Who put a smile on my face today?...

She's Fatama, she's 14 years old, she lives in Burkina Faso; and she's my new Sponsored Child (Apadrinada)!!!

These days are being kind of hard on me, and I realized that I needed something to lighten my life. Of course, the best way for me to lighten my life is by lightening others', and that's how the sponsorship idea came to my mind again.

I got into Plan's website and had the temptation of picking and choosing the most "beautiful" child in the pictures, or the one that appears best in the photo... and then I realized that my goal was to help someone who doesn't have many chances of get help. So, I clicked on the option "I want to sponsor the child who has been waiting longer", and there she was. Not many people want to sponsor teenagers, most of us prefer babies and see how they grow... So Fatama could be left in the wait-list to be sponsored until she was 18.

So, welcome the new member of our family: Fatama!

I'll post more pictures and information about her, as soon as I get it.

And to those of you who hadn't sponsor a child yet, here are some webs you maight check out:

www.planusa.org

www.savethechildren.org

www.fundacionvicenteferrer.org

Sponsor a child! Apadrina un nino!

MBA Job Search Process

One might think that when you get admitted into an MBA program, in one of the top universities in the world, things are going to be easier. Well... wrong! Things aren't easier! The difference is that with an MBA you get access to opportunities that you don't have access without an MBA. However, the competence to really take advantage of those opportunities is much harder than before.

Everyone is highly qualified, prepared, professional. All of us look forward to get the best job possible, in the best firm possible. Unfortunately those firms are making the process more and more difficult so they can end up hiring just "la creme de la creme".

This process is nerve wracking! It's soul-sucking! Depressing for moments! Tense... Oh! God! I just want to get over it. I'm stressedout with the process itself, with 1st round interviews, 2nd round interviews, go me through your resume, so "why are you here?", unfullfilled promises... and being passionate and exhited about everything. I feel mentally and physically tired! :-(


And, of course, the classes have already started, and those I chose for this semester are going to be extremely time-consuming and challenging :-)

BUT...Good news: sooner or later I'll get a great job and laught about all this. In the meantime... a little bit of suffering!

Wish me luck!!!!

My Resolutions for 2007...

This year I decided to focus on certain resolutions and put my full energy into accomplish them. The first step I am taking in order to guarantee that I do so, is to share them with you. This way, you can act as my guardians, and urge me to remember my promises along the year.

So, here they are:

- Loose Weight: I have to loose at least 20 kilos (the ones I gained over the last 5 years!, amazing, ah?). So far, I started my diet, and lost already 2 kilos; so I'm on track!
- Include Vegetables and Fruit as part of my daily diet. I'm on it! Fruits are already in, and I'm moving forward with the vegetables.
- Exercise: I need to go back to exercise. So, my goal is to do some kind of exercise at least 3 days a week.
- Improve my GPA: this semester I would like to reach the 3.8 GPA in my MBA.
- Find a great Summer Internship and an amazing Full Time job
- Balance the MBA and my personal life
- Visit Japan
- Take a maximum of 2 cabs a week to go to/come back from the University
- Find a hobbie!
- Laught more! and don't argue for small things
- Improve my English and Frech
- Some Private Ones! :-)

That's it!

We'll see how it goes! I'll come back next January to see if I accomplish them or not!

I'm still alive!

Hey, Just a quick note to say I'm still alive!

The last months have been very hectic, and January is going to be crazy!!!! Wish me luck for my job search for the summer! :-)

So, I promise I will start posting regularly when I finish the interviews and all that...

I just want to wish you all the best for 2007! It's going to be a GREAT year! I wish amazing things for 2007! Let's do our best to make our dreams come true! As my cousing Noa says "we deserve ourselves to be the best we can".

The Business of Ethics

By Naomi GoldinOct 25 2006; The Cornell Daily Sun

Two days ago, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison for his involvement in one of the largest corporate scandals of the decade. Skilling was convicted of federal felony charges including conspiracy, insider trading and securities fraud.

