"We are worried about school; we have no bags, no stationery, no uniforms. We will fall behind in our education whilst other children will work".

Relief and charity organisations have initiated a wide-scale aid relief effort after tornadoes wreaked havoc in two provinces.

Gift of the Givers has just been granted permission to set up base, medical teams, equipment and supplies at Banadir Hospital, the largest hospital in Mogadishu (the largest city in Somalia) where thousands of patients are flocking to from various refugee camps in and around Mogadishu and the South, and are in desperate need of life saving medical assistance.

South Africa's Ubuntu Spirit knows no bounds. We are indeed making an emphatic continental statement that Africa is coming to the aid of Africans unreservedly. The power is not in the proclamation but in the execution: being the first African agency and the only agency in the world to fly 6 planes into Mogadishu in a two week period delivering 112 tons of aid, gave a very good feel being South African.

Realist Foreign Policy refers to the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states. It might seem strange that an article that opens with a line like this finds itself in an environmental publication.

What do you do when temperatures reach single digits and its pouring rain outside? You cling to your hot water bottle or snuggle under a bunch of blankets - sometimes you don't even know how many. When you absolutely have to go outside, you wear a thick coat or a waterproof jacket and a scarf.

The people of Japan are still struggling to recover from the record breaking earthquake and tsunami that hit over there last week Friday. Thousands of people are dead and many more are still missing or injured.