London 2012 is the biggest Paralympic Games yet!

This year's Paralympics are unmissable.

4280 athletes are taking part from 166 different countries. Examples of countries competing for the first time in Paralympics are Antigua, Albania, and San Marino. Over the next 11 days the Paralympic Games will be held in 19 different venues all around London.

Many have spoken, in the media, that London 2012 is Paralympic Games “coming home.” This is because it was in London, on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics, that the first organized event for disabled athletes was held. These first games, called the Wheelchair Games, were held for British World War II veteran patients with spinal injuries. Four years later, in 1952, in the same location, Dutch veterans participated as well, making 1952 the first year for an organised, international competition for disabled athletes. The Paralympic Games, as we know it today, was held for the first time in 1960 in Rome. This was the first year that the Paralympic Games were not solely open to war veterans. In Rome, that year, 400 athletes from 23 different countries took part.

The term Paralympic derives from the Greek word ‘para,’ which means ‘alongside.’ Paralympic refers to a competition that’s held alongside the Olympics…

Today is the International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition. This date was chosen by UNESCO to mark a night in 1791 in the island of Saint Dominic (now Dominican Republic and Haiti) when a major uprising took place which significantly contributed to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

A purpose of this day is to highlight the shamefulness of colonial slave trade, to remember the millions of people who suffered from it, and to come to terms with the past injustice…

World Humanitarian Day is an annual, global celebration of people helping people.

Beyonce performed for the UN in New York.

Every year thousands of human aid workers help other people regardless of who they are and where they are. The lives of millions of people worldwide are threatened every day by natural disasters, gender-based conflict, political conflict, hunger, and migration. The global economic crisis has created an increasing number of problems such as poverty and a decline in global health. Hence, more and more humanitarian aid workers are needed across the globe. In addition, the total number of people affected by natural disasters is rising: approximately 211 million people are directly affected each year.

Today’s date, August 19^th, marks the day in 2003 when the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad was bombed and 22 members of UN staff died. World Humanitarian Day honors humanitarian causes and the lives that have been lost in the cause of duty.

This year’s theme for World Humanitarian Day is ‘I was here.’ ‘I was here’ is an awareness campaign trying to promote everyone to do something good, to someone, somewhere. Pop star and icon Beyonce performed a song “I was here” at the UN headquarters in New York last Saturday, the 11^th, to honour World Humanitarian Day. A music video has been made of the event and the performance will be aired today. The goal of this year’s World Humanitarian Day is to get 1 billion people visit the online site, watch the music video, and learn more about World Humanitarian Day campaign.

Laylat al-Qadr is also known as the Night of Power or the Night of Destiny.

Night of a Thousand Months

It is a very important night in the Muslim calendar as it is said to be the night Allah revealed the first verses of the Quran to prophet Muhammad. Muhammad received the first revelations through the Archangel Gabriel. The revelations continued for two decades throughout Muhammad’s life and together they came to form the Quran. Fittingly, the word Quran, in English, means ‘recitation.’

There is some controversy over the exact date for Laylat al-Qadr but the night is usually celebrated on the 27^th of Ramadan. The last ten days of Ramadan are most important and it is likely that the true night for Lailat al-Qadr falls on any of the odd nights. During the last ten days charity work is likely to increase among Muslims. People want to make sure they have given enough during the holy month.

This night marks the beginning of Muhammad’s mission, and Muslims, therefore, regard it as the most important night in history. The Quran says that this night is better than a thousand months (that’s 83.3 years in modern terms)…

Today is International Youth Day!

Young people are the generation of change.

The age group which the United Nations defines as youth, 15-25 –year-olds, makes up for one sixth of the world’s population, the largest youth generation the world has ever known. Young people worldwide face high rates of unemployment, vulnerable working conditions, and marginalization from decision-making processes. 85% of the world’s youth live in developing countries. The main purpose of International Youth Day is the promote the rights and abilities of young people around the world.

1985 was the first International Year of Youth. Ten years later, in 1995, the United Nations adopted an official set of policy guidelines, World Programme of Action for Youth, for nations and NGOs to improve the living, working, and social conditions of youth.

Janmashtami is an important day in the Hindu calendar because it marks the birth of Krishna, one of the most popular Hindu gods.

Dahi Handi

Most Hindus believe that Krishna is the avatar, or incarnation, of Vishnu, one of the five primary forms of God. Vishnu is the preserver and protector of the universe. Vishnu usually appears in a human body, with blue-coloured skin and four arms. Krishna, on the other hand, has a variety of forms. Most popular forms are Krishna as a blue god-child, as a divine hero, or as a model lover.

