Latvia pledges aid to Haiti victims

Support for the victims of last week’s massive earthquake in Haiti will also come from the cash-strapped Latvian government, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Jan. 18.

During a special meeting, the government’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a EUR 15,000 donation to an emergency fund organized by the United Nations to aid Haiti. European Union members are expected to donate up to EUR 92 million, the ministry announced in a press release.

The Jan. 12 earthquake, registering 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck the capital of Port-au-Prince and other communities in Haiti’s west. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have died in the earthquake.

Ziedot.lv, an online charity coordination service based in Rīga, announced Jan. 14 that donations also can be sent through the Latvian Red Cross.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

‘Glābējsilīte’ is word of the year

In what clearly is a sign of the times, the Latvian word of the year is glābējsilīte, a place where unwanted babies can be abandoned, the Rīga Latvian Society (Rīgas Latviešu biedrība) has announced.

The word glābejsilīte is the Latvianized version of the term “baby box,” a service offered by hospitals and clinics where infants can be abandoned without questions being asked. The Rīga Latvian Society’s language development interest group announced the word’s selection during a Jan. 18 press conference.

The “non-word” or nevārds selected from among multiple nominations is saīsināt, the news service LETA reported. Usually meaning “to shorten,” the term has been used during the country’s economic crisis to refer to the reduction of staff.

And the choice for the “winged words” (spārnotais teiciens) of the year is “Un ko jūs saprotat ar politisko atbildību?” (And what do you understand political responsibility to mean?), a phrase uttered by Latvian Health Minister Baiba Rozentāle during a press conference.

The society has been announcing words of the year since 2003.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

PBLA Izglītības padome izsludina konkursu par Latviju un latviešiem pasaulē

Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienības (PBLA) Izglītības padome izsludina konkursu ārpus Latvijas dzīvojošiem skolēniem no 6 līdz 18 g.v. Tēmats ir “Mans pētījums par Latviju un latviešiem pasaulē”.

To var piemērot katrai vecuma grupai. Piemēram, jaunākie skolēni var izveidot projektu par dziesmu svētku tradīcijām ārpus Latvijas, latviešu svētkiem, gadalaikiem, senlatviešu pilīm, Atmodas laiku, utt. Vecākie bērni izvēlas vienu pirmā Latvijas brīvvalsts laika sasniegumu ar ko Latvija var lepoties pasaule. Skolēnam jāizveido afiša, žurnāls, Microsoft PowerPoint prezentācija, vai cita formāta pārskatāma viela, ko var ieskenēt datorā, nofotografēt vai viegli pa e-pastu pārsūtīt.

6-14 g.v. skolēniem darbi jāiesniedz līdz 15. maijam, 15-18 g.v. skolēniem līdz 15. augustam. Katrs bērns saņem atzinības rakstu par piedalīšanos konkursā, un viens skolēns katrā vecuma grupā saņems godalgu.

Sīkākai informācijai lūdzam sazināties ar PBLA Izglītības padomes priekšsēdi Daci Copeland, dace.copeland@wmich.edu.