5 years, our visitors have enjoyed staying with us in volunteer lodge at the first floor of our building. No fee for volunteers.  We offer transportation, accommodation, health care and feeding. Volunteer opportunities, acquire more skills and networking. Internships positions: Clerical agents, Health delivery, Field work, Camp visitation, Educational services. Working from Monday to Friday, six hours daily. We stay in permanent contact with our volunteers and we support them with health insurance, provide daily allowance. We offer site seeing for volunteers

10. GHANA2 Full support for volunteers. Participation fee for 1 volunteer to host is $589/month. Program Fees Include: Our programs usually include a home stay with a local family as well as cultural orientation to prepare you for your stay, Airport pick-up,  Orientation prior for the beginning of work ,Transportation to project site, Accommodation, Daily meals (2x), in-Country Support (24/7 support lines). Volunteer work: SPORTS COACHES, ADMINISTRATOR, FUNDRAISERS, and SUMMER CAMP COUNSELORS. Also available internships positions GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ADMINISTRATOR, ACCOUNTANT .The volunteer week contains work from Monday to Friday. All volunteer home stays are located in safe neighborhoods.  We offer trips for volunteers and they can also have access to sports facilities here. Weekends are free for Volunteers.

In order to apply, send your resume, country and position request to pacea21@gmail.com andirff@pisem.net

 IVA-Travel, study and experience the World in the funniest way by Internship or Volunteer program at International Volunteer Academy www.volunteeracademy.blogspot.com  is dedicated to enhancing the lives of the people (happy people–happy world).

Begun in 1998 the International Volunteer Academy is a branch of an incredibly fast-growing international movement, which began in Moldova and now boasts all over the world. Please help this group grow by spreading the word! So, why not "pay it forward" and tell 3 (or more) people how wonderful volunteeracademy.blogspot.com  is!  You tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers...and they tell theirs, and so on ...well, you get the idea!

And please feel free to look through our videos, follow us on Twitter, or even ‘like’ us on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/volunteercheaptravel  

• Youtube (video channel): http://www.youtube.com/irffmd    

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/irffmd

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Intern or Volunteer by international program in Eastern Europe, close to Russia for individual or group!

 

International Volunteer Academy www.volunteeracademy.blogspot.com is dedicated to enhancing the lives of the people (happy people–happy world) by implementing educational, investment, charity and development programs, creating various community service projects, providing health care services to those who need it. Currently we are looking for youth and partners worldwide.

 

Volunteer Academy relies on the efforts of interns and volunteers to make its programs to work for good and therefore we are very flexible and easy to work with. Having 10 years + experience we are looking for people with strong written and verbal communication skills with an interest in international relations, social enterprise development, peace building, fundraising, NGOs or simple to have fun and travel. Groups of any size are also welcome. We are able to accept those that speak English, Romanian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Slovenian, German etc.

 

Interning or volunteering is unpaid work but you will gain a lot of precious knowledge and experience for your life. We provide training at our office to make sure that you will be prepared and ready to handle any project or assignment that we give you. In addition, you are free to stay for any length of time, from 1 week (most popular) to 12 months and more. Volunteer Academy is able to arrange housing accommodations and provide you with various cultural excursions and experiences. Also by request we could organize business, study, scientific, research, student exchange, youth exchange, schools exchange, medical, religious, visiting holly places, history, wine, food, natural fruits and vegetables, rural, ecologic etc. programs and tours.

We do, however, ask for a one time donation of 100 Euros to cover the administration costs of arranging your placement here.

 

We currently have internship opportunities available in:

• Media
• Fundraising
• Teaching
• NGOs
• Public Relations
• Social enterprise
• Web development, IT etc.

We also have volunteer opportunities available at:

• Language schools
• Orphanages
• Elders houses
• Local ministries
• And more, just contact us!

