It's amazing what some children go through and still think of others... http://news.yahoo.com/12-old-girl-blogged-cancer-fight-died-233503455.html

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 This website is outdated, but gives you a "History of the Conflict," "Consequences of War," and the "Attempts at Resolution:" http://www.ugandalobbyday.com/about.html.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."

The Flood & It's Little Army

What does it smell like there?

23 Aug 2010 14:41:00 GMT

Written by: World Vision
Written by: Mike Bailey, World Vision Advocacy Manager

Akhtar Soomro / Reuters

Another blogger about the flood in Pakistan, writing about the horrific conditions there due to disease, lack of water, food and medical care...and if you didn't know about "scabies," read on so you may know what these people are going through:

"Claire, one of World Vision's health specialists explains what scabies is. "Little mites burrow around under your skin. They defecate there causing inflammation and intense itching. You scratch and get them under your fingernails and so they spread. They also get into the seams of your clothes and only boiling or hot ironing will kill them. If you brush your infected arm against someone else the mites pass to the other person". In the overcrowded conditions of the displaced people in Sukkar and Khaipur and where the floods have struck all over Pakistan, scabies is spreading like wildfire. The treatment is a pesticide solution you paint on your skin. It only works if you break the chain of infection by boiling all the clothes and bedding of the whole family and of everyone else you are rubbing against every day."

Read the entire blog at http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/53806/2010/07/23-144142-1.htm

New York education...

Here's an article from The New York Times about the latest test scores: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/education/01schools.html?_r=1&hpw

Here's a few tid bits that struck me and I had to post them (but I do recommend you read the article!):

"There were large drops in passing rates across New York, reflecting new requirements intended to correct for years of inflated results. The exams, state education officials said, had become too easy to pass, their definition of proficiency no longer meaningful."

• Inflated results and become too easy to pass?? Could this be said for other states as well?
  

"The charter school run by the local teachers’ union, the UFT Charter School, showed one of the most severe declines, to 13 percent of eighth graders proficient in math, from 79 percent. "

• 13%...13%?! This is what is happening; these are the young people who are growing up and going to run this country. Now, I just finished a bachelor's degree and had an awful time trying to learn all that would be forgotten, but I passed the tests...
  

"Much of the city’s progress in reducing the achievement gap between minority and white students was eroded by the new numbers, revealing that more black and Hispanic students had been barely passing under the old standards. The percentage of black elementary and middle school students proficient in math fell to 40 percent, from 75 percent, while among white students, passing rates declined to 75 percent, from 92 percent."

• I would suggest reading Jonathan Kozol on the disparities in urban/suburban education.
  

"More than five times as many third through eighth graders — 63,400 compared to 11,800 last year — failed to reach the city’s minimum standard for promotion to the next grade on the English test. Most will still be promoted, but will have to attend summer school in 2011 if they do not improve, education officials said."

• When I had an issue with the way my son was completing homework (or wasn't), I told the teacher I would just give him a failing grade as he had multiple chances to complete his work. I was told that in fifth grade, the important aspect is that he learn the concept and not just flunk him. So this is what is going on...pass the students on, although they have not learned what they need to. Then when they try to learn concepts based on the previous ones they didn't get, they are going to struggle then, too. How many kids are going to summer school? How much does it cost to go to summer school? Wouldn't the system save money by concentrating and getting extra help during the months schools are open and running instead of opening them year round? With severe budget cuts, wouldn't summer school be the last option in the minds of those dealing with the budget?
  

"Yet the new scores also strengthened some Bloomberg administration arguments, underscoring, for example, the weak performance of some schools it has sought to close. At the Choir Academy of Harlem, the percentage of eighth graders passing the English test dropped to 6 percent, from 44 percent. At the Academy of Collaborative Education, also in Harlem, eighth-grade math passing rates fell to 2 percent, from 49 percent. "

• SIX PERCENT OF EIGHTH GRADERS PASSED ENGLISH?! ARE YOU JOKING?! Obviously education should be on the forefront of everyone's minds, whether you are a parent or not. Education should be given ultimate attention, yet look where we are. Who is going to run the country in 30 years? Who will be our doctors, teachers, those in the military, take care of our aging population--if kids aren't learning now?!

