Spooking Qoutes

What A Life

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 11:51:00 +0000

We live in a world of different characters and behaviors,people now do things only to please their own selfish interest,am a victim of people who do good,not because I have enough but because I know how it feels not to have at all,I feet for people who don't have to eat that's why you can always see me sharing,not because am waiting for rewards from the government or anybody nut because it hurts my soul to see people hungry,what am saying is these,people tend to forget that we don't live for today but for the future,I so much believe in future,anytime I think about the future its moltivates me a lot,its makes me want to do ,cos the future holds the best of everything for us,like families,children and lots more,in future we begin to have life enjoyment and starts having back the good things we worked for when we where young....We will talk more concerning this in our next write up...Thanks...

Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 14:52:00 +0000

Don’t tie your heart to a person that has nothing left to offer you. Let it go. It might hurt for a while, but when you get over it, you’ll see that it’s better.

There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict. Walk away from these people. The battle there are fighting isn’t with you, it’s with themselves.

Lost Children

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 14:34:00 +0000

Sisters' tears for broken family

Arazu has dressed carefully for her morning flight. The petite, youthful 43-year-old wears summery white trousers and Jackie O-inspired cream plastic sunglasses. Her nails are painted deep burgundy and her hair sits in a soft bob above her shoulders. Her earrings are delicate twisted wire balls with little pearls buried inside, gifts from her two daughters at Christmastime.
But it's the trousers and sunglasses that carry the most powerful memories for Arazu. She wore them the day she left Greece with fake papers more than two years ago. Now, as a legal resident of Europe, she's wearing them upon her return as a symbol of freedom -- and a message of hope.
Arazu's flight from Munich lands in the northern coastal city of Thessaloniki at 1:30 p.m. She waits for the next bus to Alexandroupolis, which leaves at 4:30 p.m. It is hot and Arazu is giddy with excitement, despite being unable to sleep the night before.

Arazu Akhlaqi is one of thousands of refugees who have fled violence in Afghanistan for a new start in Europe.

She passes the time in a cafe before boarding for the nearly four-hour trip. On the bus, she takes a window seat and looks out as sun-scorched paddocks, herds of goats and corrugated iron shacks sweep past. Passengers chat, play video games and make phone calls. Arazu just wants the ride to be over.
In her bag she carries two glittery rings, their gold wash now dulled, which she intends to put on soon. They were gifts from her daughters when the family lived in Iran.
Her bag also contains another special pair of earrings. They are jeweled green frogs that she found in a Munich bazaar. To her, they represent a saying she likes, that if you "eat the frog" you'll overcome ugliness with strength.
On this day, Arazu feels very strong.

A family's pain

Earlier this year, we found Arazu Akhlaqi's daughters sitting on the floor of their temporary home, their legs curled beneath them and a laptop balanced on the couch at eye level.
They are waiting for the Skype connection to click in. When it does, they find themselves looking into the eyes of their mother. Arazu smiles gently, but her face reveals deep sadness.
This family is in pain. As they talk, the older daughter, Zahra, leans her head on the shoulder of her sister, Someyeh. The two girls sink into tears. "I don't want to see you like this," Zahra, 13, tells her mother.
On the screen, her older brother sits next to Arazu and joins the conversation: "Don't cry," Yasin, 16, reassures her. But he presses two fingers to his eyes, stemming his own tears.
"We are always waiting and nothing happens," says Zahra, her head covered with a purple scarf. "God willing, we will be together," her mother answers, squeezing her eyes tight.
Behind Arazu and Yasin's pixelated faces, high on the wall, are the black, red and yellow stripes of the German flag. It's just a small sticker planted on a plain gray locker, but it's also a sign of their separation.
Arazu is in Munich, Germany, with Yasin and her youngest, 8-year-old son Reza. Zahra and Someyeh, 12, are almost 2,000 kilometers away, in Alexandroupolis, Greece.

Fleeing for their lives

The family is originally from Ghor, a central province in Afghanistan. Arazu's husband, Mohamed, had been involved in a land dispute when he was single and was being chased for money. Arazu believes the people who wanted the cash would have killed him.
Mohamed, fearing for his life, fled to Iran. Arazu stayed behind with the children but was harassed, blamed for having helped her husband escape. A year later, she took the children to Iran.

