Trip to Washington DC (2008)

I traveled to D.C. in February of 2008 as part of the Lobby Day for Northern Uganda.

Our goal was to encourage Members of Congress to take action towards the situation in Uganda. My sister and I traveled there to meet up with the group "Lobby Day for Northern Uganda."

Unfortunately, most of my pictures did not turn out. And although Lobby Day is over, the situation in Uganda is not. This website is outdated, but gives you a "History of the Conflict," "Consequences of War," and the "Attempts at Resolution:" http://www.ugandalobbyday.com/about.html.

You may have heard about the conflict of this African country through the college campus-popular rising of the group, Invisible Children. You may check them out at http://www.invisiblechildren.com/.

So here are the pics: I wish I would have shared them sooner!

The architecture in DC was absolutely stunning!

Iwo Jima Memorial

World War II Memorial Stone

Statue in front of the Rayburn House Office Building, used by the US House of Representatives.

Statue on other side of entry to the
Rayburn House Office Building.

US Capitol building

One of our stops on Lobby Day was the office of

Marilyn Musgrave, who was a United States Representative at the time.

After our stops at the Capitol, we walked to the White House. Along our way is The Extra Mile, with metal plates of famous change makers embedded into the sidewalk. You can learn more here: http://pointsoflight.org/recognition/extra-mile/honorees. As a social worker and a recurring volunteer for many agencies, these honorees are inspiring!


Jane Addams is considered the "first social worker" because of her work trying to better the lives of others by volunteering. She founded the Hull House in Chicago in 1889 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, the first American woman to receive the award.

Better known is Harriet Tubman, famous for escaping slavery during the Civil War and then returning to help others escape through a network of people and places named the Underground Railroad.

Another famous African-American is Martin Luther King, Jr., and like Addams, received the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1964. He was known for his nonviolent protests in the Civil Rights Movement; his protests modeled those used by Mahatma Gandhi.

The end of our journey was the White House. I enjoyed my trip so much that I would love to go again, and this time take my husband and my son. I met so many wonderful people, all out in DC on their own dime trying to make a difference in the lives of those affected by war in Uganda. I hope you check out links to Invisible Children and the old link to Lobby Day for Northern Uganda to learn more about the situation. I hope this inspires you to take a trip to DC and to volunteer to make a difference in your community or somewhere around the world!

Honor Flight May 1, 2011

This is a bit late, but with the next Honor Flight Northern Colorado coming up, I thought I should post pics from the last one!

Honor Flight was created to give Veterans a chance to fly out to Washington, DC, to see the World War II Memorial. The May trip included WWII and Korean War Vets. We gathered at a local hotel for the send off:

Colorado Patriot Guard Riders waiting with flags in hand for veterans to arrive.

On hand during breakfast
was a bald eagle.

Bagpiper playing while veterans walk out to buses.

The veterans took four large
commercial buses down to



Denver International Airport, escorted by emergency service



vehicles and personnel, the Colorado Patriot Guard Riders,



a helicopter, and
individuals.

Military vehicles privately owned by a guy with a farm.







This is me in one of them.

I had such a wonderful morning; I was filled with pride and purpose that day. I had decided to volunteer with Honor Flight after meeting a man during my last job, which was for a local hospice. He was a WWII veteran and while I was at his house one day, he was thrilled to tell me about this trip he had taken the year before and showed me his military medals and pictures. He said visiting the memorial in DC changed his life; he died less than a year later. I wanted to be a part of something that showed our veterans our sincerity and thankfulness for what they have done. I am looking forward to the next Honor Flight, which will take place on September 11, 2011. This time, I will have my 12 year old son with me, as I think it is crucial that the gap between generations be bridged and that our veterans know that there are young people out there who do care about them and will honor them with a commitment to see them off on a trip of a lifetime.

For more information about Honor Flight Northern Colorado, please visit their website at http://www.honorflightnortherncolorado.org/

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR MILITARY AND FAMILIES!

The heart of a 9-year-old

A little 9-year-old set up an online page to help raise funds for Charity Water because she had a big heart to help those in Africa who do not have access to clean water. Rachel died in a car accident, and afterward, donations started to come in under her name. You can read the article here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/donations-pour-9-old-clean-water-cause-tragic-153811801.html

God bless you, Rachel. For your short time of life here on earth, you've made a big impact to many!

(Here is her charity page: http://mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=16396)

You don't know where Inspiration is going to come from...

