A Room of One's Own

I should have written this long time ago… from the great experience that I had when I visited the GWL.

Any way… Give her a room of her own… Let her speak her mind…

Here in the UK in the 21^st century the woman social roll is still vanished and indifferent like in most part of the world. Although women have more “opportunities” of work, the statistics of 2004 census proved that women are being paid 20% less than men. The areas of work for women still: health, teaching and secretary, including the house caring and raising the children. I can’t deny that men are changing the attitude towards raising the children and some couples divide tasks at home.

Any way, women have obtained several achievements through time, now that history is being localized in places. Places that I will call in memory of Virginia Woolf “A room of her own”. One of these rooms is localized in Glasgow and was obtain by a group of brave women that decide to preserve: history, Books, Journals, Photographs, Archives, Posters, Ephemera, Newspaper cuttings Videos and DVDs, and several voices of women during time and around the world.

For Virginia a room of her own, means the space that women deserve to produce intellectual work, and in her time it was a miracle to achieve “being a woman”. The things apparently change and some women don’t understand what is the hassle if we are able to study, vote or work. But what they don’t realize is that without suffering and sacrifices of these women that achievements wouldn’t be possible nowadays and that history should be known and told too.

On September 21^st is the twentieth anniversary of the Glasgow Women’s Library, after the opening without paid staff in 1991, only with the iniciative of women. They “have grown from an unfunded, grassroots initiative with no paid workers to a busy, multifaceted organisation with nine paid staff, sessional workers and over 20 volunteers. Over 1,800 women have become members and many thousands more have visited or used the Library’s resources or learning opportunities”[1].

---

[1] http://www.womenslibrary.org.uk/aboutgwl/gwlhistory/

The birthday card

Thursday, April 10, 2008 (4:42 AM)

(I'm feeling accomplished)

There once was a birthday card, it wasn’t like the other birthday

cards, this one was a special card, with more pages and glittery gold

lettering, and it was a treasure to the eyes. It was so pleased at

being a birthday card it just couldn’t wait until the day someone

bought it and it got to wish them a happy birthday, he would make

someone feel happy, and that was the best gift of all.

This card could also sing the birthday song when opened, but it was so

proud a card that when people opened him up in a shop to hear his

wonderful song, knowing these people would just listen to him but not

buy him, and being a card all he wanted was to be was bought, he never

played the beautiful song to any of them.

It didn’t matter who opened him, dukes or maids or kings or lords of

big lands from far off, he never played the song. Infact it was so

long since he had that the shopkeeper forgot the card could sing a

song, and he put the card among the cheaper cards.

“Oh hello, I am a Christmas card” said the card with the robin on it.

“Well I am a birthday card, more important than you, people come from

all around to open me and hear my song” Replied the birthday card.

“Oh, excuse me then, I’ve not been here long, we cards tend to sell

out fast this time of year, and ill bet you do too” said the card

cheerfully.

“Er…yes Erm… I’m the last one infact, were just that good” Said the

birthday card felling a little unwanted all of a sudden.

“Oh wow, your song must be good, can I hear it then?” the Christmas

card asked politely.

“Indeed you can not, I will only play to the person who buys me, oh to

be there and see there face when they hear my song”

The card would have said more but it was interrupted by the cry of a

sticky faced kid with blond hair “ITS NOT FAIR” yelled Tom.

“What’s wrong now son?” asked his mother, a tall woman with a pink bell gown on.

The boy pouted “All my brothers and my sister have there birthday

before Christmas, but not me, they get twice as many presents as me

and I get half as much as them” he complained.

“But you have what you wanted” the mother said peacefully.

“That’s not the point I should still get more because they get more”

moaned tom folding his arms.

“Ah miss Rynes, here for a birthday card for Tom I guess from all the

noise” Said the shopkeeper. The card looked so happy when he

shopkeeper picked him up, but not so happy when he picked up the

Christmas card too.

“Why should she get to go, she is not as important as I am, I give

joy, not merry, whatever that is” it said.

Miss Rynes nodded “I just wish he would appreciate what he has”

The shopkeeper lowered his voice “if you ask me, you should stop giving” he said

“Even if only you appreciate what I do shopkeeper, I would still give

my children the happiest birthdays and Christmas I could, after all

since there father left”

The shopkeeper winked at the boy and takes a note out of his own

pocket, and places it in a pouch “Have a merry Christmas” said the

shopkeeper.

“But I never paid….” She started, but stopped as the shopkeeper waved his hand.

“No need, you do need something left to put in the card after all”

The birthday card was so exited, it had been taken to a home of

decorations, and at night the woman had written something inside it

and put some money in, to be honest the mother was upset about her

child to the point it made the card want to play its beautiful song to

cheer her up, but decided not to, she proberly wouldn’t appreciate it.

So the day the card longed for arrived the morning after, it was sat

proudly on a box of all coloured paper with a ribbon, it waited and

waited “At long last I will be able to play my song to someone who

will appreciate it, not the dukes kings maids and lords or the

Christmas card or the mother, but the one I was made to sing too”

And before you knew it the boy ran down the stairs “Oh boy, what’s

inside, please tell me, let me open, I never saw this present before”.

