Dear all,
I would like to wish you all a great and wonderful year ahead in 2012.
I am very sorry to say that we kind of lost all the pictures on our blog!! We are trying our best to get them back. Please bear with us.
President,
Rakesh
In November 1997, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). United Nations Volunteers (UNV) was designated as the international focal point. With its main objectives of increased recognition, facilitation, networking and promotion of volunteering, IYV provided a unique opportunity to highlight the achievements of millions of volunteers worldwide and encouraged more people to engage in volunteer activity.
The idea for IYV came out from deliberations among several major international NGOs in the early 1990s. The concept first emerged within the United Nations system during a Policy Forum held by UNV and United Nations University (UNU) in Japan in 1996. Through the UN Secretary General, the Japanese Government’s proposal in February 1997 was placed on the agenda of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July 1997. ECOSOC recommended to the UN General Assembly to proclaim 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers. The General Assembly — in its 52nd session on 20 November 1997 in Resolution 52/17, co-sponsored by 123 countries — approved the ECOSOC resolution.
The premise underlying IYV 2001 was that voluntary service is needed more than ever to tackle problems in areas of social, economic, cultural, humanitarian and peace-building, and that more people are needed to offer their services as volunteers. For this to happen, there was a need for greater recognition and facilitation of volunteer work, more vigorous promotion of voluntary service, and drawing upon the best initiatives and efforts — the “best practice” — of volunteers, networked to optimize lessons learned. The designation of an International Year of Volunteers by the UN General Assembly provided a valuable framework and established a favourable environment for the growth and more strategic use of volunteer contributions.
Objectives of IYV 2001
The IYV 2001 had four primary goals: promotion, recognition, facilitation and networking of volunteer service.
Recognition: Governments and local authorities could ensure that they have mechanisms for drawing the voluntary sector into the consultation process. Recognition will be ensured by a country study which will describe and quantify the contribution of the voluntary sector to national welfare and advance; by awards instituted for the best examples of individual, small group, local community and national NGOs — and perhaps also international — volunteer action..
Dear All,
On behalf of the board members, I would like to send special greetings to all of you, who have in one way of the other joined us at FSL India to help and promote peace and understanding through service, a great and prosperous year.
May XXII be a wonderful year for you.
All the best,
Rakesh S Soans,
President,
FSL India
Hi,
I am happy to announce that FSL India has a new HR Admin. Her name is Anitha and she will handle all three offices HR functions.
Rakesh Soans,
President
Hi,
I want you to take a look at
Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Link: http://www.saveourtigers.com/JoinTheRoar.php
Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Please join the roar and save them
I am please to inform you all that one of FSL India’s camp got coverage on National TV!! The camp was on working with blind children, and our volunteers did a wonderful work in the area. Thanks to our team leaders Prathap and Julia.
Follow this link to view the video of the news posted on youtube:
Apsara konda (Apsarakonda) is a small village near Honnavar, town in North Kanara district. Six km from Honnavar, is situated the Apsara Konda Falls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honavar
You can see a picture of the falls : http://gallery.holidaymakers.in/v/album02/Waterscapes-Karnataka/apsara-konda-honnavara.JPG.html
I had been there last week and felt a urge to just jump in and take a dip. It is situated in a serene environment of green tropical forest. Just above is the is the Narasimha temple, if you follow the steam after the falls you will end up in a lush green paddy fields just before the white sandy beaches of Honnavar. There is a small trail behind the temple that takes you above the hillock, where the forest department has build a small pagoda. Here, you can see very unique view of green paddy fields, long stretch of sandy beach, the ocean and the rock face of a mine. It is really worth it.
Beautiful place
The sparrow in Austria: In Museum Quarter in Vienna, a little sparrow came and sat next to me. And then I remembered, around 25 years back there used to be lots and lots of of sparrows in Kundapur and the surrounding areas. One could see great flocks of 50 to 100 sparrows flying down like a huge cloud and perch on shop floors, shop roofs and in rice fields. But now, you cannot see any!! It really started got me thinking. Why?!! I will update you on why there are no sparrow in Kundapur, as I find out.
Ubuntu is a South African ethical ideology focusing on
people’s allegiances and relations with each other. The
word comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Ubuntu
(pronounced “oo-boon-too”) is seen as a
traditional African concept, is regarded as one of the
founding principles of the new republic of South Africa
and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance.
A rough translation of the principle of Ubuntu is
“humanity towards others”. Another
translation could be: “the belief in a
universal bond of sharing that connects all
humanity”
“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
As a platform based on Linux, the Ubuntu
operating system brings the spirit of ubuntu to the software
world.
To know more : http://www.ubuntu.com
We at FSL India are using UBUNTU for nearly a year now and it is so exciting to use.