Touchy subject for me, so I apologize. This obviously riles me up!

2010 Realities Cup Invitational Golf Tournament

Photos courtesy of Dion Dolva * www.DionDolva.com

Jessy Pratt, founder of Who Cares? llc, middle row, second from left (only one with glasses!)

Woo-hoo! What a fantastic day it was volunteering at the 2010 Realities Cup Invitational Golf Tournament, a fund raiser for Realities For Children. It was endearing and wonderful to see so many sponsors and golfers come out to support the Realities For Children Emergency Fund. About this incredible nonprofit:

"MISSION STATEMENT

Realities For Children Charities is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to serving the unmet needs of abused and neglected children in Larimer County. United with Realities For Children’s alliance of 150 local business Members which underwrite the administration of all programs and services, this charity is uniquely able to ensure that 100% of every dollar donated is able to directly benefit abused and neglected youth locally. Partnered in service with 18 local ‘Affiliate’ Youth Agencies and Programs, Realities is able to create an effective safety net of services, for the most vulnerable members of our community, through the provision of our Core Services." http://www.realitiesforchildren.com/

You can also find them on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Collins-CO/Realities-For-Children-Inc/62434656065?ref=search#!/pages/Fort-Collins-CO/Realities-For-Children-Inc/62434656065

Go out and volunteer! Someone needs you!

Best to all,

Jessy

Oh mosquitos and malaria, how I hate thee

It breaks my heart that such a small little pest can cause so much pain, suffering, and death. Please read this article Battling a Scourge by Alex Perry in Time magazine at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1995199_1995197_1995176,00.html

Here are some things that really struck me:

• Dr. Matthew thought I should see some statistics. Apac is home to 515,500 people. Between July 2008 and June 2009, 124,538 of them were treated for malaria. That meant 2,000 to 3,000 patients a week for Dr. Matthew and his three fellow doctors, and the number rose to 5,000 in the rainy season. Of Apac's malaria patients, nearly half were under 5.
• Doctors here don't see that many patients-how can they ever keep up and also be able to provide adequate medicine? So many little babies...
• Signboards erected by the side of the road announced the presence of two foreign-assistance programs. One was a European-funded child-protection group, which had no malaria component to its program. The other was the National Wetlands Program (NWP), funded by Belgium. Partly because of NWP's influence, the draining of malarial swamps is banned — which amounts to preserving wetlands at the price of human life. Spraying houses with insecticide — which in 2008 cut malaria infections in half — is also forbidden. Why? Because of objections from Uganda's organic-cotton farmers, who supply Nike, H&M and Walmart's Baby George line. Chemical-free farming sounds like a great idea in the West, but the reality is that Baby Omara is dying so Baby George can wear organic
• So you read it here: Nike, H&M and a clothing line from Walmart place a demand to not spray for mosquitos. Who is placing a demand that others die? WE ARE if you participate in buying from these companies. I will have to look further into this to see what other companies are putting their profits before people (I know it's going to be a long list).
• This, too often, is how aid goes: good intentions sidetracked by ignorance; a promising idea poorly executed; projects that are wasteful, self-regarding and sometimes corrupt.
• Ah, yes, a line that explains much in death stricken areas around the world, due to poverty, lack of food, shelter, medicine, education, work, and so on.
• The logistics of such a plan are less complex than they seem, because while malaria affects half the world's countries, just seven — the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, southern Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda — account for two-thirds of all cases
• [M]alaria has been at least halved in nine African countries since 2000.
• In 2005, Chambers was looking at a photograph of sleeping Mozambican children taken by his friend the Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs. "Cute kids," he remarked. "You don't understand," replied Sachs. "They're in malarial comas. They all died." Chambers was mortified. "So I said to Jeff, 'I'd like to kind of come up with business concepts to see if we can't save 1.3 million children a year.'" The next year, he established Malaria No More — a group that raises money, implements programs and stands as a case study of how aid can change.
• http://www.malarianomore.org/
  

If you would like to help, check out Malaria No More at the link above. You can also think of smaller organizations, such as Think Humanity, who distributes nets (and does other things) for those in a refugee camp in Uganda: http://www.thinkhumanity.org/about.html . I've met Beth, who travels back and forth with what she can for those in the camp.