And the card Realised the kid wasn’t talking about him

“Now, now Tom, you must open your card first” said the mother “I spent

all night thinking the perfect thing to write inside”

“Aww come on” the boy said in impatient annoyance.

“Aww” thought the card “I am here to play my song to him and he

doesn’t even care, but my song is so good, it will change his mind

about me”

But Tom just tore open the card, pulled out the money and tossed the

card away, before it could even play its song.

The card was so terribly upset it began to wish it wasn’t a card, but

then had it played its song to the lords and dukes and kings and

maids, the shopkeeper or the Christmas card, or even the mother,

perhaps it would have been appreciated all the time.

And as he thought on this the boys sister pick him up, she read the

note inside and looked at tom “Did you read this?” she asked.

“No but I got two whole dollars from inside and a new train set” replyed the boy

“But its mom saying how proud she is of you and how she appreciates

you” said the sister.

“Whatever” replied Tom as he ran out of the room with his train set to

go to his friends house to show off.

“What a beautiful card” she said. And the card played the song to

someone who may just appreciate it. The girl called on her mom and

they both listened to its song, and the card realised it was not

appreciated as being a birthday card, but a cheer up card.

It was placed on the window beside the card it had been so rude too

“I am sorry” said the cheer up card to the Christmas card

“Don’t be, I saw what you did for the mother and daughter and I truly

appreciate you for singing to them and your song is beautiful”

And all the people who walked past the window, as they gazed upon the

card, cheered up and started appreciating what things they had, and

the mother suggested cheer up cards to the shopkeeper, which not only

became there most successful card, but they got to celebrate it

together, as a family.

The card itself got sent to me when I was upset as a child, and I know

its true because when I opened it yesterday to play its song, I was

suddenly appreciative of all the thing that Joe has done, and the song

plays on even now.

By AsktheTyrant

Stranger across the sea

Stranger across the sea

Display of beauty

eternal paradise

sweet memories

Leviathan wants it

destroying life for it

the stranger stills

dream about new land

left loving ones behind

New faces appeared

hands that hold and comfort

dream takes new direction

eyes closed jumped and swam

across the sea

from south to north

Highlands green and cold

wait for the stranger arrived

but when a stranger appeared

the water changed

the colours are gray

is something no one likes

They don't like the stranger

different structure and forms

new colours and sounds

that are not familiar

we don't like you stranger.

by, Fractalitas

Easter

The Easter tradition period is related with the Lent and Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period the begins with the Ash wensday to Easter. The eggs, the lamb, the flowers in a pagan believe represents the begining of new life and in the same way for the Christian tradition easter remind us the things that Jesus live in this time until his death for us to begin a new life. Through the preparation of the beliver with the prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial for the annual commemoration during Holy Week.
Jesus victory over death remind us difficult periods of our life that we go through but at the same time the reconciliation with ourselves and the deep searching of a transmutation of our spirits in every situation of our lives.
Like a precious teacher -Transito- said to me Lent means after dark times when the skies are cloudy, raining and full of thunder will come the light. Just remember to connect yourself with your beliefs with the meaning of being reborn in a spiritual way.

Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIjBG3YyP4Q

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

Colombia Kogi - The Ancestral Territory

The Kogis are the Native people that lives in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta located in the north part of Colombia. They have being living there for more than 500 years in armory with the environment. They teach us how human beings and nature can survive together and how they need each other in a simple balance of respect.

Friends of the heart of the world, of humanity... ancestral knowledge of peace and armony.

by Marcela D.Z.

El Cóndor Pasa

El Cóndor Pasa (The Condor Goes by (or Flies by)) is a song from the zarzuela El Cóndor Pasa by the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomía Robles written in 1913 and based on traditional Andean folk tunes.

It is possibly the best-known Peruvian song worldwide due to a cover version by Simon & Garfunkel in 1970 on their Bridge Over Troubled Water album. This cover version is called El Condor Pasa (If I Could). (wikipedia)

This song is part of the culture of the countries of south america. The condor means freedom, majestic but at the same time history and the conection with our ancestors, like the Incas of Peru. This song also represents the armonic conection of men with the enviroment.

In this video we have the interpretation of "El Cóndor Pasa" in the beautiful voice of Claudia de Colombia a great composer of Colombia.

By Marcela Devia Zambrano

Celebration of Women's Day 2011

Tomorrow Thursday 24th of March 2011

AN event to mark All Women’s Day takes place in Greenock on Thursday.

Women are welcome to come along to participate, gain information and enjoy what the day has to offer.

The event takes place at Word Up/Text, Dalrymple Street, from 10am to 2pm and has been organised by Volunteer Centre Inverclyde.

Highlights will include skills-sharing workshops provided by Wider Opportunities for Older People in Inverclyde, beauty therapies provided by Allure, an interactive exhibition from Glasgow Women’s Library and an exhibition from Inverclyde’s newly established Multicultural Women’s group.