A few weeks ago, Yale student Aleksey Vayner made national headlines for his over-the-top 11-page cover letter and video resume in which the I-Banking applicant made a number of false claims. Vayner credited himself with running a charitable organization, serving as the CEO of an investment firm and writing a book on the Holocaust. Research by bloggers has shown that all of these claims are fabricated.

And, earlier this month, Hewlett-Packard’s former chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, was charged with four felony counts for data-mining. In her effort to discover the source of continuous company information leaks, Dunn spied on the home-phone records of fellow board members. Dunn found the director; the lawsuit found Dunn.

So, what do these current events tell us about the state of America’s corporate values? Unfortunately, nothing good. It seems as though a trade-off exists between business ethics and business profits — meaning that one comes at the expense of the other. Of course, there are those of us out there who know that this is simply not the case.

In fact, there are plenty of socially responsible corporations and business practices that have their fair share of financial success, such as Ben & Jerry’s or DuPont. Still, we cannot hide from the reality of increasing corporate malfeasance in recent times.

In his Business and Professional Speaking course, Professor Brian Earle recently discussed a survey taken by the Ethics Officers Association which revealed that an alarming 48 percent of employees have engaged in unethical or illegal activity within the past year. The annual cost of these unethical or illegal actions? $400 billion! Perhaps what is even more disconcerting about white collar crime, however, is that it occurs at every level. Like Aleksey Vayner (well alright, maybe not quite like Aleksey Vayner), many job applicants fabricate their past experiences and credentials.

According to a study released by Avert Inc., a company that performs background checks, 44 percent of job applicants have falsified information about their work experience or education on their resumes. Therefore, it is not surprising that screening and selection services, such as those offered by Avert, are increasingly used by corporations. (Now might be the right time to change that bullet on your resume from “Spearheaded the development of new financial contract database” to “Participated in the development …” … just a thought.)

But what should be done about the apparent lack of ethical standards in corporate America?

In the wake of recent corporate scandals, some business schools have found that the answer rests with education. More and more universities are instituting courses on ethics and social responsibility. For example, FSU’s College of Business has created a “Business Ethics and Moral Leadership Course” in order to increase students’ awareness of the importance of ethical decision-making. Bentley College is recognized for its Center for Business Ethics, which is similar to UC Berkley’s Center for Responsible Business in its Haas School of Business. Additionally, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, ranked as the 4th best business school in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report, inserted an ethics segment into the basic organizational leadership course that all students are required to take. And Cornell’s undergraduate business program currently offers a 2-credit course on Business Choices and Consequence. Yes, business programs all around the country are adding required courses on ethics to their curriculum.

One of my best friends attends the Stern School of Business at New York University. She recently informed me that NYU also added a required course on business ethics to their undergraduate program, in which she is currently enrolled. The course, Professional Responsibility and Leadership, “is designed to help students consider the purpose and function of business in society and the ways in which a business profession is incorporated into a successful human life.” However, rather than being considered a serious component of the business curriculum, the course seems to offer more comic relief than anything else. (...) ?

Enron: Skilling sentenced to 24 years of prison

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Enron Corp.'s former Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Skilling was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison for crimes related to the financial scandal that brought down the energy company in 2001.
The following are key facts about Skilling:
-- Born Nov. 25, 1953, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
-- Joined consulting group McKinsey & Co. after graduating in the top 5 percent of his Harvard Business School class in 1979.
-- Joined Enron in 1990 to help create natural gas trading systems that became a core company business. Hired Andrew Fastow, who later became chief financial officer and designed the off-balance sheet partnerships used to hide debt and pump up profits.
-- Resigned as Enron chief executive after about six months on the job as the company's stock price struggled and pressures in his personal life mounted.
-- Sold Enron shares worth nearly $63 million in 2000 and 2001.
-- Convicted on May 6, 2006, along with former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading linked to Enron's downfall. Lay died in July.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Again, my questionis: How do you cross the line?
Take-aways: There's a "black sheep" in every family.

Recap... from the last 3 weeks.