I know I'm in the tee-shirt business, but Overlooked has an awesome shirt that you'll be educating others and supporting the cause against malaria: http://overlooked.storenvy.com/products/14776-malaria-kills-clearance

I also have tees available that support World Vision, who does so much work in Africa and also distributes nets:

All tees are 100% cotton; they tend to run a little bit bigger than the size you would normally wear, as they are uni-sex shirts.

All tees are $18 and up to half of the net profits go to the organization where the statistic came from.

Email me at whocares_llc@yahoo.com and we can arrange payment and either delivery if you live nearby, or sending your order through the mail.

New book to the list

The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien

"Though it's odd, you're never more alive than when you're almost dead. You recognize what's valuable. Freshly, as if for the first time, you love what's best in yourself and in the world, all that might be lost. At the hour of dusk you sit at your foxhole and look out on a river and go into the mountains and do terrible things and maybe die, even so, you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world could be and always should be, but now is not."

Pg 88-A novel about soldiers in the Vietnam War

Whether you agree or not...

War is an awful thing on all sides. Whether you are on the offensive or defensive, someone is dying, missing, away from family, and there are those who are left behind, whether they are grieving a life lost to the war, or waiting for their loved one or friend to come home. There is always someone out there dealing with the aftermath, and it's brutal.

Here in the U.S., there are so many who oppose the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so they then oppose the military and their families as well. I can't help but have a heart for those who choose to do what I could not-do a job in which I may one day be asked to go to war.

Over the past two or three years, I'd say, I've tried to make it a point to shake hands and thank whomever I encounter in uniform or if I somehow find out that they serve or have served in our military. For something so simple as a handshake and a thank you, you would be surprised at the reactions I get.

On campus one day, I stopped by two recruiters to do the usual shake and thank, and they asked me to sign up. "No way-one, I have cystic fibrosis, so the military wouldn't take me anyway, and two, I just couldn't do it." He asked if I have children. "Yes-I have a son." "Would you let him sign up when he is older?" "No-I wouldn't want him to." "If not him-who?" "Well-good question." Every soldier is someone to somebody. Anyway, I asked them how the day was going. They said I was the only person to thank them; they are prone to swears, name-calling, even spitting. I'm sorry, but just because someone in the White House or the Pentagon thought it was a good idea to get this ball rolling doesn't mean these two men signed up for that (or maybe they did). But I don't think they deserve to be spit upon.

During my to-be sister-in-law's bachelorette party at a hockey game, we ended up sitting behind several military guys. When they left for drinks*ahem*another man commented that we were sitting behind some "joes." I didn't even know what that meant (and it was explained to me!). After they returned, I tapped the guy in front of me on the shoulder and shook his hand, told him that I wanted to thank him for serving his country. He gave me a quizzical look and turned right back around to watch the game. About half a minute went by when he turned around and said, "I want to shake your hand. You are a real American. No one does that." Later on he showed me a picture of his child. He didn't say much (maybe that's because his friends were doing all the talking!), but just that short exchange with him change my night.

It is Saturday morning as I am blogging, and earlier I was online and on the phone looking for a group that volunteers to meet military personnel at airports and greet them home. Fort Carson is the closest one to me, which is a bit out of the way, but how much has that soldier gone out of the way for you and me?

