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Who we are
Caritas Asia is one of the seven Regional Offices under the Confederation of Caritas Internationalis (CI). Its establishment came about when the Asian members of the confederation decided to establish a regional office in Asia, during the General Assembly of CI in 1999 in Rome. With the endorsement and approval of the CI General Assembly on the same year, Caritas Asia was subsequently constituted as the regional office of the CI confederation in Asia. Since then, CA has been serving as the regional coordinating office of all the member organizations operating in countries and territories in the Asian continent.
Where we are in Asia
Upcoming Events
Caritas Member Organizations in Asia participated in the last Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 3 – 6 July 2018.
The three-day Conference attracted 3,500 people to the Mongolian capital from over 1,500 organizations including representatives from more than 50 countries. At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister of Mongolia, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, issued a powerful call for the countries of the region to work together to reduce disaster losses. "The pursuit of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a clear necessity for this region,"he said.[1].
Caritas was represented by Caritas India, Caritas Bangladesh, Caritas Nepal, KMSS-Caritas Myanmar and Caritas Mongolia, as well as CRS of Bangladesh and Nepal offices, with support from KARINA, Caritas Germany, Caritas Australia and Caritas Internationalis.
Our participation aimed to showcase Caritas' work in building community resilience against disaster risks in the region through presentations of Community Engagement in Building Back Better (India), A Guide For Practitioners and an example of Facilitating Community-led Disaster Risk Management (DRM) planning (Bangladesh) as well as Experience and Challenges of Dzud Response (Mongolia) during the Side Event, Market Place and Ignite Stage sessions respectively.
Father Pierrot Kasemuana, Executive Director of Caritas Mongolia, stated that this event is very strategic and served as an opportunity to put Mongolia on "the map of disaster risk reduction" efforts in the region. Caritas confederation, represented by Father Pierrot Kasemuana, strongly called for a global approach to address the root cause during the Official Statement session, "Building back better will remain ineffective and inefficient unless there is a global approach of integral human development in addressing the root causes of the ecological and environmental problems which are political in nature, strongly influencing the humanitarian situation".
The conference was officially closed on 6 July 2018 with a shared commitment from all attendants to contribute to the implementation of Sendai Framework.
Find out more about the conference in general here. For Caritas documents click here or visit our Facebook page and twitter account.
[1]UNISDR, 6 July 2018
"Think of me when you see a migrant in your community"
Quote from a participant of the conference who happens to also be a migrant
Caritas Asia organized the Asia Regional Conference for Caritas' global campaign "Share the Journey" in Bangkok, Thailand, on 11-13 June 2018. The conference was attended by 105 staff of the Caritas Member Organizations in Asia, Global Partners, CI, and Caritas network in Asia, including Archbishop Isao Kikuchi, the President of Caritas Asia, and Mr. Michel Roy, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis.
After the opening Mass, Archbishop Isao shared in his opening remarks, "This year's forum is anchored on our Confederation's global migration campaign, "Share the Journey". We have chosen this as our theme, because it is very fitting for our region. Asia also hosts the largest undocumented flow of migrants in the world, mainly between neighboring countries. This phenomenon indeed demonstrates just how big of a thing migration is in our region."
Cardinal Tagle, who could not attend the event in Asia, sent an inspiring recorded message from Brazil to participants of the Conference. He shared, "I have a journey. You have a journey. By that encounter, we hope we can share the journey. We can walk together. We can protect one another. We can promote the human dignity of the migrant. We can defend them, and we can integrate them into the wider society."
Mr. Michel Roy, in his keynote address shared the concrete realization that we are one human family. Another realization was that even people born in a difficult place, should be able to live a dignified life. And thus, here is an invitation for all of us to grow with others, regardless of the affluence or depressed areas.
He added that Caritas is called to transform the world, to humanize the world and put the human first. We can also serve to inspire the world. The quality of Caritas' engagement is the barometer of our own humanity. This translates into the way we meet and welcome migrants and this will bring the collective consciousness to a higher level so that the efforts will go on even after the campaign.
Following the keynote address, Nuncio Paul Tschang launched the Share the Journey exhibition from the four sub regions in Asia.
Later in the day, Leeza of Caritas India, also representing CI Global Campaign Working Group, shared during her presentation how international migration has become one of the greatest challenges of our time and it is a crisis, not in the crisis of migration, but as a crisis of global solidarity.
Father John Murray of NCCM-Caritas Thailand, also reminded the conference participants during his presentation on the 20 Action Points --The Church's Principles and Guidelines on Working with Migrants and Refugees,"We are much more than just an NGO, as we work to help people and build a better world. We have a firm foundation; our faith. So these 20 action points which are principles for our action with and for migrants remain ever in place, knowing them to be not just unreachable goals in some ideal reality".
The conference participants engaged in group discussions on migration issues and initiatives in the region, which was followed by presentation sharing from the four sub regions in Asia on what their plans to contribute to the Global Week of Action.
The reality of the cause for the global campaign took shape as participants listened to the sharing from seven migrant workers and urban refugees who found their way to Thailand. These brave people represented the unspoken heroes of the campaign. Although it was upsetting to learn that migrants have been through much hardship and endured unimaginable pain, and there was still fear in their hearts, they had pushed through in search of positive change. Most have learnt to empower themselves, and find ways to make a living and care forothers:
"As an immigrant, I learnt to be a hustler to survive, and importantly, now I learn how to teach in order to support the community. Anger and vengeance takes too much from a person; drains you of energy and it is not motivating. So now, every day I am turning my negatives into positives"
Share the Journey is a Caritas led global campaign aimed at bringing migrants and communities closer together. The 2-year campaign was launched by Pope Frances on 27 September 2017 from St. Peter's Square in Rome. For more on Share the Journey, please visit journey.caritas.org.
Visit Share the Journey page for more information and our video from Asia. Click here for more detailed info on the conference.
"Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It's a disgrace that people are treated as objects, deceived, raped, often sold many times for different purposes and, in the end, killed or, in any case, physically and mentally damaged, ending up thrown away and abandoned" - Pope Francis (Source: Catholic news Services Dec 12, 2013).
Ms. Rosy (Changed name), a human trafficking survivor from Myanmar, was invited to share her heartfelt story of how she was trafficked and exploited to work in a rubber plantation in Mya Wa Di border (Myanmar, close to Thai border) after her husband was bribed using beers. She managed to escape after she was connected with the task force.
Fighting human trafficking is not a sole responsibility of one person or one institution as stressed by Mr. Jirawat Chenpasuk of Caritas Thailand that trafficking is transnational crime. Thus, it is imperative to collaborate, strengthen our collective voice, and maximize our resources.
Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS) organized Blue Heart Campaign on a World day against Human Trafficking with a straightforward objective "To educate people participation to end modern slavery". The event was held on People's Square and People's Park of Yangon, Myanmar on August 6, 2017 and was able to attract around 800 people from various ages and groups to support the campaign, including Anti- Trafficking Task Force of Yangon, Myanmar, Sisters of Good Shepherd Community, Caritas Members and Partners (Cambodia, Vietnam, Macau, Singapore, Spain, Thailand) and mass media.
Besides stickers, t-shirts and posters, the attendants also learned more about the cause, impact and ways to prevent human trafficking through games and songs by popular local singers who share their concerns on human trafficking. There were booths hosted by different agencies, such as KMSS, GMS-Anti Trafficking Task Force of Caritas in Asia Region, ISSARA Institute, IOM, GSMF, FED, RATNA MAHAL Education Care Group and the Anti Trafficking Task Force of Yangon Region that provided more information based on their experiences respectively.
This special occasion is hoped to raise public awareness and to empower the vulnerable people, particularly women and children, and strengthen their ties with many key stakeholders who are working in combating human trafficking.
Caritas Bangladesh has its headquarters in the capital, Dhaka and has eight other diocesan offices. It works in integrated development, disaster management and human resource development. Nearly 6 000 staff and volunteers implement its programmes at national and diocesan level.
Caritas Bangladesh began in 1967 as Caritas East Pakistan. Following the devastating cyclone of November 1970, it was re-organised and became known as the Christian Organisation for Relief and Rehabilitation (CORR). The name Caritas was re-introduced in 1976.
Caritas Bangladesh is implementing over 80 on-going projects based around 4 main priorities:
Education, formation and capacity building: programmes in regional technical schools, training centres, pre-primary and primary schools.
Social justice and human rights: programmes in justice & peace, micro-finance, supporting vulnerable youth and community development.
Health and care: helping the elderly and disabled people, those struggling with addiction or suffering from leprosy and tuberculosis, pregnant and new mothers and their children.
Sustainable livelihood and disaster management: working to end extreme poverty, to combat climate change through adaptation and risk reduction, to improve horticulture and the management of natural resources.
Many Caritas members are among Caritas Bangladesh's partners, including Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Korea, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Taiwan, CRS, Canada, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Macau, Indonesia, Portugal, CAFOD, Cordaid, SCIAF and Secours Catholique.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas India was founded in 1962 and has been working ever since for the emancipation of the underprivileged and the marginalized irrespective of their caste, creed, ethnicity and religion. In the last fifty years, Caritas India has reached out to millions of poor and helped them overcome poverty and deprivation.
Its major programmes are in the management of natural resources, emergency response, community health, equality, peace building and promoting the rights of indigenous communities. Caritas India works to strengthen civil society organisations in partnership with the government and over 350 NGOs across the country. The network is coordinated by 5 regional offices and can call on 250,000 vibrant volunteers.
Caritas India has worked with many international Caritas partner organisations such as Caritas Germany, Caritas Netherlands (Cordaid), Caritas France, Caritas Japan, Caritas Denmark, Caritas Ireland-Trocaire, Caritas Belgium, Caritas Spain, Caritas Italy, Caritas Austria, Caritas Australia, Caritas Korea, Caritas England and Wales-CAFOD, Catholic Relief Services USA, Caritas Portugal, Caritas Scotland and Caritas Switzerland.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Nepal was founded in 1990 by the Catholic Church to respond to the devastating floods and other natural disasters that occurred. Beginning as a 3 member team the agency has grown and expanded their range of services and today operates in 50 of the 75 districts in Nepal. As the social arm of Catholic Church in Nepal, Caritas Nepal aims to apply animation and sector specific participatory approaches to empower the poor, women, marginalised, and disadvantaged people to reduce poverty, secure humanitarian assistance to refugees and in times of emergency and conflict, and realise social justice and peace.
One of the main intervention areas of Caritas Nepal is to promote sustainable agriculture to enable small farmer households to realise food security and sustainable livelihoods, as about two thirds of the population is dependent on agriculture for livelihood. Collaborating with Caritas Australia, they implemented a national campaign, "IPM Program for Small Farmers", in 24 districts of Nepal to distribute seeds, promote the use of vermin-composting and animal waste for organic fertilizers, and advocate for small farmers to improve their household food security, incomes, and farming sustainability.
Another major focus of Caritas Nepal's work, in a country prone to natural disasters, lies in preparedness and emergency relief. After flash floods and landslides were triggered by heavy rains in 2009, displacing an estimated 2,500 households, Caritas Nepal mobilised teams to provide emergency supplies in the form of food and non-food items to families in need. Once the flood waters receded, Caritas Nepal initiated livelihood assistance and sustainable food security programmes to help them recover from the significant loss of food stocks and livestock.
In addition, Caritas Nepal instituted a national programme on prevention of trafficking and HIV/AIDS, through measures such as awareness-raising sessions, a radio programme and street drama. Smaller projects, often carried out through partner agencies, include skills development, savings and credit programmes, and education programmes for children displaced by the war.
Caritas Nepal main office in Kathmandu employs around 20 staff and volunteers to carry out the agency's activities.
As a member of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia, Caritas Nepal has collaborated with Caritas Germany, Caritas Australia, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, Catholic Relief Services USA, Caritas Belgium, Caritas Austria, Caritas Italy, Caritas France, Caritas Korea, Caritas Singapore and Caritas Japan.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Pakistan was established in 1965. Through time, it advanced from a relief work organisation into a development organisation. What makes it unique throughout the country is its ongoing presence in communities, before, during and after crisis situations, serving the poor, children, women and men of all races and religions. Caritas empowers people to participate fully in all matters affecting their lives, and it advocates on their behalf at national and international forums.
Its mandate includes integral development, advocacy, peace building, respect for human rights, support for proper stewardship of the environment and emergency relief. As regards to all calamities and disaster occurring in Pakistan, its main interventions in this area are: Emergency Response and Preparedness, Disaster Risk Reduction, Livelihood, Peace Building, Capacity Building and Health and WASH Project.
Major development projects include Rehabilitation of Nagarparker in the South of Pakistan in the year 2000 (Construction of Dams, Water tanks and Reservoirs). It also played a key role being part of the consortium of agencies delivering a multi-million dollar programme for support to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Caritas Pakistan is active in the rehabilitation of the victims of the earthquake of October 2005, the massive floods of 2010, 2011 and 2012. In the rehabilitation phase, Caritas Pakistan is involved in the sectors of Health, Livelihood and Shelter.
Food for all, climate change, tree plantation and disaster awareness are relevant campaigns carried out by the organisation. These and other activities are implemented through the seven diocesan units and the National Secretariat, with the work of its nationwide staff plus 5000 volunteers.
Major partners include confederation members, UN agencies, humanitarian organizations as well as government associated organizations.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC is the social arm of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. The Social & Economic Development Centre (SEDEC) was founded in 1968 by Rev. Fr. Joe Fernando, a missionary priest who was motivated by the social teachings of the Church and the need to serve the poor and marginalized sectors of society. Over the years, SEDEC has grown and expanded its services and is now the National Centre of the Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Development. It has a countrywide network of 13 diocesan centres covering all the districts of Sri Lanka.
The extensive range of Caritas Sri Lanka's programmes and campaigns include:
- Assisting post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation in the North and East of Sri Lanka through housing, livelihood creation, psychosocial support and community empowerment.
- Promoting social justice and sustainable peace in post-war Sri Lanka.
- The Safe Migration programme – protection of the rights of Sri Lankan workers in the Middle East and assistance to migrant returnees.
- Bridge-building among communities to create understanding, trust and acceptance.
- Integral human development through community empowerment.
- Community Based Disaster Preparedness Programme.
- Child Rights and Child Protection Programme
- Study of human dignity from the perspectives of different religions
- Educational scholarships for deserving poor children
- Gender awareness programmes.
- Human rights education programmes.
- Water management and conservation programme in rural and remote areas of Sri Lanka.
- Green Gold Harvest programme to empower plantation populations living on tea estates.
- Awareness programmes on the Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka.
- Awareness programmes on drug and alcohol abuse.
- Emergency relief for people affected by natural disasters such as floods, cyclones and landslides.
- Programmes to protect the rights of fishermen.
Caritas Sri Lanka's national centre is located in the Archdiocese of Colombo. The agency employs 60 national staff and 210 volunteers to carry out its services to the far corners of the island through the 13 diocesan centres.
Caritas Sri Lanka's work involves collaboration with Caritas Internationalis members such as Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, Caritas Australia, Caritas Belgium, Caritas Korea, Caritas Denmark, Caritas England & Wales (CAFOD), Caritas Spain, Caritas France (Secours Catholique), Caritas Germany, Caritas Italy, Caritas Japan, Caritas Luxembourg, Caritas Norway, Caritas Poland, Caritas Portugal, Caritas Scotland (SCIAF), Caritas Slovenia, Caritas Sweden, Caritas Switzerland, Catholic Relief Services USA and Caritas Singapore-CHARIS.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Cambodia is the social development arm of the Catholic Church in Cambodia and has been built on the values of Love, Concern, Peace, Unity, Sharing and Brotherhood. Caritas Cambodia first began its work in Cambodia in 1972 to help the victims of war, and functioned until 1975 when it was forced to leave the country. After the interruption during the years of the Khmer Rouge regime and the following years of conflict, Caritas Cambodia was re-established in 1990.
Caritas helps the poorest of the poor. We focus on the most disadvantaged, displaced, and vulnerable people and communities. Caritas works in solidarity with all people of good will and similar vision, and assists the poor solely on the basis of need, and not creed. We strive to promote human dignity, alleviate suffering, and foster charity, justice, and peace. We currently work in 12 provinces and support Village Development Associations in over 300 villages.
Since 2016 Caritas Cambodia has been developing its new strategic framework (2017-2021). As we enter into the next five years, Caritas Cambodia is committed to continue focusing and working with the poor, to empower them, promote justice, and integral development. Under its new framework, the vision, mission statement and guiding values have been slightly revised but built on the same foundation of serving the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable communities. Our strategic framework (2017-2021) covers five pillars:
- Emergency Response, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, and Ecological Protection: An efficient and effective Disaster Management ensuring rapid response and Disaster risk Reduction and Ecological Protection
- Integral Human Development (IHD): Improve quality of lives of the poor through an integral development process
- Anti-human trafficking and Migration: Ensure safe migration and ending modern slavery
- Advocacy and Communication : Effective Communication and Advocacy
- Good governance : Effective and strong governance on humanitarian and social development work for the poor and vulnerable communities
A just society where the rights of the people, especially the poor and marginalized are respected and integral human development is attained
Mission statement
In order to achieve this vision, Caritas will be an institution to
- Contribute to enhance, promote; and protect human dignity of the poor
- Liberate them from the clutch of poverty.
- Commit to empower the poor through animation and holistic, inclusive development
Our work and achievement would not have been possible without the support of all partners from Caritas family and other partners/donors who have supported us financially and spiritually. Thank and convey our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all the partners/donors.
"We are committed to continue delivering lasting change to the poorest communities. The support from all donors and partners helps us to move forward our vision and mission".
For more information about Caritas Cambodia, visit our website www.caritascambodia.org.
KARINA or Caritas Indonesia is officially registered as a Foundation. It was established on 17th May, 2006 by the Bishop Conference of Indonesia as a humanitarian arm body of the Indonesian Catholic Church.
The given mandate of KARINA is as a center of coordination, facilitation and animation of the humanitarian services of the Indonesia Catholic Church. In responding to humanitarian needs, KARINA works closely with Diocesan Caritas or other Socio-pastoral Commissions of the dioceses.
KARINA's works focus on provision of humanitarian needs of the people affected by disasters, natural as well as human made disaster. In responding to the people in need, KARINA commits to promote peace, justice, human rights and interreligious dialogue in humanitarian action.
Since its establishment in May 2006, KARINA has been actively involving in humanitarian services, such as emergency response, management of disaster risk reduction, building resilience community living in prone areas of disaster, providing capacity building for Diocesan Caritas staff and community's facilitators. KARINA and its networks present across Indonesia, represented by 37 Dioceses.
Goal of the last 5 years strategic plan of KARINA (2013-2017) is that 'people who are living in prone areas of disasters become more resilient in managing disaster risk and are able to recover and restoring their dignified life. To achieve this goal, in collaboration with local Caritas and Dioceses, KARINA has been implementing various project services in the Dioceses (Sibolga, Medan, Palembang, Tanjungkarang, Bandung, Purwokerto, Semarang, Surabaya, Ruteng, Maumere, Ende, Larantuka, Kupang, Amboina, Jayapura, Manada, Makassar, Palangkaraya, Ketapang, Pontianak, Merauke, etc.).
