June 2009

Many of you are probably familiar with the song "Imagine," by John Lennon, in which he sings about his vision for a perfect world. It's one of my mother's favorite songs, so growing up I heard it a lot, but never gave too much thought to the specifics of his message; I just assumed it was generally about love, harmony and world peace: stuff everyone would pretty much agree upon. 

Highlights of the essay by Kwasi Gyeabour (Ghana) who is one of the eight finalists of The World Bank Essay Competition 2009.

"He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions."
                                                                                                       - Confucius

Kwasi, along with his friends, wants to establish a Green Mutual Fund for initiating “green” enterprises. Apart from professionals, this fund will appeal to the general public to invest in, as it serves the dual purpose of avoiding “natural” calamities by protecting the environment, and of having a return on the investment. With this fund, Kwasi wants to pioneer such enterprises in his country.

We asked for your views on the financial crisis; how you're seeing it impact your countries and how it's changing people's everyday lives around you.
We got answers from all over, and want to say thank you to all those who responded. From Chile to Nigeria, we got a really broad range of insights, and it was interesting to get your views and experiences. Some said their countries were feeling a tremendous impact; for others, only in certain sectors.

In any case, the global economic situation is certainly affecting everyone. Sharing ideas, discussing the issues, and understanding them, is one place to start tackling it. As Cécile from France writes, "new information and communication technologies, especially the Internet, allow each individual to become an international cooperation actor."

Take a look at what you said. 

In my last post I mentioned a consulting project, and the second trip I took for this project was to Pasto, Colombia. This city is located in Nariño, a region blessed by nature and its people’s vocation for the arts. On the other hand, it also faces a complex social situation that is deepened by its society’s cultural traits.
Pasto is a medium size city (close to 400,000 inhabitants) located at 2,527 meters above the sea level. Its cold weather contrasts with the warmth and kindness of its people. It is located at the foot of Galeras, the most active volcano in Colombia, which reigns in Pasto landscape. People say the city is going to disappear one day because it’s not a  matter of whether the volcano is going to have a big eruption or not, but when. In fact, the volcano has been erupting a lot lately. Nonetheless, the city has been there for over 470 years, and even though it has been affected by a lot of eruptions and earthquakes, they have never made the city disappear.