Your Photo Can Save Our Home

submit to POSTCARDS FROM THE FRONTLINE TODAY!

In the battle against global warming, the Maldives is at the frontline. With an average height on 1.5m we are the flattest country on earth. The UN Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change predictions suggest that the Maldives will be facing a catastrophe of immense proportions by the end of the century if global warming continues at the rate that it is currently increasing. We will undoubtedly be one of the first and hardest hit by rising waters; our eventual fate - that of environmental refugees.

On October 24th, 2009, millions of people around the world will take action to spread the number 350, the safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere measured in parts per million, and make sure the world leaders are on the course to reach that target.

As Maldivians, we believe it is our responsibility to get our voices heard on a global scale and in turn make sure that the world is aware of our plight.

Postcards from the Frontline will give Maldivians this voice.

350 unique photographs of life from people at the very forefront of this battle. They will depict more than the usual ‘wish you were here’ tourism clichés that currently dominate the worlds vision of Maldives. These photos aim to show the world instead honest images of life in the Maldives. Real experiences, real challenges, real stories of life in our low lying islands.

We request ALL MALDIVIANS, young and old, to submit photos for the cause. Entries do not need to fit into a conventional photographic category. It can be absolutely anything that reflects what the Maldives is to you:

The view from your bedroom window. Three patterened burugas sitting side by side on a bench at the artificial beach. The sun -setting over Male’s rooftops. The silver bodies of the fish lined at the Mas maarukeytu. Nimble hands twisting rope. Hikkan alhaafa huri kula kulaige hedhunthah.Your little sister’s smile. The ripple of water on calm seas. The fothi fihaara. A mundu, a golhi jehi gamees, and a koari.. Kites over dharubaarugey fahaiy. Voshufilaas in the sun. Thoshigandu mathee thibi loabiverih.

You know all this because you are Maldivian. Now it is time the world knew too.

The point is to accommodate a wide variety of images that portray the reality of life in the Maldives, as perceived and decided by you. This is a chance to move beyond the usual, the typical, the constructed. It is a chance to show a global audience the authenticity in your Maldives the way you see it.

350 photos you send will be then made into postcards, and sent to 350 world leaders with a very special appeal. These world leaders will decide the fate of Maldives, and the world, at the crucial UN Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009 (COP15) this December.

Your photo can save our home. And you needn’t even be a professional photographer. Being Maldivian is all that you need to be.

For more information and to submit your photos, please visit: www.350postcards.com and www.350postcards.com/submit

For more information on the worldwide 350 initiative: www.350.org

Do your part to spread the word by linking back or pasting this on your own blog!

All star line up at the peaceday football match

The 'One Day One Goal' football match (refer to my previous post) to be played on the occasion of the Peaceday later today features an all star line up of veteran football players of the Maldives. I just got hold of the teamlists and it looks like a page out of the who's who of yesteryear's football superstars. The two teams are captained by Abdulla Rasheed (Julay) and Kaaminee Pool Abdul Shakoor.

Julay's team features such stars as Andharey, Dhona, Addo, Faaiz Samad, Kiyavaa Ahmed Saleem, Mohamed Kaleem, Kentey, Hamittey and Lebbe. Abdul Shakoor's team features, amongst others, Maizan Alibe, Faaig, Paris Naseem, Heena Ahmed Saleem, Mohamed Hameed (Umarube), Ribidhoo Nasir and the goalkeeper Ali Zalif.

This match is part of the 'One Day One Goal' campaign which aims to organise football matches in every UN member state today, the UN International Day of Peace. The match will be played at the turf ground next to FAM house in Male' and is scheduled to start at 4:30pm.

In my previous post I mentioned that the match will also feature under 16 and women footballers. That is not the case. The match will only feature veteran footballers. My apologies for the mistake.

In addition to the match Peaceday activities in the Maldives also includes the screening of 'The Day After Peace' documentary at Athena Cinema tonight at 9:00pm, and a StarPeace star party at Vilingili.

