Posted by Anna P. Mussman on Nov 19, 2009 - 11:17 AM
![Students in Jalalabad speak via Skype with peers in Boston, Nov. 12, 2009. [State Dept. Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1119_boston_jalalabad_m.jpg)
Jumpstarting International Education Week, high school students in Boston and Jalalabad used Skype technology to meet online and discuss teen life, culture and current events. At 8:00 a.m. EST on November 5 and again on November 12, staff and students at the Beaver County Day School, located in Brookline, Massachusetts, met via Skype a group of Jalalabad students…
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Posted by Maria Otero on Nov 10, 2009 - 11:01 AM
![Under Secretary Otero with civil society leaders in New Delhi, India, Nov. 4, 2009. [Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1109_otero_india_m.jpg)
Last week, I was honored to lead the U.S. delegation to the seventh annual U.S.-India Global Issues Forum in New Delhi. Though I have visited India many times in the past, this was my first trip as Under Secretary of State. The Global Issues Forum presented an important opportunity for our two countries to forge a stronger relationship, committed to addressing the challenges of the 21st century, such as disaster…
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Posted by Bruce Hudspeth on Oct 05, 2009 - 05:05 PM
![Students use computers in the Jami Region of Khatlon province, Tajikistan, 2009. [State Dept. Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1005_school_tajikistan_m.jpg)
The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in collaboration with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the EcoEnergy Alliance, a Central Asian NGO, recently launched a pilot program to provide independent sources of renewable energy and education assistance to remote rural communities in the multi-ethnic border regions of Tajikistan. The pilot site, an orphanage and school in the Jami Region of Khatlon province, provides uninterrupted electric power through solar modules for…
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Posted by Josh Glazeroff on Sep 18, 2009 - 11:49 AM
![Camels stand in River Yamuna with Taj Mahal in background, Agra, India, Apr. 17, 2008. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0918_taj_mahal_m.jpg)
For any parent, traveling with twins is twice the trouble and twice the fun. Now imagine traveling with two curious, energetic children in India, where cows, monkeys, dogs and the occasional elephant or camel roam the streets! Here the ordinary is extraordinary.
My wife and I have taken our children around quite a bit in the year since we’ve been in India. On weekends, we’ve taken train rides to impressive sites: the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Amber Fort in Jaipur. We’ve flown to destinations near (the hills of Simla) and far (the hills of Kathmandu). We’ve…
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Posted by Peter Villano on Sep 16, 2009 - 06:13 PM
![Minesweeper at a minefield on southeastern outskirts of Kabul, July 25, 2009. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0916_afghanistan_demining_m.jpg)
Last time I joined you on DipNote, I wrote about U.S. efforts to help Afghanistan clear landmines and unexploded ordnance left over from the 1980s-1990s through community-based demining. Since then, I’ve received a lot of questions about the ongoing effort to help Afghans safeguard their communities from these deadly hazards, a few of which I’d like to share with you today.
What areas of Afghanistan are most affected by landmines?
Landmines affect almost every province…
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