To ensure success of the program services, KARINA has been collaborating with government and other humanitarian organizations. KARINA is a member of Caritas Internationalis Confederation. At a national level, KARINA also becomes a member of some forums working on humanitarian issues; such as Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, Disaster Risk Reduction Forum and some clusters.
Legal Status and Structure of KARINA
Legal status of KARINA is as a Foundation. It is registered by the Department of Law and Human Right of the Republic Indonesia. Boards of Foundation consist of 3 governance bodies: Governing Board, Supervisory Boards and Executive Boards. To implement its program services, the Executive Boards point out an Executive Director. Here is the organizational structure of KARINA:
1. Governing Boards:
Head : Msgr. Martinus Dogma Situmorang
Secretary : Msgr. Aloysius Maryadi Sutrisnaatmaka
Members : 1) Msgr. Edmun Woga and 2) Msgr. Hubertus Leteng
2. Supervisory Boards:
Head : Msgr. Petrus Turang
Members : 1) Msgr. Silvester San and 2) Msgr. Lucius Pardame Simanulang
3. Executive Boards:
Head : Mgr. Ayolsius Sudarso
Vice : RP. Adrianus Hariadi Padmaseputra
Secretary : MJL. Sri Murniati
Treasurer : RD. Y. Edy Purwanto
Members : 1) Fr. F. Teguh Santosa, 2) Fr. S. Dany Sanusi, OSC, 3) Fr. J. Emanuel Embu,
SVD, 4) Mrs Christina Meirawati, 5) Devie Kusumaputri
4. Executive Director: Fr. Adrianus Suyadi, SJ
Caritas Malaysia is currently not operational
Karuna Myanmar Social Services (KMSS) was founded in 2001 and works to help people living in one of Asia's poorest countries where over one third of the population live in poverty. Inspired by the Catholic Social Teaching principle of "Option for the Poor", KMSS is established and mandated by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar (CBCM) as its social arm to serve the poor and the needy.
The specific areas of the Church's mission give attention to integral human development, realisation of justice and peace, environmental protection, education, HIV/AIDS, humanitarian assistance and emergency relief services.
Caritas Mynamar Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Emergency Response provides emergency relief following natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes and cyclones, as well as long-term recovery programmes that rebuilds homes and schools, repairs infrastructure, protects livelihoods and builds the capacity of local organisations.
In 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions of Myanmar, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, leaving more than two million people homeless and causing $10 billion total damage. Caritas Myanmar working in partnership with other Caritas members intervened to provide short and long-term assistance to distribute food, rebuild and repair homes, construct wells to restore safe drinking water, provide grants for small business and livelihood opportunities for non-farm based livelihoods for the landless poor, and counselling and training for villagers to respond to the psycho-social needs of their communities.
Caritas Myanmar has a range of programmes that include agriculture projects such as vegetable gardens and fruit tree plantations, pre-school teacher training and management training for school-committee members, capacity building for young people to build skills in organising and managing community development projects and health education sessions to distribute mosquito nets, toilet bowls and safe drinking water.
Caritas Myanmar programmes address the pressing concern of the 240,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, the second largest population of sufferers in South East Asia. Its prevention and education programmes help people living with HIV to be integrated into the workplace.
KMSS National Office (KMSS-National Office) is located in Yangon and has 16 Caritas diocesan offices.
Caritas Myanmar is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia and receives support from Caritas Italy, Caritas Switzerland and Caritas Australia, which support 11 programmes that focus on disaster risk reduction, emergency assistance, HIV/AIDS, and water and sanitation.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Philippines is locally known as the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA). It was created by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 1966 and mandated to accompany the poor and marginalized in the just and legitimate struggle for social justice and transformation.
Work carried out by Caritas Philippines/NASSA includes:
Sustainable agriculture and rural development: Contributes to the alleviation of poverty by supporting low-cost input production technology to increase family incomes and food security. It upgrades, broadens and preserves the genetic resource base of agricultural production through biodiversity conservation A flagship programme is a campaign for agrarian reform.
Ecological protection and promotion of the integrity of creation: Secures and preserves the sustainability of creation through the building of a critical mass of ecology activists who can prevent ecologically-aggressive policies and engage in community-based ecology projects.
Political education for democratic governance: Promotes good governance through popular education set on the premise of political maturity and reforms. The programme provides training and forums to communities to encourage them to participate in government affairs.
Protection and promotion of women's and children's rights to development: Promotes gender sensitive adherence to social equity in development interventions and against the marginalization of women and children.
Relief and Rehabilitation: Provides assistance to victims of natural and man-made calamities in the form of rapid emergency response and rehabilitation programmes. Disaster management and preparedness training is provided to communities, particularly to the most vulnerable population of the country, in order to boost their readiness and resilience.
HIV/AIDS: Spearheads the Philippine church's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by including HIV/AIDS in development programmes or through HIV-specific activities that engage different sectors of society.
Advocacy and campaign: Consolidates the social action network's campaigns and advocacy and raises them to national and international levels.
Caritas Philippines/NASSA serves as the Secretariat for the Social Action Network composed of the Diocesan Social Action Centres (DSAC) organised in 85 dioceses in the country.
NASSA Caritas Philippines is a member of Caritas Internationalis. In implementing development programmes, Caritas Philippines is supported by Development and Peace (Caritas Canada), Caritas Spain, Caritas Korea, Entraide et Fraternite, UNDP, Misereor and Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund.
The agency is also supported is by The Italian Bishops Conference, CHARIS of Singapore and other local and institutional partners.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Singapore was set up in November 2006 as the social and charitable arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. It provides coordination, direction and leadership to 23 Catholic social mission groups carrying out work for the poor and the community.
The Catholic social mission groups under its umbrella serve a wide array of constituencies of need that includes the poor and destitute families, youth and children, prisoners, persons with HIV/AIDS and terminal illnesses, people with physical and mental challenges, migrant workers, overseas needy as well as those with legal and medical needs.
Caritas Singapore provides core programmes to further its social mission work. It mobilises funds, resources and other support from the Catholic community to fulfil the Church's charitable tasks. It runs formation programmes to communicate and educate the broader Catholic community on the Church's Social teachings. Caritas Singapore also works with its Catholic social mission groups to help the broader community become more aware of the causes and plights faced by the poor and marginalised in the community in its advocacy efforts.
As a member of Caritas Singapore, Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS) was established in August 2010 as the umbrella body for overseas humanitarian aid by the Archdiocese of Singapore. Humanitarian situations cover natural disasters and other adverse circumstances faced by the poor and needy, especially in developing countries in the region.
Aid provided by CHARIS includes funding, medical aid and volunteers for immediate relief as well as the long-term support of those displaced and in need.
Credited: caritas.org
Formerly known as the Catholic Commission for Human Development, Caritas Thailand was founded in 1972 to carry out the Church's holistic human development work.
At home or abroad, Caritas Thailand is able to deploy immediate and effective humanitarian relief to people in need. It has recently worked in close partnership with the global Caritas network to provide humanitarian aid to thousands of Syrian refugees, providing food and medical care.
Caritas Thailand's programmers include providing care and support to the elderly and the disabled, developing sustainable agriculture projects and exploring methods to prevent child trafficking and exploitation.
In addition, Caritas Thailand in conjunction with Caritas Spain has established 2 learning centres and an orphanage in Mae Sot, Tak Province to support vulnerable Burmese migrants in Thailand.
The Caritas Thailand Secretariat in Bangkok serves as the hub for the 10 Caritas Diocesan organisations spread throughout the country. Nationally, the agency employs approximately 500 staff and 500 volunteers.
As a member of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia, Caritas Thailand often collaborates and receives support from the global Caritas network – such as Caritas Spain.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Vietnam was founded in South Vietnam in 1965 but in 1976 it was ordered to cease operations and hand over all possessions to the government. The moratorium lasted for 22 years until the agency was re-established in June 2008. Today, Caritas Vietnam focuses on capacity building at the national level and for the 26 diocesan Caritas.
Caritas Vietnam programmes aim to promote integral human development and to deliver emergency assistance. It organises workshops on HIV/AIDS to prevent the spread of the epidemic. The workshops include training and counseling. Caritas Vietnam's social service activities include campaigns to help dioceses boost education and life skills for young people, water projects to improve the health of leprosy patients and support to people living with disabilities. It runs a scholarship programme for poor students.
Caritas Vietnam main office in Ho Chi Minh City employs 14 staff and consists of 4 departments – education and training, communication, life services and finance. The agency guides and coordinates the work of the 26 Caritas diocesan offices.
Caritas Vietnam is a member of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia and works in partnership with Caritas Germany, Caritas France, Catholic Relief Services USA, Caritas Japan, Caritas Singapore, Caritas Slovakia and Caritas Norway.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Hong Kong (CHK) was founded in 1953 by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong to offer relief and rehabilitation services to the poor and the distressed. It has continuously developed and modified its work in response to the changing needs of Hong Kong.
Caritas Hong Kong operates 6 clinics and 2 private hospitals, providing quality healthcare at reasonable prices. It supports young girls who are pregnant, families in crisis and in debt, addicted gamblers, survivors of sexual abuse and children with learning difficulties.
Caritas Hong Kong's educational services are committed to serving the disadvantaged and vulnerable through caring and quality education. The agency also is in the process of setting up a Catholic University in Hong Kong.
Caritas Hong Kong Mainland Services provide humanitarian assistance to poor villages delivers emergency aid for victims of natural disasters and redevelops large community centres.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Japan work first began in 1946, right after the end of the war in the Pacific, receiving and distributing relief goods from LARA (Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia) and CARE (Cooperation for American Relief for Everywhere). The agency was established as Caritas Japan in 1970 as the working body of the Committee of Bishops on Social Issues with an aim to promote collaboration among Catholic social welfare groups in Japan as well as to work in close cooperation with Caritas Internationalis. Over the years, Caritas Japan has rendered humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to a wide variety of crisis, such as support for refugees from Indochina (Vietnam) in 1975 and aid for a Rwandan refugee camp in 1994.
Caritas Japan showed solidarity with the victims following the unprecedented Great Japan earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. It provided immediate large scale relief supplies such as food, clean water, blankets, temporary shelter, medicine and hygiene packets to over 15,000 people in the disaster zone.
Once the debris was cleared, long-term rehabilitation efforts commenced to provide livelihood restoration for fishers and farmers, psycho-social care, reconstruction of a shopping and day care centre, and the deployment of 10,000 volunteers to provide social service activities at children centres and institutions for the disabled and elderly.
Caritas Japan programmes includes social awareness campaigns to address the issue of suicide and an annual Lenten campaign to raise funds for their programmes.
Caritas Japan General Secretariat in Tokyo employs 6 staff that works closely with the 16 Caritas diocesan offices, 60 staff and thousands of volunteers to guide and coordinate activities..
Caritas Japan actively collaborates with the world wide Caritas network in over 20 human development projects worldwide.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Korea was founded in 1975 as the Human Development Committee, becoming a full-fledged member of Caritas Internationalis in 1979. Its development programme aims to empower people trapped in poverty and to enhance their capability to look after themselves.
Caritas Korea overseas programmes include education projects to support primary education in Nepal, Afghanistan and Burundi and projects to achieve sustainable agricultural and water development in Kenya, Ethiopia and Nepal.
In addition, Caritas Korea provides access to healthcare for families in Iraq, offers dental services for Palestine children, supports people with disabilities and has anti-trafficking programmes for women and children in Asian countries.
Since 1993, Caritas Korea has been responding to emergency and disaster situations at home and abroad providing relief supplies rapidly, effectively and professionally. It provided aid following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and continues to be the facilitating partner providing aid to the people of North Korea on behalf of Caritas member organisations.
Caritas Korea's main office in Seoul employs 10 staff; there are 100 others in the 15 Caritas diocesan offices.
Caritas Korea works in close partnership with all the Caritas member agencies, such as Caritas Japan, Caritas Germany and Catholic Relief Services USA. In addition, the agency actively collaborates with Caritas partners in Asia such as Caritas Bangladesh, Caritas Sri Lanka, Caritas Thailand, Caritas Cambodia and Caritas Myanmar.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Macau work began in the early 1950s as 'Casa Ricci Social Services' when it assisted refugees from mainland China with food, shelter, jobs, education and integration into society. It became Caritas Macau in 1971 when it was incorporated into the Catholic Diocese of Macau as its social service arm. Today, Caritas Macau services continue to grow to respond to the increasing difficulties caused by inflation and lack of social services.
Caritas Macau has 34 small and medium-sized centres spread throughout Macau to support over 1,000 people every year. The services provide 24 hour a day support for the elderly and those who are bedridden and frail, residential services to those with mental and physical disabilities, economic and psychological support for single parents and people who left prison.
Caritas Macau is the only agency in the Macau with services that provide housing for homeless people.
Caritas Macau also runs a food bank to distribute food to 2,200 elderly and low-income families who frequently use the service, roughly 1 percent of all families in Macau.
Caritas Macau main office in Macau has a staff of 600 employees and volunteers to take care of the agency's social service centres.
Caritas Macau is a member of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Taiwan – the Commission for Social Development – was founded in 1969 and is mandated by the Chinese Regional Bishops Conference to help people at the national level and abroad. Taiwan has a dynamic economy, from low-technology goods to higher–value manufacturing and exports, mainly in electronics and computers. Caritas Taiwan works with people living in challenging conditions, who do not feel the benefit of this prosperity.
Caritas Taiwan emergency relief and rehabilitation services provides help to those living in areas that are hit by natural calamities. The agency collaborates with local parishes in China to provide supplies in the form of food, clothing and medicine to victims of the massive earthquake in China and provided rehabilitation services to the areas affected by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
Caritas Taiwan provides assistance to the local people in the different rural areas in China to help them develop their poor communities. The projects include construction of roads, school buildings and libraries, water system for irrigation and organising public health education seminars. Summer camps are also organised for children living with HIV/AIDS and for those children whose parents migrated in bigger cities to find better sources of living.
Caritas Taiwan special concern for the youth provides services to reach the poorest children to bring them the opportunity of education by subsidizing the tuition fees of more than 1,000 school children whose families can barely afford to pay. The subsidy also includes the salaries of school teachers to meet the needs of the schools and to educate the children.
Caritas Twain also renders services to the Overseas Contract Workers and other nationals in Taiwan through its migrant desk. The programme for the migrants are as follows: information and education in different areas of Taipei diocese, empowerment, repatriation assistance, case management counseling, visits to the detention centre, referrals, lobbying and advocacy for the cause of the migrant workers especially for the revision of the Household Service Act for the caregivers/domestic workers.
Caritas Twain main office in Taipei City employs 11 staff to carry out their social services and activities.
Caritas Taiwan works in partnership with the world-wide network of Caritas Internationalis, such as Caritas Mongolia, Caritas Korea, and a project involving Caritas Hong Kong and Caritas Macau to organise spiritual exercises for those working in social services.
Credited: caritas.org
Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction ! Apology This Page is underconstruction !
Caritas Mongolia began its work helping marginalised people and providing emergency relief in 2001 after an Indian priest, Fr. Yvon Ambroise, visited social services projects following a dzuud, or severe long winter. In 1999-2000 this had directly affected 450 000 herders and killed about 3 million animals. Many herders, after they lost their livestock, moved to urban areas where they struggled to find work and shelter.
Collaboration with other Caritas organisations has been vital to the work of Caritas Mongolia. It has allowed it to expand its programmes to include education, social and humanitarian assistance, migration and the rebuilding of livelihoods. Reducing the impact of natural disasters has also been a priority.
In 2012, working side by side with Caritas Czech Republic, Caritas Mongolia began working on improving conditions in detention centres. It collaborated with Caritas Belgium to integrate immigrants by providing training, health care and income generating activities. With funds from Caritas Poland, 3 dormitories and 15 wells for herders scattered over the steppes were repaired.
Caritas Mongolia also addresses the prevalence of family violence in the country, especially against women. Community-building projects empower them to change society at a family level. A mobile medical unit has been set up to provide people living in remote areas with basic health care. Caritas Mongolia also supports several vocational schools in reforming their curriculums and in pre-school education and is mapping the distribution of water in the north Mongolian town of Mörön.
Caritas Mongolia's main office is located in Ulannabaatar and has 10 staff and 30 volunteers.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Tajikistan is the national Catholic Church's fledgling social-service agency that focuses its efforts on children in need, families, and the sick in this former Soviet republic. With a Catholic community numbering about 2,000, most of the aid to support the Church's charitable efforts is procured from abroad.
"Our aim is to make a modest contribution to the social and moral rebuilding of this splendid country," said Father Juan Carlos Sack, director of Caritas Tajikstan.
In conjunction with other Caritas organisations, Caritas Tajikistan provides humanitarian relief to the poor and marginalized following emergency crises. When catastrophic floods and mudslides struck in 2010, destroying communication lines, bridges and over 2,000 homes leaving hundreds homeless, Caritas Tajikistan and Caritas agencies intervened to provide families food, cookware and fuel for stoves, blankets and pillows, mattresses and hygiene items.
In addition, Caritas Tajikistan co-operated with Care International and Catholic Relief Services USA to provide winter assistance to the elderly, disabled and single mothers to survive the harsh, long Tajikistan winters. The provisions included clothing, sacks of flour, grains, pasta and cooking oil, along with thermos, hot-water bottles and candles.
Complementing Caritas Tajikistan emergency aid are long-term sustainable developmental programmes that provide sanitation facilitates and water access to urban poor communities in Dushanbe, community education workshops and adult skills training in remote rural areas.
Caritas Tajikistan medical assistance programmes help children afflicted with illness, such as cancer and congenital abnormality and play a vital role providing medical equipment to children's hospitals. Moreover, Caritas Italy and various government offices provided funding to open a medical dispensary to serve 30,000 people in a poor district.
Caritas Tajikistan national office is located in Dushanbe and has a staff of 9 employees and 1 volunteer.
Caritas Tajikistan is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia and receives support from the global Caritas network; such as Catholic Relief Services USA, Caritas Italy and Caritas Switzerland. Caritas Switzerland assistance facilitates acquisition of new project funding to develop and implement regional strategies and projects.
Credited: caritas.org
Caritas Uzbekistan began operations in 2002 but because of the government's strict regulation of religious groups, it was forced to act discreetly through small-scale efforts in local parishes. Caritas Uzbekistan's aim is to help people in a country where a fifth of the population lives on less than US$1 per day and 70 percent of people live in terrible rural poverty.
Caritas Uzbekistan works to improve access to affordable medicine for the elderly and children. It also operates a soup kitchen to provide weekly meals to the poor, sick and underprivileged and after-school programmes for children to help develop their social and sporting skills.
Caritas Uzbekistan has a main office in Tashkent and others in five parishes: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Urgench and Fergana.
Caritas Uzbekistan is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Asia and receives support from the worldwide network of Catholic humanitarian agencies.
Credited: caritas.org
Apology this page is under construction!