Peaceday Activities in the Maldives

21st September is the UN International Day of Peace (Peace Day). Peace Day was the realization of filmmaker Jeremy Gilley who launched ‘Peace One Day’ organization whose mission was to establish the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date.

Peace Day is not only about creating peace between nations, it’s about non-violence in our homes, communities and schools. Therefore Peace Day is relevant to every human being on the planet.

Peace Day One Day One Goal Matches

'One Day One Goal' 2009 campaign aims to organise football matches in every UN member state on or around 21 September - Peace Day. Each ‘One Day One Goal’ match will celebrate cooperation, unity, and the power of football to bring people together on Peace Day.

In Male’, a football match is scheduled to be played amongst two teams that include veteran footballers, under 16 players, women footballers etc.

Location: Turf ground next to FAM House

Time: 1600 hrs

Date: 21^st September 2009

An additional 'One Day One Goal' match will be played at Hithadhu, Seenu Atoll.

‘The Day After Peace’ Screening

The Day After Peace is the latest award-winning documentary film from Peace One Day founder and chairman Jeremy Gilley.

This documentary will be screened at Athena Cinema on 21^st September night starting at 9:00pm. Entrance is free.

Jeremy Gilley was an actor before he founded Peace One Day in 1999. He had become disillusioned with his work, but understood the potential of film to positively affect people and create change in the world. So when he set out on his near impossible mission in 1999, he took a camera with him. Every journey made, every country visited and every person met – he got it all on camera. Ten years on, The Day After Peace is his story – the story of Peace One Day.

The Day After Peace is a moving testament to the power of the individual and the perseverance of the human spirit.

StarPeace Star Party

StarPeace Project is a global special project of the International Year of Astronomy. StarPeace wants to show that there are no borders in the real earth, borders are man-made and science has no border. In other words, this project wants to show the real figure of earth, not the political map of earth.

This year StarPeace following its main goals toward promoting peace and astronomy, has decided to celebrate International Day of Peace with the help of all astronomy clubs around the world who are joined StarPeace project.

StarPeace colleague are going to draw a Peace Line on Earth. On September 21, amateur astronomers will bring their telescopes between people near one of their historical sites, such as World Heritages and will show our solar system’s biggest planet, Jupiter and its Galilean moons.

The Maldives Science Society is hosting a star party at Viligili (near Wataniya antenna ground area) on 21st September night. The event will start around 9:30pm and will continue into the early hours of 22nd morning. Feel free to bring your own telescopes.

350 Appeals from Maldives

The Maldives has an average height of 1.5 meters which makes it the flattest country on earth. This is significant when it comes to global warming because this makes the Maldives one of the most vulnerable places to climate change. The UN Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change predictions suggests that the Maldives will be facing a catastrophe of immense proportions by the end of the century if global warming continues at the rate it is currently increasing.

To highlight this plight, the Maldives Photographers Association and the Maldives Science Society are organising a campaign called Postcards from the Frontline.

Postcards from the Frontline is an initiative by the Maldivian photographers to inform world leaders of our undeserved plight, and appeal to them to save us from disappearing from the earth's surface.

Postcards from the Frontline aims to give a voice to Maldivians. Depicting more than the usual 'wish you were here' cliches (a sandy beach, a turquoise sea, an idle hammock) these photos will show the world honest images of life in these low lying islands. These 350 photographic appeals of real experiences, real challenges and real stories of life in the Maldives will then be crafted as post-cards and sent to 350 world leaders who will decide the fate of the Maldives at the crucial UN Climate Change Conference Copenehagen 2009 (COP15) this December.

Call for Entries

We request all members of the public to submit photos for the cause. Entries do not need to fit into a conventional photographic category. The point is to accommodate a wide variety of images that portray the reality of life in the Maldives, as perceived and decided by you, the photographer. This is a chance to move beyond the usual, the typical, the constructed. It is a chance to show a global audience the authenticity in your Maldives the way you see it.

Application forms can be downloaded here.