 

Our internships and volunteer positions are wonderful opportunities to travel and explore Eastern Europe while gaining practical knowledge in a work environment. You will be able to learn about the logistics of a NGO, experience life in a fast developing former USSR country, and even take weekend excursionswithin Moldova or in neighboring countries by few hour drive ex. Black Sea side, Kiev, Bucharest, Odessa, Tiraspol, Crimea or 2 hours fly to Moscow, EU big cities etc. More details: Post-Program Services Include: Internship Network, Year Founded: 2001, Religious Requirements: Internship, volunteer at Volunteer Academy is a Unificationists based organization. We do not require our participants to be of the same faith. Volunteers are free to join religious activities.

 

In order to apply, send your resume and request to irffmd@gmail.com.

Find us: IRFFMD on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc. webs and see what we are all about!

PS. Begun on June 11, 2001, the International Volunteer Academy is a branch of an incredibly fast-growing international movement, which began in Moldova and now boasts all over the world. Please help this group grow by spreading the word!

So, why not "pay it forward" and tell 3 (or more) people how wonderful volunteeracademy.blogspot.com is!  You tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers...and they tell theirs, and so on ...well, you get the idea!

And please feel free to look through our videos, follow us on Twitter, or even ‘like’ us on Facebook :

http://www.facebook.com/volunteercheaptravel

• Youtube (video channel): http://www.youtube.com/irffmd

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/irffmd

• Or find International Partners to business, government, media, nonprofit, travel etc. organizations,

post Sponsorships, investments, grants, tenders on Global Partnerships Portal : http://gppd.net

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The general impression people have of scientists is of the ones sitting days and nights in their laboratories, “playing” with complex formulas, and releasing mind-twisting research works that end up collecting dust on the libraries’ shelves. Such impression is even stronger regarding researchers in Environmental Economics, for instance. The reason is that theoretical research does not go hand-in-hand with the applied one, i.e. the research process and results are not implemented in the “real world”.
Yet, this can be changed and should be done for some fields of science. Theory can go along with its practical implementation if researchers work together with company managers, volunteers from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and policy makers. It is called synergetic cooperation, and it is precisely such cooperation the new research project targeting the Republic of Moldova is about.

The project entitled “Non-state Cooperation in Environment Protection Area in Developed and Developing Countries: The Case of Waste Management in Moldova” addresses the issue of how the experience of developed countries, such as Denmark and Germany, in non-state (companies and NGOs) cooperation in waste management can be applied to a developing state (in this case, Moldova) in order to construct and implement in practice an effective and efficient waste management development model there. In particular, the research project is focused on answering the following questions:
1) What are the reasons of inefficiency in waste management in Moldova and which are the most important ones to focus on?
2) What are the economic and social consequences of this inefficiency?
3) How can companies and NGOs work together to establish and develop the waste management market based on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of the waste hierarchy?
4) What are benefits and costs of such cooperation?
5) What existing best case practices in developed countries can be used in constructing the waste management development model for Moldova?
6) What waste management development model is suggested for Republic of Moldova and how can it be implemented there?
7) How can this model be used in other developing states?
The project has a one-year realization period (June 2011 – May 2012) and includes 2 intermediary and 1 final research articles to be released, as well as the final research report to be made public at the end of the period. Several seminars and workshops on non-state cooperation and waste management and an internship in a waste management company are also part of the project action plan.
As the research project is all about synergetic cooperation, it will bring together companies involved in waste management and/or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, environmental NGOs, and policy makers. The research work will be conducted simultaneously with consultations, negotiations with, and surveying of the above-mentioned economic agents, so the cooperation of theory and practice will also be achieved. And the project will contribute to resolving one of the most severe environmental problems a developing country, such as the Republic of Moldova, faces nowadays – the problem of inefficient waste management.
Thus, it is high time to clean up Moldova… in a scientific way!

Note: If you want to join the project team, contribute to its success in any other way, or just receive more information about it, please contact the project coordinator by e-mail: bsrcentre@gmail.com.