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You Can't Detect What You Can't See: Illuminating the Entire Kill Chain
As in GNOME 2, users can choose between a Binary, Analog, or Fuzzy clock, as well as a Battery Indicator and CPU Temperature Indicator.
Should you choose, you can also add a Trash Button, a Force Quit button, a Calculator, a Terminal, and a Show Desktop Button, all items that were standards on GNOME 2 panels.
Other applet-like extensions are new, including Area Screenshot, and the self-explanatory Unit Converter and Currency Converter. Even if you are not one of the numerous fans of GNOME 2, you may find some of these useful.
However, if you do prefer GNOME 2, these applets have some major drawbacks. You can't reposition them on the panel, nor can you add custom launchers. Still, they do restore some of the clutter that many users find necessary for efficiency, so they are worth browsing, regardless of your preferences in desktop environments.
If you want to simulate GNOME 2 on top of the latest GNOME release, GNOME Shell extensions will take you a long way toward your goal.
Probably the first addition you will want to add is GNOME Tweak Tool, which is not included on the extensions site, but allows so much customization of the desktop that you will want it anyway.
In particular, GNOME Tweak Tool restores icons to the desktop, but only files -- if you want to add applications, then make symbolic links and add them to the Desktop folder via the file manager. If all you want is icons, you might want only the toggle switch provided by Desktop Icons Switch.
Returning to the extensions site, you might continue by adding the Frippery Bottom Panel, which includes a task bar and a virtual workspace pager. The workspace pager is basic, allowing you to set only the number of workspaces and the number of rows in which they are displayed on the panel, so you might prefer WorkSpace Indicator instead.
Next, if you want to rid yourself of the overview, the Frippery Applications Menu will remove the Activities button on the top panel and replace it with an Applications menu.
The result is a menu in which sub-menus open directly below their top-level items -- an arrangement that can get cramped, but which you might prefer to switching to the overview for a menu. If you have added a workspace control on the main screen, you may have no use for the overview, although if necessary you can switch to it by pressing Alt+F1.
With these changes, you have most of the basics of GNOME 2. However, you might want to add a few additions, such as the Places Status Indicator (the equivalent of the GNOME 2 Places menu) and Trash button (if another extension hasn't already added the icon for you).
IT Solutions Builder TOP IT RESOURCES TO MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
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subset: commoncrawl


