by Randall Atkins, special correspondent for VoicesofOK.org

Cairo – Drunk on the victories of the recent revolution and ousting of their hated president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s youthful opposition may have just sobered up to the realities of their newly democratic state. The March 19th referendum on constitutional amendments, which they say did not go far enough, was not the change they envisioned when they took to the streets in January. Newly formed political parties, some of which have yet to even pick a name for themselves, fought to get the amendments voted down.

For most who pass through Egypt, it is a tourist destination; a place to see first hand the remnants of an ancient civilization. During the winter months resort towns along the red and white seas serve as a sunny getaway for middle class westerners, but what is lost on most of these visitors is the vast inequities and contradictions that exist in the country.

by Michael Givel

From late June 2009 to late December 2009, I was honored to serve as the first ever American Fulbright scholar in Bhutan, a small constitutional monarchy between India and People’s Republic of China. Accompanying me on my journey to this ancient, rugged, and beautiful eastern Himalayan nation was my wife Rebecca Sherry and 11 year old son Noah Givel…

Photos by Rebecca Ann Sherry.

by Kara Joy McKee

As the new general operations manager of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative (OKF), I had the privilege to travel to our nation’s capital last month to get a front and center view of the creativity and politics of the international local food movement. The OKF had been chosen to participate in the Wallace Foundation’s 2009 Community Food Enterprise study, which sought to identify the most promising and innovative local food projects going on today…

From The Journal Record:

On a simple bridge in a quiet backyard, a Rwandan and an Oklahoman take a moment to reflect on their journey.

“We have a great relationship,” said Angie Hendricks, president and chief executive of Bentley Hedges Travel Services in Oklahoma City. “But I think it takes a lot of trust with each other, and that trust will allow us to go forward.”

Angie Hendricks and Nadia Keza are two women who live worlds apart but were brought together on the principle that business can create peace. The Oklahoma City-based Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women touts the idea that women are the key to development through emerging economies. The institute’s Peace through Business program is designed to provide long-term business education to women entrepreneurs in Rwanda and Afghanistan.

Read the rest.