Sunday 30 October 2011

All-out-Justice in Mindanao?

Displaced Muslim Women in Zamboanga
(Photo Source:
Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Every Day

War is no longer declared,
but rather continued. The outrageous
has become the everyday. The hero
is absent from the battle. The weak
are moved into the firing zone.
The uniform of the day is patience,
the order of merit is the wretched star
of hope over the heart.

It is awarded
when nothirng more happens,
when the bombardement is silenced,
when the enermy has become invisible
and the shadow of eternal weapons
covers the sky.

It is awarded
for deserting the flag,
for bravery before a friend,
for the betrayal of shameful secrets,
and the disregard
of every command. 

Ingeborg Bachmann
(translated from the German by Peter Filkins)


 


Sunday 16 October 2011

Berlin, Berlin in Photos











A long weekend in autumnal October in Berlin meeting the new
Philippine Ambassador to Germany, Madam Ambassador Maria Cleofe
R. Natividad and dialogue with Filipino Organizations in
Germany regarding qualification careers for unemployed migrants
aged 25+ with German language skills equivalent to B1; meeting
the new chaplain of the Filipino Catholic Community in Berlin,
Fr. Simon Boiser, SVD; watching the performance of the University
of Santo Tomas Singers for three consecutive days; getting to
know other members of UPAA-Germany and the best part of the
long weekend was discovering restaurants. Weather was not
really friendly but our mood was summery and enthusiastic for
next visit.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Erntedankfest-Thanksgiving in Germany


Thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest. With permission from my
dear neighbor Ursula S., I'm posting here the decoration in
her terrace. Below is a poem about Thanksgiving.

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!
(Author Unknown)