A STROLL WITH ADAM WINSOR (For International Animation Day)

"Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world" ~Walt Disney

Animated Adam

As I sat back on the sofa to watch Grace, my kid sister giggle at the same Tom and Jerry episode I laughed at when I was 7, I began to understand how much animation connects history and generations together.

For most of us, animation is only something we get to flirt with as kids and once we grow into adulthood, the ‘seriousness of life’ makes us blind to the beauty of animation. But it’s not all of us though... there are still few who never get blind to this beauty.

Adam Winsor is one of the ‘few’. He is an animator, illustrator, and visual storyteller. We had a stroll for international animation day and we talked everything animation; from cartoons to games to movies. Here’s my stroll with Adam, I hope the ‘blind’ will receive their ‘sight’ fall in love with animation all over again (heheh).

MY JOURNEY INTO ANIMATION (For International Animation Day)

GUEST WRITER: Yvonne Ifeoma

My name is Yvonne Ifeoma, and I'm an animator. Too vague? Ok. I shall attempt to break it down into finer, easily understood definitions. Animations basically involve the creation of moving pictures in a three-dimensional environment; Well, two-dimensional or three-dimensional environment really. This is done by sequencing consecutive images (also called frames). There, still too technical? (lol), okay I'm basically into motion graphics; the optical illusion of moving pictures, still too much? Okay, I bring life to still images. There we go.

I'm relatively new to the animation world, and I have my colleague and friend Donald Okudu to thank for this. Contrary to a popular belief that animators are mostly geeks or nerds with little or no understanding of life and socializing, the reverse proves to be the case (at least with me). Combining artistic ability, creativity, and technological ability, Animations are really quite fascinating. Personally, being able to feature in the creation process of various projects is an entirely new high for me.

FIAT JUSTITIA RUAT CAELUM (For United Nations Day)

Without doubt, the world organization, United Nations, has been working for the betterment of humanity as a whole and as with most organizations, there are flaws, weaknesses, there are also strengths. On Justitia today, below are individual views about the UN and its 'workings'. We ‘judge’ the successes and failures of the UN and encourage its members to work more, for there is always room for improvement.

TELLING THE WORLD WHO WE ARE THROUGH FOLKTALES (For World Development Information Day)

GUEST WRITER: ADEBAYO ADEGBITE

 

Part of the things my siblings and I enjoyed when we were growing up was the stories our father used to tell us. We would sit in a circle, moonlight style (but indoors with a florescent bulb acting as the moon,) while he told us folktales. One thing he also did that time was to write down the stories he told us and ask us to read them and learn to tell the stories as well as form our own. But these stories were not Cinderella or Snow white or Sleeping Beauty (though he made sure we read those as well). They were folktales, tales of the greedy tortoise and his regular cast of cohorts, the dog, sometimes the snail, or the pig usually a medicine man and a king as well. We were able to follow the tortoise on his numerous adventures trying to cheat the other animals but whose capers and adventures always end in disaster. I had the fortune of having a teacher father who made those tales so appealing, that it was like I was watching the tortoise as he puts his father-in-law’s porridge into his cap or as he hatches his plot to kill the king’s favourite hunchback and blame it on the Snail.

A STROLL WITH FEMI OKE (For World Development Information Day)

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders” ~ Ronald Reagan

The Jet age has been characterized by speed. Fast money, fast cars, fast food, and even faster world record times in sports. But amongst all these, one thing that has really increased in speed is information. Right now, I can sit in my room in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and listen to President Obama’s speech in Washington about the debt ceiling; follow Malala’s visit to Buckingham palace; and still track the rising and falling figures from the Nigerian Stock Exchange—all at the same time. That is how fast information can be harvested these days.

My guest, Femi, is a British-Nigerian Journalist who started tracking and disseminating information from the age of 14—as a junior reporter for the London Broadcasting Company. Her talent and the experience she has acquired from working for several international media houses—like CNN, Al Jazeera, and BBC—has equipped her with the ability to convert information into a source for dialogue and development.

Can information really bring development? Do public leaders need to listen more to public opinion? How much has the UN achieved since its inception? These are some of the questions we tried to answer in course of our stroll. She also told me what it felt like moderating several events for world leaders at last month’s UN general assembly, and the dignitaries she met.

Here’s my stroll with Femi, get informed;

A STROLL WITH DOMINIQUE ANSEL (For World Food Day)

        “There is no sincerer love than the love for food” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Whether it’s food for thought or food for stomach, there is no doubt that food is something we all hunger for. Most times in our quest to feed our hunger, we sneak into an overloaded boat at night trying to cross boarders illegally searching for greener pastures; take two extra jobs and work round the clock; or even form queues under the sun waiting for our turn to get a taste of this thing that keeps us all alive on planet earth, Food.

Talking about forming queues, Chef Dominique Ansel will be familiar with this one because, he literally made people to stand—and sometimes sleep—on the streets in New York waiting to get a taste of an awesome pastry he invented; The Cronut™—a hybrid of the croissant and doughnut.

In course of our stroll, we talked about food and sustainable food systems in the world; possible solutions to the global hunger problem; and the Eureka moment when he got the idea for the Cronut™. I hope this wets your appetite. 

Here is my stroll with Chef Ansel, enjoy;

INSECURITY (FOR WORLD POST DAY)

Guest Writer: Shittu Fowora

Fred Alika, 34 and Catherine were close buddies seeing each other; in a matter of months, they should be formalizing their relationship by signing the dotted lines according to the demands of tradition. Naturally this called for openness and an ample amount of trust between them both but there was something amiss.