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Honored to Receive the Romero Vive Award
Posted By Kevin R. Johnson, Mar 21, 2012
I was honored to be recognized last night in San Francisco with the Romero Vive award by the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), an organization that advocates on behalf of Central American and all immigrants. The award celebrates the life and work of Monsignor Oscar Romero, slain archbishop of San Salvador, whose defense of human rights and advocacy of social justice provides the inspiration for the CARECEN. My friend Jose Padilla, Executive Director of California Rural Legal Assistance, was also honored with a Romero Vive award for his work which embodies Monsignor Romero's legacy.


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The Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2015
THE MELITA HUME POETRY PRIZE is an award of £1,500 and a publishing deal with Eyewear Publishing Ltd., for the best first full collection by a young poet writing in the English language, 35 YEARS OR UNDER at the time of entry. The aim of this prize is to support younger emerging writers. This is open to any one of the requisite age, of any nationality, resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. It is free to enter.Previous winners are Caleb Klaces for Bottled Air (2012); judge Tim Dooley; Marion McCready for Tree Language (2013); judge Jon Stone; Amy Blakemore for Humbert Summer (2014); judge Emily Berry.
2015 competition
The Judge for the 2015 competition is Toby Martinez de las Rivas. His poetry collection Terror was published by Faber & Faber in 2014, and he is widely considered one of the best younger poets now writing. Toby Martinez de las Rivas was born in 1978. He grew up in Somerset, then moved to the north-east of England after studying history and archaeology at Durham where he began writing. He first worked as an archaeologist and this, together with the landscape of Northumberland and the work of north-eastern writers such as Barry MacSweeney and Gillian Allnutt have had a significant impact on the development of his own poetry. He won an Eric Gregory award in 2005 and the Andrew Waterhouse award from New Writing North in 2008. His pamphlet was published by Faber as part of the Faber New Poets scheme.
The judge will select the best collection from the shortlist, which will be no more than ten, and no fewer than six poets. The 2015 competition is now open, and closes at 5pm on April 8th, 2015. The prize is free to enter, and submissions will be accepted from anyone of the requisite age, of any nationality; the poet must be resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. Manuscripts must be between 50 -100 pages; and the work must be previously unpublished in full book form. Up to half the poems can have appeared before in a pamphlet.
The 2015 shortlist will be announced in by June 2015 and the winner will be announced by July 2015. The winning collection will be published in 2016.
Terms and conditions
1. This contest is open to poets 35 years of age or under at date of entering.
2. Entrants can be from anywhere in the world. Entrants must be currently resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland— please note that publication will be in the UK and sold internationally.
3. The Prize is free to enter.
4. Work must be in English and unpublished in its full form (up to 50% can have appeared in pamphlet form prior to submission and individual poems may have appeared in magazines).Translations and self-published books are not eligible. The work must be by a single author.
5. Only electronic manuscripts are admissible. No printed paper entries will be accepted. Documents must be titled with the name of the poet.
6. Manuscripts must include a standard covering sheet that includes your name, address and contact details, your date of birth, the title of the work, a biography of between 150 and 250 words and a statement that you have read and accepted these terms and conditions. Covering sheets are available as a Word document upon request from us at firstname.lastname@example.com .
7. Manuscripts must include a table of contents and a list of acknowledgments for poems previously published.
8. Electronic manuscripts must be typed in Microsoft Word or supplied as a PDF file, paginated, single spaced and between 50–100 pages in length. The page size must be A4 (297 × 210 mm). The page count does not include the covering sheet, list of contents or acknowledgements of previous publication.
9. No alterations to the manuscript will be accepted after submission. No correspondence can be entered into for entries once they are made.
10. Submissions must be sent via email to email@example.com by 5pm on April 8th, 2015.
11. Late submissions will not be accepted. Eyewear Publishing takes no responsibilities for technical difficulties.
12. Confirmation of receipt of entries will be sent by email within ten working days of submission.
13. The winner will receive a £1,500 prize, including publication within 18 months by Eyewear under their standard contractual terms, and a launch in London.
14. The shortlist will be no fewer than six and no more than ten poets.
15. All poets must agree to send promotional material if requested (photo and extended biography), and grant permission to be listed as shortlisted for the prize in press releases and online.
16. Poets agree to abide by all the rules, and must accept the prize if selected as the winner.
17. We cannnot offer feedback on individual entries.
18. Eyewear Publishing Ltd. retains the right to cancel the Melita Hume Poetry Prize without prior notice.
1. I have included a completed covering sheet with my submission.
2. I have emailed my submission.
3. I have read and understood the terms and conditions above.


