Happy Birthday to Panama!

Tajik young women during Navrūz (Persian New Year). They are holding sprouting plants which symbolize rebirth. *Photo from Wikipedia September 9 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tajikistan from USSR in 1991. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid Empire, Sasanian Empire, Hephthalite Empire, Samanid Empire, Mongol Empire and Timurid dynasty. The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s. The Basmachi revolt, an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia, broke out in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and was quelled

People at a local school in Bangui, the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. *Photo from Wikipedia August 13 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Central African Republic (CAR) from France in 1960. The country’s current borders were established by France, which ruled the country as a colony starting in the late 19th century. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders. The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast,

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Carlyn Yamada (Haiti) Special Advisor of a Haiti assistance NGO/actress （She’s been in Japan since ’96） At 9:53PM on January 13, 2010 (UTC), a big earthquake hit Haiti, a small country floating in the Caribbean Sea. This incident raised public interest in the country. And there was a woman in Tokyo who received an endless array of information sent from the quake area. Her name is Carlyn Yamada and she’s been in Japan for more than 10 years and has been involved in assistance activities for Haiti also. Also she