On 16th of April, 2011 I participated in the national environmental initiative “Hai, Moldova!”, which consists mostly in activating citizens of my home country, the Republic of Moldova, for collecting waste in certain places. I had heard about this initiative a long time ago, and as an environmentalist became interested to see and analyze it from within. Anyway, I used to collect garbage during my walks in “The Roses Valley” park in Chisinau, as well as organizing such events as the “Green Picnic”.
However, there were certain doubts about the efficiency and impact of “Hai, Moldova!” also. In particular, I was concerned about recycling of the collected waste, organization of such large crowd of volunteers, cooperation with corporate actors, etc.
Thus, I joined in. I did not affiliate to any particular group of volunteers intentionally in order to be able to observe multiple groups and thus have a broader picture of the activities performed. It was an interesting and fun experience, I should say.
Still, the basic principles of scientific analysis make me depart from my personal opinion and present the assessment of “Hai, Moldova!” on the basis of the observed facts. Here I should stress the point that this is NOT a critique. This post is an independent internal assessment of an environmental initiative as seen through eyes of a young researcher and trainer in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. It is organized according to the well-known feedback principle of “STOP, CONTINUE, IMPROVE”.


STOP:
None observed.
CONTINUE:
+ Promotion and raising awareness about the issue of waste accumulation on the territory of Moldova among the society. The “Hai, Moldova!” message reached various economic agents: individual citizens, companies, non-governmental and governmental organizations.
+ Recycling of plastic. The volunteers were instructed to separate all garbage into plastic and non-plastic one. I was told that all plastic waste would be transported to a recycling station at Ungheni. However, I received no information on where it is located and, most importantly, how the waste would be recycled. Therefore, refer to the IMPROVE section for further discussion.
+ Equipment (protective clothing and bags) provided for all volunteers. The clothing allowed people to stay clean, while the bags were used to collect and store waste. Still, see the IMPROVE section for feedback about it.
+ Aesthetical results. The activity of “Hai, Moldova!” contributed to the removal of waste on a large area. Many people enjoyed the view of the cleaned territory after performing the activity.
+ Networking. The event on 16.04.2011 brought together many people from different sectors and places. There were even some foreigners.
+ External promotion for companies as environmentally responsible agents.
+ Team-building activity for representatives from corporate, non-corporate and governmental organizations.
+ Fun. Many people enjoyed the activity in the fresh air, even though it was quite muddy after the rain.
IMPROVE:
! Achievement of the environmental goal. “Hai, Moldova!” claims to be the environmental initiative, but the environmental impact is dubious here. The initiative results in removing the waste from certain territories and transporting to other ones, but not in the reduction of the total amount of garbage on the territory of the country (for a discussion about the dangers of such approach see here). Therefore, “Hai, Moldova!” contributes mostly to resolving aesthetical and perhaps health issues related to waste, but less to the environmental one. A suggestion here is to pay much attention to the recycling aspect of waste management.
! Control for further waste “way”. Talking about recycling, “Hai, Moldova!” seems to be not controlling the real elimination of waste from the ecosystem and, in general, have extremely little information about further “fate” of the collected garbage. The initiative encourages the behavior more of “yardmen” than of “environmentalists”. There is also danger of using the inappropriate ways of recycling. For example, simple burning of plastic bottles releases all their toxic components into the atmosphere and also contributes to carbon emission increase. Possible improvements can be represented in more active cooperation with the recycling stations, thorough tracking of the whole waste “way”, and more focus on waste destruction.
! Coverage of the whole waste hierarchy. The focus of “Hai, Moldova!” is only on the lowest levels of it: disposal and recycling. But the real positive environmental impact is achieved by combining all levels, especially the “3 Rs”: REDUCE slows down the production and consumption of waste-generating goods, REUSE supports multiple use of the same goods, and RECYCLE eliminates the waste that has been impossible or extremely costly to reduce and reuse from the ecosystem. So, an evident proposal here concerns either the enriching of the “Hai, Moldova!” activities to cover all “3 Rs” or its cooperation with economic agents that focus on the REDUCE and REUSE campaigns. See for yourself: wouldn’t it be better if there is no need for such cleaning activities and people spend their time in more productive ways because there is simply no waste to collect – it is either reduced, or reused, or in the worst case recycled?
! Dealing with “they will clean it anyway” attitude. The activity of “Hai, Moldova!” contributes to nurturing two opposite types of attitude and behavior in the society. The first one is represented by a more careful attention to the environment and less littering, while the second has the potential of producing even more waste. “I may litter as much as I can. Those guys from “Hai, Moldova!” will clean it anyway!” – such attitude deserves much attention and brainstorming for ideas on dealing with it.
! Room for creativity and innovation. “Hai, Moldova!” uses volunteers as simple workforce with the approach “go there and do that”. There are few opportunities and specific environment for these volunteers and the whole society to express their ideas and come up with initiatives for resolving the pollution issue. There are simply no incentives to “think outside the box”. Some possible recommendations here are the following: creation of the “innovations” page on the website for users to post their ideas and initiatives; establishment of the virtual forum for creative discussions; organization of conferences, round tables, scenario workshops, etc. for networking and sharing of ideas among different economic agents.
! Organization of volunteer groups. The beginning of the 16.04.2011 event was rather chaotic with many groups and individual volunteers seeking for some instructions and directions. It is possible to improve this by organizing separate “meeting areas” and “info-points” for individuals, companies, NGOs, etc.
! Equipment, such as protective clothing and bags, distributed by “Hai, Moldova!” is waste in itself. After use it was thrown away, thus adding to the aggregate amount of garbage already available on the country’s territory. Additionally, the label on the clothing read “100% polyolefin”, which is a polymer containing such ingredients as dibutyl phthalate (30 – 40%) – a hazardous compound banned in the European Union and other countries. In the process of decomposing of such piece of clothing the compound is released into the environment, causing harm to plants, animals, and people. The recommendation for preventing such negative impact is either to reuse (do you remember the “3 Rs”?) clothing by collecting and washing it or to acquire more environmentally friendly protective clothing, or preferably both.