I attended the annual Colorado State University School of Social Work Alumni Association open house tonight, with our guest speaker Andrew Romanoff. He did a wonderful presentation about the work that his non-profit employer-IDE-does. In short, they are all about helping poor, rural farmers gain access to water and sanitation, thus creating more income, better health, and access to other opportunities, such as education. Check out their webpage: http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/Mission.aspx

His bio from IDE's webpage (http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/Mission.aspx):

"Andrew Romanoff joined IDE as a Senior Advisor in 2010. He won election to four terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, including two terms as Speaker of the House. Romanoff earned national acclaim as one of the most effective legislative leaders in America. His work was honored by more than 50 state and national organizations, including Governing Magazine, which named him in 2008 as a Public Official of the Year. Romanoff has taught in Colorado and in Central America, worked in Nigeria for the National Democratic Institute, and served as a Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado's School of Public Affairs. Romanoff earned a Bachelor's degree with honors from Yale, a Master's in public policy from Harvard, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver."

It is very inspiring to learn about new organizations that are trying to make this world a better place for others, and even more inspiring that individuals like Mr. Romanoff find working for those organizations a source of awe and joy.

http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/Mission.aspx

Makes me want to go out and do something! Thank you for your presentation, Mr. Romanoff!

Using Your Fame for GOOD

Sometimes I get so fed up with people who have the means to communicate with people on a massive level (like celebrities), and they don't use it for good. Sometimes celebrities DO try to take on a humanitarian cause but fail to understand what they actually stand for, and sometimes it's just to puff up their feathers. I knew Don Cheadle was working to bring light to the situation in Darfur when I read his book Not On Our Watch along with John Prendergast. I didn't know that other celebrities were in on the project, too, such as George Clooney.

You can watch an interview that Clooney did with Pierce Morgan a few weeks ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UceKpupu1_g). After that came out, Newsweek wrote an article about Clooney's involvement in Sudan (February 28, 2011). The article A 21st-Century Statesman, written by John Avlon, did a good job capturing Clooney's thoughts about his involvement and how fame could be used for a good cause (http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/20/a-21st-century-statesman.html). Here are some excerpts that I thought were good:

"In January, Clooney was back in South Sudan, directing his star power toward helping its people peacefully achieve independence from the northern government of Khartoum after two decades of civil war. With five years’ involvement in Sudan, Clooney has begun to define a new role for himself: 21st-century celebrity statesman."

"It’s an ambitious avocation: Clooney has been leveraging his celebrity to get people to care about something more important than celebrity."

"L.A. was half a world away, but the paparazzi were not far from his mind. “If they’re going to follow me anyway,” he was saying, “I want them to follow me here.”

"After witnessing more than 2 million people murdered—including the first genocide of the 21st century, in Darfur—South Sudan would finally be on the path to independence."

Check out the site dedicated to Not On Our Watch at http://notonourwatchproject.org/who_we_are

"Clooney’s high-wattage visits draw unwelcome attention to the head of the north’s Islamist government in Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. News of the satellite spurred Khartoum to issue a press release accusing Clooney of “an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with peace.” But to the world media, a press release is no match for the spectacle of Clooney in Africa."

Now, the satellite thing is a bit weird to me. But after what al-Bashir has done, who cares what his paranoia is.

“The truth is that the spotlight of public attention is lifesaving—whether it’s a genocide, disease, or hunger,” says New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. “Stars can generate attention and then generate the political will to do something about a problem.”

He remembered how his father, Nick—a newsman from Kentucky—had been furious when international stories were bumped by celebrity gossip.

Yes, yes, we hear it all the time. I get tired of celebrity status when it has nothing to do with the very important things in life, like saving lives.

"But he quickly learned the dangers of just dropping in on a humanitarian crisis: as a way of giving back to a refugee village where he and his father stayed, he donated money to build a well, huts, and a community center. “A year later, the next-door villagers—who wanted water and needed shelter—ended up killing some of the people to get to that well and to get to that shelter,” Clooney says, his voice trailing off. “It’s devastating. Your response is … to continue to try to help, but we have to be very careful—and sometimes helping is not throwing money at a problem.”"

"Still, after Clooney launched a media blitz to mark 100 days to the referendum, English-language newspaper, magazine, and website mentions of the Sudan referendum spiked from six to 165 in one month."

It's amazing how much attention a celebrity can generate when others fail. Politicians are "boring," and I think it's a great thing that Clooney is doing.

“My job is to amplify the voice of the guy who lives here and is worried about his wife and children being slaughtered,” says Clooney, summing up the opportunity and obligation of the celebrity statesman. “He wants to shout it from the mountaintops, but he doesn’t have a very big megaphone or a very big mountain. So he’s asking anyone who has a mountain and megaphone to protect his family, his village. And if he finds me and asks, ‘You got a big megaphone?’ and I say, ‘Yes.’ ‘You got a decent-size mountain to yell it from?’ ‘Yeah, I got a pretty good-sized mountain.’ ‘Will you do me a favor and yell it?’ And I go, ‘Absolutely.’?”