The Rich get Richer & the Poor get Poorer: in Democratic Republic of Congo (and elsewhere)

In the article "Blood and Treasure," author Adam Hochschild tries to tell the story of what has and is happening on the continent of Africa: exploitation of the poor for corrupt government or outsiders. He writes about the oh-so-now-known as "blood diamond" industry. It is a lengthy article, so I am just going to link it here and let you read it: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/congo-gold-adam-hochschild


In a subset "The Blood Diamonds Myth: Why boycotting "conflict minerals" won't help Congo" (blue underlined is from Mother Jones' website and not my noting)

IN THE 1960s, many Americans boycotted California table grapes to help farmworkers unionize; in the '70s and '80s, we boycotted South Africa to help the anti-apartheid movement. In the late 1990s there was the push to ban "conflict diamonds," which led to the 2002 agreement, now signed by some 75 countries, to boycott diamonds produced by armed rebel groups in Africa and elsewhere. Shouldn't we help war-torn Congo by boycotting "conflict minerals"?

Unfortunately, it's not clear that a boycott would do much more than put tens of thousands of miserably paid miners out of work. Take the rather toothless conflict diamonds accord (which came about only because the international diamond cartel saw "blood diamonds" undercutting its inflated prices): It already applies to Congo, but makes no practical difference since the country's diamonds, like the overwhelming majority of its other exports, don't come from areas currently at war. And even when there is a direct connection between war and mining (as with the minerals sold by the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda, the genocidaires who have taken refuge in Congo), those exports are vexingly difficult to trace. You can quickly tell where an imported automobile was manufactured, but even the best laboratory tests cannot easily prove where an ounce of gold comes from. Congo's lengthy borders are impossible to police, and certificates of origin are easily forged.

The real problem is not conflict minerals, but the fact that Congo's long-suffering people reap only a tiny share of their country's vast wealth. Yet an alternate example is only a few hundred miles away from Congo's southern border: Diamond-rich Botswana has used its mines, which are partially owned by the state, to fund infrastructure, education, and health care, as well as set aside a rainy-day fund of nearly $7 billion. A recent joint venture between the government and the diamond giant De Beers is even bringing in some of the cutting and polishing work that used to be done in London, generating thousands of jobs. But Botswana has something essential Congo does not: a government known for being both functional and honest.

The author makes a few good points that have crossed my mind many times when it comes to my own "age-old" question of buying either FAIR trade products that come with a heftier price tag thus creating more of a financial burden on me, or buy FREE trade products, which usually come from companies that participate in the RACE TO THE BOTTOM in search of cheap labor:

1. "...it's not clear that a boycott would do much more than put tens of thousands of miserably paid miners out of work." Yes, do we give them at least something instead of nothing?
2. "...Congo's long-suffering people reap only a tiny share of their country's vast wealth." This seems to be a trend throughout the ages and we will continue to see it. The question is what can we do about it? I'm not sure, because I think Americans are seeing it too, just not in this way.
3. "But Botswana has something essential Congo does not: a government known for being both functional and honest." Ah, yes. This seems to be missing in many parts of the world.

Anyway, there is another subset: "Breaking the Curse," for you to read of you want an idea of how to help.

Should we ban shopping?

Today my son and I went to the Memorial Day Program at the Grandview Cemetery. He asked if he could go to a particular store that I have particular negative feelings about in quest of the latest Lego set (but having grandparents that live far away, he is never short of having a gift card to this store). Once we experienced the march of the bag pipes, the Color Guard, the Honor Guard, a variety of other groups (that I posted on an earlier blog), and the death-frightening firing squad (that's what they call themselves on the program flyer), I decided: NO.

I'm thinking of banning shopping from certain holidays. Never mind that I try to shop at our local Ten Thousand Villages (http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/home.php) for fair trade items (http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/php/fair.trade/fair.trade.fairprice.php) for those special birthdays and thank yous.

Today being Memorial Day, we are suppose to be thinking of those in service who paid the ultimate price: his or her life. Think of one individual in your life (perhaps this is real for you) and this one person is missing because he or she chose to defend our country. This person will miss weddings and children being born, baseball games and cookouts (as many of us did today), and will miss graduations and funerals. They never come back, and should we be "cheapening" their death by the "big Memorial Day sales?"

