Hope for a Better World


Book Description

The book is basically my memoir; however, there are some fictitious characters but all is based on real events. Flashback to my childhood in Madagascar: country with a fascinating history and a unique population, with ethnic characteristics in my own family. Recollecting past personal tragedies in childhood and situating myself in the present where loving people( my family and church friends) are surrounding me, motivating me to be a good person and see life in a happy perspective. In particular, feeling as a great privilege to be part of the melting pot in the USA. Recollection of the life at the Faculty of Medicine (Angers), France and the following years in Paris, graduating in social studies. Identifying the influence of the French culture as a pivotal factor in my life and grateful to Bon Papa (grandfather)who, by becoming a naturalized French citizen enabled his descendants to benefit from their French education, while identifying their difference and /or alienation, could also choose individually, how to find a balance between a dual culture they were./are exposed to (their own native and the acquired one). An interesting trip to the Champagne region through the wine road and to the east of France (Alsace), rich in war (WWI) memories. And there also, exhilarating history about the Statute of Liberty: designed and constructed (before being brought to the USA) by the French architect, Frdric August Bartholdi. Marriage to an American business man and birth of son in 1965 but early on, had to raise her child as a single mother due insurmountable challenges in the marriage. Worked for 20years for the UN in 9 countries in Africa and Asia, all called hardship posts, including those for peace-keeping missions located in politically challenged and/or war-torn countries. For each country, there is a description, besides my administrative work, of history, culture, population etc Farewell trip to Madagascar visiting the tomb of my grand parents with great sadness, fond memories and gratefulness for having raised me as a Christian child with the moral values I still carry with me at this day. Joining my American family on a permanent basis to be with my beloved son. Birth of granddaughter, Jade, who is now a teenager and praying for all members of my family to be blessed by God in the country where I am now conveying my message for love and tolerance in my book Hope For a Better Work.




Sustaining Hope in an Unjust World


Book Description

In our faithful work toward building a better world, we may often feel we're losing the battle. The poor get poorer, the vulnerable continue to be abused, and justice for all is a distant dream. No matter how hard we work, nothing changes. Somedays, we wonder if God is even still with us in the fight. But what happens, in our striving for social justice, when we discover that God offers us something entirely different than the promise of victory? In this love letter to the disheartened activist, pastor Timothy Murphy reflects on his own journey of disappointments and despair and rediscovers a faith - and a God - who inspires us to continue fighting, even when it feels like we're losing the battle.




In Search of A Better World


Book Description

A work of memoir, history, and a call to action, the CBC Massey Lectures by internationally renowned UN prosecutor and scholar Payam Akhavan is a powerful and essential work on the major human rights struggles of our times. Renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan has encountered the grim realities of contemporary genocide throughout his life and career. He argues that deceptive utopias, political cynicism, and public apathy have given rise to major human rights abuses: from the religious persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís that shaped his personal life, to the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the rise of contemporary phenomena such as the Islamic State. But he also reflects on the inspiring resilience of the human spirit and the reality of our inextricable interdependence to liberate us, whether from hateful ideologies that deny the humanity of others or an empty consumerist culture that worships greed and self-indulgence. A timely, essential, and passionate work of memoir and history, In Search of a Better World is a tour de force by an internationally renowned human rights lawyer.




Hope for a Better World


Book Description

This book tells the story of how I grew up in a Wilburite Quaker family in Ohio and attended Scattergood Friends School in Iowa. I give an overview of Quakers who originated as the The Religious Society of Friends in seventeenth-century England. I tell about Wilburite Friends, which are much different from most Quakers. Their practices are close to early English Friends. I tell how the Blackburn Family lived out Quaker beliefs. I tell about Scattergood Friends School in Iowa. I present my personal faith. An inspiration for this book is A Quaker Book of Wisdom "" Life Lessons in Simplicity, Service, and Common Sense by Robert Lawrence Smith. He states, "It is my ever-growing conviction that the compassionate Quaker message badly needs to be heard in today's complex, materialistic, often unjust, and discriminatory society. Every day brings new public debate over issues Quakers have always addressed: war and peace, social justice, education, health care, poverty, business ethics, public service, the use of world resources" (Smith, xii""xiii).




