April 1st is April fools day, a day to play pranks.  It is simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for s/he may be the next April Fool.

April 12th - 19th is Passover, the 8 day observance commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (then Jewish slaves) from Egypt

April 14th is Good Friday, the Christian day of remembrance of the crucifixion of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

April 16th is Easter Sunday, the Christian day of celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ

April 13th is Cambodian and Laotian New year

April 18th is Yom Ha- Shoah:  Holocaust commemoration.

April 26st is Administrative Professionals Day.  Originally organized in 1952 as "National Secretaries Week", it was established as an effort to recognize secretaries for their contributions in the workplace, and to attract people to secretarial/administrative careers. In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change to Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today’s administrative workforce.

IAAP suggests that employers observe Administrative Professionals Week by providing training for their administrative staff through seminars, continuing education or self-study materials.  For more information, visit www.iaap-hq.org

April 27th is ‘take our children to work day’.  For most children, this is a really fun day, a day when they get a chance to see first hand how their parents earn a living.  For millions of children however, this is not a fun day, because they are the wage earners for the family. For them, April 27th is simply another work day.

Statistics on child labor:

• 246 million children are child laborers
• 73 million working children are less than 10 years old
• 2.5 million working children are in the ‘developed’ countries
• 22,000 children die every year in work-related accidents.

One organization that is making inroads into the child labor dilemma is the ‘Free the Children’ organization.  Founded in 1995 by twelve year old Canadian Craig Kielburger, Free the Children now has chapters in several nations and aims to fight child exploitation and abuse, and free children from the idea that they are not old enough or smart enough or capable enough to help change the world. For more information on the organization, visit www.freethechildren.org.  “I simply do not believe that the adults of the world can put a man on the moon or invent the atom bomb and cannot free the children of the world.”  Craig Kielburger, age 14

April is National Minority Health Month - for select resources on minority health concerns, see the following websites:

National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

• National Minority Health Month resources (.doc)
• Native American resources

Native American Health page from MedlinePlus.gov

From the National Library of Medicine you can find information here specific to Native health including prevention/screening, specific conditions, Medicare savings, urban Indian resources, research, directories, statistics, and more.

American Indian Health

Another resource from the National Library of Medicine on American Indian
Health, this site provides links to information on health topics, traditional healing, environmental health, research and data, healthcare access, organizations, tribes and more.

Arctic Health

From the same people who brought you the "American Indian Health" website comes this similar site focused on issues affecting the health and
well-being of our planet's northern-most inhabitants including Alaska
Natives. The site features health topics, environmental health, telemedicine, traditional healing, governmental organizations including
tribes, and more.

Native Health Databases

From the University of New Mexico, the Native Health Databases contain
bibliographic information and abstracts of health-related articles, reports,
surveys, and other resource documents pertaining to the health and health
care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations.
Document delivery is currently free on any article found in this database.

Native American Ethnobotany

This site is a searchable database of foods, drugs, dyes and fibers of
Native American peoples, derived from plants. So find out what the Ojibwe
people used to put on spider bites.

NLM Exhibit "Changing the Face of Medicine"

You can search by ethnic group on this site and see the 29 featured Native
women doctors who have made significant contributions to their fields.
Some biographies include extra photos and videos. The rest of the site
provides activities, resources, and lesson plans for teachers.

If you are interested in these resources and would like more information
or to schedule a training, contact your local NN/LM office at 800-338-7657.

May 4th – 7th St. Paul’s Festival of Nations.  This is Minnesota's largest multicultural event, featuring 100 groups that present attractions such as ethnic cafes, folk dancing, cultural exhibits.