Immigrants pay smugglers thousands of dollars to take them illegally into Europe. Arazu Akhlaqi is from Afghanistan and was living in Iran before fleeing to Germany.

But life in their new home proved grim. Mohamed was working without papers, and their children were unable to attend school. When a work argument turned ugly, Mohamed was killed.
In grief and with four children to raise, Arazu decided to leave, risking everything for the chance to give her children an education and a new life.
She paid smugglers $5,000 to take her and her sons to Europe. She left her daughters in the care of a friend until she was safe and could afford to bring them over. Accompanied by smugglers, Arazu, Yasin and Reza trekked through Iran and across the mountains of Turkey on foot, horse and finally by bus into Istanbul, where they spent three days before crossing into Greece.
They stayed in Athens for a month, searching for someone who would help them get deeper into Europe. Eventually, a fellow Afghan created fake documents at a cost of 6,000 euros [$7,840]. Papers in hand, Arazu and her boys traveled to Germany, where she handed herself in to authorities and asked for asylum.
As a single mother with two children facing persecution in her home country, she was accepted as a humanitarian refugee. With that status comes a one-room apartment, a German passport and an identity card giving her the right to work. Perhaps more important to Arazu, her boys could attend school.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, almost 62,000 Afghan citizens live in Germany, a country of just over 80 million people. Last year, just under 30% of the nearly 65,000 asylum seekers were granted refugee status or another form of protection.
Arazu eventually borrowed 4,000 euros from a friend to pay smugglers to bring her daughters from Iran to Germany. But they only made it as far as Greece.
Arazu has not been able to hug her girls for more than two years.

A broken country

Greece's asylum system

Greece's asylum system is dysfunctional, critics say, with limited numbers able to apply for protection and low success rates for applicants. The country's geographical position and financial crisis have exacerbated the problems.
Illegal immigrants caught entering Greece are given "pink papers" that are meant to last for days or weeks. In reality, the backlog of cases means they get renewed and can last for years.
Asylum seekers can wait for their claim to be processed or, as is often the aim, attempt to cross into other countries.
Asylum can be granted to those who face persecution in their homelands, but if rejected, applicants are subject to deportation. They can also repatriate themselves, or, in cases involving minors, attempt to be reunited with family members.
In June, the country opened the Greek Asylum Service in an effort to allow more people to apply for protection, and to identify the genuine refugees.
Before then, only 20 people a week were able to apply for asylum at the main Police Directorate, leading to a backlog the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees calculated at 47,000 by the end of 2010.

Figures from the Greek authorities for 2011 show success rates on first instance are around 2%, but rise to between 16% and 41% if appealed. The new asylum service is now receiving around 40 applications a week, but no figures are yet available for success rates.

Greece is Europe's beggar, a destitute nation surviving on handouts. Yet for people like Arazu and her children, it is a beacon, an escape from brutal daily life in war zones and under harsh regimes.
The journey from Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, over mountains and across the water to Greece is well-trodden by smugglers and their human cargo. Those attempting to enter Europe risk their lives. Bodies are pulled from the waters between Turkey and Greece; others are never recovered.
Arazu's daughters are among the most vulnerable of the exodus: children without parents. These children dream of reaching Italy, Germany or Scandinavian countries.
The reality is usually far grimmer. Thousands are caught in Greece each year.
There are common strands to the stories of immigrant children. Some parents send their children ahead to establish a life in Europe, hoping they will eventually bring the whole family over.
Others, like Someyeh and Zahra, try to reach parents and siblings who have already sought asylum.
The Greek state has an obligation to ensure the children are treated well, placed in the care of nongovernmental organizations and considered for asylum or reunion with a family member. But the centers run by NGOs have an open-door policy, and many children simply run away.
The children have little interest in staying in Greece. The country is broken, the asylum system is troubled and anti-immigrant sentiment is high.

Social unrest and severe austerity measures are blamed for the country's increasing violence, and the political far right has benefited from the discontent.

