3 Things to Inspire Your Weekend: #59


Quote of the day: 

Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. -Chinua Achebe 



Afghan girls at Engineering competition

Credit: NewYorkTimes

Six Afghan girls who were initially denied visas twice by the US State Department in order to participate in an engineering competition have been awarded the silver medal for “courageous achievement” at the FIRST Global Challenge in Washington, D.C., US. -a competition where teams of young women and men from around the world showcase their robot creation. The gold medal in the category went to the South Sudan team. Due to great public outcry, and with just one week to the the competition, they were granted a “parole” exception to the visa denial on the basis of “significant public benefit.”


Doug and Kristine Tompkins in Chile
Credit: Tompkins Conservation

Chile has just set aside and converted 11 million acres of land into new national parks. This was aided by the largest land donation from a private entity to a country -the conservation efforts of the Tomkins Foundation -established by Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, and the late Doug Tompkins, the co-founder of North Face and Esprit. Their effort in donating 1 Million acres of land assisted Chile in its drive to set aside land and its conservation of the pristine Patagonia wilderness. The donation is expected to aid efforts in "rewilding" Patagonia, and efforts to roll back years of deforestation.


Archdaily -House on the lake, Colombia


As seen on Arch Daily, House on the Lake
Architects: De La Carrera Cavanzo

Brief: A return to the essence, a contemporary reinterpretation of the rural house in the mountains.

Theme:  Local stone, slate, steel and glass
Location: Sesquile, Cundinamarca, Colombia
Photograph: Luis Alberto Mariño


Peace. Love. Light* 




Current Listen: Louis Armstrong - Weather Bird



Post a Comment

37 Comments

  1. In each instance we see extraordinary people. The young women on the robotics team have accomplished a great feat. They deserved to have the public recognition. How wonderful of the Tompkins to preserve that lovely land for the future.

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  2. Lovely to see the good, positive news in here. Good to know that wonderful things are still happening. Thanks for the uplifting post.

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  3. It is indeed an uplifting post after listening to the news for the last hour or so.
    Have a great weekend!
    : )

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  4. The world is a better place because of people such as these! Happy weekend B :)

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  5. Some days I'm ashamed to be an American. Those poor girls. I'm delighted they got to participate in the end.

    Just the boost Patagonia needed to save the wilderness. Thanks go to the Tompkins for their efforts. It's too bad Doug didn't live long enough to see this effort fulfilled. They were very generous, and always considerate, in their efforts to save Patagonia. Too bad they got such bad press in the beginning.

    I LOVE that house. I would live there in a heart beat. People in glass houses should . . . . I found it stunning, but would hate to have to mow all that acreage.

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  6. I saw that story about the Afghan girls on our news - they are inspiring young women!!

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  7. These Afhan women are so inspiring!
    Kisses, Paola.
    Expressyourself

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  8. Thank you for the weekend inspiration.

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  9. Always, always look forward to the good news you share here.
    Blessings!

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  10. What wonderful inspirations, I'm glad some land was set aside to save.

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  11. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Have a nice weekend

    Much love...

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  12. Positive and inspiring. The spirit and effort is still alive. Wonderful post and thank you.

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  13. Such good news from Chile.

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  14. Many thanks for sharing these inspirations ...

    All the best Jan

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  15. Another great way to start the weekend with good news and really like that house and the views.

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  16. Such good news on both counts. I was so excited when I heard the girls would be allowed to compete. And I've always been a fan of North Face. And Chile...

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  17. Thank you for this positive post

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  18. Such a good news about Afghan girls inspiring us.I agree with Perth Daily Photo
    "The world is a better place because of people such as these". Thank you for sharing.
    Have a good weekend.

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  19. With the negativity that surrounds us it is nice to read some positive news.

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  20. So glad the young Afghan women were allowed to compete in the robotics competition. And kudos to their achievement.

    And that is one glorious home!

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  21. Great news about the Afghan women's team. Shameful the way they were treated in the first place. I love that house on the lake!

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  22. I was so thrilled to hear about those young ladies, who never gave up. Happy weekend! Hugs...

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  23. Hello, I enjoyed your inspiring post. I am so glad the girls were allowed to come and participate in the event. I love to hear about more Park land, awesome news. Happy weekend to you!

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  24. How refreshing to hear such positive stories, B!! Thank you so much.

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  25. Your initial quote is fantastic and I'm going to sue it somewhere, sometime. It's sort of the opposite of looking for reasons to hate people.

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  26. You have inspired my weekend!

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  27. Very interesting post.There is still hope for mankind ;-)

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  28. Thank you for the inspiration. It's a joy after listening to all the negativity that goes on in our world.
    Have a pleasant productive weekend.

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  29. I always enjoy reading this post each week. I had heard about the Afgan team but didn't hear that were awarded a prize. The Burundi young men's team disappeared, two showed in Canada asking for asylum. Not sure about the other 4.

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  30. How wonderful for the girls. So glad they were able to attend. "Courageous achievement" is right. Nice to hear the positive. Have a great weekend.

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  31. tough girls. Wish them all the best.

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  32. All 3 items do inspire me. I'm happy the girls got to compete and win. As for 1 million acres of wildland preserved that is also fabulous news. Now I've got to go check out the house. It looks like a beauty.

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  33. i love hearing of folks making it possible to have private lands to enjoy ... just to relax and take lots of pics ... so cool!! ( ;

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  34. Hi Blogoratti - these are amazing ... Absolutely fantastic story (well appalling really - the background) but am so pleased the Afghan girls were granted access and then went on to win a medal - brilliant ... how can we exclude these sorts of inventive geniuses from our lives ...

    The saving of Patagonia - or helping to do so .. that's great news too ... as well as the revived cottage by the lake - obviously something rather special now ... cheers Hilary

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  35. Thank you for the inspiration. It's a joy after listening to all the negativity that goes on in our world.

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