CONCLUSION:
No doubt, such national environmental initiative as “Hai, Moldova!” is a valuable move towards the society’s friendlier attitude towards the environment. “Hai, Moldova!” managed to bring together many economic agents from all over the country and really “point their noses into” the problem of pollution by waste.
Still, it stands in the infancy of environmental initiatives, where a lot of important connections and interactions between various areas and issues are not considered. And, most importantly, there is no science behind vision, mission, objectives, and all activities within the initiative, as shown by the assessment above.
Anyway, I see (and I hope I see it correctly) that “Hai, Moldova!” is one of the first, but nevertheless important steps in addressing environmental problems. A baby needs to learn to crawl before one teaches him / her to walk. Therefore, if “Hai, Moldova!” learns to use science, to “see the Big Picture”, and to explore its own rich potential (and I see it rich indeed!), then it will have the strength to grow into a powerful organization producing REAL POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
So, “HAI, MOLDOVA!” RISE UP AND START WALKING!

Nowadays in my home country, the Republic of Moldova, there is a blogging campaign for reducing the use of plastic bags, more specifically the plastic shopping bags given for free at shops and supermarkets. The issue here is that these bags have a very large period of decomposing (up to 100 years), and during this process polyethylene (the plastic the bags are made of) splits into toxic chemicals that pollute the environment.


The most common solution to reduce consumption of plastic bags in Moldova suggested by various bloggers is a tax levied on such bags. So, a consumer would have to pay a specific tax when receiving a plastic bag in a shop. This idea was inspired by the experience of such developed countries as the USA and Ireland.
However, though such plastic bag tax is appropriate for the developed world, it might cause the totally opposite effect in such developing states as Moldova. The reason is related to the states’ different position on the so-called Kuznets curve.


