Linking Communities
Around The World
website is an idea,
a concept, and
a resource

The Human Link

• Humanity is linked together by the fact that persons everywhere have similarities and are of the same species.
  
  
• It is truly incredible and awesome that human bodies are made of billions of cells that work together without anyone's effort to provide life.
  
  
• And it is amazing that people are able to exist - that this planet is just the right temperature with just the right amount of oxygen and light to sustain human life.
  
  
• It is truly a wonder that each person was born to this species, as part of humanity, with intelligence and the ability to be compassionate.
  
  
  For more information, read Norman Counsin's
  "Celebration of Life"
  

Point of Reference

Communities around the world have different cultures, different methods of doing things, and different types and amounts of resources.

All communities also share some similarities. This is what makes them a community.

Most communities in the northern half of the world share certain similarities while most southern communities share other similarities.

Comparisons

There is much that people in the south do not know about life in the north. But in many ways there is much more that people in the north do not know about life in the south.

Now that northern television is accessible in some parts of the south, we are provided with an account of northern life and even a view of how people in the north think. Some of us know what your houses look like, what you wear, and how you might possibly act and react.

And from your news broadcasts we know what issues you have faced, the crimes committed, and the overwhelming nature of unmet challenges.

You know far less than this about us. Yet when you come to visit, we are often given the impression that you know what is best for us, that you hold the answers to our problems.

Why would you think otherwise? With superior equipment and technology, you have assumed you can do things better. With your degrees, you have assumed that you know better.

But what do you know about us? Even your photographs and documentaries of us were taken and produced by individuals and agencies from the north.

Do you understand the way we think, what is important to us, or why we do things the way we do?

These are important ingredients to getting along, to developing relationships, to supporting each other, and to solidarity.

It is with this in mind, that we seek to provide a point of reference, a perspective. Although narrow and limited, perhaps it will serve as a little window to a bigger understanding.

Perspectives On...

Resources
From The North

The United Kingdom One World Linking Association (UKOWLA) produces several papers that form a Toolkit of Good Practice for linking:
www.ukowla.org.uk/main/toolkit.asp

Volunteer & Organization Links:
www.idealist.org/

School Links:
www.globalgateway.org.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/worldclass
www.lcd.org.uk

Point of Reference for Schools:
www.rethinkingschools.org/

Community Development Links:
Sister Cities International -
www.sister-cities.org/sci/cityseek/find
BUILD -
www.build-online.org.uk

Common Ground

There is a common ground among southern and northern communities.

Most places in the world are affected by the decisions of wealthy elites, those few persons in the world that own or control the majority of earthly possessions.

Both northern and sourthern communities are affected by these decisions. When the effects are not good, we can work together to seek solutions.