A teenager's hopes destroyed

Afghan teenage boys are common travelers, making up a huge exodus from the war-torn country. Ali Reza Heydari, 17, took off from his home without telling his mother, Europe on his mind and freedom in his dreams. His family moved from Afghanistan to Iran when Ali Reza was young. Like the Akhlaqi family, they are Hazara, an ethnic group that has suffered persecution and discrimination throughout Afghanistan's history.
The Heydari family settled in Isfahan, a city in central Iran about 400 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran. Ali Reza's mother is unwell with diabetes. Ali Reza, having seen his mother fall sick, dreamed of getting a European passport and becoming a doctor.
Through a translator, Ali Reza told us that living in Iran and being unable to get an education left him feeling "like a blind person." For immigrants, school cost around $2,000 a year, and Ali Reza's father – working as a laborer – could not afford it.

Dreams -- and reality

Ali Reza explained why he left: "I wanted to build my future, I wanted to continue my education and I wanted to develop. And I thought it was a way for me." He headed to Tehran, where he contacted smugglers. Friends had given him their numbers. The smugglers told him: "Don't worry, it will be OK."
Ali Reza was packed into a truck with 50 other people, in a space that could fit perhaps a dozen. At one point he was terrified a friend would die from a lack of oxygen and asked people to give him space. But then Ali Reza passed out before being awakened by slaps and punches.
The group was dropped off near the border with Turkey and began a walk through mountains. "They used to tell us just a little more, just a little more," Ali Reza recalls of the journey, which he says took 40 hours. They'd been told the walk would take three hours. The smugglers would "give us a little bread with yogurt, then we would keep moving."
After crossing the border, the group took a bus into Istanbul. Ali Reza contacted his parents and asked them for money – the journey cost $2,000 in total -- so he could pay the smugglers and take the final leg into Greece. If the children can't find the money, smugglers can make them work until it's raised.
Ali Reza's group made it to the Evros River, which divides Turkey from Greece and is a common crossing for immigrants. About a dozen were piled into a plastic boat designed to carry only a few people. Two rowers pushed off into the cold April air. Ali Reza said he was caught on that first trip and sent back to Turkey. But he soon tried again, and this time he made it.
He traveled by train to Athens and set up home in Pedion Areos, a central Athens park where a street community of migrants lives. He slept atop a graffiti-laced, concrete-block building and survived on food from a charity. He had no money. He avoided predatory men who prowled the park looking for sexual favors. At one point he was beaten and left with an injured shoulder.
Pedion Areos was "not a safe place," he told us. "Even the police that are in charge of protecting the people are a danger for us."
Having escaped home, he was now desperate to escape Greece.

A route stalked by death

Ali Reza made it to Europe. So did Arazu and her children. But death stalks this journey, and others aren't so lucky.
A report on unaccompanied minors, published by the Greek Council for Refugees last year, reveals the brutality of the route. Families are separated while crossing the borders, and "high numbers" of children drown in the Evros River or die from hypothermia, the report found. "Most of their bodies remain unclaimed," it said.

The Dublin rules

Greece is subject to the Dublin II Regulation, designed to stop asylum seekers "shopping" for the country most likely to approve their application.
All European Union states plus four associated countries – Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – are bound by the regulation, which was adopted in 2003.
It replaced the 1990 Dublin Convention, which was signed in Dublin and set common criteria for dealing with asylum claims.
The regulation's core principle is that the country through which an asylum seeker first enters Europe is responsible for handling the applicant's claim. If the asylum seeker gets beyond the first country, he or she can be sent back there for processing.

The Dublin II Regulation weighs heavily on Greece, given its position as Europe's gateway, its long coastlines and vulnerable borders, along with the country's ongoing financial crisis.

The report focused on the Fylakio detention center, a short distance as the crow flies from the Turkish border. The council observed the children's detention conditions between March 2011 and March 2012. It found overcrowding, a lack of heating and sanitation and limited natural light made everyday life "literally unbearable."
Some children were forced to lie on the floor with mats in pools of water or next to leaking sewage. Meals were poor and telephone access limited, with the strongest children battling their way to the phones ahead of the weak. The report noted how teenagers escorted outside after weeks in detention "remain in the shade for their eyes ache from the sunlight."
Last year, the center was closed for some months and refurbished. Since then, conditions have improved, police and refugee advocates say.
We were not allowed inside the center but were given permission to film the building's squat red-and-yellow exterior, circled by a barbed-wire fence, from a nearby road under police escort. Here, below sodden clouds that sweep to the gray horizon of Bulgaria, the barking of stray dogs in the distance, we observe little movement inside; the policeman says the inmates are likely asleep.
A hand twitches at the bars of one window; its owner's face is a pink blob in the dim light. The fingers eventually withdraw and close the blinds against the world. Fylakio is a grim outpost, but this is where many immigrants end up. And it's what they want.
Being captured means being registered. The temporary paperwork this provides gives immigrants the space to figure out the next leg of their journey. The "pink papers" grant a few days, or weeks, during which they are legally in Greece. In that time they are expected to seek asylum, leave the country or seek a family reunion.

