Lily flower bud taken at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.

Hope you like Paul McCartney singing " Hope For The Future"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=163_C5UVU-I

Many thanks for your visit, comments, invites and faves...it is always appreciated...

HBW

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

An extract from a far longer poem, 'For the Fallen', by

Robert Laurence Binyon, 1869-1943.

For all the people of every land who suffered, and still suffer because of war. Let us remember them now, especially. On the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, the First World War ended. A hundred years ago. Still people make war. Let's make peace NOW, before it's too late.

Taken at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. and edited in Topaz Studio with one of my own textures lightly applied. There are memorials to all participants in the wars here - even the Veterinary Corps - animals were used extensively.

Thanks as always for every comment - may you find peace and love in your lives, always.

Here we are, looking down the path which I'll pretend leads us to the future. We are praying it's much better than it's been for a long time, as my husband, Trev, has a major operation to remove a cancerous growth in his bowel tomorrow. It is a tricky operation and he'll need lots of care but it's a new beginning !

So we're ignoring the dark clouds overhead. They went away and soon it was sunshine again !

Keep safe everyone, look after yourselves and each other.

My time on Flickr will be very limited, as you can imagine. Please forgive my frequent absenses, you will know the reason why now.

I hope you like my picture, edited in Topaz Studio and framed and signed in PicMonkey.

Thanks for looking and your wonderful support my friends.

157 out of 365.

In the darkness there is always light..... let’s have some hope.... for the future guys... Stay safe 👍😷

After a tough day at work I sit outside with a needed glass of wine 🍷 and I glance over and see my beautiful Astrantia staring back at me …. It’s at this point I realise the reason I love summer and my garden!❤️

#hopeforthefuture

Happy ☀️gardening 🌻my lovely friends xxx

Samsung camera pictures

Artist Guido van Helton took 200 spray cans plus normal paint and 6 weeks, to create these 30 metre high artworks.

Like many small towns in reginal Australa, Coonalpyn was adversely affected by the millennium drought and the global financial crisis of 2007/2008. Many services withdrew from the town and businesses closed their doors. The main street along the Dukes Highway, once a hive of activity lay, dormant except for a few remaining businesses. The community of Coonalpyn, supported by Coorong District Council embarked on a daring arts led regional recovery plan thus Creating Coonalpyn was born. Creating Coonalpyn is a model of regional renewal. Designed to activate spaces and reinvigorate the small rural community of Coonalpyn.

This bouquet of flowers was left for a loved one who had died.

I feel so sorry for anyone who has had to deal with the passing of a loved one.

It was such a lovely bouquet i couldn't help but capture it as i felt moved.

It makes me feel very lucky to be alive and hope that the world can finally move forward thanks to the NHS and the vaccine.

The same young monk with a beautiful smile as the previous image:

www.flickr.com/photos/97498964@N00/229903831/in/set-1096286/

These young monks, wandering around the ancient ruins of Angkor are the perfect analogy of the relationship Cambodia has with its past.

In Angkor - a geographical region, an archaeological site and a cultural concept - lies much of Cambodia's future. The Angkorian heritage offers incomparable potential for economic prosperity, which can in turn provide a favorable climate and the means necessary for true protection of the Khmer heritage for the generations to come.

The Hope Triptych by Steuart Padwick, Montrose Street and Rottenrow, Glasgow #hopetriptych #steuartpadwick #publicart #sculpture #sculptureart #hope #hopeforthefuture #rottenrow #glasgow #universityofstrathclyde #strathclydeuniversity #triptych #glasgowphotographer #glasgowphotography #insta_glasgow

A trio of beauties....Daniela's sisters....Eva,Olivia, and Isabel. Where are they marching barefoot to this Saturday afternoon? Taking lunch to their father who is at work as a security guard at the local school. Eva is looking a little suspicious of my motives, huh? :))) It is not unusual, in the barrio, to see the girl children wearing beautiful dresses fit for a birthday party, like this white eyelet cotton one Eva is wearing. Can only assume they are donated as I'm sure the miniscule income families are surviving on must preclude the purchase of such fine wear. I have one delightful photo of Eva in the doorway of her home wearing what looks like a ballerina's tu tu! Isabel, most of all, loves to pose for the camera. Am happy to say that Empowerment International has found a sponsor for each of these little girls. $100 a year brings tangible support for the family and hope for the girls' future.

