We all at Projects Abroad would like to send a belated birthday shout out to the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence!

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan nation to attain independence from colonial rule in 1957 and Independence Day on March 6th, 2007 kicked off twelve months of celebrations to mark the 50th year of independence. Since then Ghana has been heralded as a beacon of stability and sustainable development on a continent plagued by corrupt governance, economic stagnation and civil strife. The Golden Jubilee is certainly a momentous occasion and a great moment not only for Ghana but also for Africa. In the words of Tom Davis, our Country Director in Ghana, “Ghana has been the star of Africa, in championing the campaign for freedom.”

Having read accounts of the celebration of Ghana’s golden jubilee it sounds like it was a rocking good time! For our volunteers, staff members or anyone who was in Ghana, how did you celebrate? How were the festivities? Feel free to comment on your experiences!

Photo from Ghana’s Independence Day Parade

While reading the paper you can find weird news from all over the world and subsequently our threshold for the weird and zany has jumped quite a bit, but the story below definitely grabbed my attention! Although this took place far from our base in southern India, it shows that a Veterinary placement in India (http://www.projects-abroad.org/projects/veterinary/india.php)will never be unexciting!

Associated Press

CALCUTTA, India —

When his chickens started disappearing a few weeks ago, a farmer in eastern India figured dogs or jackals were to blame — until he discovered his calf making a meal of his poultry.

Moloy, who uses only one name, and his 1-year-old calf have since become local celebrities, with the carnivorous cow appearing on television in India’s West Bengal state and hundreds of people flocking to see them in Chandipur, a village 145 miles southwest of Calcutta, the state capital.

“To catch the culprit, Moloy got up very early … and to his disbelief found that it was his calf which came out from the cow shed and was eating the chickens alive,” Debjyoti Chatterjee, a local resident who filmed the calf eating a chicken, said Thursday.

The local veterinarian was at a loss for an explanation.

“I’ve never read or heard about cows turning carnivorous,” said Mihir Tripathy. “They eat grass and other vegetarian food but not fish or other non-vegetarian stuff.”

This Monday (5-3-07) Janou & Laurens from the Dutch office, were present at the opening of World Portraits by Princess Maxima of the Netherlands.

So you may ask: What is World Portraits?
World Portraits is a fair trade photo collection of people from around the world.
The beauty and uniqueness of World Portraits is that the person photographed can share in the profits. Every time a photo is sold, the person in question will receive a royalty.

It is the first, worldwide initiative that ensures that people, wherever they are in the world, receive money every time their photo is published. In third world countries, models receive their money via micro banking facilities or as a cheque.

The people that are photographed are not professional models, but ordinary people that sign a model release contract on the spot.

All World Portraits photos can be ordered and downloaded at the usual rates from www.anp-photo.com or visit the official website: www.world-portraits.com

So you may ask as well: what were Janou & Laurens doing there?
Well, we were present because Projects Abroad made it possible in 3 of our destinations (Mongolia, Bolivia & Peru) to take pictures for World Portraits. These pictures were either shot in our projects, or at places where our colleagues have contacts.

The photographer (Robin van Utrecht) thanked Projects Abroad in his opening speech and particularly loved his time in the prison in Bolivia – normally not open for “public” and he thought it was amazing to be able to photograph some of the unique characters there – and yes the inmates also get money whenever their picture is used worldwide. A lot of his pictures, made because of our combined work, are in stock and for sale through World Portraits.

So again a big thanks to the destinations Robin went to, and already a big thanks for the coming destinations, as Cambodia, Ghana and others are on their wish list to visit too.

Note: Because of our time and effort for World Portraits, the people running World Portraits are now trying to get our “King to be” (Willem-Alexander van Oranje) and his princess Maxima to visit our projects in India, when they will visit India this year. Hopefully to be continued.