10 December every year is set aside to celebrate, highlight and advocate human rights, a full list of which is available here.

In that vein of celebrating rights to life, liberty, security, dignity, freedom of thought and religion, food, clothing, housing and more, here are 10 images celebrating what it is to be human from around the world.

Laughing children in underwear in a back alley of Kolkata, India

“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” -Mother Theresa

Sharing the journey. A car full of children out on the Mongolian steppe.

“Hope is power” -Amnesty International

School children in Jakarta. From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world – indeed it is the only thing that ever does” -Margaret Meade

Monks debating at the Sera monastery in Lhasa, Tibet

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” -Mohatma Gandhi

Owners of a teahouse on a trekking route in Nepal.

“Happy is the house that shelters a friend.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hospitality is practiced on the Mongolian steppe for all travellers.

“I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
-Edward Everett

A child in Ramelau, East Timor, a nation that celebrated 10 years of sovereignty this year.

“All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured . . . We must, therefore, insist on a global consensus, not only on the need to respect human rights worldwide, but also on the definition of these rights . . . for it is the inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity, and they have an equal right to achieve that.”
-The Dalai Lama

Children in Dogon Country, Mali.

“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Monks in Bhumtang Valley, Bhutan

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Man pouring tea, Mauritania.

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Feel free to email Jo at [email protected] with your comments/thoughts/photo aspirations. See and learn more at www.visitedplanet.com