Empowerment International

Kathy Adams

Kathy is requesting input re : selection of photos the children took in the photography programme to be included in the December exhibition in San Juan del Sur. If you have time please take a look here & give a thumbs up to the ones you think should be included,

_________________

Hi, everyone! Thank you all for your phenomenal support of this project to date. You have been more than generous. I dedicate today's post to my dear friend Julio (risquillo) with many thanks for his very kind testimonial. He's an awesome photographer. I have learned much about portraiture from Julio. He's a master.. A sublime example of his work here

_______________________

I took this photo at a protest against racism in London. This guy looked so at peace in his own thoughts.

We' ve heard that word "hope" a lot lately. The Oxford English defintion

of hope is "a feeling of expectation and desire for something good to

happen" ...the objective is still in the future but deemed to be attainable.

Hope that is truly hopeful is determined by that in which hope has been

placed. President Obama's administration is already showing itself to be

one of integrity and respect and transparency, hope for a better future is

not misplaced. For the children of Villa Esperanza, the name itself, Village

of Hope, could be seen as perverse irony given the conditions they are

living in. But for them real hope lies in education and the persistence to

pursue it. Empowerment International's mandate is to offer each child

that opportunity and do everything in their power to help them attain it.

image : a fave pic of rosa and her younger brother, Juan, outside their home.

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images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International, Nicaragua

If I could fit one child into my suitcase when I leave here, it would be Alexander. He's 12 years old, the oldest of 5 , 3 boys, 2 youngest girls. He does not have an easy time at home, parental frustrations are inflicted upon him. He yearns for approval and is thriving in the positive reinforcement Kathy & her team offer him unconditionally. Initially absenteeism from school was frequent but now his attendance is much more consistant. He's another enthusiastic participant in the photography programme & happily accompanied us for hours, on our rounds through barrio villa esperanza, clicking away with the camera Kathy loaned him from Empowerment International's donated supply.

Feel at a loss for words to describe the effect Alexander has on me. This lead pic of him is a one shot spontaneous capture......I lifted my camera, he turned his head. I believe it reveals the very essence of who Alexander is, in all his raw vulnerability. He fills up my heart til it wants to spill over into tears. Lovely boy, he is.

When I met Alexander my first day here he had a mop of black silky hair. The next day, changing his appearance drastically, a shaved head. "Too hot" he said. He's right. Hot is hardly the word for it ! Feel like shaving my own head. But doubt it would look as good as his :)

Many thanks, to each one of you, for your great response to Colochon's story & pic. Please know your generosity & support is appreciated.. Love to you all. Be well.

Empowerment International

Kathy Adams

alexander's photography & those of the other participating kids here

explore 18

Hi everyone! I'm doing OK now. Thank you. I will return to the children but I

wanted to post this pic, taken outside one of the villa esperanza homes,

because I like it a lot. Though the dog does appear to have a feral quality,

hence the title, he's not really wild per se. Rather a statistic of a rampant

phenomena in most third world countries : street dog over-population. He

is one of many roaming the streets of any given community, searching for

food scraps wherever they can find them, (primarily open garbage dumps),

seeming to belong to everybody and nobody. They all seem near starvation

and sleep wherever they drop. They are evident all over downtown Granada

also, not just in the barrios. If one stops at a street- table of any restaurant or

cafe, within moments there are 2 or 3 settling at your feet or under the table

hoping for a morsel. Because of their numbers they can seem scary but their

aggression is usually territorially directed toward other dogs. Most mosey away,

tail between the legs, if you banish them, which one does fearing transmission

of the mange, fleas, internal parasites and other diseases they can carry. Mass

killing as a method of control was unsuccessful. The breeding rate is extremely

high. 2 street dogs can multiply to 300 in 3 years. Many devoping countries, includ-

ing Nicaragua, now have mass sterilization clinics starting up, often conducted

by non-government organizations, in collaboration with local municipalities.