Krishna is always the centre of Janmashatami, but the day is celebrated differently across India. Around Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, it’s common to celebrate with a sport called Dahi Handi. In Dahi Handi, a handi, a clay pot filled with buttermilk, is first hung to a high location. A group of men then forms a human pyramid beneath the handi, and the topmost person in the pyramid tries to break the claypot. As buttermilk from the broken handi drips down the human pyramid it symbolizes unity.

The International Day for the World’s Indigenous People was first proclaimed in 1994 by the United Nations.

25% of Ecuador's population is indigenous. Their history encompasses the last 11,000 years.

In 2007, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous People. At first, Australia, New Zealand, United States, and Canada all voted against the declaration but they have all reversed their positions since.

The International Day for the World’s Indigenous People is important because in our increasingly globalized, technology-driven world indigenous people are often forgotten. This year’s theme is “Indigenous media, empowering indigenous voices.” The day aims to encourage more and more indigenous people around the world to promote and spread their culture, language, and values through traditional and new media forms…

“It is closer than you think” is the theme for this year’s World Hepatitis Day.

World Hepatitis Day

The day was first launched in 2008 by World Hepatitis Alliance with the purpose to increase awareness and understanding of viral hepatitis. There are approximately 240 million people chronically infected with hepatitis B, and 150 million people chronically infected with hepatitis C in the world today. Hepatitis causes inflammation of the liver which leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

This year’s theme was chosen to highlight the fact that, around the world, hepatitis is still unknown, undiagnosed, and untreated. This July, the World Hepatitis Alliance is attempting a world record by having the most people performing the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” actions in 24 hours at multiple venues around the world. 

When I first arrived in London, in 2009, the BT tower was counting days to the Olympics. The countdown was slowly moving down from the 900s. Now, the moment is only a day away! The Olympic Games 2012 open tomorrow.

Over the past few months London has had mixed feelings about the games. Some Londoners deeply resent them and have long ago made plans to escape the city, others grumble about the traffic the games will bring but are secretly excited, and the rest have been counting days with the BT tower and are warmly welcoming the event.

To get an idea of the enormity of the games, watch the BBC animation on Olympics people in numbers, or the more general Guardian animation on Olympics in numbers. You’ll learn that this is the third time London is hosting the Olympics, and 203 countries are participating this year. The global audience to watch the opening ceremony tomorrow evening is estimated to be around 4 billion people. That’s 60% of the world’s population.

I’m sitting in a hot, rickety van on a foldable seat. We are six, big Western people in the van, with our big, Western luggage stored at the back and among our feet. The air is humid, the road long and bumpy.

In addition to vans, tuk-tuks are a common ride in Cambodia.

The six of us make a group of volunteers teaching English in the small village of Bakod in Southern Cambodia. We are on our way to the capital, Phnom Penh, to indulge, for a weekend, with luxuries such as air-conditioning, cold drinks, and Internet connection. In Bakod, there is no electricity, only a few electric light bulbs to light up the quiet hours from 6.00 pm to 6.00 am. It goes without saying that we are all looking forward to be in the buzz of a city.

The van picked us up from the village this morning, a very unusual practice. To catch a ride, people in Cambodia usually gather along a high way to find someone going to the same general direction as them. But we are the foreigners, the barang, thought to get lost in such endeavors. So, the van man agreed to pick us up.

In Bakod the van man had a short conversation in Khmer with our local school instructor. “A few locals may hop in on the way,” our instructor translated to us, laughing.  A few locals. No problem. It was van, after all.

But now, sitting on the wobbly seats in the moving van, bouncing up and down with our luggage, hoping not to bang our heads to the ceiling, we look around in the van and find that space is scarce.

“We can probably fit a couple more people at the back,” someone says. Yes, couple of people seems reasonable, three or four more will be a stretch.

Once we get to the high way the driver stops the van and begins to advertise our destination with a piece of cardboard, which supposedly says ‘Phnom Penh’. After 10 minutes, two young men climb in and take the seats at the back. Shortly after them, a couple with a small baby enters the van, miraculously finding more seating at the back.

Everyone is sweating. When the car is still, without the breeze of driving, the road is suffocatingly hot. Even inside the car, in the shade, my hair becomes glued to my forehead.

“Do you think we’re ready to go now?” someone rhetorically asks.

Hoping for the best, we all forgot to prepare for the worst. We were nowhere near ready to go…