Phone calls of hope

Having made it to Munich, Arazu and her sons enjoy a modest life. Her one-bedroom flat has three single beds pushed up against the back walls. A bright pink curtain hides the bathroom area and a squat cooker serves as the kitchen. Arazu knows it's not much, but she's deeply grateful.
"I love it here," she says. "I am so thankful and appreciative to the German government. My sons go to school, all the things they would never have had the opportunity to do."
But grief and stress continue to weigh on her. Last August, as her boys played in the park while on school holiday, Arazu was worried; she hadn't heard from her daughters for a week. The girls were in Turkey, where they had been in and out of detention. They'd get captured on the streets without papers and detained. They would at times manage to talk their way out before being captured again.
Arazu had last spoken to her girls on Zahra's birthday. Someyeh had called and asked her mother if there was a way to celebrate. She wanted her mom to see if the smugglers would let them play in the park next door.
Arazu wanted to arrange an additional treat. In Iran, the girls loved a dessert known as KIM: chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick. Arazu called an Iranian family she knew in Turkey and asked them to provide some Turkish lira so her daughters could buy ice cream and nuts to enjoy in the park. Communication had dropped off since then.
But that bright afternoon in Munich, Arazu's mobile phone rang. It was Zahra. The girls had finally crossed the Turkish border into Greece. But they had been caught and held at Fylakio detention center. Though conditions there had improved since the center was closed for renovations, the girls were desperately unhappy.
Zahra told her mother she was sleeping on the floor and sharing a blanket with Someyeh. "This place is no good," Arazu recalls her saying. "Nobody is looking after us."
Arazu remembered what a friend had told her, that once they were in Europe her girls would be within reach. "It's a good thing that you left Turkey," she told Zahra. "You have left Asia and now you are in Europe." But she knew it wasn't really that easy. She had no money to reach Greece and would have to fight to get her girls to Germany.
As Zahra spoke, other detainees lined up to use the phone. Arazu asked Zahra for the phone number so she could call again, but Zahra didn't know it. Zahra had to hang up before Arazu had a chance to speak with Someyeh. Unable to reach her daughters again, Arazu could barely cope. "I waited and waited, but they didn't call me and I was going crazy," she recalls. "I couldn't sleep at night."

Fylakio detention center was criticized, but improved after refurbishments.

Arazu's worries increased when cooking oil splattered and burned Reza as his mother was frying potatoes. Arazu tried to take him to a doctor, but he refused to go; he was still scared from memories of a doctor's injection in Iran.
In a panic one night, Arazu ended up lost in the streets and unable to find her way home. She slept on the road before being found and taken to a hospital for psychiatric treatment. "I was in a hospital psychiatric ward for 12, or maybe 20 days," Arazu says. "After I left the hospital, I realized that they weren't going to return my children to me."
Yasin and Reza had been taken in by Germany's social services. Two weeks after Arazu left the hospital, and after she had purchased a small dining table and new clothes to satisfy social workers' requests, her boys were returned.
Those days are hazy in Arazu's memory. But one moment stands out. Yasin was visiting Arazu in the hospital, and he passed her the phone. It was Zahra. They had been released from the detention center. "I was really happy," Arazu says. "I got better."
After 20 days in Fylakio, Someyeh and Zahra had been picked up by Arsis, a nongovernmental organization focused on helping young immigrants. They were taken to Arsis' center in Alexandroupolis, a coastal city in the Evros region near the Turkish border.
The walls there are adorned with children's artwork that reveals the trauma of separation. One montage of magazine pictures is dominated by a cutout of a gun; in the distance a shadowy father figure reaches out to a child as he walks away.
Someyeh and Zahra began attending a local school -- which the center's social worker, Ermioni Stamati, says they "love" -- and have picked up some Greek phrases. They challenge each other in air hockey, play with a pet baby rabbit that was gifted to them and are putting together a huge puzzle -- a Picasso, in difficult shades of gray.
Personalized clay pendants they've made are etched with dreamlike stories reflecting their lives. Someyeh's pendant tells of going to Germany, where the family will be "very happy" and she can train to be a nutritionist.
Zahra's tells the story of chicks who lose their mother and are taken away by a cat. But "her mother comes, tells the cat to go away and here they are together," Zahra explains, twisting the pendant around as she tells the story. Zahra looks up as she finishes her tale.