It's been a long time from my last post. I've been kind of busy in the BSchool, so I'll try to make a quick recap:

• AVON Walk: amazing experience. The weather was very good, and the spirit was increadible. All the East side of Manhattan and Brooklyn was pink! I raised $2,500, which I thought it was a great sum, but I just knew that a 5-member team raised $100,000. In total we raised 9.7 million dollars! I am trying to do it again for next years, so, those who didn't donate this year: you'll get your chance! :-) We'll make this disease disappear!

• My friends in New York: one of my two best friends came to New York to visit us. They stayed here for 10 days, and although I didn't have much time to be with them, it was great to have them here. When you are so far from home, you miss your friends and family a lot, so sharing a few days makes a difference. So, thanks for coming!

• MidTerm Exams: Last week I had the first midterms at Stern. They were OK, at least I think so, although I don't have my grades yet :-)

• Recruiting: the Recruiting Process already started! Everyday 2 or 3 companies come to campus to give their corporate presentations and to mingle with us. They also organize lunches and dinners, and pannels, and case-preparation sessions.... Every one of these events is not a social event... they are "recruiting events", they get you closer or farther to the "closed-lists". The names on these lists are the ones who are going to be interviewed in January - February; and out of those, the companies will decide with ones they'll hire. So... I'm hanging there! It's extrange, because I am not used to "sell myself", and I am not used to ask people for their business cards, and... well, it's very different from Spain, but I'm getting there:-)

• AVP Marketing of Scorp: the American guy won with his "Save by the bell", E-True story. I think it was a great experience for me anyway, and I believe he's going to do a great job.

• Vice-President positions: although I didn't get the AVP Marketing for SCorp, it seems that it was a good training for me. I was elected Vice-President of Alumni USA in the European Business Society (EBS) and Vice-President of Publicity in the Strategy and Operations Club. So, I'll get to do many things. I'll just try to not over-work and over-involved myself in this.

• More Kids!: some of our best friends are expecting new babies again!!! Yeah!! So... congratulations!

• Wedding: one of my cousins just got married last weekend and I couldn't attend the wedding. I think this was the first time that I missed a family event. But I couldn't miss classes, and it was just the weekend before my exams, so... I wish I was there, but... c'est la vie!

• New Appartment and New Job: my older brother and his girlfriend just moved to a new appartment (this time it is an appartment, not a studio) in Madrid, which is great because we'll have more space when we go visiting :-) Furthermore, she changed her job to a better one! So... more good news in the family!!!

I think that's it for today! I'll try to post more frequently, although I can't promise!

Elections in a Business School in the US

I am running for AVP (Associate Vice President) of Marketing, in the Stern Student Corporation. During this process, I realized that it is totally different from how it'd be in Spain.

Here, before presenting myself as a candidate, I had to collect a minimum number of signatures among the MBA students. Once my candidacy is approved, I have to "Campaign". This means:

• emails (maximum of 2) to the whole student body
• posters (maximum of 10) to place in classrooms and halls
• speech (this is the most difficult part for me!)
• anything I can imagine, to help people remember me, and vote me

I have already sent the first email. None of the other candidates for this position have sent anyhing yet, so I cannot compare. I like the one I did (next picture).

Let's see what happens! Thursday we'll know.

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Strange things...

... that make us smile.

It may seem easy, but I bet they fell down many times before this!

Have a happy weekend you all!

Thoughts from the last two weeks...

The last two weeks I've been very busy with the MBA, and I did not have much time to blog. Now, that I finished the Summer Semester, I will have some time to catch up with my thoughts in the blog.

For now, I would like to just give my point of view and feelings about some stories that made headlines during the last days (and about others that didn't make headlines in any newspaper, but were immensely important to me).

• Galicia on Fire

How sad is witness the destruction of thousands of hectares of forest in your home country? I could do it through the newspapers, but my family had the horrible honor to live it in first person. Galicia is one of the most beautiful places in Spain. It is a green-land, or at least, it was... This summer, Galicia was on Fire!

Four people have died so far, and an uncertain number of hectares have gone up in smoke since the spate of fires began on August 4. According to Galicia Government (Xunta de Galicia) 77,000 hectares were eaten by flames; 86,500 is the European Commission estimation; and PPdG maintains that, according to a NASA satellite report, the figure grows up to 175,000. Whatever the real figure is, it is huge! Enormous extensions of forest will not be recovered until decades from now...

