International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Outgoing postcard US-2461326 to Finland celebrates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty which occurs on October 17 every year. It was first commemorated in Paris, France in 1987 with 100,000 people gathering on the Human Rights and Liberties Plaza at the Trocadéro, site of the Palais de Chaillot, to honor victims of poverty, hunger, violence and fear. The organizer for that event was Joseph Wresinski, founder of the International Movement ATD (All Together for Dignity) Fourth World, a nonprofit organization which aims towards the eradication of chronic poverty through a human-rights based approach.

The Commemorative Stone. source: tapori.org

A commemorative stone placed on that date reads: "Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty." – Joseph Wresinski

In the Hierarchy of Needs proposed by Abraham Maslow, Maslow described the pattern that human motivations generally move through under the Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence needs. It is obvious that Poverty is the most crucial limiting factor of the creativity for the people who could not meet their basic needs. To eradicate poverty is the first step to help those people to realize their full potential.  

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Source: Wikipedia

Tula Slavery Freedom Statue

Postcard US-2375984 to Ukraine shows the Tula Slavery Freedom Statue at the Port of Willemstad in Curaçao, an island country in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast.

Tula was a slave and a leader of a slave revolt in 1795 that lasted over a month. Executed on October 3, 1795, he is considered a fighter for human rights and independence in Curaçao today.

Learn more about the Tula Slavery Freedom Statue from a blog of the Port of Willemstad, Curaçao.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from U.N.

A PostCrosser friend traveled to New York City and tried to send me a postcard from the United Nations stamps and post office. However, when I received the card today, the card was sent through a US post office with a USPS stamp. It turns out that a guided tour ticket for visitors is now required to enter the UN Headquarters Visitor Center where the stamps and post office is located starting June 2013. A ticket costs 16 US Dollars; however the tour tickets are NOT sold on the spot.

Another notice from the United Nations Postal Administration says: "As part of the renovation project for the General Assembly Building at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the UNPA Stamp Shop has been relocated to a temporary Visitor's Centre in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library on the south end of the campus. Due to security limitations, visitors are not allowed into the Centre without prior notice of arrival. To schedule a visit to the UNPA Stamp Shop, please call 212-963-7698 or 1-800-234-8672 for access instructions. The updated UNPA Stamp Shop will reopen to unannounced visitors in the Fall of 2014." Send me an email if you have successfully scheduled a visit without paying the guided tour. I will update the information here.

You can still forward your prepared mails to the United Nations Headquarters to be released in the mail streams there by following the steps mentioned in a previous post.