"I don't want to lose my mother," she says. "It's happened to me. I lose my mother and I hope to be near to her again very soon."

Brutal reality of immigrant life

Greek and European officials are working to prevent people like Zahra, Someyeh and others from ever being able to enter Greece. The European Commission and Frontex, the European agency that coordinates border control for the region, have allocated almost 100 million euros to boost Greece's border controls through 2013. Greece contributes 5% to 30% from its own coffers.
The country has effectively shut off 10.5 kilometers of its 200-kilometer border with Turkey, finishing a barbed-wire fence in December. It creates an ominous addition to an already grim area, where Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor figures show that almost 25,000 antipersonnel mines -- laid by Greek authorities amid tensions with Turkey in 1974 -- have been cleared since 2009. The fields remain peppered with anti-vehicle mines.
The fence and the addition of 2,000 border officers a year ago, backed by Frontex, have proved an effective force in the Evros region. But closing off one strip can be like "squeezing a balloon," according to Frontex spokeswoman Ewa Moncure. "It usually tops up somewhere else."
More dangerous routes have already claimed lives. In December, 22 bodies were pulled from the Aegean Sea after a boat sank as it attempted to ferry immigrants to Lesvos Island from the Turkish coast.
Georgios Salamangas, general police director of East Macedonia and Thrace, a swath of land that encompasses the Evros region, has been policing the area for nearly three decades. At his desk in Komotini, with multiple phones demanding attention, I ask the moustachioed career cop about the failings outlined in the Greek Council for Refugees' report on Fylakio. Salamangas details improvements to the center and says the country "never stops" in its efforts.
When questioned how Greece copes with its status as a stepping-stone to Europe, he replies firmly that the Greek people "will succeed." Formal during our filmed interview, Salamangas relaxes once the camera is off. He is eager to show us footage of border patrols capturing smugglers after they dump their human cargo on the river's edge. One clip shows police smashing into a smuggler's boat; Salamangas looks on with pride. "Greek policeman," he declares.

'Called a Nazi'

Roberto Chaidi belongs to Greece's Golden Dawn, which gained support on anti-immigrant sentiment.

Those who do make it into Greece face a volatile atmosphere, with anti-immigrant sentiment feeding support for the political far right. Golden Dawn, whose members have adopted the Hitler salute, has seen its support soar. The party campaigns on an anti-immigration platform and blames foreigners for rapes, murders and economic woes. It won 18 parliamentary seats in last year's elections.
Roberto Chaidi, a stocky man who sits proudly amid the piles of socks in his eponymous store in central Athens, tells us he is a Golden Dawn member. His shop is surrounded by the multicultural make-up of Greece, but he says illegal immigrants do not respect the country's way of life. Merging cultures, he says, is too hard, asking: "Is it possible to mix a Chihuahua with a pit bull?"
Golden Dawn has been accused of violence, but Chaidi says the party is defending the country. "If fighting for my nation means that I get to be called a Nazi and a racist," he said, "then I am."
His comments are echoed on the streets of Greece. And it is this environment that meets illegal immigrants.
Their numbers are down, yet the people continue to come. Frontex calculates almost 40,000 illegal immigrants entered Greece, a country of 11 million, in 2012, compared with 57,000 who breached the border in 2011 and 55,000 the year before.

