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Courtesy: Girish Kumar Juneja It is rare to come across prophets who are equally revered by the people of different religions, social milieu, and ethnicities. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is one of them. He was born in 1469 in the erstwhile Punjab province of India. From his childhood, he rebelled against the existing religious dogmas and social practices based on blind faith or mere superstition. He showed no interest in the mundane ritualistic life and, instead, advocated unconditional devotion to the true Lord Supreme, Sat Kartar. He had an inquisitive mind, which often led him into trouble with his teachers, who failed to quench the thirst of his curiosities. From his early life, he was an embodiment of compassion. When his father gave him money to start a business, he spent the entire amount feeding the deprived. On being questioned about his business, he replied that by feeding the hungry, he had performed the “true deal”, or a “Sacha Sauda”. For him, in th...

Mao Hosaka, JICA volunteer in Environmental Education at Manchester 4-H Club hands out sticky notes and coloured markers to students of Morgan's Forest Primary School in Clarendon, their task was to write things they are thankful for. Mao Hosaka has perhaps done it all – from delving into the uber megapixels of animation in Tokyo, finding eternal bliss meditating in a temple in Thailand, to kicking up a storm as she brushed up her Muay Thai (Thai boxing) skills, learning Bahasa (the official language of Indonesia), and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. “Even though the work experience didn’t last long, it made me realise that this kind of life in a big city was not for me,” she said. “Since then I started looking for something that I’m passionate about, something I’m happy doing as a part of my life.” In her quest for finding purpose and meaning, Hosaka travelled to Zimbabwe and also volunteered in a wildlife conservation programme in South Africa. Now a Japan International Co...

Ampofo Mensah Jr (right) with some of the staff and students of Lower Buxton Primary School, St Ann. One is often told – “You don’t look Indian,” to which the 1.2-billion dollar question is: “How do Indians look?”…What, one might ask, is the context of this statement? It stems from the fact that some notions are just that, notions and pre-conceived – for the celebration of a country’s unity lies in her diversity across the board. Trick question number two… “How do Americans look?”… Ampofo Mensah Jr was left to ponder this when his family moved from Ghana to the United States and settled in the Big Apple. “It was a revelation for me,” Mensah said. “I faced struggles with the paradigm of my immigrant family seeking to adjust to living in the US from Ghana, West Africa.” Mensah was getting a brush of the ‘big, bad world’ out there, but then again, his parents decided that they were going to go all out to encourage him and his siblings to focus on their goals, of acquiring ed...

Elanor Nelson (in the middle), Peace Corps volunteer at the Newstead Primary School, St Mary, with some students who helped her create a pavement from soda bottle caps. Eleanor Nelson need not hoot any whistle to marshal her little troops; from marching around the community, collecting PET bottles, making art from bottle caps, to lugging suitcase loads of books as her check-in baggage, teaching music, promoting literacy - she and the students of Newstead Primary School rally to get the job done. She takes multi-tasking several notches up. Nelson is so much potency, vibrancy, and diversity packaged in a single human being - and her energy levels are on a constant crescendo. Since this Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) literacy adviser came to this hamlet in St Mary of lush greenery and milky rivers in May 2017, she has striving, with the help of the students of Newstead Primary School, to do just that: keep the environment pristine. She went around the community to collect plasti...

Members of the 90th group of Peace Corps Volunteers in Jamaica | Photos Courtesy: Peace Corps Jamaica "How one shapes their life is always very interesting to me," says Paul Sully, country director of Peace Corps Jamaica. It is a simple yet deep-rooted statement because every one of us has as story to tell, a chapter to write, possibilities to explore, journeys to undertake - the list, and for some, the bucket list, goes on. The pertinent question here is, does volunteerism get a place in the nine yards of life? 'Perhaps', 'maybe', 'possibly', and 'I don't know' could be the plausible responses. Sully, though, who has spent majority of his life and career, as the head of an organisation that has been serving Jamaica since 1962, believes that the definition of a volunteer has to be rewritten and that perceptions need to change. "We know from our experiences that service reflects and shares values of caring, creates bonds, and...

An aerial view of Calakmul in Campeche, Mexico.   Courtesy Embassy of Mexico in Jamaica There is an air of intrigue, a sense of awe, the fear of the unknown and epics that attain mythical proportions – the imposing structures of the Mayan civilisation nestled in the forests of Mexico are the earliest ­habitats of human civilisation that have witnessed ­history and its tribulations and still stand tall. “There are seldom things that words cannot describe, and the Mayan relics in Mexico are among those chapters of history that have withstood the test of time and still, I am sure, have people in awe as they did thousands of years ago,” said Ernesto Malda, deputy head of mission, Embassy of Mexico in Jamaica. We are sure that the people of Mexico – proud of their culture and heritage – concur with Malda’s words. The Mayan artefacts, particularly, encased in a time warp, would leave visitors mesmerised, only that the megapixel cameras of the smart phones have become the...

Figurines of skulls lined up as a part of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. The tradition honours the departed souls.  Photo: Arturo Peña Romano Beyond the realms of popular culture, myths, fables, and perceived notions, customs, practices, and traditions that have their genesis in ancient civilisations, have deep rooted meanings, which personify and are key identifiers of a country or region’s belief system. The mention of Day of the Dead flashes images, often, unfortunately associated with the unleashing of the evil, sinister plots, spirits wandering in the graveyards, with wolves howling in stereophonic decibels … eerie. But, these images are far fetched from reality. Mexico, where Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is observed, is the celebration of death and the reuniting of the living with their dead. This celebration is one of the most representative cultural expressions of the country. “It is a remembrance, a vehicle of communication and ...