TO THE GIRL CHILD ( FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Okwy Obu
                   

TO THE GIRL-CHILD
(in commemoration of the International Day Of the Girl-Child)

a difficult path 
is hewn out for you
even before
you make your appearance

HYMEN WHISPERS (FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Emmanuel Uweru Okoh

Hymen Whispers
(in protection of the Nigerian girl child)

Inverted legislation abound.
The roles you play draw tears
From our tender parts.

MY THIRTEEN 'I WILL NEVER...' LIST (FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Mary Ajayi
(Thirteen 'determination points' of a teenage youmg lady for International Day of the Girl Child,  2013) 
                    
MY THIRTEEN ‘I WILL NEVER…’ LIST

*I will never stop dreaming.

*I will never fail to make plans.

*I will never live without principles.

KOROBA (FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Oyin Oludipe

Koroba

(Dedicated to dear cousin Iposu Sallamah, and all girl children around the world)

Koroba

You shall often peel the fabled halo

On your lash, trail the heart among darker

Ripples your bowing runnels bring:

Deft tides they yield, of suppleness to time,

Toss charm to the air as shearwaters

The friendless surfs.

You shall often peel the fabled halo

FROM THE NAVEL OF THE SOUL (FOR WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY)

PROFILER: MARY AJAYI

                                 

WHEN WILL DEATH COME?

Five years ago my father tore me open, and every night since then, he continues to open me up. I am thirteen, an only child. My mother is dead; I have no friends and no relatives that I am allowed to see. This is the life I have been given and I’ve grown into it. I will not avenge myself. I do not know how to, nobody cares anyway, even me. I stopped caring sometime along the way. It’s a fucked up life, but I live it. Hope is something strange, joy…I have no memories of it. I do not make wishes, I do not pray. I simply float. When will I stop living anyway? Tonight when he comes again?

A TWEET INTO THE FUTURE: The dreams of a girl who dreams for other girls.

Guest Writer: Ebenezar Wikina

Monday, 23rd September 2013: it started like an ordinary Monday; grumpy, slow, and work promising. After my usual morning prayers I decided to surf the web to see what's new in the world, and I saw a captivating tweet by @malalafund that reads; ''Malala will be making her twitter debut today, send your questions with the hashtag (#Malalafund).'' ''Oh my God!'' I screamed in my head, as I sat up to digest this golden information--in fact, it felt like I had just eaten breakfast--my Monday had just turned around. I celebrated at the thought of actually seeing a 140 character tweet from Malala herself, and the very slim chance of a getting a reply tweet from her, that is, if I'm able to squeeze my questions across to her through the millions of tweets that will be sent to her that evening. I didn't want to get disappointed, so I didn't think about that much. I just wanted to see Malala tweet, and know what she's been up to lately.

THE WONDERS OF A SMILE (WORLD SMILE DAY)

Guest Writer: Adetunji Steve

THE WONDERS OF A SMILE

''A day without a smile is a day that is lost.'' Anonymous

Smiling is a simple act that means so much to the person given but so little to the person giving it out. It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime. We should all smile more often. What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure but scattered along life's pathway; the good they do is inconceivable. Many see no reason why they should smile when they consider what is obtainable around them. The environment cum prevailing circumstances do not warrant the free expressions of a smile, they reason.

A CALL FOR TEACHERS (FOR WORLD TEACHERS DAY)

Guest Writer: Chizu Ogbonna
 
TODDLER STEPS ARE BOLD STEPS. (A teacher's account of the first few weeks of a learner at preschool)

 
Some days,you came thrashing and wailing,
Other days you'd come smiling and waving,
Those shades were fickle,
They reminded me to cackle,
When you waved 'goodbye' with a chuckle.
 
To ease your 'loss', I doled out smiles,
To pacify your 'tears', I wrapped you in hugs,
Your moods were fickle,
They reminded me to cackle,
When you held a friend and shared a 'chuckle'.
 
You only sang, moulded, played and sorted
Your folks saw toddler steps, their care 
relieved. 
I saw definite bold steps and care started.
 
I saw a genius,
A bright light, 
To shine for us,
Especially at night.

Chizu Ogbonna (c) 2013

A STROLL WITH VICKI DAVIS (For World Teachers Day)

“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn” ~ Albert Einstein

They are my true heroes; the blackboard-cleaning, chalk bathing; men and women who devoted standing hours explaining—and sometimes angrily shouting—theories and concepts into my skull that eventually added up in making me who I am today.

I love my teachers. I love teachers and the teaching profession because, it is a noble profession dedicated to moulding the future of people and the future of the world. It is also a profession that needs a lot of patience and passion, and when you talk about passion for teaching, only a few teachers on planet earth have the kind of burning passion my guest has

Mrs. Vicki Davis is a teacher that loves students deeply. Apart from teaching students, she also makes out time to blog on Cool Cat Teacher; her award winning blog where she communicates with other teachers around the world, and cross pollinates ideas on how to move the teaching profession forward. She’s also a mom, public speaker, and the co-founder of the Flat classroom project.

She told me about her passion for the teaching profession, her different projects, and what she thinks about challenges affecting education globally. Here’s my stroll with Mrs. Vicki; you know what they say, ‘when a teacher is talking, you listen.’ So I suggest you listen attentively.

ACTION PLAN!

      It's not enough to read about the International Observance, what will you do to mark it?

ACTION PLAN is a forum created to motivate people around the world to use the International Observance as an instrument for change rather than a monotonous ritual.

On Action plan, we'd suggest ways for you to mark the international observance and expect to get feedback from you in form of videos, audio files, pictures, reports, essays, and any other online document that shows how you observed a particular day on the international observance.