A teenager's despair

Greece's dismal record

In 2011 Greece, along with Belgium, was found to have breached an asylum-seeker's rights in a case before the European Court of Human Rights.
The case centered on an Afghan national who said he had escaped a murder attempt by the Taliban after acting as an interpreter for international air forces in Kabul. The man made it to Belgium and sought asylum. Belgium sent him back to Greece under the Dublin regulation.
The man protested, saying the detention facilities in Greece were appalling and his case was unlikely to be properly examined. Nevertheless, he was returned and held in Greece before being released with a "pink card."
The man initially failed to apply for asylum, as he had no address for correspondence and slept in a park. He was then caught attempting to flee the country and placed in detention. He was released and again became homeless. Attempts to find housing for him were delayed because of undersupply.
The court, considering his complaint of being exposed to inhumane and degrading treatment, found in his favor. Greece was fined nearly 6,000 euros and Belgium just over 30,000 euros.
Most signatories have now suspended returning asylum-seekers to Greece under the Dublin regulation.

Revised proposals for the regulation were adopted by the European Parliament and Council in June. The revisions are due to be implemented by year's end and are intended to streamline the process with time limits, increased protections and the provision of greater support to member states under pressure.

Nearly three hours' drive from Athens, past the olive groves and citrus orchards that hug the Peloponnese coastline, is the city of Patras. It is a magnet for immigrants who attempt to smuggle themselves onto the ships that slide peacefully out of Patras Port, through the Ionian Sea and on to Italy.
They live in abandoned blocks and under bridges, surviving by building tents from street debris and tapping street lights for electricity.
Ali Reza, who'd made it to Athens from Iran, came to Patras in his mission to escape Greece but was caught. He took off back to Athens, where he was taken in by fellow Afghan immigrants, 18 of whom live in a three-bedroom house. He survived off food from a soup kitchen.
It was a miserable existence, and Ali Reza has had enough. He plans to return to Afghanistan. He told us authorities had supplied him with a ticket out of Greece and a promise of 300 euros on his arrival in Kabul.
The teenager will try to pay smugglers to transport him from Kabul back into Iran, where he can tend to his sick mother. He will need to pay them about $1,000.
He spends a final evening with the immigrants who took him in as one of their own. Ali Reza is so grateful to them that he can barely find the words. "I wish I had something to give you," he tells them. "But I have nothing."
He leaves Greece with mixed feelings. "I am getting out of this situation, leaving these difficulties," he says. "But I am sad because I could not reach my goals. My future is destroyed."
The next morning, he packs his backpack and walks to Athens' Syntagma Square to take a bus to the airport. He sells his phone for 30 euros to pay for the 5 euro bus ticket, and he boards with a quick backward glance at the city.
We've been unable to reach him since.

Struggles -- and success

In Munich, Arazu goes by public transport with a social worker to a 13-story block and the clinic of Dr. Babrak Kasi. Arazu is here for DNA testing, requested by the German authorities, to prove links to her daughters. Kasi, who is also Afghan, chats quietly with her as he swabs Arazu's mouth.
The Bavarian Refugee Council pays 365 euros for the test, but the outlay is a struggle for the human rights organization. Arazu is not in a position to help; as a refugee, she receives 1,000 euros in benefits to live on each month. She sends 200 euros to the friend who lent her money to get her daughters into Europe.
In Greece, meanwhile, the girls' social worker at Arsis has been actively trying to get the family reunited. After months of work, her lobbying -- along with that of the UNHCR in Germany – has proved successful. In the end, the DNA test was not needed; the girls have been approved to be reunited with their mother.
But government funding for programs like Arsis is minimal in Greece. Stamati, the social worker, has been forced to raise money through corporate donations and selling homemade goods. She says she's gone months at a time without pay but loves her job, and continues as best she can.
The Alexandroupolis office of Arsis now houses 12 children. Stamati strives to ease their trauma by playing games, putting them into local schools and teaching them crafts.
And there are moments when all her hard work pays off.

A family's joy

After her flight from Munich and near four-hour bus ride from Thessaloniki, Arazu arrives outside the Arsis office, a squat two-story building near the center of Alexandroupolis. It is dusk, but Arazu waits patiently outdoors for the signal that it is time to go in.
Zahra and Someyeh have been told they're going to Munich, but they don't know when -- or that their mother has come to collect them.
Stamati has arranged a goodbye party with local children and those staying at the center. Cakes, muffins and juice are spread over a table in the NGO's lounge, and the teenagers have turned the music up loud. Stamati gathers the crowd for the girls' farewell gift.
"I have a present for you," she tells them. "From all the children, and from all of us." She hands over a packet of white paper wrapped in a pink ribbon. The girls unfold it and gaze at the contents. It takes a few seconds for them to comprehend what it means.
They are holding plane tickets to Munich, departing in two days. The papers show they will be traveling with their mother. Zahra collapses onto the floor with a gasp. Someyeh wipes her eyes and looks up, her face shocked.
Arazu is still standing outdoors. An Arsis interpreter pokes his head out the door and sweeps his arms toward her in excitement.
Arazu enters the building, walks up the marbled white stairs and turns left into the lounge, bright with music and laughter. She doesn't make it far. At the doorway, Zahra and Someyeh throw themselves into her arms.