Although Galicia suffers from forest fires every year, this year's destruction has been described as "unprecedented" by local officials. Officials believe that many of the fires were started by arsonists (incendiaries) and 27 people have been arrested so far. My question is: What motivates these people to do this?

Again, no one has taken responsibility for this. Being accountable seems to be something that is not really important when you are a politician in Spain. Any of the government representatives so far (I am talking about PP, PSOE and the rest of democratic parties) has resigned. In my opinion, it is a shame!

• Middle-East Conflict

History repeats itself! The old wound is open again, the old feelings are exposed again, and the blood is running down the streets again.

I do not want to deepen in this issue right now, as I will probably come back to it in a couple of days.

• Weeding Anniversary

Last week was our second weeding anniversary. I will not say anything more than “I have the best husband in the world!!!”

Indra Nooyi, new Pepsi CEO

Ms. Noooyi finally made it to the top!

She joined Pepsi Co. in 1994, Ms. Nooyi started her career with The Boston Consulting Group, from where she moved on to hold senior management positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. In Pepsi Co., she started as Senior VP of Strategic Planning, and in 2001 she was named President and CFO of the the world's fourth-largest food and beverage company.

She is highest-ranking Indian-born woman in corporate America. Nooyi has a degree in management from Yale. She attributes much of her success to her upbringing in India. "Being a woman, being foreign-born, you've got to be smarter than anyone else," says Nooyi, who honors her heritage by often attending PepsiCo events wearing a sari.

Nooyi also serves on numerous boards, including Motorola and New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

She was named on the Wall Street Journal's list of 50 women to watch in 2005, and one of the Most Powerfull Women in the World by Forbes.

She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband, Raj, and their two daughters.

"From the land of idli-sambar to land of dreams, Indra Nooyi has come a long way to prove herself. "

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Daiji World, Wikipedia

Ben Zander: The Art of Possibilty

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a magistral speech by Ben Zander. He is the conduconductor of the Boston Philarmonic Orchestra since its formation. He is a very enthusiastic person.

He gave a great speech about how everyone's life can change just by changing our attitude towards life. (Someone very special to me, told me this many, many times). Actually, the speech was about leadership, possibility, new ways of living.

Some of the "rules" he believes in are...

1.- Give the other person an A
2.- Rule number 7
3.- Enthusiastic passion for life (never take a down spiral)

I would recommend everyone to read his book "The Art of Possibility", although I haven't done it yet, because it talks about this wonderful philosphy of life.

How many more 11s will we suffer?

It seems that we all have to be alert the 11th of each month. This specific date is going to be remembered as the day when terrorist attacks to civilians are more likely to happen.

September 11, 2001: New York

March 11, 2004: Madrid

July 11, 2006: Bombay

Near the 11th, July 7, 2005: London.

This kind of terrorism has the objective to kill or damage civilians. Any of us could be target, they just attack normal civilians. The 11s attacks killed thousands of people.

But there are more common aspects among these attacks:
- Incredibly powerful home-made Bombs
- Usage of common transport vehicles: planes, trains, subway, buses
- Brutal number of death men, women and children ( 2,986 in NYC 9/11; 192 in M 3/11; 52 in L 7/7; 200* in B 7/11)
- Huge number of injured people
- Carried out by irrational, un-hearted, raving, furious, mislead... terrorists' puppets.

I wonder if we will ever be able to stop these kind of tragedies from happening. Will we always have to live thinking that this can happen again?

I think that life is something precious and valuable. In moments like these, I keep asking myself what would I do if I had the power to do something and I do not really get to find a solution. What are they looking for? I think that terrorists' motive is "odium, enmity", their objective is wheter:
- Convert all of us into one of them, or...
- Eliminate us, so nobody will question their ideas.

Under these circumstances, our options are kind of reduced here. We can:
- Surrender and do everything they want us to do. Recognize that whatever it is that they want us to believe, is true. Or...
- Just die!