Can you really not live with yourself if you miss out on a 40% of all shoes at Macy's? Half-off everything in the store from noon to midnight at Kohls?

Alas, that Lego set will still be there tomorrow. And that store that I hate, it'll still be there in the morning. But today, I chose to honor our fallen by not handing one dollar to a store that thinks it's more important to make a sale, than to know what Memorial Day is truly about.

Memorial Day May 31, 2010

My son and I attended the service honoring fallen United States military members at the Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins, CO at 10:30 am. What an honoring and sentimental service to those who have gone before us and have done so while serving our country. While I can't list deceased service members buried here (perhaps I could if I spend some time doing research), I would like to thank those who were there to honor those who are buried there, around our nation, and those who are MIA:

FLEET RESERVE ASSOC AND AUXILARY-BRANCH & UNIT 21
MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 785
GOLD STAR MOTHERS
DAR (Daughters of American Revolution) CACHE LA POUDRE CHAPTER
VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) AUXILIARY POST 1781
AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY UNITS 4 & 187
DAUGHTERS OF UNION VETERANS
FRA (Fleet Reserve Association) UNIT 21
COLOR GUARD
HONOR GUARD
COLORADO PATRIOTS DRUM AND FIFE CORPS
AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION CHAPTER 372
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS AND AUXILIARY
SONS OF THE LEGION SQUADRON 4
AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS GROUP
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Individuals:
SGT. OF ARMS: MAC MCCORMICK-MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 785
Invocation: JOHN RINNIE-MARINE CORPS LEAGUE DET 785
keynote Speaker: COL. JOE CASSIDY-US ARMY RETIRED
Benediction: JOHN RINNIE-USMCL-DET 785
Honor Guard: FORT COLLINS ALL VETERANS HONOR GUARD
Echo Taps: SAM TRUJILLO JR & TOM ECKRICH
Amazing Grace: PETE LONG-BAG PIPES

There were also some AMAZING youth there to add to the services, and while I will not post their names for the sake of internet safety, know that your presence meant so much:

National Anthem: FT COLLINS HIGH SCHOOL-GIRL STATE DELIGATES
Reading of "A Gold Star Mother": AUX UNIT 187, JR MEMBER & STUDENT FROM O'DEA ELEMENTARY
Recessional From The Five Nations: AUX UNIT 187, JR MEMBER & STUDENT FROM POUDRE HIGH SCHOOL
Reading of "In Flanders Field": Boy Scout from Troop 96

The Boy Scouts also placed many, many flags out among the graves of deceased military around Fort Collins.

This is a day to remember those who were born before us, lived and learned before us, built a nation before us, and have died before us. We have much to be thankful for.

Back in the saddle again...

It feels good to go back to volunteering again! Had a volunteer training tonight to get started at The Matthews House and I'm very excited. I put off volunteering this last year and a half to get through school and all of my other responsibilities, and I almost think it's part of my lower Maslow's Hierarchy of needs...I have to do it!


So after looking at places around Fort Collins and thinking of places to volunteer, The Matthews House really struck me for a number of reasons. First, I've already volunteered at a domestic violence agency, a senior center, a prenatal program for low income women, and various agencies on a one or two time basis-I would like to try something new. The Matthews House works with youth that need positive adult interaction. They may need to learn that not every adult is going to let them down, that they do have positive qualities, that they can succeed at something; they may need to learn vital life skills such as graduating high school or getting a GED, applying/keeping a job, cooking, balancing a checkbook. Volunteering for an agency that takes this on appeals to me because there were many people in my life that took me in and taught me many of these things and they were not my parents.


Here is the website to The Matthews House: http://www.thematthewshouse.org/

Check them out. If you live in the area and can support them, please do!

If anything, be inspired in your own way to give back to your community by volunteering.