350 & The Maldives

This July, Bill McKibben, Amerca's leading environmentalist visited the Maldives and gave a talk on climate change in general and about his campaign called 350.org (refer to my previous post).

350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis.

Its mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.

Its focus is on the number 350--as in parts per million (ppm), the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. The current level is 389 ppm.

On 24^th October 2009 350.org is cordinating an International Day of Climate Action in order to unite the public, media and political leaders behind the 350 goal. By having actions all around the world that day, 350.org plans to send a clear message to the world leaders (who will be meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions) that 'the solutions to climate change must be equitable, they must be grounded in science, and they must meet the scale of the crisis.'

Bill McKibben's talk, hosted by the Maldives Science Society, has inspired different individuals and groups in the Maldives to join the 350 campaign and is currently organising different actions for the International Day of Climate Action. So far, four different actions have been registered at 350.org from the Maldives:

• "350 Maldives 2009" event organized by ECOCARE Maldives in affiliation with the Scouts Association of Maldives will be hosting number of events including:
  

  - 350 Balloon's floating in midair with the number "350" lit on it
  

  - Maldivian cultural music session with awareness programs
  

  - Ground 350 motor vehicles (cars and motor bikes)
  

  - Cut down energy consumption of the capital island Male' by 350KW
  

• "350 Prayers" - 350 people reciting Quran and praying to God to save our environment

• "Below 350" - An underwater demonstration by scuba divers and snorklers joining hands to show their support to reduce atmospheric carbondioxide to safer levels

• "Operation Life Raft 350" – a raft made from empty PET water bottles to be rowed from Male' to Hulhule, trying to create awareness in ways to reduce, reuse and recylce in order to achieve the 350 balance.
  

In addition, the Maldives Photographers Association together with the Maldives Science Society is planning to send 350 unique postcards to 350 world leaders and personalities who will be attending the Copenhagen conference (COP15).

These actions from the Maldives will be part of more than 1400 currently registered actions from 111 countries happening on 24^th October 2009.

If an international grassroots movement holds the world leaders accountable to the latest climate science, we can start the global transformation we so desperately need.

Can A Number Save The World?

The Maldives Science Society will be hosting a presentation by America's leading environmentalist Bill McKibben at Dharubaaruge onTuesday, 21st July 2009. Mr. McKibben is a writer who frequently writes about global warming and alternative energy. Begining in 2006, he led the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. His first book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. He is the founder of 350.org.

The presentation starts at 8:30 pm. Entrance is free.

links to Bill McKibben and 350.0rg

The Eclipse and the Tsunami

A hoax has been circulating on the internet for sometime now that the total solar eclipse of 22^nd July will trigger a tsunami and one of the countries that will be badly hit will be the Maldives. In fact, couple of my friends have called me up and asked me whether it was true or not. The email goes something like this:

Hello there. I just wanted to let you know that please stay away from the beaches all around in the month of July. There is a prediction that there will be another tsunami hitting on July 22nd. It is also when there will be a sun eclipse. The combined gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon pulling on the Earth's tectonic plates during the July 22 lunar eclipse will cause a major earthquake which will in turn trigger a tsunami. It is predicted that it is going to be really bad and countries like Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak)), Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Philippines are going to be badly hit. Please try and stay away from the beaches in July. Better to be safe than sorry. Please pass the word around. Please also pray for all beings.

Well, this is a great opportunity to use one of my favourite phrases – DON’T PANIC!

Just take note of the following:

• We can't predict earthquakes or tsunamis. It's not currently scientifically possible to say when an earthquake or tsunami will happen.

• Earthquakes are not caused by eclipses or gravitational pulls.

• Add to this a little bit of history: During the last 110 years or so, not a single earthquake has occurred on the same day as a total eclipse. There has been only two occassions where an earthquake occurred on the same day as a partial eclipse. But even those struck in totally different places from where the eclipses occurred.

• And lastly, what are the chances of a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean affecting the Maldives (or any of the Indian Ocean lands) anyway?