infinisri

Well it is packing time and it is crisis time. It is crisis averted story time. Ready! Every trip has a point of crisis that often occurs on the day of packing or on the day of travel. I could fill a journal just with those stories. Today's crisis came and went. I had to take with me the yellow folder certifying that I have been vaccinated for Yellow Fever. This is mandatory for the Republic of Ghana. I had the vaccination done about a month ago. I distinctly remember bringing home the signed, stamped, certified Yellow folder. Where is it? I spent nearly an hour turning the house upside down. Along the way the orderly manner in which I set about packing was disrupted. I have nice list that I have made after many trips, ... read more

Reuters does a great job of covering trouble spots around the world. They pay attention to things that major US media hold in their blind spot. So read the latest on the situation in north Mali with the Tuareg nomads. BAMAKO, June 30 (Reuters) - Mali has reached a peace agreement with Tuareg rebels seeking greater autonomy for their northern desert region, a senior government official and a spokesman for the insurgents said on Friday. The light-skinned, nomadic gunmen attacked army camps in the Saharan trading town of Kidal last month, looting vehicles and arms before retreating to mountains near the Algerian border, raising fears of a full-scale desert rebellion. "The demands for autonomy, special status, or the creation of local governance structures have been abandoned," a senior official from Mali's Territorial Administration Ministry told Reuters, ... read more

Most of you already know that I have been preparing to speak to the interested parties in Ghana about bringing a smaller scaled down version of the famous "eye camp" from Bodh Gaya India to Ghana. The annual "eye camp" that I speak of, was held for the 23rd time in Nov 2005 and brought top quality eye surgery to over 20,000 people from the poor, rural areas of Bihar in India. I have put together a six-minute video that is now available in DVD. Soon it will be available from the web. Go to http://www.infinisri.com - where a link will appear as soon as I master the art of progressive download and quick play. Currently the video takes a long time to download - and when it plays, it gets stuck repeatedly in parts. So ... read more

I have set up three Google Alerts, one each for Senegal, Mali and Ghana. I am monitoring news items so I am somewhat familiar with what is going on in the places I will be traveling to. Here is a quick rundown of what I am learning. Ghana - the BIG news is the World Cup for Soccer. Championship games are on. Ghana is doing great, rather surprisingly. Yesterday Ghana defeated the US (5th seeded team). All of Africa now looks upon Ghana with high esteem - they are the boys that put Africa on the map in Soccer. What a hoot!! Senegal - The president of Ghana is visiting China and signing agreements for trade and cooperation. Diplomatic efforts were suspended a while ago, now they are resumed. This comes after Senegal cut off diplomatic ... read more

Since I got busy with my startup company, there have been few postings on my blog. So we start again. As you may know, I am busy not only with my TIP-LS company in partnership with Richard, I am also working on getting ready for my trip to West Africa coming up on July 1st. While most travelers would be busy with purchasing and packing, I ended up busy with something else. I took a series of 8 vaccinations including Yellow Fever, Typhoid and Hep A. I also got busy getting my visas in order. Ghana requires a visa, for which applied and things went without a hitch. Mali requires a visa, when I filled out the form, I noticed that my passport has no more visa page left. Guess I have been traveling too much. ... read more

I attended a global peace symposium in Lucknow. The hosts were the venerable institution called CMS or Central Montessori School. Jagdish Gandhi started this institution nearly thirty years ago, with nothing more than a vision and prayer. Five years ago they got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Montessori school in the world with over 30,000 students. There was a primary conference, where Chief Justices from many countries around the world participated. I met the hoary bearded Chief Justice of Afghanistan, a lovely woman from Timor Leste (probably the newest nation around), from Uzbekistan, Kazhakstan, Bosnia, Nigeria and so on. Absent were the Chief Justices of the US and UK, as well as France and Germany. The Chief Justices were treated each day at the opening to a recitation of demands for ... read more