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Recent Editorial Clients
- Regular remote news cover
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- Device reviews
Trusted Reviews (Time, Inc.)
- Regular remote news cover
- Features and 'evergreen' content
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- Remote ad-hoc news cover
WIRED UK (Conde Nast)
- In-office news cover
- Freelance reviews
- Mini 'WIRED EXPLAINS' features
Recent Commercial Clients
eCollect AG
"Ben is a consumate professional and a real pleasure to work with. Ben wrote a content piece for us about a relatively difficult subject to grasp but he immediately got it. The content was spot on, delivered on time and exactly to specification. Ben is very knowledgable about all aspects of content marketing and I would recommend him highly. Thanks Ben!" – Giles Goodman, Chief Sales Officer, eCollect AG.
TrustedReviews (Time, Inc.)
"Ben is a consummate professional and a brilliant freelancer to work with from an Editor's perspective. An extremely knowledgable writer with a complete journalistic skill set, he consistently delivers high-quality work, be it news writing on a tight deadline or helping to develop more creative feature ideas. I have no hesitation in recommending him." – James Laird, News & Features Editor, TrustedReviews.
This Is Fine PR
"Ben is one of the sharpest people I've been honored to work with. He has meaningful ideas, and a clear understanding of how to perform exactly what we need for each client within the timeframe. Ben's expertise would be a benefit for a project of any kind." – Mary Glazkova, Founder & CEO, This Is Fine PR
Big Ideas Machine
"With the changing media landscape, we've found it increasingly important to involve journalists in helping to advise clients on what is going to work. Ben's experience means that he is perfectly placed to provide an honest assessment. You should definitely work with him." – Robert Haslam, Senior Consultant, Big Ideas Machine / Big Games Machine
The Next Web (TNW)
"As an important part of the TNW Editorial team, Ben played a critical role in development of junior staff, content strategy, monitoring of metrics and bridging editorial and management departments. He's a valued asset for any company or project" – Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, CEO and founder, TNW


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The is Planned!!!, see schedule menu for info
Please send your current contact information to: Margi Scheid
So that we can contact you for the
We are creating a yearbook for the reunion. Please send your bios and digital photos to: Ulie Sondermann
Here is the ongoing updated example: Click Here
Please include(at your discretion):
Ulie Sondermann
770 Rockaway Beach Ave.
Pacifica, CA 94044