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The great Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, in studio, recording "Wild Thing" :))

explore 147.....Thanks for your support everyone.

.

This little one, Elena, is perhaps the epitome of the happiness that the

vast majority of the children I met in the barrio villa esperanza exhibited.

She laughed and giggled the whole time I was in the yard of her home.

No toys, no treats, no mickey mouse....just happy to be alive, it seemed.

All images in the "child of hope" series taken in the barrio Villa Esperanza

(village of hope), Granada, Nicaragua, for Empowerment International

Kathy Adams is the founding director of Empowerment International in

Nicaragua. Their mandate is to get the children of the poorest families into

school & do everything possible to motivate them to stay there, for surely

education is their only hope of escape from abject poverty into a brighter

future. Please check out Kathy's flickrstreams & EI's website. Thank you.

Hi everyone! Am glad to back. Have missed you all. Many thanks to those

of you who came to visit & left messages while I was gone. Hope all is well.

explore 188

___________

Typical scene of social life in the barrio villa esperannza...three generations of one family hanging out together on the street outside their home, watching their daily world pass by and seemingly always willing to interact with "the canadian who came to take photos of the children",. Unfortunately my spanish is pathetic, could fit it inside a peapod, so verbal communication is limited but communication of the heart speaks loudly in any community, especially one of children.1-2-3-4-5-6 children in this image and not a single toy in sight. Wonder if Santa found his way here on christmas eve? Do the kids even know who he is?

..............

NB : Ah, Kathy informs me that President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua decreed that each child in the poverty stricken barrios receive a christmas gift this year. The gifts ran the gamut from barbie dolls to lego sets. Seems Santa found villa esperanza after all :)))

view large on black for detail

all images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International, Nicaragua

explore #331......thank you all for your great support of this project

Juan......Rosa........Armando...........& Maria (seen in the earlier post 'study in barrio beauty". )

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All the children in this family are in Empowerment International's education programme. They all go to school every day. They're all doing well. They all have sponsors who have embraced them. They all may just have a chance at a better future. Take a look at Rosa's daily life below. Not a pretty picture. A child's toil amidst the mud. Yet her beauty shines.

all photos in the 'child of hope' series taken by ana_lee_smith for Empowerment International

___________________

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Such a cute little girl, all alone, standing on the edge of the street in Phnom Pehn.

Its a bit soft, but I like it. (^-^)/

There has to be an experiment going on that they forgot to tell us about. Some test that we're unaware of but are supposed to pass. In the last year we've had a professional football team go winless, a mayor removed from office, our largest industry on life support and needing a government bailout, houses reduced to selling for 1 penny, Tiger Stadium was finally destroyed, the number of abandoned houses approached 100,000, unemployment was between 18 and 50% depending on who's statistics you looked at, a staggering estimated 30,000 homeless people ( determined by the post office ) , and Detroit's population decreased for the 52nd year in a row. Surely this is a bad joke, right?

This was shot at a Anti Brexit Protest in London. A group of men and women standing together for gay pride.

The text was brazenly paraphrased from a Christmas quote by Agnes Pharo. The photo was brazenly downloaded from the web. The sentiment was brazenly inspired by my own experiences meditating in Druid nemeta in Marin County California.

And in the “I Know You Wanted to Know This” department:

You have heard German composer Johann Pachelbel’s 300-year-old Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Basso Continuo a million times even if you don’t recognize the name. It has been cameoed in hundreds of television shows and movies written since 1980, when Robert Redford used it in his 1980 film Ordinary People. But I was already sick of it by 1980, having seen the Joffrey Ballet’s 1972 staging of Gerald Arpino’s Sacred Grove on Mt. Tamalpais -- which featured that music. Arpino's ballet had been inspired by a Druid nemeton on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais in that same Marin County, California.