There will also be a play, ‘Home Sweet Home’, performed by Shabana Bakhsh, who has appeared in BBC's Waterloo Road and River City programmes, and the opportunity to access information and give feedback on local support and information services.

A buffet and refreshments are provided free of charge. For more information contact the Volunteer Centre on 787414.

Place of the event:

Word up/Text

210 Dalrymple St‬

‪Greenock PA15 1LE, U.K.

Cultural awakening

Today, I woke up hoping that my country is healing, that the whole world is full of Light and that all the people share the knowledge of their cultures.

We got enough hatred and racism in the mass media, so I want to create a space where we can talk about other things, a space where the culture can finally awaken.

This month is the women time, because long time ago after centuries of submission and several ways of invisibility, the women took the spaces to show themselves. I’m not feminist or radical in any way; I only want to show what the women in history already achieved. Long time ago the pronunciation of the women in France, Russia and USA give us the opportunity in this century to be part of the society hand by hand with men, because of them we have the possibility to vote, education, work and human rights, including the conclusion of the abomination of slavery.

Nowadays, we still can find violence against women and children all over the world, but at the same time we can find several cases of important and significant, successful woman in different areas of knowledge.

In the case of Colombia we have successful women in: aviation (the pilot Captain Maribel Porras), engineering (Marina Sanmiguel de Melo the first electrician engineering woman, Yolanda Auza Gomez computing engineering and the actual president of Unisys in Colombia), geophysics and astrophysics (Adriana C. Ocampo geologist and scientist investigator of the (ESA) Especial European Agency and in the actuality works with NASA), politics and law (Noemi Sanin Ambassador of Colombia in United Kingdom (2008- 2009)), arts (Debora Arango woman pioneers painter in Colombia), music (Shakira compositor and Colombian singer), communication (Clemencia Rodriguez is a Colombian US-based media and communication scholar), vulcanology (Marta Lucia Calvache volcanologist, director of the observatory of volcanoes in Pasto/ Colombia), microbiology (Angela Restrepo who opened the path of new technologies and science in the country), biology (Marina Luz Ester Sanchez Arias, who developed the way to work and restored the mangrove and Guiomar Nates Colombian Melittologist who studies the behaviour of bees), meteorologist (Gloria Leon Colombian meteorologist, she is one of the five women meteorologist of Colombia), Forensic Science (Helka Quevedo forensic scientist that works for the Colombian FBI) and anthropology (Virginia Gutierrez de Pineda social scientist and ethnologist, who won the national Price to the Merit of science in 1994 for all her hard work). These are some examples of women that show the true revolution of gender through education in Colombia.

Actually, the problem is that there are more women that attend to the university than men. The important thing is to continue working hand by hand with men and don’t forget the importance of family that keeps the society going.

by Marcela Patricia Devia Zambrano

Some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemencia_Rodriguez

http://www.scribd.com/doc/26823891/MUJERES-CIENTIFICAS-EN-LA-HISTORIA

http://especiales.universia.net.co/galeria-de-cientificos/noticias-de-la-ciencia-en-colombia/reconocimiento-a-la-mujer-cientifica-colombiana.html

The true face of Colombia

The turning point of the book: What is happening to the reading of books?

This report tries to explain the circumstances of the lack of interest of people in reading books and suggests some reasons to encourage reading.

In general, there are some main reasons that people give for not reading books, such as the cost of books, the internet and computer, other leisure activities, lack of free time, boring stories and libraries which are inaccessible.

The first reason related to the cost of book is true because there are not many local places to select different prices or topics. The most expensive books are the fiction ones and the cheapest are the philosophy books.

The second reason, related to the Internet and the computer, show a change in the ways people receive information, read and write. With the Internet and the computer, the book and notebooks have almost completely been replaced and the information that people read in those devices is more concrete and efficient. Therefore, the book has been transformed into a massive virtual library of data, with movement and visual effects.

The third reason, regarding other leisure activities, is part of the changes in this new generation with access to the new technologies, such as video games, karaoke and other platforms that involve small amounts of reading, but new forms of interaction with others online or face-to-face.

The fourth reason, lack of free time, is related to responsibilities not only in school or collage but also in people’s own homes. Nowadays, young people have begun to get involved in different activities from a young age, such as driving working, chatting, working and studying activities, which fill their time.

The fifth and sixth reasons are related to each other because there are few local libraries and there are not a variety of topics that you can find in them. As a result, young people lose interest in reading and travel long distances from their homes to find boring stories in the same few books.

Reading is very important in life because it is the best way to develop not only vocabulary, but also to develop people’s own minds.

If it is true that the local bookstores or libraries don’t have sufficient books, there is a huge world of knowledge and ways to find the books that we want through the Internet in places like, Amazon and E-Bay. In the same way, you can find different online books and legendary libraries of specialization topics on the Internet.

Finally, it can be said that the Internet web has opened the door of knowledge and new technologies has provided new ways of reading books, with devices such as the Ipad, Ipod and Iphone.

People should be encouraged to keep on reading and they will find whole new worlds.