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Aspen Shortsfest Awards Big Bucks to Small Movies
by Amy Veltman
This year's five-day Aspen Shortsfest concluded on April 11th with the announcement of awards worth more than $20,000. The event, superlative as a fest of any stripe, draws much of its energy and support from the local community and does its utmost to give something back.
The uniqueness begins with the screening process. This year, approximately 900 films were submitted. George Eldred, Chair of the 30-person Screening Committee, explained to me that each submission was seen by at least three people before a decision was made whether or not it would go before the complete group. This assured that each film was given careful consideration and that the final line-up was diverse in nearly every way imaginable.
As part of the festival's Education program, a number of the filmmakers brought their movies into area classrooms and answered questions for students. Other local students were bussed to the festival's Wheeler Theater to see programs of shorts. Festival Director Laura Thielen explains that this effort is intended to expose kids to other world views and cultivate visual literacy. One area in which Thielen hopes to see the festival grow is in its representation of Spanish-language films in order to serve the area's burgeoning Latino community.
Two panels were included in the festival line-up. The first, "Lunch with the Filmmakers," erred a bit on the side of blandness as it strayed into a discussion about commercials, but the second panel, "Down the Yellow Brick Road: The Future of Short Filmmaking," held at a UN-like facility, the Given Institute, was an informative and unusually optimistic view of the future of short filmmaking. Megan O'Neill, head of Forefront Films, spearheaded this positiveness by stating, "I don't think there's ever been a better time to be in the shorts business." The panelists encouraged filmmakers not to be pessimistic about the possibility of making money with their short films and to refrain from giving away the rights to their work for free to either TV or the Internet when opportunities to sell these cost and labor-intensive works are blossoming.
A new $3,500 award, The Ellen — named after the festival's founder Ellen Kohner Hunt who doesn't look old enough to have found a beer 20 years ago, let alone a festival — was awarded to the Portuguese film, "The Voyage," sponsored by Portugal's Expo '98 and directed by Christian Boustani. Once the amazement at the visually spectacular mix of painterly animation and live action wore off, there was little story or heart to the film and many found it a disappointment as the winner of the festival's highest prize, especially since so many films shown during the week acted so powerfully on the emotions.
Two of these shared the $2,000 award for Best Drama, Jean-Marc Valee's "Magical Words" (Canada), and "Patterns" by Kristen Sheridan (Ireland). Vallee's film, the tale of a man fantasizing about confrontations with his alcoholic father, was so strong that it inspired one audience member to stand up during the Q & A following the film and thank the filmmaker for a work that resonated so strongly with his own experience. While such public confession is a bit much for my delicate sensibilities, many in the audience seemed touched by what was undeniably a strong moment. "Patterns," the bittersweet story of an autistic boy whose younger brother is the only person capable of understanding the tormented code of his thinking, also earned Special Recognition for its two lead actors, Ben Engel and Joshua Gregory McCarthy.
Nicole Cattell's "Come Unto Me: The Faces of Tyree Guyton" won $2,000 for Best Documentary, adding credence to my theory that documentaries with colons in their titles do well with awards. Glibness aside, the film was a moving portrait of the mystical inspiration that creates art and art's power to transform lives. Jay Lowi's USC student film, "12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere," snagged both the $2,000 award for Best Comedy and another grand for Audience Favorite. This super-slick, violent tale of luck, both good and terrible, was long on style and cleanly executed. Best Student Film went to Michael Burke's "Fishbelly White," whose ambiguity and tough climax challenged some viewers. "Fishbelly"'s DP, Vanja Cernjul also garnered a Best Cinematography Award ($1,500 in Kodak film stock) for the movie.
"Bingo," Chris Landreth's in-your-face aggressive Beckettesque short, picked up the $2,000 Animated Eye Award. A few expressed surprise that Mark Osborne's "More," an elegiac piece mourning the dehumanization that can result from industrialization, only got a Special Recognition nod instead of the big kahuna in this category. Another animated short worthy of mention was Australian, Adam Benjamin Elliot's "Cousin," the second in his trilogy of claymation pieces about his family (Last year, Elliot's "Uncle" appeared at Aspen and he's currently working on "Brother"). The jury awarded this film $1,000 for Best Short Short (under 4 minutes).
"Chrysanthemum," Virginia Wilkos' animated piece, narrated by Meryl Streep, won the award for Best Children's Film. Appearing in special sidebar program, called Screen Play, a slate of films aimed specifically at families, the contenders for this award were judged by a special kids' jury. I came to think that a program with films earmarked for the young set wasn't such a bad idea after I spent a grueling hour sitting next to a new eight-year old friend, Tucker, wondering what was going through his mind as we watched people screwing and giving birth during one of the more explicit evening programs. One of these adult films, Georg Ridsten's "One Night with You" (Norway), won a Special Recognition Award, and was much more enjoyable the second time around when I was seated between two grown-ups. Stephen Stein's super-funny spoof on the French New Wave, "Open the Window," Tommy Pallotta and Bob Sabiston's animated doc, "Roadhead" and Mike Mitchell's well-done, humorous, alien movie, "Herd" also received Special Recognition awards. Special Recognition in the Audience Favorite category went to Rachel Griffiths' bovine tale, "Tulip" ( pronounced, "Chew-lup" in Australian) which also garnered Film.com's $1,000 Watch It! Award.
Lastly, the documentary, "Life in Fog," a difficult story about a young boy in Kurdistan forced to work to support his orphaned siblings, pocketed the $1,000 Horizon Award, selected by educators of grades K-12. The bleak Iranian film was made by Bahman Ghobadi and is educational, if for nothing more than giving anyone reading this on the Internet some perspective about how comparatively fortunate we are.
The regular jury consisted of actress-director Adrienne Shelly; filmmaker Jessica Yu; journalist Ken Eisner; Good Machine Exec. Mary Jane Skalski, and filmmaker Mark Christopher. Travel stipends and free accommodations are provided to all filmmakers for the duration of the festival, so most attended. A central gathering place with VCR's for casual screenings was open most of the time, and no programs overlapped, allowing everyone to have and give the support of fellow filmmakers. A number of social events were planned and some erupted spontaneously. Because industry presence at the slightly out-of-the-way event is minimal, there is much more bonding than hustling among the filmmakers, and the craft of the short, for once, does not take a backseat to longer forms of filmmaking.
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From 2014-2016 , I served as the first Senior Advisor for Making at the White House, where I helped develop President Obama's Nation of Makers initiative, to broaden access to the Maker Movement. This included planning the first-ever White House Maker Faire and the National Week of Making.
As Senior Advisor for Making, I worked closely with federal agencies, mayors, maker spaces, libraries, museums, companies, foundations, universities and K-12 schools, creating more opportunities for individuals to engage in community based problem solving, fostering entrepreneurship, expanding local manufacturing and broadening access to hands-on, real-world learning for students.
Since then, I have been a Program Fellow at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation where I helped the foundation ramp up the first year of the Moore Inventor Fellows program, a ten-year, $34 million program aimed at supporting early-career innovators with promising inventions addressing pressing issues in science, environmental conservation and patient care. I have also worked as an advisor to Infosys Foundation USA to develop initiatives to support individuals with innovative solutions to challenging problems and create more opportunities for students to engage in making. I am a co-organizer of the Makers for Global Good Summit and a founding Board Member of Nation of Makers, a national non-profit focused on supporting more than 350 maker spaces and maker organizations. I'm also on the advisory council for California Community Colleges CCC Maker initiative.
I'm currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Information Science at Cornell University and continuing to work with the Maker community here in the U.S. and internationally.
As a Maker, I am an avid sewer, have been experimenting with wearable electronics and tinker with 3D printing.
You can contact me at email@example.com


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Well I am graduating next month with a degree in Computer Science I am getting married soon and the material fear's I have battling has just want me to get a job in my field and make good money, but my spirituality is bringing me back to college to get another degree in psychology. I have done a lot of personal work lately to not regret the past and going for my computer science degree and to look at the positives and my personal growth from the experience. I need to find myself and my spiritual path and I know I will not be happy working in the technical field even though my light worker gift helps everyone around, I know I need to directly align my career with my gifts and psychology is what I am being guided towards.This should be interesting lol. When I used my spiritual gifts to heal myself of various mental disorders I was going through I vowed to always trust my intuition and angels even though my choices do not make sense to a lot of people I have been learning to step into my own personal power and make the decisions I want to make and not what other people dump on me. Sorry for the rant but maybe someone reading this is in a similar situation and just know only you know what is best for you
updated by @corey-easton: 08/17/17 09:56:28AM


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Sprint is close to a deal with Dish Networks that would clear the way for the wireless carrier to buy a valuable chunk of wireless spectrum, The Post has learned.
Sprint, the third-largest wireless player, behind Verizon and AT&T, is hoping to get its hands on spectrum that the US government is set to auction off next year.
Sprint is prepared to bid as much as $3 billion for the spectrum to help it build out its 4G LTE network, according to a source. US Cellular is expected to be the only rival bidder, the source added.
That government-owned block of airwaves combined with neighboring spectrum Sprint already owns would double its bandwidth.
"That spectrum is ideal for 4G LTE," another source said.
Dish also owns an adjacent block of spectrum to the government-owned airwaves that it plans to use for its own wireless ambitions.
The Federal Communications Commission is expected to decide at the end of this month whether Dish gets to use that spectrum to roll out its nationwide wireless network.
Problem is, Dish's spectrum could interfere with Sprint's plans to build out its network unless the two arrive at a quid pro quo, according to sources.
There "is a lot of back and forth between Sprint and Dish right now," said one source close to the situation.
Meanwhile, Japanese telecom giant Softbank is in negotiations to buy Sprint, although it could encounter regulatory concerns about a foreign entity owning the US carrier.
"Approval will depend on the structure of the deal," the source said.
Sprint's purchase of additional spectrum, along with a Dish deal, could also make it a more attractive takeover target for Softbank, one source said.
Sprint and Dish declined to comment, as did the FCC .


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There are two ways to number pages in a book. In either case, for any numbering to show up on any document pages, the current page number command (Ctrl-3) must be inserted into a text box on the master page of the master file.
Option 1: Let the page numbering occur automatically without doing anything. Chapters will be numbered sequentially, and the Book Chapter Start box will be checked in the Section dialog box for each one .