The developed countries are usually positioned after the tipping point, which indicates that they have enough resources and understanding to abate their pollution. This causes the reduction of environmental degradation. But the developing countries have “more important” problems to think of, for instance, GDP fall, external debt, technological drawback, poverty, hunger, etc. – there are many reasons not go care for the environment. So, such states allocate almost all of their resources to industry in order to catch up with other more developed countries at the expense of the clean environment. The pollution level here goes up.
Turning back to the tax on plastic bags. While in the developed world it is treated as an externality-correcting instrument and thereby is set at the level to discourage plastic bag usage, the governments of the developing countries will likely see it as an additional source of revenue for their weak budget. So, in order to maximize the amount of money it gets, the government will be interested in setting the tax level in such way that it does not reduce the plastic bags consumption (or does only a little), but assures this supplementary money inflow. By introducing this tax you just take some money from the society and give it to the government. Such “perverse incentive” gets even more troublesome in the presence of high corruption level, a commonplace thing in these states.
So, what can be done here?
Let us look at the problem from the beginner environmental economist’s point of view.
Firstly, a suggestion is to use the so-called “market-based incentives” instead of the tax. In other words, we need to create a market for the plastic bags, so that they become a separate good with their market price. In this way consumers will think twice before buying them, because it becomes more economically effective to carry your own bag or backpack when going shopping. Also economists argue that such market-based mechanisms are more flexible than the “once set and go” taxes, are more or less self-adjusting, and allow the obtaining of the desired effect in a relatively short time.
However, the implementation of this suggestion alone will not lead to significant reduction of plastic bags consumption, because so far we have addressed only the demand side of the problem. We need to target the supply also.
So, secondly, we can use the “so-many-talks-about” plastic bag tax, but levy it directly on the companies producing these bags. This suggestion is in line with the “polluter-pays” principle – in a way, these firms can be considered as polluters, can’t they? Of course, the companies will move the tax value into the product price, which seems to be the same as the tax levied on each plastic bag. So, what is the trick? The thing is that consumers already pay for the bag as proposed previously. Additional tax will hit hard on their pockets. And they will direct their complaints not to the government, but to the “original polluters” themselves. So, in order not to lose clients and to stay in the packaging business, firms will have 2 choices: either suffer from the significantly reduced demand for the plastic bags or innovate in direction of more ecologically friendly packaging, like the biodegradable bags. Taxes are said to be very difficult to set properly and require a long period of time to produce the desired effect. However, they are a very good motivation for the profit-maximizing firms to innovate.
In conclusion, the campaign on reducing the plastic bags consumption is definitely an environmentally beneficial thing to push forward. However, it should be done wisely, with analysis of different options and their combinations and with “putting ourselves into other’s shoes”. Science is a very good and helpful ally in this respect. It allows us to prevent many mistakes and unpleasant effects even before the implementation of the campaign’s suggestions.
So, it is high time to say “NO!” to plastic bags… in a scientific way.

Note: For those interested in environmental taxes and market-based instruments a recommendation is to read Baumol, W.J., Oates, W.E. (1988): “Uncertainty and the Choice of Policy Instruments: Price or Quantity Controls?” in Baumol, W.J., Oates, W.E. The Theory of Environmental Policy, 2nd Edition.

… collecting garbage can be harmful to the environment?

The reason is that you do not remove it entirely from the ecosystem, but just move (shift) and pile it in another place. Waste that is stored on a single territory produces more pollution pressure on this territory than garbage scattered on a far larger area. While in the second case the ecosystem is still able to cope with it, the battle with the constantly increasing concentrated waste is beyond its powers. Therefore, the first case leads to quick and irreversible damage of the ecosystem.
So, if we really want to clean up our planet, we need to change our focus from moving the increasing amount of waste here and there to reducing its “production” and reusing / recycling what is impossible to reduce.

Note: “Did You Know?” is an informational initiative of the BioSciences Research Centre (BSRC).

Date: August 2010
Place: Copenhagen, Denmark


The photo was taken at the distance of several meters from these beautiful birds. They were quite relaxed, only the snow-white mother was a bit nervous for its children.
The swans (Cygnus) are common species of the birds class (Aves) in Denmark. One can see them on almost all lakes and in most parks of its capital city, Copenhagen. Often people feed swans – this is why they are so tolerant to human presence there. These gracious birds are quite popular in this country mostly due to the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales, namely “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Wild Swans”.


