The time has come, I'm taking off again... Thank you very much to those of you who contacted me while I was at home in Germany. It meant a lot to me.

As you might have seen, most of the Africa Section is populated by now, at least with regards to the picture galleries. More diary entries will follow over the coming weeks.

Take care of yourselves and each other, and I hope to be in touch again soon!

Martina :o)

SOME FACTS THAT PUT OUR WORLD INTO PERSPECTIVE

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:

There would be:

57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south) and 8 Africans

52 would be female, 48 would be male

70 would be non-white, 30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian, 30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual, 11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth

1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education

1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. The following is also something to ponder...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are a head of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone wanted to share this with you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Someone once said:

What goes around comes around. Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening. Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

I wish you the courage and freedom to do so.