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With over 40 years of experience in the field of customized and temporary constructions, Expomobilia AG from Effretikon in Zurich has established itself as a globally active general contractor for trade fair booth, pavilion and event structures. The company has been an independent subsidiary of the MCH Group AG since 2007 and employs around 90 members of staff.
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We offer our clients the complete range for all project phases of a fair booth: from design through detailed planning including assembly, disassembly and storage. Expomobilia has the expertise to provide customers worldwide with tailor-made solutions. Read more:


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History of Yemen
Yemen's history dates back tens of thousands of years ago. It is believed that the first people of Yemen crossed over from East Africa and began slowly populating the area. Archaeologists are able to trace back that it was about 5000 BC that water channels and stone dwellings were already being built within the region.
There have been some ancient kingdoms in Yemen's past, too. In around 1000 BC, there were three kingdoms. Saba or Sheba as it was also known, was the largest of the kingdoms and also the most powerful. They had an irrigation system so that Sabaeans were able to grow crops and were therefore able to prosper from farming as well as trade. They worshipped the god Almaqah and in Marib, the temple of Almaqah was an important religious site. Saba was developed in the Central Highlands.
Also in the Central Highlands was the kingdom of Qataban, and in eastern Yemen, Hadhramawt was prominent. All three of these kingdoms were polytheistic (worshipped many gods) and they did not require walls surrounding their kingdoms as archaeologists suggest that they were able to live in peace.
These kingdoms were able to grow wealthy because of trade with other countries that opened up from Arabia to Mesopotamia and Babylonia. Yemen had frankincense and myrrh that only was available through its own country as well as Oman and Northern Africa. These products were used in medicines, fragrances and more, making them very popular. Trade grew, bringing in silks from China, slaves from Africa and swords from India. When merchants stopped in Yemen, they believed that all of these goods originated here, which is where the country's name came from – Happy Arabia.
The Roman Empire was developing, growing larger. In 323, Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire at the hands of Constantine. Frankincense and myrrh were not important to the religion and it therefore hurt the trade industry of Yemen. The wealth level dropped significantly and with this loss came generations of fighting amongst each other as well as with outsiders who wanted to control the land.
Christianity continued to grow and missionaries were sent out. In the centuries through 400 and 500, Christian and Jewish missionaries were in the Arabian areas. The monotheistic religions went against everything that the Yemenis had known. While many inhabitants in southern Arabia were converting, Yusuf Ashaar Dhu Nuwas, the king of Saba in the early 500s, told all Christians in his area that they must convert to Judaism.
Over 20,000 Christians refused and were slaughtered. Abraha, the Christian King of Ethiopia found out about the killings and seized the country in 525. After that, the country then ended up under Persian rule, were in remained for many years. The religion of Islam consumed the Arabian Peninsula, which is still the religion of today.


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(Reuters) - PGA Tour rookie Chesson Hadley stalled on the back nine before clinging to a one-stroke lead over Danny Lee after the third round at the $3.5 million Puerto Rico Open on Saturday.
Hadley made four birdies in the first six holes to open up a three-shot cushion at the turn but added only one birdie on the back nine for a five-under-par 67 at the Trump International course in Rio Grande.
"It was frustrating, to be honest," Hadley told reporters after signing for a 16-under 200 total with one round left.
New Zealander Lee (66) birdied the final three holes to jump into second place on 15-under, with Americans Jason Gore and Jonathan Byrd two shots behind.
Halfway leader James Driscoll plunged seven strokes behind after a 75 that did not include a single birdie.
Low scores were plentiful due to the soft conditions on a course that is fairly generous off the tee, which is why Hadley was not completely thrilled with his score.
"I hit it so well today (but) missed a lot of putts the last 11 holes," said the 26-year-old from North Carolina, who won twice on the secondary Web.com Tour last year.
He outlined an aggressive game plan for Sunday's final round: "You gotta stay aggressive out here. I'm going to go at just about every flag."
Lee seemed destined for stardom when, in 2008, he became the youngest ever U.S. Amateur champion at the age of 18, but his professional career has not quite taken off after a promising start.
"Everything is going really nicely at the moment," said Korean-born Lee. "I didn't even know I was in second place until the 17th hole.
"I didn't really want to know where I was at. I was just trying to be more focused on my round and not think about other stuff."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; editing by Julian Linden)


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Recruiting Specialist Europe German+English (Paris)
PTC provides leading Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), content management and dynamic publishing software solutions to more than 40,000 companies worldwide. The company was formed in Protected content , is publicly traded on Nasdaq (Nasdaq: PMTC) and is the largest software company headquartered in Massachusetts. PTC customers include many of the world's most innovative companies in manufacturing, publishing, services, government and life sciences industries. PTC is included in the S&P Midcap Protected content Russell Protected content . FY Protected content 1bill$+. Headcount : Protected content .
To cover PTC fast growth and business needs, we are currently looking for a:
European Recruitment Specialist in Paris
Your responsibilities:
Whilst reporting to the European Recruitment Manager, you are in charge of the recruitment of sales, engineers, and management profiles for different business units of the company and you are covering around 10 European countries ( Protected content ).
In a fast moving IT environment, you are fully responsible for the whole recruitment cycle: briefing with the hiring managers, choice and application of relevant recruitment strategies (ads, sourcing, networking tools, databases, headhunting ...), pre-selection of candidates, and follow up during the integration phase.
Your profile:
You have 6 months to 1 year recruitment experience in a recruitment agency or in a multinational company and speak fluently at least English and German!
Please send your CV and salary expectations to Protected content


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Martin Enterprises Heating and Air Conditioning Inc.
Heating and Air
56 East Main Street
Lake Zurich, IL 60047
Mon - Fri: 6:30AM - 5:00PM
Sat - Sun: Closed
At Martin Enterprises Heating & Air Conditioning, we have been proudly servicing the heating and air conditioning needs of our loyal and satisfied customers in the Lake Zurich and northwest suburbs of Chicago for two decades. Whether commercial or residential, our knowledgeable professionals - using the latest advances in green technology -are fully equipped to meet your needs. We have built a solid and dependable reputation by standing behind three basic principles: experience, service, and quality.
- Air Conditioning
- Air Conditioning Installation
- Air Conditioning Maintenance
- Air Duct Evaluation
- Air Quality Evaluation
- Forced Air Systems
- Gas Force Air
- Heater Installation
- Heater Maintenance
- Heating
- Preventative Maintenance
- Radiant Systems
- Tankless Water Heaters
- Ventilation & Exhaust Systems
- English
- American Express
- Cash
- Check
- Discover
- Financing
- Mastercard
- Visa
Fred Martin
Certifications & Memberships
5 stars Alwin P Featured review
I have had Martin Enterprises service my furnace and air conditioner for 5 years. They have been prompt, courteous and efficient. The technicians are good at communicating the condition of my equipment. Martin's price is competitive and there have been no surprise add ons
Thank you Mr Pruesker
-Fred Martin
5 stars Peter K Customer since 2016
Best heating and AC people I have ever had work on that equipment at my house and I have been a homeowner for many years. I highly recommend them.
5 stars Mike and Sandy C Customer since 1999
As always the service was great. Technician was pleasant and professional. Arrived promptly as scheduled and took care of installation. Assisted me in setting up the new thermostat.
Will continue to recommend
5 stars Anonymous Verified customer
Thank you Austin and Ryan for getting us up and running during the recent cold snap! The pride you take in your work is refreshing to witness. Your honest care and concern for our wellbeing is so appreciated.
Also, Austin's late-night assessment thankfully sent us out of the home as our C02 readings were becoming dangerous. A rival company's technician did not catch this potentially life-altering situation earlier in the day.
We will highly recommend Martin Enterprises for our friends and family.
5 stars Sam and Katheryn 25926570 C Customer since 2018
Your rep provided great service and we will continue calling your company for all our Heating and cooling services.
5 stars Renata and Walter 25684939 F Customer since 2017
The crew was very polite, on time, and answered any questions I had about the unit. Thank you to Fred and Ryan especially for ensuring that our new furnace will keep us warm and safe this winter.
5 stars Zaporojanu Daniela 2 Customer since 2017
Dan is a great professional and I trust him on any question or concern I may have with my heating and cooling needs. Like always, he was on time for the appointment, did a fantastic job, and explain to me all the details of upcoming work that needs to be done. I value his expertise and looking forward to working with him for years to come
5 stars Mark M Customer since 2016
I love having Dan, the technician, work on my unit. He has been servicing my entire family and me for over 15 years which includes me, my brother and my mother's houses. However, when did the prices almost double for a service call? In the past charges were $79-$89 for a call......Now the amount is $145.00.
Oh well.....time to find a new HVAC service company.
5 stars Monique and Joel 25482845 G Customer since 2017
Our heater went out on a Sunday evening - I called Martin and a few other places. Martin answered when I called instead of waiting for someone to call me back. I spoke with the owner or the owners son and he was extremely friendly and accommodating. They had someone to my house within almost an hour. The technician was friendly and personable (despite being called out on a Sunday). He was knowledgeable and diagnosed the problem quickly. I don't write reviews often but Martin deserved one! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
5 stars Lawrence W Customer since 2016
Dan is the best
5 stars James S Customer since 2016
Dan is very knowledgeable and always does a great job!!!
Also in Lake Zurich
Family Medicine
Advanced Medical Care
100% would refer friends and family to us
Sandy Point Dental
100% would refer friends and family to us
Alpine Automotive
Couture 360
J Scott Salon
Hawkeye Automotive
Hoffman Estates Animal Hospital
Cosmetic Medicine
AMA Med Spa
Lindberg Automotive


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Cairns to Uluru (Ayers Rock) 7 Day Package
|Rate Option
|7 Day Tour
|Prices are shown in Australian dollars and include GST. Prices subject to change without notice.
This wonderful overland tour from the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns departure) to Australia's 'Red Centre' will take 7 days and include features like Millstream Falls, Porcupine Creek, Mala Cultural Interpretive Walk, Uluru Base Walk, Uluru Cultural Centre and a Kings Canyon Rim Walk. The price includes Uluru & Kata Tjuta National Park Fees.
Travel in a 4WD vehicle, camp in the outback for 2 nights and stay in hostel accommodation for 4 nights. Meals include 4 breakfasts, 6 lunches & 4 dinners.
Day 1: Your Reef to Rock adventure gets underway this morning with an early pick-up from your Cairns accommodation. First stop for the day is Hughenden, a small town situated on the banks of the Flinders River. For such a small town (at last count there was less than 1,200 residents), Hughenden actually has a fair few attractions to its name. A life-size statue of a Muttaburrasaurus occupies a roundabout (the town is home to the Hughenden Dinosaur Festival); there's a Bullride and Race Day every September, and in 2008 Hughenden hosted the inaugural Hughenden Camel Endurance Challenge. Continuing up and into the Atherton Tablelands, enjoy a dip in Millstream Falls; then stop in at Lynd junction to check out Australia's smallest pub. Explore the year-round waterholes and coloured sandstone cliffs of Porcupine Creek, plus the barren plains of outlying Porcupine Gorge, before settling down for the night in Hughenden (accommodated). L,D
Day 2: You'll notice the scenery quickly starts to change the further west you go; the greenery of the bush giving way to the vast, rest dust horizons of the Outback. Pass through the town of Winton – birthplace of QANTAS and Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Mathilda – for a night spent in Boulia, rumoured hotspot of the mysterious Min Min Lights (accommodated). B,L,D
**Note: Total driving time takes around nine hours.
Note: Total driving time takes around five hours. Total walking time is approximately three hours.
Note: Total driving time today is around three and a half hours. Total walking time is approximately two hours.
Notes: Total driving time is approximately four and a half hours. Total walking time is around an hour.
2. Onward travel must be booked the following day.
3. This trip requires a sleeping bag, you can bring you own or purchase one from us.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all international travellers and should be taken out at the time of booking. Your travel insurance must provide cover against personal accident, death, medical expenses and emergency repatriation with a recommended minimum coverage of US$200,000 for each of the categories of cover. We also strongly recommend it covers cancellation, curtailment, personal liability and loss of luggage and personal effects. You must provide proof of your travel insurance on the first day of your trip; you will not be able to join the trip without it.
Please note this tour operates in remote regions and as such medical facilities may be difficult to access. If you have any medical conditions or take any form of medication please provide full details & nature of condition. Please provide details of medication taken.


