Esperanza de pazThe Iraq war is four years long

Mural sighted in Leon, Nicaragua

Today CNN International broadcast short clips of protests against the Iraq war from cities around the world: Istanbul, Sydney, London, Washington, Athens. As the U.S. footage scrolled across the screen, the crawler read "CNN poll: 61 percent in U.S. against Iraq war." The sight was enough to make me feel a citizen of the world.

When it seems futile to keep attending these tiresome demonstrations, we should remember we in the United States are not alone. Probably most people in the world experience their rulers as arbitrary, unresponsive and sometimes violently destructive. When we demand better, we place ourselves in the mainstream of the long global struggle for peace and hope.

For ten days in March, 2007 I had the privilege of traveling in Nicaragua on an ecological tour sponsored by El Porvenir, a donor-funded project that assists sustainable development in rural areas by helping communities acquire clean water, practice sanitary waste disposal, plant new trees, and educate themselves about health measures. This photo is from that trip.