She is hope and inspiration for the future generations of Monarch butterflies.

I have been growing the host plant (Asclepias syriaca) that Monarchs need to survive since 2010, hoping to contribute in some small way to the survival of the species.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly

You can see more of my Monarch rearing project here:

www.flickr.com/photos/94812913@N03/albums/72157645720487705/

Go, Young Marines around the Nation!!!!

Dani, in repose, has the heart-shaped face of a madonna. She lives in the poverty stricken isolated rural community of Santa Ana, about an hour outside Granada, accessible only by 4-wheel drive. There is no public transportation. Most of the adults of Santa Ana are illiterate and work in the fields or at other menial labour. There is a primary school in Santa Ana and, with the mentoring support of the non-profit organization Empowerment International, education allows the children hope for a brighter future, opportunity to break the relentless cycle of poverty.

Empowerment International

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sincere thanks to Ken Lewis for the poignant compassion of his poetic words

if not our society?

Children of the floating villages of the Tonle Sap, Asia's Great Lake. An older image to break up the monotony of Geisha (^-^)/...Cambodia's on my mind :)

For most of the year the lake is around one meter deep with an area of 2,700 square km, but during the monsoon season, water is pushed up from the Mekong into the lake, increasing its area to 16,000 square km and its depth to up to nine meters, flooding nearby fields and forests. This provides a perfect breeding ground for fish and makes the Tonle Sap ecosystem one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world, supporting over 3 million people and providing over 75% of Cambodia's annual inland fish catch and 60% of Cambodians' protein intake. At the end of the rainy season, the flow reverses and the fish are carried downriver.

The ecological importance of the seasonal flood cycle can’t be overstated. The huge lake and surrounding wetlands created by the flooding support a diverse freshwater fish ecosystem, and the silt deposited by the floods renews forest and farmland alike. As the countries along the course of the Mekong make plans for more upstream dams and navigation channels, the seasonal cycle of the lower Mekong becomes threatened, as do the fisheries and farmlands dependent on it. What is good for one country or region might have devastating consequences for another. The governments in the area face a difficult problem as they try to balance the competing interests of flood control, hydroelectric power, shipping, fishing, agriculture, and environmental protection.

Read more about my experience on the Tonle Sap @

mboogiedown-japan.blogspot.com/2005/10/tonle-sap-asias-gr...

Kathy Adams is the founder & director of Empowerment International, a non-profit organization in Nicaragua & Costa Rica that offers the hope of a better future to the children of the poorest families, by providing an education & all school supplies ( school uniforms, books, etc ) which would not be even remotely affordable for the families, many of whom live on less than $2 a day. Currently there are 267 children enrolled in the programme, which also includes educating the families on the investment-in-the future value of allowing the kids to stay in school, rather than working and / or begging to augment the family's meagre income.. Kathy & her team now also have a photography programme available to the older children, which has proven to both reveal their innate talents & boost their self-esteem. Needless to say, Kathy is a remarkable woman who has chosen to make a difference in this world. Please check out her photostreams & profile..

____________________________

Daniela is 12 years old. Do you remember her from the series of beauties under my last post from Nicaraugua? Please. Take another look at her. She's had great trauma in her young life.Trauma that in our society would warrant years of therapy. No such luck for Daniela. The mother is no longer at home. The responsibility of taking care of the home & family falls on Daniela because she's the oldest . There are 5 younger children and her step-father in the home. She washes, she cooks, she cleans, she takes care of her 2 brothers & 3 sisters. She has no time for a childhood. She's 12 and in grade 3. She's not doing well in school. But who can blame her? How can she have time & energy & focus for learning with the weight of responsibility she is carrying? The father is a good man, a hard-working man who obviously loves his children. When he's not at the school where he works as a security guard, you see him always with several of his children tagging along. He's doing the best he can, I'm sure.

