Drink Cultura Refrescante

thatpacificlove:

The Malu, the traditional mark of Samoa’s most precious yet strongest women.

opiee8 the second girl is my sister! =))

politics-war:

A man plays the flute to attract passersby to his monkey, Shah Rukh, to earn money.

Photograph: Anjum Naveed

tonganswaggr:

The Taualuga is a traditional Samoan dance, considered the apex of Samoan performance art forms and the centerpiece of the Culture of Samoa. This dance form has been adopted and adapted throughout western Polynesia, most notably in the Kingdom of Tonga, Uvea, Futuna, and Tokelau. The renowned Tongan version is called the tau’olunga.The word Taualuga in Samoan refers to the last stage of traditional house building in which the topmost rafter was secured to the fale, signifying the completion of construction. The term “taualuga” symbolizes the conclusion of a monumental task and the beautifying final touches involved. The dance is frequently performed as the grand finale of an evening of entertainment or as the concluding number at Samoan wedding receptions, social functions, and other festivities. #taualuga #tauolunga #samoa #taupou #manaia #traditional #dance #polynesia (Taken with instagram)

immilounge:

Images speak louder than words sometimes

knowledgeequalsblackpower:

dank-potion:

occupyallstreets:

America. Has The Second Highest Child Poverty Rate In The Developed World

According to a new report from the Office of Research at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world. Of the 35 wealthy countries studied by UNICEF, only Romania has a child poverty rate higher than the 23 percent rate in the U.S.:

[The rate is] based on the definition of relative poverty used by the OECD. Under this definition, a child is deemed to be living in relative poverty if he or she is growing up in a household where disposable income, when adjusted for family size and composition, is less than 50% of the median disposable household income for the country concerned. By this standard, more than 15% of the 200 million children in the 35 countries listed in Figure 1b are seen to be living in relative poverty.

The top five positions in the league table are occupied by Iceland, Finland, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Norway (with Slovenia and Denmark close behind). All of these countries have relative child poverty rates below 7%. Another eight countries including two of the largest — Germany and France– have rates between 7% and 10%. A third group, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, post rates of between 10% and 15%. A further six, including populous Italy and Spain, show rates of between 15% and 20%. In only two countries are more than 20% of children living in relative poverty — Romania and the United States.

The Great Recession has, of course, exacerbated child poverty. According to a recent report, 8.3 million children in the U.S. have been affected by the foreclosure crisis that arose after the housing bubble burst.

However, the social safety net has helped alleviate some of this suffering. For instance, food stamps reduced the number of children living in extreme poverty by half last year.

Source

So much for First World problems.

Ugh. I hate this smug ass article. I dunno. It just automatically rubbed me the wrong way.

You cannot put together the hyper-Westernized ideas “first world” and “developed world,” and make an article about “poverty” in the international world without sounding like a fucking jackass.

politics-war:

A lantern draped with a flower lei floats on the water during the Na Lei Aloha Lantern Floating event held by the Shinnyo-en Buddhist organisation at Ala Moana beach park during Memorial Day in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event is held in honor of those killed by war, natural disasters and ill-health.

Photograph: Hugh Gentry

kindelling:

The Afghan girls who live as boys

For economic and social reasons, many Afghan parents want to have a son. This preference has led to some of them practising the long-standing tradition of Bacha Posh - disguising girls as boys.

When Azita Rafhat, a former member of the Afghan parliament, gets her daughters ready for school, she dresses one of the girls differently.

Three of her daughters are clothed in white garments and their heads covered with white scarves, but a fourth girl, Mehrnoush, is dressed in a suit and tie. When they get outside, Mehrnoush is no longer a girl but a boy named Mehran.

Azita Rafhat didn’t have a son, and to fill the gap and avoid people’s taunts for not having a son, she opted for this radical decision. It was very simple, thanks to a haircut and some boyish clothes.

…

Girls brought up as boys do not stay like this all their lives. When they turn 17 or 18 they live life as a girl once again - but the change is not so simple.

Elaha lives in Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan. She lived as a boy for 20 years because her family didn’t have a son and reverted only two years ago when she had to go to university.

However, she does not feel fully female: she says her habits are not girlish and she does not want to get married.

“When I was a kid my parents disguised me as a boy because I didn’t have a brother. Until very recently, as a boy, I would go out, play with other boys and have more freedom.”

She has returned reluctantly to her gender and says she has done it only because of the social traditions.

“If my parents force me to get married, I will compensate for the sorrows of Afghan women and beat my husband so badly that he will take me to court every day.”