Daveswordsofwisdom.com: My Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:38:00 +0000

Daveswordsofwisdom.com: My Friend

Always have a book at hand, in the parlor

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:56:00 +0000

Always have a book at hand, in the parlor, on the table, for the family; a book of condensed thought and striking anecdote, of sound maxims and truthful apothegms. It will impress on your own mind a thousand valuable suggestions, and teach your children a thousand lessons of truth and duty. Such a book is a casket of jewels for your housebold.
Tryon Edwards

While we’re young and beautiful

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:16:00 +0000

While we’re young and beautiful, living free and easy. Here without a worry, dancing in our bare feet because when the summer’s done we might not be so young and beautiful.

Universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:14:00 +0000

Universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how.

I ask myself: are defeats necessary?
Well, necessary or not, they happen. When we first begin fighting for our dream, we have no experience and make many mistakes. The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

So why is it important to live our personal calling if we are only going to suffer more than other people?Because once we have overcome the defeats-and we always do- we are filled by a greater sense of euphoria and confidence. In the silence of our hearts, we know that we are proving ourselves worthy of miracle of life. Each day, each hour, is part of the good fight. We start to live with enthusiasm and pleasure. Intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable: the latter goes on for years and, without noticing, eats away at our soul, until one day, we are no longer able to free ourselves from the bitterness and it stays with us for the rest of our lives.

THE 7 GURU IN LIFE

noreply@blogger.com (Joy Solomon) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 14:31:00 +0000

THE 7 GURU IN LIFE

1. The Experience Guru

Experience is an invaluable teacher regardless of your age and endeavors in life.
Whether you’re 20, 40, 60, or 90, you have a lifetime of experience. Life has blessed you with challenges, knowledge, and discoveries that have shaped you. Treasure these. Acknowledge them. See them from a new perspective.
If you discount your experiences you miss out on the richness and wisdom that can only come from within. And nothing is more valuable to you than the truth that comes from your own personal actions.

2. The Observation Guru

We have eyes. We have ears. We have intuition. Through these senses we can learn to really see, hear, and feel. Sounds simple enough, yes, but let’s level it up a few notches.
Make it a personal challenge to watch everything you do and notice the reasons for your actions. Notice the reactions you have. Notice the feelings without analyzing them. Just observe.
Observation is a teacher. This was the beginning of my biggest changes in life. I realized I had been looking but not seeing. Only when I decided to really observe did I finally see life and reach new understandings.

3. The Awareness Guru

Awareness comes after observation. Once I finally opened my inner eyes, I became aware.
The awareness guru teaches you how to allow and forgive. It recognizes that we’re not alone and powerless. Once I allowed people to be people, and me to be myself, I could forgive everything and everyone. What a nice guru to have around!
Forgiveness sets you free. This liberation is the shedding of burdens you’ve perhaps carried for years or a lifetime.

4. The Fear Guru

Fear? How can this be a guru? Well, this is a tricky one. Certainly we can see that fear can protect us. It can keep us from exposing ourselves to dangers. So, for that reason, it’s a good guide to have.
However, we fear so many other things. And many of these fears keep us immobilized and stop us from trying things that would add joy and excitement to our lives. Now for the other side of fear…
The fear guru teaches us because it’s a constant reminder of what lies on its opposite end. Nothing gets our attention more easily and quickly than fear. And through observation and awareness we can let this guru propel us into new and better adventures.

5. The Failure Guru

This is another guru we don’t want to acknowledge. Failure tends to demoralize us. But that’s because we don’t see it as the guru it is.
When we elevate failure to guru status, suddenly a mistake becomes just another adventure in life. We see miscues as stepping stones, not just painful memories, along the journey to even more awareness, peace and joy. So, welcome failure.

