A view of the inaugural ceremony of the Third Muslim Women Games which was held in Tehran in 2001.

Thirty-one Islamic nations have so far announced readiness to take part in the Fourth Muslim Women Games slated for September 2005 in Tehran, IRNA said.
Stating that the games had received enthusiastic welcome from Islamic countries, head of the Technical Committee of the event, Soheila Qassemi, said the competitions would be held in 18 different categories.
“While Iran will be the only team to compete in all fields, Syria with 14, Tajikistan with 12 so far account for the largest number of athletes, while Thailand and Albania each with one team will have the least number of participants,“ she added.
Qassemi noted that Iran’s sports federations had made extensive efforts to invite more teams to the games, “although some countries are yet to announce the fields they will be ready to compete in.“
Muslim women athletes are going to contest in basketball, tennis, ping pong, taekwando, swimming, track and field, volleyball, handball, golf, judo, futsal, karate, table tennis for the disabled, archery, shooting, gymnastic and squash competitions. The Fourth Muslim Women Games is going to be held in Tehran on September
23-29.

Medical Registration Board is to organize a conference to commemorate the International Midwives Day at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Hospital on May 4th.
According to Fars news agency, prominent Iranian midwives shall be hailed at the ceremony in a bid to promote professional ethics in the midwifery society.
The event, attended by officials from the medical treatment and health sectors as well as midwives from around the country, will also provide an opportunity for discussing various problems afflicting the profession.
The subjects will include reconsidering the tariffs for midwifery services, taxation, contracts with insurance firms, employment for university graduates, as well as responsibilities and plans of the Medical Registration Board with regard to the midwives.

Over 3,000 women are already attending legal workshops held across provinces of Northern, Southern and Razavi Khorasan, advisor to deputy head of Khorasan Razavi Education Department said.
As reported by IRNA, Fariba Sardoroudian said the workshops, aimed at raising women’s awareness on legal issues, began late March and would continue until early May.
She stated that educating people on legal issues, especially women who comprise half of the population, is a sine qua non for enforcement of law and order, and restoration of rights.
The courses include discussions on legal rudiments of marriage, Mahrieh (a sum which the husband agrees to pay his wife upon demand after marriage), child custody, adoption, divorce, alimony, procedures for filing complaints, and contracts based on Labor Law, the official noted.
On many occasions, because of their vulnerability, Sardoroudian mentioned, women overlook their legitimate rights to prevent family breakdown. “They consider such injustice and violation of their rights as part and parcel of married life,“ she observed.
She stated that female high school third graders would be provided with legal training in the near future.
Paying special heed to the condition of women-led households is among top priorities in the fourth five-year development plan (2005-2010), she noted, adding the Education Ministry would try to update families, particularly those living in deprived regions, on legal issues.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters were educated by their father, philosopher/teacher, Bronson Alcott and raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.
Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to library and excursions into nature. Like her character, Jo March in Little Women, young Louisa was a tomboy, “No boy could be my friend till I had beaten him in a race,“ she claimed, “ and no girl if she refused to climb trees, leap fences...“
For Louisa, writing was an early passion. She had a rich imagination and often her stories became melodramas that she and her sisters would act out for friends. Louisa preferred to play the “lurid“ parts in these plays, “the villains, ghosts, bandits, and disdainful queens.“
At age 15, troubled by the poverty that plagued her family, she vowed, “I will do something by and by. Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t!“
Whether as a teacher, seamstress, governess, or household servant, for many years Louisa did any work she could find.
Louisa’s career as an author began with poetry and short stories that appeared in popular magazines. In 1854, when she was 22, her first book Flower Fables was published. A milestone along her literary path was Hospital Sketches (1863) based on the letters she had written home from her post as a nurse during the Civil War.
Little Women was written at Orchard House from May to July 1868. The novel is based on Louisa and her sisters’ coming of age .
In all, Louisa published over 30 books and collections of stories. She died on March 6, 1888, only two days after her father, and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord.

Nine cultural centers have been founded in Ardebil province since March 21 to help reorganize women’s activities and promote their participation in different arenas, secretary of the provincial Women Committee told IRNA.
Parvaneh Reza-Qolizadeh added the number of such centers would increase to 15 by the yearend (March 21, 2006) in an effort to boost social activities of rural and urban women.
She explained that the centers would aim to boost cooperation of their members with intellectual, cultural, scientific and artistic institutions, offer training workshops, help generate jobs and alleviate legal problems afflicting women.
“Although women account for half of the 1.2-million-strong population in the province, only one member of parliament and 13 members of the city and village councils are women,“ she noted.
Reza-Qolizadeh cited statistics based on which 27,224 provincial women have jobs, comprising 11 percent of the total employed population.
She added that 93 local cooperatives and eight non-governmental organizations are working to promote women’s statues.
The secretary insisted that processing industries, higher education centers, research sites and cultural centers need to be established locally to resolve women’s unemployment concerns.

A tribal woman from Kohkiloyeh-Boyerahmad province. (Photo by Seyyed Mehdi Mir-Afzali)

Apple Cider Vinegar: Beside having amazing healing properties, apple cider vinegar keeps skin supple. It’s heavy concentration of enzymes helps peel off dead skin cells. It breaks down fat and helps food digest properly.
Carrots: Maintain the outer layer of the skin to prevent premature aging. What you’ll find in is the same as you’ll get in Retin A.
Cheese: To ensure a happy smile, add a slice or two of hard cheese into your diet. Choose Swiss, cheddar or gouda to block bacteria in the mouth and prevent cavities.
Citrus Fruits: Hold the skin cells together by forming collagen. Collagen cannot be added to the skin topically, which is why fruits and fruit juices are such an important part of the daily diet.
Cranberries: Keep urinary tract lining healthy.
Garlic: Helps combat wrinkles and restores tissue.
Nonfat Yogurt: High in calcium, which keeps your smile white and your teeth cavity-free.
Sweet Potatoes: Vitamin A is known to be a remarkable anti-wrinkling agent. Sweet potatoes are full of this important vitamin. The pleasing results is clearer, smoother skin.
Tomatoes: These “love apples“ will keep you loving your skin. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.
Wheat Germ: If you want to get rid of pimples quickly and efficiently, make sure to include two or three tablespoons a day in your diet. Add it to cereal, yogurt, and cottage cheese.
You should choose foods that you enjoy, of course, but you need to include the following:
Vegetables: Three to five servings daily. Try to include one serving of raw, leafy greens.
Meat: Have no more than three ounce servings a day. Cut off all fat. Try to make two servings of turkey or chicken. One serving of fish a day is ideal.
Fruits: Two to three servings daily. A 1/2 cup of chopped or sliced fruit is a serving.
Dairy: At least two servings daily. A serving would be eight ounces of milk or yogurt.
Fats: Salad dressing, cooking oil, butter, and mayonnaise should be limited to two servings a day.