Amen, brother!

"Honor Killings"

Excerpts from an article in the Huffington Post 2/23/11 by Terry Tang

Faleh Hassan Almaleki Guilty: Jury Convicts Iraqi Immigrant For 'Honor Killing'

“A Phoenix jury convicted an Iraqi immigrant of second-degree murder Tuesday for running over and killing his daughter in a case termed an "honor killing" by prosecutors who said the father carried out the attack because he believed his daughter had become too Westernized.”

“Honor killings” are not an uncommon occurrence where there is a strong sense of loyalty and honor to the family, namely the male figurehead. It is such a disgraceful act. Some women are targeted for being with a male alone, having premarital sex, being raped, refusing a prearranged marriage, or anything else that a father, husband, uncle or brother may find that brings “disgrace” to a family. Although these “honor killings” are outlawed on the books in countries where it was a common occurrence, these murders are still happening.

“Almaleki fled to Mexico and then London, where he was detained and then returned to the U.S.”

Fleeing, to me, implies he knew it was wrong to run over his daughter and kill her. I don’t know if those who commit these horrific crimes against women know it is wrong and do it anyway, or truly believe that killing a “loved” one is something they are obligated to do.

A good book to read about one personal account of surviving an attempted "honor killings" is Burned Alive by Souad. It is a horrific tale of a woman who was set on fire by her family because she got pregnant before marriage. The family left her to die, but she was saved by a foreigner. Sad, sad story, but it needs to be told! Murder is wrong, and how much more wrong to be killed by your own family.

The World Rests with Women

I've read quite a bit of materials on how to solve the woes of the world, and amazingly, much of it has to do with the role a woman plays in life. In developing countries, most often it is the girls and women gathering water, fire sources, taking care of the garden, home, children and animals. I wish I could find the article from some years back about how countries that have either a female leader or a number of leaders do so much better with quality of life. Here are some tidbits from a recent Time article (To Fight Poverty, Invest in Girls by Nancy Gibbs, 2/14/11) that tells a little about that (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2046045,00.html):

"Across much of the developing world, by the time she is 12, a girl is tending house, cooking, cleaning. She eats what's left after the men and boys have eaten; she is less likely to be vaccinated, to see a doctor, to attend school. "If only I can get educated, I will surely be the President," a teenager in rural Malawi tells a researcher, but the odds are against her: Why educate a daughter who will end up working for her in-laws rather than a son who will support you? In sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 1 in 5 girls make it to secondary school. Nearly half are married by the time they are 18; 1 in 7 across the developing world marries before she is 15."

"Girls under 15 are up to five times as likely to die while having children than are women in their 20s, and their babies are more likely to die as well."

"And the World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90% of it in their families. They buy books, medicine, bed nets."

Isn't that amazing? 90% goes back into the family, plus this stimulates the economy that supplies the family with what it needs.

"'Investment in girls' education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world," Larry Summers wrote when he was chief economist at the World Bank.'"

If that is so, why is the world so bent up on girls not getting an education? I'm going out on a limb, here, but I have to say that it boils down to having systems based on patriarchy.

"Success depends on infrastructure, on making fuel and water more available so girls don't have to spend as many as 15 hours a day fetching them."

Here's a link to Girl Up, which the article mentions: http://girlup.org/. It's an organization through the United Nations to promote healthy change from girls for girls. I HAVE NOT LOOKED AT THE ENTIRE SITE, so I'm not giving an endorsement yet. But if you have time to check it out, please, give me some feedback.

Thanks always,

Jessy

Excerpts & commentary on Time's article about the needs of female Veterans

Excerpts from Time Magazine article June 30, 2010. Orange text is my own emphasis; blue comments are my own opinions.

How We're Failing Our Female Veterans

By Laura Fitzpatrick

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2000829-1,00.html

“June Moss, 39, maneuvered a Humvee around charred corpses and still smoking shrapnel in Iraq in 2003…At home, after she was discharged from the military but before she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the single mother couldn't find a job that paid enough to support her and two children. In 2005 her house went into foreclosure, and the next year she and her kids became homeless — a predicament made more painful by the fact that of the nearly 500 community homeless shelters funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), only seven provide accommodations specifically for families. That year, Moss tried to kill herself.” (Picture: June Moss, 38, an army veteran who served for a decade and half around the world now suffers from PTSD. Photograph by Robyn Twomey for TIME.)

