Just as important as the growing library are the friendships that have sprung up between students in two very different parts of the world. Teachers from the two schools matched up sets of pen pals, and the kids have been writing back and forth since 2007.

When producer Frederick Rendina returned to Kenya in 2008 to film Time for School 3, he brought video messages from the Lawrence Middle School students to their pen pals at Ayany Primary. Click below to watch their messages and to see the responses from the Kenyan kids.

When she isn’t busy recording with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, and Dave Matthews, Kidjo focuses her considerable energy on raising awareness of the importance of educating children, particularly girls. She was appointed UNICEF International Goodwill Ambassador in 2002 and is on the board of directors of Batonga, a non-profit organization that has helped hundreds of girls to attend schools in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Benin, Cameroon, and Mali. Her musical talent and passion for the issue of global education made her a natural fit to collaborate with WIDE ANGLE on its Time For School series. She initially became involved as a global education expert in the second episode of Time for School, and has since lent her extraordinary voice to the film series.

WIDE ANGLE visited Kidjo in her studio in Brooklyn during a recent recording session. Click the video below to hear the Grammy-winning singer at work.

WIDE ANGLE speaks with James Thornett, an ex-British military officer who has worked as private military contractor in Iraq and Africa, about the more nuanced reality of an industry whose workers have been demonized as mercenaries by some and lauded as peacekeepers by others. And we talk to J.J. Messner, program director for the International Peace Operations Association, a trade organization made up of companies such as Triple Canopy and Dyncorp that send contractors to conflict areas around the globe. Thornett and Messner respond to criticisms leveled by Scott Horton, a human rights lawyer who is leading the call to reform an industry he believes still operates with relative impunity.

Senator Jim Webb

This past weekend, Senator Jim Webb (D) of Virginia became the first senior U.S. politician to meet with the leader of Burma’s military government, General Than Shwe. Webb also managed to visit with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and secured the release of John Yettaw, the American jailed for swimming to the house where Aung San Suu Kyi lives under house arrest.

In this audio interview, WIDE ANGLE senior multimedia producer Lauren Feeney speaks with Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Open Society Institute’s Burma project and guest on this week’s episode of WIDE ANGLE, about the significance of Webb’s trip to Burma.

MacFarquhar’s latest book, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, was recently released by Public Affairs.

In May of 2009, a bi-partisan group from the U.S. House of Representatives urged President Obama to lift the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. They argued that it has failed to achieve its objective of regime change, and that the U.S. is missing out on major trading opportunities as countries from around the world sign up to do business with the island nation.

Critics counter that allowing trade and tourism to Cuba won’t make it more democratic. They point to Cuba’s poor labor practices and human rights record as a reason for keeping the embargo in place.

Is it time to end the trade embargo against Cuba or are there legitimate reasons for keeping it in place? Join WIDE ANGLE correspondent Aaron Brown on Blog Talk Radio as he moderates a discussion with representatives from both sides of the debate.

Phil Peters (left) is Vice President of the Lexington Institute, author of the blog The Cuban Triangle, and has testified before Congress to advocate for a relaxing of the trade embargo against Cuba.

Mauricio Claver-Carone (right) is a lobbyist for the anti-Castro U.S.-Cuba PAC, author of the blog Capitol Hill Cubans, and a fervent supporter of maintaining the current trade embargo.

We want to hear what you think. Call in and join the discussion LIVE, Thursday, August 13th at 11:00 a.m.  EST. The number to call is (718) 506-1351.

To send us your questions in advance, leave a comment below. You can also send your question via Twitter using #VictoryIsYourDuty. If you miss the radio show, visit our site after the debate to hear it online.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Ahead of the court’s decision, WIDE ANGLE’s Aaron Brown interviewed Neil MacFarquhar, a New York Times reporter who recently visited Burma on assignment, covering U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s trip to the country. Ban was hoping to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi but his request was denied by the military junta.

Next week on WIDE ANGLE, Eyes of the Storm, tells the struggles of several orphaned children in Burma left to fend for themselves and rebuild their shattered lives in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Through the eyes of the Burmese filmmaking team who shot undercover for over 10 months in defiance of the ruling junta’s media blackout, WIDE ANGLE provides a rare window into one of the world’s most secretive countries. Click here to watch a preview.

Neil MacFarquhar’s lastest book, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, was recently released by Public Affairs.

The Ethiopian government’s decision to force coffee exporters to sell their coffee through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, or ECX, has raised fears among coffee aficionados that Ethiopia’s world renown coffees could be lost as high and low quality beans are mixed together and sold as one. WIDE ANGLE multimedia producer Aaron Ernst attends a tasting of Ethiopian specialty coffee and takes a look at the impact of the government’s decision on Ethiopia’s black gold. Click on the link below to listen to the audio feature.

In the video below, Thurow explains how the Green Revolution helped end hunger in most of the world, but stopped short of Africa.

Photo and video credits: U.N. Photo Archives, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Pattern Films