Neither of these alternatives fits my own personal goals. I am not looking forward to die, any day soon, and I am not willing to let myself be manipulated, be obliged to do things I do not want to do, be ordered to believe in something that I don't...

So, what can we do? Nothing? Well, we can do something. We can continue living our lives as we always did. By doing so, maybe, they will understand that we are not going to accept that no matter how many of us they kill, no matter how much they try to threaten us, no matter how much pressure they put on us... we will never surrender!

In my wildest dreams I really see an ending to this. I dream about a LEADER that, keeping the main ideals of these extremist terrorists, would be able to convey them to live in peace, to abandon the fight, and just be happy, live their lives... a leader that would be able to make them realize that the world is big enough for all of us to live in peace... a leader that would be able to make them understand that killing is not an option, that everybody's life has the same value...

That is what I hope for every terrorist group, Al-Qaida, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), Al-Jihad, Hamas, Hizballah, Ansar Al-Islam (Kurdish Taliban), IRA, Janjaweed...

Kind of unlikely, isn't it? Maybe if all of us, keep dreaming about it, someday it'll be real.

* Not definitive number

Wimbledon 2006

With all the excitement about the beginning of my MBA, I forgot talking about the great Wimbledon Final. I think the match was incredible! Federed won his fourth Wimbledon in a row and reafirmed his place as number 1 tennis player in the world.

However, against all odds, Federer suffered considerably in his prefered surface. Nadal played wonderfully and fiercefully, and at some point, he made us think that it was possible for him to win (at least, after he won the third set, I was sure he was going to turn around the match and win the final).



The result 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3, demonstrates several things (in my modest opinion):

• Nadal learns very quickly, the improvement in his play in a quick surface has been astonishing.
• Nadal has a remarkable mental strenght, he doesn't give up.
• Next year Rafa Nadal will be prepared to win both in clay and in grass.
• Federer is, so far, the best tennis player, ever.

I am looking forward for next year Open. For now, Congratulations to both, for being Great Tennis Players!

1st Day of my MBA!!!

Yesterday, July 10, 2006, was the first day of my MBA in NYU Stern. I must recognize that I was pretty nervous, I arrived like one hour before I should have to (which, as all you know me know, it is not very usual in me).

We are 67 students for the summer start, which is a the size of a regular "Block" (Class) in NYU Stern. We are almost 2 women per 3-4 men, which was really surprising to me, as usually the numbers are lower than this in the Top Business Schools.

The day went smoothly. We had a reception, we were introduced to our summer study groups (I like mine very much, we are two Neww Yorkers, one from San Francisco, one from Colombia, one from New Haven and me (Spain). e had the chance to get to know the university and surroundings through a funny game. We met some of our professors, solve some administrative issues and we attended to a leadership conference.

The speaker of the conference was Chris Lowney, a great guy with one of the most rare backgrounds I have never hear of. He is a former Jesuit, who leaved his 7 years in the seminary and enrolled J.P. Morgan. He worked there for seventeen years, serving as Managing Director in New York, Tokyo, Singapore and London. Now he is a consultant for the Catholic Medical Mission Board.

The conference was really different from any other I had attended about leadership, and it was not this awkard evangelization speech that I was waiting for, when he said he had been a Jesuit. Mr. Lowney gave one of us a copy of his book "Heroic Leadership", which I am willing to read and let you know how it is (in my opinion).

Today, we had our first class. It was "Collaboration, Conflict and Negotiation". We had to read before the class the book "Bargaining for Advantage" by G. Richard Shell, which I totally recomend. My professor for this class is going to be Kim Corfman, who is the Vice-Dean of the MBA program in NYU Stern.

The class was great, very dinamic. We started with our own process of self-awareness which is essencial to become an effective negotiator, we made some play roles with our classmates, we analyze some cases... and the 8 hours just went by very quickly.



So, so far, I am really happy with the program. I think that pursuing this MBA is one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

I will let you know, how everything evolves. Actually, tomorrow I will have my first "Statistics and Data Analysis" class, the one that intimidates me the most!


