International Volunteer Day

/From Wikipedia/

International Volunteer Day (IVD) - (December 5) is an international observance designated by the United Nations since 1985.

The declared aim of this activity is to thank the volunteers for their efforts and increase public awareness on their contribution to society. The day is celebrated in majority countries of the world.

The International Volunteer Day is marked by many non-governmental organizations, including Red Cross, scouts and others. It is also marked and supported by United Nations Volunteers.

URL of a pic. /http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/news/21476/

How Will We Read: In Public Libraries? (Libraries Across the United States)

"When asked to support local library funding measures, communities have done so, voting in favor of 87% of operating funding measures last year." -- Molly Raphael

Libraries across the United States need our help as they are being closed or having significant cuts made to their budgets.

The public library service has impacted each of us at some point in our lives whether as a child, a student or as an adult. It's presence in our communities reminds us that there are places that deeply respect knowledge and artistic and cultural achievements; places that are much more important than economic profit because of the larger role they play in enhancing our society's quality of life. And so, before you read my interview with Molly Raphael, President of the American Library Association, please take a moment to look at 10 important things you need to know about our American libraries.

1. Americans go to school, public and academic libraries nearly three times more often than they go to the movies.
2. There are more public libraries than McDonald's in the U.S. (total of 16,604 including branches).
3. 59% of adults in the U.S. have a public library card.
4. Reference librarians in the nation's public and academic libraries answer nearly 5.7 million questions weekly.
5. Public libraries are the number one point of online access for people without internet connections at home, school or work (98.7% of public libraries provide public access to the internet).
6. Public libraries are one of the greatest equalizers for equitable access to information regardless of race, creed or income level.
7. In these times of economic crisis, over 65% of public libraries provide services for job seekers.
8. Americans spend more than twice as much on candy as they do on public libraries. 
9. Americans spend $34.95 a year for the public library (and check out an average of more than seven books a year) 
10. A public library provides a safe, warm, friendly place for a poor family to read with their children.

(Sources: American Library Association, Henmead Enterprises, Inc.)

What are the major issues facing public libraries as the digital evolution of books continues?
Read More:  /http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/how-will-we-read-in-publi_b_1103601.html?ref=tw/

A new present to our Center from a quilting expert ... Maggie Hankamp

How to Find Your Calling in Life (Matt Mozingo)

Everyone has a life's calling. Each person's calling is unique and distinctive and in alliance with personality traits and talents. Throughout your life, your calling surfaces over and over again, sometimes in obscure ways or in areas that you have ignored. Your calling may not be the most lucrative thing you had in mind and this is oftentimes one of the reasons why it is overlooked. When you operate in your calling, you will have a deep sense of peace and an overwhelming feeling of personal satisfaction. You will find that you are just one piece of a larger puzzle, and that your impact will felt by more than just you. Use the following steps to discover your life's calling.

Read more: eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2326649_calling-life.html#ixzz1fVb8bWdl

Introduction Question:

Task with Partners

- What adventure would you like to go on in the future?

- Where would you go? What would you see and do?
- Where would you like to go on your next vacation?

Discussion Topic: CALLING

1. Do you think that you have a ‘calling’ in life? What do you think it is? When did you understand what you wanted to do in life?

2. Do you have a strong intuition? Do you have any examples of when your intuition was correct? Was your intuition ever wrong?

3. What was the most spontaneous thing you have ever done?

4. Do you think it’s better to think about the meaning of your life, or is it better just to live without worrying about such things?

5. Do you believe that love at first sight is possible? Why or why not?

6. Why are some people able to make major decisions about their lives very quickly, while other people need time to think over options? Which type of person are you?

Group Contest

Our Schedule

Thursday, December 8 – 17.30

Saturday, December 10 – 10.30

Visit Our Group on www.Facebook.com – English Club in Vinnytsia
English Club Blog - www.woavinnitsa.blogspot.com

Traning 3. How Kindles Can Make Quilting More Creative...

