yesterday i visited the doctor for a yellow fever vaccine cuz i will be travelling soon. i knew i had to take the injection and i knew the size of the needle but somethiing about the appearance of the needle and the look of the doctor just got to me, i mean i didnt cry, scream or run away but for a short moment i had second thoughts, childhood fears came rushing back to me. but i took it like the man i am now and everything good, what was i worried about anyway?

I remember when i was in high school i read a book, actually a shot story called "His Chosen Calling" at the time i didnt understand until the teaching explained what the word calling meant, the story was about a young guy who constantly ridiculed garbage collectors (sanitary engineers to be more politically correct) because of their work. He, however never applied himself in school and to cut the story short, he ended up doing the very job that he spent his childhood ridiculing.
I remembered this story today as i sat back in my office, during the little free time that i have and wondered what is it that i am suppose to achieve during my lifetime, what goals should i set for myself now because those i set as a child were not very realistic.
I wonder where i will be in the next 15 - 20 years, i hope i would have moved on from my present job, not becuz i dont like it, far from that but because i want change, i want to see new things, let's just see where things take me or where i decide to take myself becuz i would like to believe that i have some say in what happens to me down the line

What is my calling? when i find out i will let u all know.

D

le conseil international des organizations de jeunes de la francophonie (CIJEF) a eu sa premiere reunione virtuelle ce matin du Conseil d'Adminstration. Nous sommes 10, 9 regions et la Presidente. C'etait bien de discuter avec mes amis que j'ai rencontre' a Sinaia, Roumanie. C'etait un peu bizarre, je parle de la reunion, mais on a reussi de completer l'ordre du jour et je trouve que nous travaillons bien ensemble.

il nous reste plein de choses a faire mais nous sommes prets a travailler pour les jeunes francophones. Nous sommes contents d'etre representants de nos regions respectives et j'espere que nour ferons du bon travail.

Delroy
Delegue de la Dominique
et membre du Consiel d'Administration
CIJEF

i was in a conversation with my fren the other day and she was telling me about love, peace, unity and how they are just concepts that we set up for ourselves, something that we will always aspire to achieve but will never obtain becuz humans are still conflict oriented and some persons will always foster negatives in our society to the detriment of others. I was thinking about it and i saw myself agreeing with her that we have been speaking about these ideals for years, we have probably worked at them for even more years and still we are as far away from them as ever before. we have set up organizations, committees, working groups, etc to look at obtaining these things, but if we lack the personal dedication and passion that is needed to go the extra mile then we are just attending talkshops and working in vain.

i would like to have a glimpse of the world, after i am gone from it, just to look at it and see if we would have moved any closer to attaining world peace, unity, love and eradicate hunger, poverty, etc.

just some thoughts

ANNOUNCEMENT: ESSAY COMPETITION



“Feeding Ourselves – Securing our Rural Communities” – The Voice of Youth



Is agriculture dead? Will concentration on a New Agriculture change lives in the rural areas of countries in the Caribbean? What is this New Agriculture? Will it be more attractive for young people? Can we become more food secure? Or is it just not happening, too expensive, or not feasible at all?

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) for the Secretariat of The Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu (The Alliance) invites you to share your vision of a New Agriculture (Agribusiness, Agro-biodiversity, Agro-energy, Agriculture and tourism) for future development in the rural communities of Caribbean countries.

If you

are a national of an IICA Member State (Caribbean1)
are between 14 and 25 years old
are a member of a youth group with an interest in the development of agriculture in the Caribbean
have ideas on how concentration on a new agriculture can help to improve youth livelihoods, especially in the rural areas of your country
then you are encouraged to participate in The Alliance Essay Competition. Tell us in 2500 words how you think a New Agriculture could make life better in your country, especially for young people and what needs to be done to achieve this goal.



The Prizes

From the submissions, Fourteen (14) National and three (3) Regional winners will be chosen and awarded prizes, which will be announced in the press. The 1st place winner at the regional level will be invited to collect the award during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture to take place October 02-07, 2006 in Nassau, The Bahamas. All winning entries will be published on the IICA website.



Competition Rules

Submissions

must be in English, Spanish or French
should not exceed 2,500 words
must be typed
should include your name, age, group/school affiliation (if any) and full contact information (home address, telephone number, e-mail address, if available)


Deadline for submission of entries: September 08, 2006. All entries must be received on or before that date. Winners will be announced on September 27, 2006.



You can e-mail (preferred), fax or mail your work to:

UnaMay Gordon

IICA Representative in the ECS

P.O Box 1223, Castries, Saint Lucia

Phone: (758)-451-6760/61 Fax: (758)451 6774

E-mail: iica.lc@iica.int



We welcome all essays. However, we regret that we will be unable to acknowledge receipt of entries that do not win one of our prizes.