I haven't read the entire 74 page booklet about homeless vets, but I found this website that is addressing the problem of homeless veterans: http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/docs/OpeningDoors2010FSP.pdf

"[Women] are nine times more likely to suffer from PTSD, which, along with other mental-health issues, afflicts roughly 1 in 10 soldiers returning from Iraq.”

In Search of Privacy

“Women and men don't react the same to certain medications, they develop some diseases at different rates, and they may display varying symptoms. Women may also have a different reaction to dry desert heat: some 34% of female vets evaluated at a VA health care facility from 2002 to 2008 returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with urinary-tract infections, reproductive-system problems, and other genitourinary issues — which may be brought on by dehydration, among other factors — compared with just 8% of male vets.”

"Starting a family or returning home to one presents unique challenges to women. Female soldiers on active duty are nearly three times as likely to get divorced as their male counterparts are. As of March 2009, some 30,000 single mothers had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Female veterans are also at least twice as likely as civilian women to be homeless. And, says Pete Dougherty, head of the VA's homeless programs, the percentage of homeless female veterans is on the rise even as the overall number of homeless veterans is dropping.”

The Path to Female-Friendly Care

"So what's the solution? Advocates point to some bright spots in the landscape of care for these women. One of them is the Women's Prevention, Outreach and Education Center (WPOEC) in Menlo Park, Calif.”

Here is the website to WPOEC (which is another site I have to take a good look at): http://www.paloalto.va.gov/wpoec.asp

“Still, it's a start, and it's the kind of care veterans may see much more of if some ambitious initiatives take root. The VA is ramping up women-only treatment centers like the one in Menlo Park and adding all-female therapy groups, especially for sexual-assault survivors. Last year the VA finished installing a full-time women's veteran program manager at each of its 144 hospitals. These managers help coordinate care and sometimes direct women to private clinics, which often are geographically more convenient but may cost the government more: a 2008 audit by the VA's Office of Inspector General found that better monitoring of outsourced care could save the VA nearly $50 million over five years.”

"VA has also earmarked nearly $220 million in its 2011 budget for gender-specific care of female veterans, an increase of almost 10% from 2010. Among the initiatives the money will help fund is a 24/7 call center and a social-networking site for female combat veterans."

"For now, too few women have figured out how to navigate the byzantine system. But the lucky ones, like Moss, show what could be possible if bold new plans are backed up by the resources and the political will necessary to make them stick. These days, Moss works in chaplain services at the Palo Alto hospital, a job that's conveniently close to the VA clinic where she sees a therapist once a week. She says she no longer feels, as she did when she first got home from Iraq, "like a shell of a person." She hugs her kids again. She enjoys lunch at Olive Garden and what she calls "me time" at the hairdresser. She's even getting married in August, to a former Marine who, as she puts it, "understands PTSD." "It's not just being brave on the battlefield," she says of being a veteran. "You have to be brave in civilian life too.’”

I am so happy to hear that something is at least getting started in addressing issues that are specific to female veterans. I wish each one the very best. As always, a HUGE THANK YOU to all veterans for the service they provide for our country.

.

Life & Death

For a while now, I've been working as a courier for a local hospice company. Many consider this a terrible job; scooting from house to house in which someone is going to die. My route takes me each day to our 5 bed unit at the local hospital as well. We just had two people die last night.

I think of this often, on my way in and out of the hospital: I take the elevator up to the third floor, and as I approach our wing, you can take a right and it takes you to the maternity ward; I don't know how to put my thoughts into words here, but here we have life and death, side by side.

On the west viewing side of the hospital we have women crying in pain and then crying with rejoice, followed by the tiny little cries that we all hope will lead a long and fulfilling life. Then, on the other side of the wall, there is quiet, sometimes accented by the cries of those who surround a life that is leaving this earth. Are they in pain? Are their thoughts plagued with regret, or rejoicing with happiness of a life they truly wanted to lead? Are they surrounded by loved ones, or are they visited by one of our caring volunteers that take time out of his or her life to spend with a dying stranger?

This morning, I heard fairly loudly a prayer being offered by one of our chaplains, and I wondered if that brought any comfort to the dying and to the family.

I used to work at a retirement home. Some local high school students came to the retirement home one year to host a "senior's prom," and they decorated it and dressed as if it were their own proms. Our "prom queen" couldn't dance; she was legally blind and could barely get around. Our "prom king" was a community fellow that came by to give dance lessons (he was no spring chicken either!). When their names were announced, he promptly went over to his queen and serenaded her. She was beaming from ear to ear.

She died last night around 4 am. I will think of her often, the "prom queen."