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Maria-Celeste is the mother of Joseline, one of Empowerment International´s

excellent photography students who´s work will be shown in the December

exhibition in San Juan del Sur. I was awe-struck by the refinement and grace

Maria-Celeste exuded in the face of, if not abject daunting poverty in her case

for there are significant classes of poverty among nicaraguan barrio poverty

I have learned & understood, certainly a standard of living I have never known.

Something in the essence of her being seemed to rise like the proverbial phoenix

from the ashes, untouched by the conditions metered upon her simple life.

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Hi, everyone! Greetings from Empowerment International, Nicaragua.Oh my, the kids are fabulous!! When I go with Kathy into the barrio it feels rather like being the pied piper. Children appear from all directions. They love having their photograph taken & are thrilled to view it on the review screen. Many are quiet, even shy, but others are intent on entertaining us with cartwheels, hand- stands, swinging from trees, dancing. They are sweet natured gentle souls, every last one of them, with beautiful smiles. Poverty of spirit is not in evidence among them. Delight & joy in life is.

This is Colochon. He's 15 years old. Was eager to meet him my first day here as he'd already stolen my heart via photos and details of his history in Kathy's stream. His photos do not do him justice. He is stunningly hand-some, like a young greek god, & seemingly un-aware of the impact of his looks.

He lives in the barrio with his mother, who works full time 28 days a month for which she earns $100, and his sister Marguerite, who completed high school within EI's education programme and is now a part-time outreach worker-in-training for EI, making home visits to the families who are participants in the programme. She is also studying computer science. An EI success story by any measure. The father died 18 months ago. He was the at-home parent so now the kids are alone most of the time. Colochon is considered high-risk to drop out of school due to both the negative influence of his non-participating peers and his desire to work and earn his own money now that he is of age to do so. But he is an enthusiastic participant in EI's photography programme, from the first day he picked up a camera he showed fine instinctive talent, andKathy's hope is that this new found passion will inspire him to stay in school.

Empowerment International

Kathy Adams

colochon's photography & those of the other participating kids here

explore 229.

Wishing everyone a Happy 2012! May your New Year be filled with light.

Press "L" for "Light"...

Juan-Carlos is 11 years old and he can't read or write yet. He's repeating

first grade for the second time. There is no one in the home that can read

or write to help him so 3 afternoons a week, after morning school, he rides

his bike to the EI office to get special tutoring from EI's programme director,

Aneilka, who was a school teacher in the barrio for 5 years before joining

Empowerment International. Aneilka gives additional tutoring to 10 of the

children in the programme, 4 of whom have parents who cannot read or

write. Juan-Carlos has 1 brother and one sister. His mom, Paola Marguerite,

is a single mom who works full-time in a factory making clothes. The kids

are looked after by the grandmother before and after school. I met Paola-

Marguerite at the monthly parent meeting with EI staff. She's a charming

woman who carries herself with great dignity & obviously adores Juan-Carlos.

He's a sweet gentle boy, with a beautiful smile. And is so eager to please.

Empowerment International

Kathy Adams

images from the kids in the photography programme

Hi, my dear friends. Once again thank you from the heart for your support of

my postings from EI in Nicaragua. Your fabulous feedback on Alexander's

pic & story is so very much appreciated. I'll catch up with you all, in spades,

when I get back next Thursday. Have a wonderful day, everyone. Be well. Ana.

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One of the young children I befriended during my many visits to Ta Prohm, the famous jungle temple featured in Tomb Raider.Da lives in the village behind the temple, and at the age of only 10, managed to be the best tour guide (along with his friends Run and Ba) I've ever had, despite the fact that his English is still very limited.

I went back to visit Da, Ba, and Run 3 times. My memories of playing with them and having them guide me through and around the temples are some of the best I brought back from Cambodia...

