Kwiduk

Oxford really is an international crossroads. Every nation in the world must at least be represented here if not living in Oxford. Kwiduk, who is from South Korea, is one of our friends we met in Oxford last October. He has a faith that can move mountains. Yet this is a faith that he has to fight for even within his own family. Kwiduk awakes every morning and begins the day with prayer (for at least one hour he told us)! This is so evident in how he lives. Even though he was in the beginnings of learning English, he communicated so much joy to us. As he has already left Oxford to go back to South Korea, we wanted to ask any praying person to pray for him and his village and family which is right near the border of North Korea.

Kwiduk and & Us in our Flat

Belgium Waffles & Chocolates

So our European adventure continues...over Christmas we went to Belgium to visit with Ian's family who lives there. We had the opportunity to see Brugges and Antwerp and parts of Brussels. Did we mention the food? Its the simple things in life that matter. Waffles and Chocolate. Brugges had the most spectacular heritage and scenery that we saw in Belgium. We had bikes (thanks to Ian's Uncle) to explore many side streets of Brugges. Here are some of the photos of Beautiful Brugges...

Banker to the Poor

This month in Oxford we got invited to meet Dr. Muhammad Yunus. We heard him speak in the famous Sheldonian theater in Oxford on Poverty and Social Business. He was a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But beyond the fame he is a humble man that loves the poor. Muhammad Yunus has often said, "Humans are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty; they suffer now as they did in the past because we turn our heads away from this issue." Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.
From Dr. Yunus' personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Us & Muhammad

World's First Fair Trade School-We Love Fair trade Coffee

Our university in Oxford is the world's first fair trade school. Fair Trade pretty much means exactly what it says. It is all about making sure that products exported internationally from “developing” countries to “developed” countries are produced under fair conditions. That means promoting the payment of fair prices, safe and healthy working conditions and responsible environmental practices. Here are some of the fair trade murals we see daily all over our school and quotes from local farmers...





More info on Oxford Brookes University Fair Trade:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/facts/environment

Neighborhood Sheep Apprehension...

Good thing we saw these along our way. Otherwise who knows where we would be with a cup tea.

Development and Emergency Practice Classmates

This is a picture of our entire class including extra Architecture students that our taking this program as a minor. Students in our class represent 30 nationalities. Everywhere from Zimbabwe to St.Lucia to Saudi Arabia.

Windsor Castle and Bath

Part 2 of our weekend excursion: After we dropped off our friend in London (yes, Ian did drive in and out of London) we then took a day trip to Windsor Castle and Bath. Windsor was a cool castle but expensive to go in and tour around so we stayed outside its walls and split a Moroccan dish on some steps that overlooked the castle. We watched men holding machine guns by the gates and thought it was strange but then realized they were protecting a national treasure. (FYI-Police here do not carry guns or knives, accept when protecting national treasure sites). One of our friends who is a policeman, told us that criminals know this a are more reluctant to carry pistols because they knew police don't have them often times. By sunset we made it to a beautiful city in the countryside called Bath. A city originally discovered by the Romans who found hot springs there. In addition to the ancient Roman baths, there is also the National Jane Austin Centre. Unfortunately, the centre was was closed by the time we got there but we loved Bath so much we are planning a trip back. Here are some highlights...

Windsor Castle


Bath

Roman Baths


Overlooking Bath