A Better World Is Possible


Book Description

The best book for the ordinary reader on the global environmental and economic crisis.




Reason for Hope


Book Description

From world-renowned scientist Jane Goodall, as seen in the new National Geographic documentary Jane, comes a poignant memoir about her spiritual epiphany and an appeal for why everyone can find a reason for hope. Dr. Jane Goodall's revolutionary study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe preserve forever altered the very, definition of humanity. Now, in a poignant and insightful memoir, Jane Goodall explores her extraordinary life and personal spiritual odyssey, with observations as profound as the knowledge she has brought back from the forest.




Hope & Change


Book Description

Our education system is broken, and the need for education reform is immediate. Teachers are over-worked and under-paid; children are now pressured to the point of exhaustion; and those with special needs are left out in the cold. There is room for a better solution in our education system. Baruch Spiegel takes us on a journey through our current system highlighting its failings while putting forward a road map of solutions for education reform. If you're a parent, a teacher, a child or just someone looking for inspiration, Hope & Change will spark the flame of your motivation to make this world better. This simple yet profound book calls to action all those invested in the future of our children. Be part of that future and contribute to public education reform




Dictionary for a Better World


Book Description

"Organized as a dictionary, entries in this book for middle-grade readers present words related to creating a better, more inclusive world. Each word is explored via a poem, a quote from an inspiring person, and a short personal anecdote from one of the co-authors, a prompt for how to translate the word into action, and an illustration"--




Hope on Earth


Book Description

Hope on Earth is the thought-provoking result of a lively and wide-ranging conversation between two of the world’s leading interdisciplinary environmental scientists: Paul R. Ehrlich, whose book The Population Bomb shook the world in 1968 (and continues to shake it), and Michael Charles Tobias, whose over 40 books and 150 films have been read and/or viewed throughout the world. Hope on Earth offers a rare opportunity to listen in as these deeply knowledgeable and highly creative thinkers offer their takes on the most pressing environmental concerns of the moment. Both Ehrlich and Tobias argue that we are on the verge of environmental catastrophe, as the human population continues to grow without restraint and without significant attempts to deal with overconsumption and the vast depletion of resources and climate problems it creates. Though their views are sympathetic, they differ in their approach and in some key moral stances, giving rise to a heated and engaging dialogue that opens up dozens of new avenues of exploration. They both believe that the impact of a human society on its environment is the direct result of its population size, and through their dialogue they break down the complex social problems that are wrapped up in this idea and attempts to overcome it, hitting firmly upon many controversial topics such as circumcision, religion, reproduction, abortion, animal rights, diet, and gun control. For Ehrlich and Tobias, ethics involve not only how we treat other people directly, but how we treat them and other organisms indirectly through our effects on the environment. University of California, Berkeley professor John Harte joins the duo for part of the conversation, and his substantial expertise on energy and climate change adds a crucial perspective to the discussion of the impact of population on global warming. This engaging and timely book invites readers into an intimate conversation with some of the most eminent voices in science as they offer a powerful and approachable argument that the ethical and scientific issues involved in solving our environmental crisis are deeply intertwined, while offering us an optimistic way forward. Hope on Earth is indeed a conversation we should all be having.




Rage and Hope


Book Description

Commemorating 75 years of Christian Aid, this is a prayer book like no other. Full of defiance and determination, it is an invitation to join Christian Aid and followers of Jesus around the world in a united chorus of Rage and Hope. Bringing together voices from different contexts and cultures around the world, this is a collection of prayers of lament for the injustices of the world, and prayers of hope for the world we want to see. Featuring contributions from Rowan Williams, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, Rhidian Brook, Robert Beckford, John Bell, Rachel Treweek, Walter Brueggemann and many more, Rage and Hope offers defiant, inspiring Christian prayers for a better world. The world is broken, full of injustice and inequality, but despite everything, we hope. Rage and Hope is a prayer book to enable us as the people of God cry out in lament. With prayers for the poor, the sick, broken and the oppressed, you will find words for raging at the darkness and struggles in the world. And with prayers for healing and renewal, you will find words to kindle hope as we look towards a kingdom in which all things will be made new.