All the pictures where taken from the website of NYU Stern School of Business

Rest in Peace, Mr. Lay

Kenneth Lay, former chairman and CEO of Enron, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy, died today at his home in Aspen, before sentencing, due to a heart dicease. He was 64 years old. Mr. Lay was facing decades in prison.

I was sure that Mr. Lay, as well as Mr. Skilling, was guilty of fraud and conspiracy. However this does not change the fact that I feel sorry for his death.

Ken Lay (know as Kenny Boy by his closest friends) managed to find his way out from a very poor environment (he was the son of a very poor baptist priest) and found one of the most powerful energetic companies in the world. He was father of five and grandfather of 12.

I hope he rests in peace.

Jayaram

This little angel, Jayaram, is my Indian God-child. He was 1 year old when our lives crossed for the first time and I became his God mother and Sponsor. Now, he is 6 years old. The following are the two pictures I have of him



I wish someday I can go to Anantapur, India, to met him and Ramyasree in person.

I would like to thank publicly Fundacion Vicente Ferrer for their wonderful work in one of the poorest regions in India, and for taking care of these little angels.

Darfur, the genocide is still going on

Not since Rwanda genocide of 1994, has the world seen such a calculated campaing of slaughter, rape, starvation and displacement.

2003

• Open warfare erupted in Darfur when two allied rebel groups (Sudan Liberation Movement/Army SLA, Justice and Equality Movement JEM) attacked military installations (Sudanese Goverment Military Force). The main motive was the inequalities between Sudan's Center and its periphery.
• US tries unsuccessfully to intervene and bring peace after 20 years of civil war in the South of Sudan.
• Rebels took fight to protect their communities against Janjaweed Militias: Goverment-Backed militians, recruited among Arab extensions in Darfur and Chad. Janjaweed receive government support to clear civilians from areas considered disloyal to the Sudanese Goverment. Janjaweed attacks, that infringed 1949 Geneva Convention Agreement, that prohibits attacks to civilians; provoked:

a) Massive Displacement

b) Indiscriminate killings of civilians

c) Looting

d) Mass rape: hallmark of the crimes against hummanity in Darfur.

e) Hunger

f) Genocide: Arabs exterminating original Black African citizens

g) Torture

• There are two main conflicts open in Sudan:

1) Revels (different groups) vs. Government-Alined Forces (North-South Conflict)

2) Goverment-Sponsor Janjaweed vs. Civilians

2004

• June:
• African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) inception as a cease-fire monitoring body. Its main mission is to be witness of what is happening and testify if there are attacks agains civils.

• October:
• AMIS increases its personnel
• Change of mission: from a contigent of primarily unarmed military observers to a major operation that included: armed force protectors, unarmed civilian police, and support teams.
• AMIS mission:

a) To monitor and observe compliance with the cease fire agreement

b) To assist in confidence

c) To contribute to a secure environment by facilitating humanitarian assistance and returns of internally displaced persons

d) To contribute to overall security

• AMIS personnel lack training, operational capacity and political iniciative

2005

• June:
• Peace Deal signed to end the long war between Goverment and Sudan's People Liberation /Army (SPLM) => North South Conflict. This agreement does not address the issues in Darfur where Genocide continues.

• March:
• African Union decides to accept military planners and budgetary and logistical experts from outside the continent to provide training and improve oprations, and to provide military equipment.
• American Union led a March assesment mission with the participation of: United Nations Department of PeaceKeeping Operations (DPKO), European Union, United States, Canada and other international partners.

• End 2005:
• Situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate
• AMIS need to be able to provide a more aggresive response to the persistent violence against civilians in Darfur and must be equipped and supported to do so.

2006

• First Quarter:
• Sudanes Goverment obstacles AMIS mission
• Western Sudanese region of Darfur: acknowledged to be a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of first order.

a) 3.5 Million People in hunger

b) 2.5 Million People displaced due to violence

c) Nearly 400,000 died so far. As many as 5,000 civilians die every month.