6. The Talent Guru

Why do we so easily dismiss our own talents? Why do we see the strengths and talents of others so much more readily than our own?
Once again, it’s likely due to our propensity for looking to external rather than internal things. Again, we look but we don’t really see. Our talents and gifts should be honored and used.
Take some time and list them. All of them. Even the little things make a huge difference. Feel good about them and start using them again. This will change your life.

7. The Love Guru

This is your biggest, most powerful guru. And it’s one you share with me, with your friends, with every human on the planet. Love binds us all.
We’re often told to love ourselves, but here’s my take on this advice: It’s better to simply recognize that you are love. From this place, you can accept yourself for who and what you are. From here, love evolves into non-judgmental acceptance.
The love guru will change your life faster than all others combined.

How to Reach your Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Joy Solomon) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 13:48:00 +0000

How to Reach your Goals

We all have goals. What are your goals? To buy a new house? Make money? Having a goal is the easy part. Reaching it is what counts. Well that’s something else entirely. If you’re frustrated because you feel like you keep coming up short when it comes to realizing your dreams, maybe it’s time to try a different approach.

When setting a goal, ask yourself first of all if your goals are realistic and if you are really ready to make the changes in your life necessary to reach those goals.

“Most people don’t take into consideration whether they’re ready to do what it takes to achieve their goals,” be realistic as well, says Rosenberg. You can’t lose 40 pounds in two weeks, or even a month. Set an achievable objective, such as 1 to 2 pounds a week, by the end of the year, you will have lost the 40 pounds.

this life is what you make it!

noreply@blogger.com (Joy Solomon) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 12:59:00 +0000

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go.

The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soul mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

BUILDING A BRIDGE TO YOUR DREAMS IN CHALLENGING TIMES

noreply@blogger.com (Joy Solomon) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 12:39:00 +0000

BUILDING A BRIDGE TO YOUR DREAMS IN CHALLENGING TIMES

Having a dreams and a vision is great, but what if those dreams don’t match up with present day reality? Should you just give up on them?

Absolutely not! But sometimes pursuing your dreams means stopping to build a bridge to get there.

Here are the key points to keep in mind as you build that bridge.

Take a long-term view

This isn’t so much a step as it is a way of looking at things. Don’t let the obstacles of the moment create your future. It’s too easy to run into trouble and get so caught up in overcoming it that you give up on the dream in the process.

Take a long-term view of what you are trying to achieve and put things in perspective. Look at the challenges as nothing more than current (and overcome able) obstacles, not eternal blocks.

Get clear on your vision

Get really and truly clear on your vision. Anchor it in your mind so you know where you’re going. Write about it. Identify what inspires you about it.

Take a deep look at the question, “why does this matter?” what impact will it have when you achieve it, both in your own life and in the world around you? Whose lives will you touch? How will they be different? How will the world be a better place once you’ve reached it?

Use the resulting insights to fuel your efforts to overcome your current obstacles and help you keep an eye on your vision. Take stock of your challenges.

You can’t bridge the gap between today and your dreams if you don’t know what the gap looks like. Now is no time to play ostrich and stick your head in the sand. Take a realistic look at your situation. What are the challenges? What problems do you need to overcome?

Break the challenges down into their component parts. Say, for examples, your big dream involves a career change down the road, but right now you’re so uncertain economic times that it’s distracting all your attention from your long-term vision.

You’ll never get what you truly deserve

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

You’ll never get what you truly deserve if you remain attached to what you’re supposed to let go of...
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict. Walk away from these people. The battle there are fighting isn’t with you, it’s with themselves.

Nicholas Spark

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:59:00 +0000

It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you’ve known forever don’t see things the way you do. So you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.
Nicholas Spark

One of the happiest moments ever.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:56:00 +0000

One of the happiest moments ever, is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.

Failure Is Never An Option.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:12:00 +0000

I feel that one of the most important lessons that can be learned is that what we see may be different than what is actually in front of us bcos it's nice to
get out of the rat race against all odds and understand that what we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do money comes to us in addition doors open for us and we feel useful
and then the work we do feels like play to us. Every Penny Counts, use ya Brain and remember that the surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.Careful thinking and hard work will solve
nearly all your problems as am not perfect and cannot give anyone the formula for success but i can give you the formula for failure which is when
you are trying to please everybody.