Well, whatever happens on Wall Street in New York, I know I can find this vendor every week at my nephew's soccer (football) match.

He doesn't need $700 billion in credit to keep his cart supplied with candy and snacks. And there will be no lack of customers. The children love what he sells!

Edson H. Edmunds • 1925 - 2007

Last night, I was completely shocked to come across a photo of this grave site online. Sadly, it didn't take long for me to find a corresponding obituary.

Four years before I made my dedication, Mr. Edmunds was my 7th grade English teacher, on whom I had a long, abiding crush. (OK... I was head over heels for him!) Grammar, spelling, and vocabulary took on new meaning. My feelings for him stoked my love for language, for writing, for English and French. He was the first to tell me I had any writing talent.

So there you have it. Now you know why I so often feel compelled to write (not so) short stories under my photos!

The nature of my affection for my dearest teacher has changed over time as I matured emotionally and spiritually, of course, but it has never diminished.

Oh, I knew Mr. Edmunds was getting on in years. He was several years older than my own father. Besides, none of us from the class of '76 are getting any younger. But his telephone number is still listed online in the White Pages. As a matter of fact, I had just been thinking of getting in touch with him. I wanted to tell him about being a grandma, and I really wanted him to see the photos of Bryn-Bryn here on Flickr.

As soon as this photo of his headstone confronted me, I was struck by grief. For now I cry freely, but I count myself fortunate for having known him ("Better to have loved and lost..."). I am also deeply grateful that several years after having been one of Mr. Edmunds' pupils, I began to study what the Bible says about those who are "sleeping in death" (1 Thessalonians 4:13; Ecclesiastes 9:5,11). Without that knowledge, I would be devastated.

I trust in Jehovah for the hope of seeing Mr. Edmunds and his lovely wife Marion again in His promised earthly Paradise through Jesus Christ. 'At that time, God will wipe out every tear from our eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.' The reasons for such acute heartache will be eliminated forever. (Revelation 21:3,4)

"I have hope toward God,... that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." — Acts 24:15

"Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life." — John 5:28,29

About the photo: I put together this tribute in memoriam using two images, one from the Amityville Record obituary and the other from the Find a Grave website. I composed the photo using free software by Rhapsoft called LiveQuartz.

the taller girl, Carla, seemed fully aware of the camera at all times during my visit to Santa Ana and charmed the lens at every opportunity. Her beauty, poise and presence was extraordinary, like that of a cover girl for a teen magazine. Innate qualities that far outshone the conditions of poverty, isolation and lack of privilege she lived in in the rural community of Santa Ana, a community also under the wing of Empowerment International's non-profit education programme. Her friend, Dani, is featured in the next portrait.

all images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International

(repost)

Explore #435, Nov 12, 2008... HBW!!!

When Maria Guadalupe came out of her house & into the yard to meet me, to have her photograph taken for the Empowerment International education programme she participates in, she was rather sullen, in a way that can be typical of young teens anywhere. When I showed her, in the review screen, how beautiful she was in the first picture, she warmed up right away & gave me this direct gaze & lovely gentle smile *~*

all images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International

Typical scene of social life in the barrio villa esperannza...three generations of one family hanging out together on the street outside their home, watching their daily world pass by and seemingly always willing to interact with "the canadian who came to take photos of the children",. Unfortunately my spanish is pathetic, could fit it inside a peapod, so verbal communication is limited but communication of the heart speaks loudly in any community.1-2-3-4-5-6 children in this image and not a single toy in sight. Wonder if Santa found his way here on christmas eve? Do the kids even know who he is?

..............

NB : Ah, Kathy informs me that President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua decreed that each child in the poverty stricken barrios receive a christmas gift this year. The gifts ran the gamut from barbie dolls to lego sets. Seems Santa found villa esperanza after all :)))

all images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International

barrio Villa Esperanza, Granada.

all images in the "child of hope" series taken for Empowerment International