• International Community is failing to protect civilians or to influence Sudanese government to do so.
• Sudanese Goverment continues to flout international laws with impunity.
• Janjaweed attacks to villages continue and difficult international aid.
• Even though they have been moved to refugee camps, Darfunians have to continue to collect wood and working the fields. These activities are done outside the camps (whose location is perfectly known by Janjaweed). So, daily, women and children have to put themselves at risk of rape, beatiness or death as soon as they are outside the camps, towns and villages.
• A campaing of what United Nations describes as Ethnic Cleansing by Arab militias against Non-Arabs villagers is still creating a climate of terror in Darfur. It threatens to become consolidated, as civilians remain confined in camps exposed to violence and human rights abuse that prevent them from returning their homes and claiming back their land.

• May:
• Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) signed by: Sudanese Government and Insurgents SLA led by Minni Arkou Minawi (SLA/MM).
• Two of the three revel delegations (SLA/AW (led by Abdel Wahid), and JEM) do not accept it and refuse to sign. Their arguments are:

a) They want more SLA participation in the implementation of the security arrangements

b) They are dissatisfied with provisions for political representations

c) They are dissatisfied with victim's compensation

d) DPA does not solve the conflicts root causes: the structural inequities between Sudan's center and its periphery that led to revelion in 2003.

• June:
• President Bush acknowledged that genocide is occurring in Sudan and must be stopped. The bipartisan Darfur Accountability Act, which would impose sanctions against perpetrators of genocide in Darfur, has passed the Senate and now waits for House approval. US citizens who want to help should write letters to their representatives in Congress, and urge passage of this bill.
• UN’s failure to take meaningful action to end genocide in Darfur. Following the Sudanese government’s outright rejection of an international force in Darfur, the UN continues to compromise the lives of civilians by allowing Khartoum to stall indefinitely on the question of peacekeeping.

• July:
• Problems persist in Sudan’s West Darfur where the security and basic needs of children continues to be threatened by the conflict.

I ask you to....

Open your Eyes and Make a Difference

Act now, because tomorrow it will be too late

We have different ways to help Darfur people:

• Write our governments to put this issue into their priority agendas
• Write a letter to your local newspaper editor
• Write an article about Darfur in your blog
• Raise funds and contribute with the humanitarian organizations working in Darfur
• Raise awareness

Interesting Links:
www.savedarfur.org
http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4027&l=1
http://www.darfurgenocide.org/
http://www.genocideintervention.net/index.php
http://www.unicef.org/spanish/infobycountry/sudan_darfuroverview.html
http://www.changemakers.net/journal/300506/framework.cfm

Zapatero announces the dialogue with ETA

Unfortunately, against all my wishes, against terrorism's victims will, last Thursday, 29th June 2006, Mr. Rodriguez Zapatero has formally announced that his government is going to dialogue with ETA.


I will publish his is his speech, the speech that let me speechless, as soon as I can.

I am so sad, discouraged, depressed, hopeless about this, that I don't even find the words to express how I feel about this.

Lets hope for the best, and see what happens.

Go Nadal!

I have been wanting to talk about Rafa Nadal for a long time. Now, that he has won Agassi in Wimbledon, I cannot let it go.

I've played tennis since I was 4 until I was 19, when I was diagnosed with a discal hernia and recommended to give up tennis competition. Since then, I did not follow tennis enough. However, last year when this young man won Roland Garros, I remembered why I liked tennis so much.

This year, he did it again. He won Roland Garros, beating number one Roger Federer:

Nadal has won a record 60 consecutive matches on clay. Nadal's mental toughness, drive to improve, calm and constancy are amazing. Rafa Nadal is not only a great tennis player, perfectly aware of his strenghts and weaknesses, but also a very mature 20-year old boy. Besides, he looks like my small brother. They seem to be brothers! Same face, same gestures.

The important issue now is that he just beated the great Andre Agassi on grass. Rafael Nadal talks a lot about how he hopes to contend for a Wimbledon title in three or four years, once he gets used to the odd bounces and tricky footing that come with playing on grass.

Could it happen much faster than he -- or anyone else -- thought?
I hope so!

The only two Spanish tennis players who were able to win Wimbledon were Manuel Santana, 40 years ago, and Conchita Martinez in 1994. Rafael Nadal will be the next one.

Go Rafa, Go!