Swans are the largest members of the Anatidae family that contains about 146 species and includes such other well-known birds as ducks and geese. As you can notice, the family represents species of birds that are well-adapted to swimming and living near water. Generally they are herbivorous and monogamous breeders (have only one mate at any one time).
Most of the swan species have either pure white (like the mute swan (Cygnus olor) presented on the photo) or black-and-white plumage. The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is, as its name suggests, totally black (with the exception of white flight feathers on its wings). Their chicks (you can see two of them on the picture) are grey.
An interesting anatomic feature of swans is that they have “teeth” – small jagged parts of beaks that serve for catching and eating fish.
As it has been previously mentioned, these birds are monogamous – they form couples that stay together for many years, sometimes for a lifetime. This is why swans are often seen as a symbol of true love and fidelity. In Hinduism they are considered as saintly living beings in general.

The issue of environment protection is not only one of the major topics in the scientific, economic, and political agendas these days. There are also singers and bands stressing the importance of taking care about the Nature in their musical creations. Here are some of the examples I like the most.
Let us start with “oldies but goldies”. Please welcome on the stage the German disco group “Boney M” with their single “We Kill the World (Don’t Kill the World)”.


Next, Michael Jackson tries to show us what we have done to the World in the “Earth Song”.


And finally, Jack Johnson tells us why we should use “The 3 R’s” in our daily life.


Of course, there are more songs on this topic appearing nowadays, which is a good trend – it contributes to raising awareness about the environmental issues in the global society. But, of course, it is not enough to just sing and listen about it; we should DO something about it! Like Boney M points out: “And don’t just talk. Go on and do! The one, who wins, is you”.

In the article “WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY… MAKE IT EVERY DAY!” I have written about the World Environment Day (WED) celebrated globally on the 5th of June. The upcoming WED 2010 is organized in Rwanda, Africa, under the theme: “Many Species. One Planet. One Future”.
You can watch a promotional video about WED 2010 HERE.


As I enjoy being part of this international campaign for environment protection, I was thinking of what can I do on this very day. And here are my ideas:
- Raise awareness about WED 2010 and in general about the environmental issue through this blog and other social media channels;
- Have another activity within the “Green Picnic” initiative at city parks;
- Finish my novel about current and future interrelations between Human and the Nature;
- Proceed further with my scientific work named “Companies and NGOs: The Synergy for Environmental Responsibility”;
- Continue acting in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, like no littering, turning off water and light when not needed, walking instead of using transport, etc. (check the Daily Do Something Tips for more examples).
Through these small and easy steps I have the opportunity to add my voice and hand to the global move for environment protection. Definitely, this is not enough, but it is just the beginning…


And what about YOU?
What will YOU do for WED 2010?

Every 9th of May, my birthday date, I travel around city parks, admiring the beauty of the Nature, enjoying the warm sunrays and fresh air, as well as picking litter on my way and throwing it in the garbage boxes afterwards. In this way I educate myself to be environmentally friendly and respect the Nature of my Motherland and abroad. This also brings other benefits, such as spending time in a healthy way and personal satisfaction of doing something small, but extremely needed for the surrounding World.
The year 2010. The 9th of May is approaching fast. But this time I have decided to share my approach of having this small positive impact on the environment with the others. Thus, the “Green Picnic” initiative has been born.


“Green Picnic” is an environmental initiative aimed at self-education on being an environmentally-friendly citizen.
It can be practiced by any person and is represented in having a picnic at a local park, respecting the following rules:
1) No littering! – All garbage must be taken with you and thrown in the garbage boxes;
2) When leaving the place where you had had picnic, you must pick all the litter on your way and also throw it in the garbage boxes;
3) For food the natural products (fruits and vegetables) are preferred.
Benefits of the “Green Picnic” initiative:
1) Easy to implement;
2) Self-education on being environmentally friendly;
3) Keeps the parks and other public places clean;
4) Spending good time on fresh air together.

The first event of the initiative called “Green Picnic: The Roses Valley” will take place this 9th of May in the Chisinau park called “The Roses Valley”. It includes the picnic with litter-picking itself, as well as visiting the beautiful Memorial Complex to celebrate the Victory Day.
If you wish to join this event, please check the respective Facebook page “Green Picnic: The Roses Valley” and confirm your attendance.
Looking forward to seeing you together with us!

