“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Sudan's 'sister coach' takes love of football to field

Yahoo – AFP, Jay Deshmukh and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali, April 3, 2018

Salma al-Majidi has been acknowledged by FIFA as the first Arab and Sudanese
woman to coach a men's football team in the Arab world (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Gadaref (Sudan) (AFP) - In Sudan, where a women's national football team remains a distant dream, Salma al-Majidi knew the only way to take part in her beloved sport was to coach... and that the players had to be men.

Majidi, 27, acknowledged by FIFA as the first Arab and Sudanese woman to coach a men's football team in the Arab world, is a pioneer in a sport that dominates the region.

"Why football? Because it is my first and ultimate love," said Majidi, clad in sports gear and a black headscarf, as she led players of the Al-Ahly Al-Gadaref club at a practice session in the town of Gadaref, east of Khartoum.

"I became a coach because there is still no scope for women's football in Sudan," said Majidi, who is affectionately called "sister coach" by her team.

Daughter of a retired policeman, Majidi was 16 when she fell in love with football.

It came about as she watched her younger brother's school team being coached. She was captivated by the coach's instructions, his moves, and how he placed the marker cones at practice sessions.

"At the end of every training session, I discussed with him the techniques he used to coach the boys," Majidi told AFP, as she watched her own players practising on a hot day at a dusty ground in Gadaref.

"He saw I had a knack for coaching... and gave me a chance to work with him."

Soon Majidi was coaching the under-13 and under-16 teams of Al-Hilal club in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum on the west bank of the River Nile.

Majidi says she became a coach "because there is still no scope for women's 
football in Sudan" (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Limits on women players

Questions like whether she understood football or had the skills to coach men were all put to rest over time, said Majidi, speaking in a soft but confident tone.

Named in the BBC's 2015 list of "100 inspirational women", Majidi has coached the Sudanese second league men's clubs of Al-Nasr, Al-Nahda, Nile Halfa and Al-Mourada.

Nile Halfa and Al-Nahda even topped local leagues under her coaching. She currently holds the African "B" badge in coaching, meaning she can coach any first league team across the continent.

The only other woman to have gained recognition in Sudan's footballing world was Mounira Ramadan, who refereed men's matches in the 1970s.

Sudan joined FIFA in 1948 and established the Confederation of African Football (CAF) along with Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa. It won the CAF trophy in 1970.

Women's football has faced an uphill task since the country adopted Islamic sharia law in 1983, six years after which President Omar al-Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup.

There is no legal ban on women's football in Sudan, but a conservative society coupled with the Islamist leanings of the government have left it in the shadows.

Women do play football but there are no competitions or women's clubs, and they do not play much in public.

"There are restrictions on women's football, but I'm determined to succeed," Majidi, whose dream is to coach an international team, said, as her players kicked up clouds of dust practising free kicks.

Questions like whether she understood football or had the skills to coach men 
were all put to rest over time, Majidi says (AFP Photo/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

'Kids of Salma'

Majidi's journey has not been easy.

"Sudan is a community of tribes and some tribes believe that a woman's role is confined only to her home," said Majidi, a university graduate in accounts and management.

"There was this one boy who refused to listen. He told me he belongs to a tribe that believed men should never take orders from women," she said.

It took months before he finally accepted her as coach. "Today, he is a fine player," said Majidi, who works full-time and receives a salary that is equivalent to that of a male coach.

At first, "people in the streets used to call us 'Salma's kids!'" said Majid Ahmed, a striker and an ardent fan of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

"In school we have female teachers, so what's the problem having a female coach?"

Majidi said her entrance to what was a male preserve is just a start.

"My message to men in general is to give women a chance to do what they want," she said as she prepared tea after a gruelling practice session.

'She was different'

Coming from a traditional family, it was a challenge for Majidi to prove herself to their relatives, recalls her father, Mohamed al-Majidi.

"Then one day, her uncle who used to criticise her saw crowds shouting 'Salma! Salma!' during a match," he told AFP at the family's mud-and-brick home in Omdurman.

"These same relatives now pray to Allah to support her."

From early on, Majidi's mother knew her daughter was different.

"She always preferred wearing trousers... And even when crossing the street, she would watch the boys playing football," said Aisha al-Sharif.

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