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The activity level in my neighborhood was high this past weekend as everyone put up their holiday decorations. We take a subtle approach–which in my youngest daughter's opinion is just plain boring. My husband hung our lighted Christmas wreath and wrapped lights around a metal sculpture in our front bed, which looks like a tree when lit up. I circled a pillar at the front door with pine garland and put some boughs in a decorative pot. In a moment of inspiration, we also added lights to the pergola.
We don't put lights on outdoor trees–mostly because it's a lot of work–but I found out recently that our laziness is good for the trees, too. In a recent column in Northern Gardener, Stefan Fediuk and Jim Kohut, who oversee the huge Canadian gardening web site, northscaping.com argue that the heat from light bulbs, followed by rapid cooling when the bulbs are turned off, promotes breakage and other damage to evergreens. The danger is greatest with young trees because evergreens grow fastest when they are young.
They recommend lighting the house instead of trees. If you want to light trees, they suggest you pick a large, more mature specimen and use the new low-wattage LED lights. My next-door neighbors put lights on their trees, and these large evergreens are very healthy. (I couldn't resist taking a picture because we had such a pretty sunset this evening.) However, my neighbors light the trees only during the holiday season, which is another way to minimize damage.


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The Best Bolt on Performance Upgrades for Late Model Porsches
The new Cayenne Turbo S comes equipped with a larger 82mm throttle body. The IPD Plenum fits this larger throttle body and delivers an additional 30+ horsepower and 32+ foot pounds of torque providing your Cayenne Turbo S with an improved boost in engine power and driving performance.
The superior design of the IPD Cayenne Turbo S plenum not only increases power but also improves boost response creating a longer, stronger, more linear and of course more pleasurable power curve. The Turbo S Plenum has been specially machined to accept the larger factory 82mm throttle body.
The 957 Turbo S utilizes the factory throttle body and hardware making installation quick and easy although IPD strongly recommends a qualified Porsche technician perform any Plenum installs.
©2017 IPD Plenums. Site by bigbrownvan.com


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Why is the Altamont the Best Live Music Venue in Asheville?
The Altamont Theatre has been proud to bring musicians of all kinds to the stage in the past including the talent of GRAMMY Winners Mark O'Connor, Jim Lauderdale, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, Mike Farris, Peter Asher, John Paul White, Karla Bonoff, Shawn Camp, John Berry and Jon Vezner. We have also hosted shows by other well-recognized names like Sturgil Simpson, Dean Ween Group, Milk Carton Kids, Leon Redbone, John Cowan, Darrell Scott, Ozric Tentacles, Mary Gauthier, Bill Staines, Livingston Taylor, James McCartney, Todd Sheaffer, Pierre Bensusan, Noah Gundersen, Eric Lindell, Zach Williams (Lone Bellow), Fred Eaglesmith, Penny & Sparrow, Mike Dillon, Ryan Montbleau and Zach Deputy, to name a few!
Our mission is to bring the absolute best quality and biggest names in music we can. Our Talent Buyer has curated and produced over 1,000 shows in Asheville and has a great ear for talent and connections to all the biggest booking agencies in the country. This allows us to bring in some big names to The Altamont despite the small size of our listening room.
Rather than be limited by size, we use it to our advantage to produce shows by well-known artists in an intimate setting. This is what makes us the best place to see live music in Asheville. Our room, which offers amazing acoustics and sound, creates a powerful connection between the artists and the audience you won't find anywhere else in the city.
We are also the only venue in town that might have a bluegrass show on a Thursday night, a Grateful Dead tribute on a Friday night, a Writing Workshop or Yoga class on a Saturday morning and then a Wedding that same night. We invite a wide variety of musical acts, comedy troupes, classes, meetings, private events, weddings, and receptions to book our space. Our goals is to make every event a success and to make everyone visiting The Altamont feel like they belong.
Why do We Call Our Music Venue a "Listening Room?"
We're the only true listening room in Asheville, so we provide people with a unique experience. When you see a show at The Altamont there are no distractions. Once we close those big wooden doors there's no outside sound, there is just you and the musicians playing. Even our bar is located outside the stage area in our downstairs lobby.
We've been awarded "Best Listening Room" in the Best of WNC Awards five out of the last six years, so it's clear the people agree and really enjoy seeing a show at our venue. Visit our beautiful space and you may get to see world class, GRAMMY winning performers from literally feet away, in a setting where you can hear a pin drop.


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Virtue virtual website launch party
Event Planner hosts a virtual launch party using social media.
Virtue Event Planning (Durham, N.C.) is launching their new website in a virtual launch party on Friday February 3, 2012 at noon. Virtue has invited everyone to view their new website (www.virtueevents.com)
Virtue Event Planning is a full service event planning firm that specializes in event planning and design, wedding planning, concept development, contract negotiation and consulting serving clients from Philadelphia, PA to Atlanta, GA. "We are ecstatic about the launch of our new website and we wanted to create a fun and interactive way for people to find us online," said Joye Speight, owner and veteran event designer. "It is important to me that the website be a resource for everyone who is seeking to host or plan an event, no matter how large or small."
The website is www.virtueevents.com and will go live promptly at noon for your review. You can follow Virtue on Twitter @virtueevents and by using the hashtag #virtueweblaunch you can provide feedback and ask questions. Collect your badges on Foursquare when you visit the website by entering Virtue Event Planning. For more information you may contact Joye Speight (firstname.lastname@example.com)
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Page Updated Last on: Feb 02, 2012


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City Map and Guided Tours | Glasgow
Dress for the Weather developed a map of Glasgow that connects cultural destinations with the existing underground system in order to encourages a wider audience to engage with and interact with the city. By alighting at each stop within the underground loop, a full picture of Glasgow's variety and character is communicated.
Various themes are explored within the published map including Glasgow's drinking culture, the impact of major infrastructure projects on the city as well as a history of the various transport systems.
We have also led a number of tours based on this idea for a number of different education and cultural organisations including Doors Open Day and Glasgow School of Art and are interested in the idea of using tours and walks as a means for initiating discussions with residents and visitors to the city.
The tours allow an open discussion about how we use and navigate the city but also offer an 'agenda free' approach to public consultation and allow us to gain further insight into the city.


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Obsessive Cubs GM Watch: Friedman, Beane, Hahn, and Other Candidates Not Named Theo Epstein
It may be hard to believe, what with the excitement of the last three days, but there remain a multitude of candidates for the Chicago Cubs' open general manager position. And the rumors haven't died down simply because Theo Epstein has stolen the limelight…
- Tampa Bay Rays' GM Andrew Friedman, whose team is on the brink of elimination in the ALDS, could still be interested in the Cubs' job, says Gordon Wittenmyer. His source tells him that the Cubs' job is, in fact, the only one outside of Tampa Bay that intrigues Friedman.
- For his own part, Friedman isn't interested in discussing the issue right now. ''Right now, it's almost embarrassing for the topic of conversation to be about me and not on our players, not on what we've accomplished over the last four years, even more specifically over the last month or the last two innings of Wednesday's game,'' Friedman said yesterday. ''I understand it goes with the territory, and at the end of the season, when we're done playing, it's obviously something I'll address. But right now, all of my focus is on this team.''
- Multiple sources are saying that Ricketts' B-list of candidates, after Epstein, are Red Sox Assistant GM Ben Cherington, White Sox Assistant GM Rick Hahn, and Atlanta Braves Director of Professional Scouting John Coppolella. None of those three would be a surprising name, but it's worth pointing out that all of the reports seem to find their origin in a Baltimore Sun article about the prospect of an open Orioles' GM position. That Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun would have the access to divine Tom Ricketts' short list, while no other local writer can do so, is suspicious. If I had to guess, I'd say Connolly was simply relating a distillation of the rumors that have travelled around for weeks (that he calls his source "an industry source" makes me even more circumspect that this is actually new information).
- Paul Sullivan has a little more info on Coppolella, who is the least well-known of the candidates. Phil Rogers has a little more on Hahn.
- Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle hears a stadium deal to save the Oakland A's is not imminent, and, in that case, Billy Beane should consider many of the options before him. Ken Rosenthal wonders whether Beane might head South to Anaheim.


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Published: 2010/05/20
Vote Your Band Onto Relix.com: Round 3
Dakini, now featured at Relix.com
The music of Dakini is currently featured on the front page of Relix.com and also on a dedicated interior page
. This group was selected via our fans in a Jambands 250 poll. Starting tomorrow we're going to give it another go. We're putting our current New Groove poll on hiatus for a week to select another group whose music will appear on Relix.com. So hang on and spread the word. Voting will open at 10 AM EDT and extend for one week. If you discover that your favorite band currently isn't in the Jambands 250, please let us know and we will it add it. Please send your email to email@example.com with any suggestions.