January 20, 2010, Association “Altruism”, Kishinev, Moldova.

The “Make a child smile at Christmas” campaign was organized within the “Altruism in action”Program of “Altruism” Association from November 1, 2009 until January 15, 2010. During this time, over 120 children participated with joy in Christmas holidays events. They had opportinities to play bowling, to eat pizza and ice cream, as well as to visit the zoo. Also, the Christmas concert was organized, where children were given sweets and scarves.

This winter the campaign brought contribution to the events organized by the Association’s partners: Christian Foundation “Titus” from Teleneshti and Center for Children and Youth “Emmanuel” from v. Step-Soci, r. Orhei.

Thanks to circulation of the message about campaign thoughout the social networks, the news exceeded the limits of the country and individuals from other countries (USA, Sweden) got the opportunity to be involved in the events. However, the greatest achievement of the campaign is considered the involvement of Moldovan citizens, and they were the most active ones.

Goods were collected and services were provided for free during campaign. A lady purchased 45 scarves for children and another one offered the services of her professional photostudio for free. Volunteers participated in organizing the Christmas concert and more people have purchased candies and donated toys.

We thank them all for their active participation!

The first events of the campaign “Make a child smile at Christmas” was organized in 2008 and it is held every year as a part of a continuous cycle of charity events for children at risk from Moldova.

Media assistance was provided for free by the “Allalight” studio www.allalight.com

For more details,

Association “Altruism”

www.altruism-md.org

info@altruism-md.org
+37369379000

FOR MORE PICTURES, VISIT  http://www.flickr.com/photos/liubochka/

FOR MORE INFORMATION OF RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, VISIT http://www.altruism-md.org/kindness.html

Thank you for being with us!

Nopenhagen… Flopenhagen… Brokenhagen… These are just several names representing the failure of the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP-15) in Copenhagen. There is no final binding legal and political agreement signed. No Real Deal to present to the World. Only the Copenhagen Accord can be considered as an official outcome of the event, but it is neither binding nor fair.
Still, does it really mean the end of the battle of climate change theories? Looks like it is just the beginning…
The NGOs present at COP-15 (Avaaz, Greenpeace, WWF and many more) have started thinking about new initiatives to raise awareness about climate change consequences (for example, the Climate Change Media Partnership, the “Climate Shame / Not Done Yet”). They use contacts obtained during the event to establish cooperation within the initiatives. These organizations have raised their voices and now capitalize on this achievement to maintain their high volume.
Due to the NGO activists, reporters and bloggers, who had worked actively during COP-15, a lot of people from all over the World understood the importance of the issue and joined the global movement to minimize our negative impact on the environment. More than thirteen million signatures were collected and over three thousand vigils were organized in about 150 countries in support for an “ambitious, fair and binding treaty”. This pool of supporters will be an enormous support in promoting further the environment protection activities.
In addition, scientists supporting the human origin of the climate change begin to use the swiftly grown attention to this issue in order to promote their research results and new projects here. This should boost scientific progress in the field of the global climate change.
And there is hope that the Copenhagen Accord is not the last, but the first step in regulating the World’s emissions of “greenhouse” gases. “This accord cannot be everything that everyone hoped for, but it is an essential beginning,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as mentioned in the UNFCCC Press Release.
Is it really so? Were all the expenditures on organization, transportation, accommodation, etc. within COP-15 (that could be directed to environment protection campaigns) in vain, or not? And most importantly, will the Climate Change Conference lead to a global movement for preventing climate catastrophe, or remain to be just a colourful page in the History manuals?
And this depends not only upon the World leaders, but on EACH OF US…

Note: the copy of this article can be found on the international blog “G-1 Billion”.

Here is a joke I have read recently – it is a very actual one due to the continuous debates concerning our role on this planet and negative impact on the environment:

A planet passes by the Earth and asks it:
- How are you? Have not seen you for millions of years!
- Not so good… You know… Homo sapiens came out all over me…
- Do not worry, it will pass! I also had them!