The morning of December, 3 (2011) presented us a new chance to meet again and continue our quilting. The first that came to our minds was how to make our patchwork more creative. Surfing in Internet you could find a lot of tips (http://creativequiltingwithlove.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html). They are really worth to use when you have a lot of time that you can at least present to yourself. And in silence you try to create... Of course, we can combine various works at the same time. But some of us enjoy listening audio books when doing even a housework.

Maggie Hankamp (PC Volunteer, Vinnytsia Region (Bar)) uses her Reader when traveling. She enjoys yoga readings and is ready to share her ideas on healthy style of life. Moreover, she is sure that you can make your English or German better 'cause you practice it. 

No doubt, it is perfect when you have your own Kindle to read any book you like choosing every possible moment.

Some steps should be taken, and our quilting will be ready. A wall is still waiting for this new thing (it seems to me it is really creative and made according to American experts' advice). Soon our dream to have quilting at the Center will come true.

We're thankful to these cheerful participants who were engaged in this creative process (Maggie Hankamp - PC Volunteer, a leader of this project, Oksana Omelchenko (Vinnytsia Medical University) and Natalia Chornen'ka (such a creative teacher of English from Koziatyn). They  spent their time making this unique quilting with the ardor of youth.

Training 4 closes a door to this project. Perhaps, some day you will have the same desire to make your own quilting or patchwork. You have a golden chance to travel virtually to various American Museums that propose so rich exhibitions. 

It brings a real pleasure to be engaged in this art. But the most important is that you get to know more about people who surround you.

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

With an infection rate of around 1.6 to 1.8 percent, Ukraine has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Europe, and contributed nearly 21 percent of the newly reported HIV diagnoses in 2006 in the Europe and Eurasia region. Ukraine’s first case of HIV/AIDS was detected in 1987.

Annual HIV diagnoses in Ukraine have more than doubled since 2000. The spread of HIV has also increased in central, northern, and western regions, particularly in urban settings, where 78 percent of new cases registered in 2007 were among urban residents http://kirovogradwoa.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/world-aids-day/.

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

World AIDS Day was first conceived in August 1987 by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS at the

World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Bunn and Netter took their idea to Dr. Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as UNAIDS). Dr. Mann liked the concept, approved it, and agreed with the recommendation that the first observance of World AIDS Day should be 1 December, 1988.

Bunn, a broadcast journalist on a leave-of-absence from his reporting duties at KPIX-TV in San Francisco, recommended the date of 1 December believing it would maximize coverage by western news media. Since 1988 was an election year in the U.S., Bunn suggested that media outlets would be weary of their post-election coverage and eager to find a fresh story to cover. Bunn and Netter determined that 1 December was long enough after the election and soon enough before the Christmas holidays that it was, in effect, a dead spot in the news calendar and thus perfect timing for World AIDS Day.

Living with Disabilities and Handicaps (International Day of People with Disabilities)

"Disabled People and How Successful are They in Our Society"

Today we will be watching part of the short documentary film, "Насамперед ми люди" (First of All, We are the People).

The United Nations has declared Saturday, 03 of December as International Day of Persons with Disabilities, “Together for a better world for all” (http://www.un.org/). 

Topic: Living with Disabilities and Handicaps

1. What is the difference between a disability and a handicap? Which one refers to a specific condition and which relates to a general impediment or state? Are disabilities strictly related to physical activity or do they involve mental capacity as well? 

2. Do you know anyone who has a disability? How does it affect his or her daily life?

3. How do disabilities alter others’ perceptions of people? How are people with handicaps and disabilities treated? Have you personally witnessed discrimination or stigma because of disabilities? Do you think people with disabilities are treated differently in other countries? 

4. How do you feel when you see someone who is disabled? How would you feel if you suddenly lost one of your senses, for example? Do disabilities affect people differently depending on when they began? Is there a difference between being born with a disability and acquiring one later in life?

5. How can someone “overcome” physical disabilities and discrimination? How do people with disabilities cope with potential stigma? Is there a way to diminish negative perceptions of disabilities and limit prejudice? 

6. Disabilities do not need to be an impediment. People with disabilities often lead “normal” lives and make positive impacts on others. What can each person do to help the cause, “Together for a better world for all”?

Schedule:

Saturday, 03 December at 10:30