Aids, Malawi and over 500,000 orphans
August 11, 2008 | 2 Comments
Sometimes I marvel at life and the amazing way that important and life changing people and events come our way at just the right moment in time.
The other day, one of those “amazing connections” came to me in the form of an email from a doctor I had worked with many years ago on the board of the Pasadena Community Non-Violent Resource Center. Since then I have moved to North Carolina and my personal focus has expanded to helping Mothers Fighting For Others and our dear St Monica’s Orphanage in Kenya.
When I received this email I immediately forwarded it to Rocky, feeling there must be something we could do. She said….write about it on Mothers Fighting for Other!. As I was re-reading the email I realized I could never capture the essence of it and so will share the email with you all as it was written: The Children of Malawi
“As you know, Mary and I have been spending about two months each summer for the past 7 
years in Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest countries. The Malawi people are among the finest, warmest and most loving people we have ever known. Many of them have become family to us.
Poverty, malnutrition, limited medical resources and inadequate clean water dominate the lives of many of them.
When we are in Malawi we volunteer in rural clinics and hospitals. We work with rural community based projects organized by the Malawi people as they deal with the disease and hunger and death that are part of their everyday existence. Many of these efforts are supported by the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) which introduced us to the needs of Malawi’s people. We also organize travel for friends from the U.S. who come to learn from and to be in solidarity with the people of Malawi. Through careful listening and respectful observation, our U.S. travelers discern how they can best serve in order to bring hope to Malawi’s orphans, to their guardians and to the sick and dying. The good news in all that is not in the unbelievably poor conditions that our Malawi friends face every day, but— that they are rising to the occasion, helping one another in the most remarkable ways. And, with the help of caring people in the U.S., resources are made available to help them tackle their problems. Individuals and congregations and non-governmental organizations are all helping in these efforts. I know of many great organizations, but I know of none that makes every dollar given accomplish as much as GAIA does, nor of any that works any more closely with the Malawi people, utilizing their leadership skills and vision and commitment to invest in lasting and sustainable changes in their communities. When I am so fresh from seeing how effectively your gifts are helping the children and their women caretakers and in helping reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Malawi, I cannot let the opportunity go.I must ask you once again to consider helping these people with your prayers and with your dollars. Please go to the GAIA website right now and see if you are not moved by what your gift can do: The GAIA You can give immediately on line or put a check in the mail —or even make an ongoing commitment, as some of my friends do, by having a set monthly donation authorized through using their credit card.Now—here is some other good news. And now I am not asking you for money. I am asking for your voice.
Senators Tom Daschle and Bill Frist are about to meet with the committees that write the governing agendas for the Democratic and Republican party. They are going to ask the political leaders who make up these committees to add anti-poverty planks to their platforms, making ending global poverty official party policy.
And they need our help. I just took action with the ONE Campaign and signed their petition to the platform committees. Senators Frist and Daschle will deliver our signatures and send the message that Americans want a strong commitment to ending the suffering caused by extreme poverty and global disease.You can take action too, here: http://www.one.org/platforms/?rc=platformstaf Our nation and other nations need to keep the promise we have made to the world’s poor. Let your voice be heard. Shift the use of our tax dollars away from waging war to waging peace by ending the suffering of the world’s poorest people.This is a time of hope! Join me as an active ONE member and let our voices be heard by our leaders.”Wow, we have a lot to do! I hope my sharing this letter with you will energize you to take action…whether for St. Monica’s or Malawi or helping the global effort to help the world’s poor. We CAN make a difference!
Foreclosures, Homeless Pets and One Remarkable Little Girl
July 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
There are so many innocent victims of the US housing crisis. Celia’s story about a woman committing suicide (below) is one tragic example.
As a Realtor I not only read about it in the news everyday but I experience it first hand: the text in the listings: “Pre-foreclosure, bring all offers”, the anxious sellers waiting for me to show up with my potential buyers, the empty homes in complete disarray as if someone just walked out one day not wanting to turn around and see what they were leaving behind. These are truly hard times in our country.
Once-in-a-while, during such tragedy emerges some brilliant examples of the best of humanity. But, one rarely thinks of a 10-year-old girl as one capable of making such a difference to so many innocent victims…the pets of foreclosure. There are a growing number of pets of all kinds becoming homeless due to the loss of a home to foreclosure. I Googled “Homeless Animals Due to Foreclosure” and came up with pages upon pages of links and articles about the number of homeless animals as a direct result of foreclosures and the efforts throughout our country to take care of these treasured pets and family members necessarily left behind.
But one particular story touched me. A ten-year-old girl from Oregon named Mimi came up with the idea all by herself of creating a website: FreeKibble.com where people can play a game she created called the Bow Wow Trivia Game. Each question answered results in the donation of 20 pieces of kibble. The more people play Bow Wow, the more kibble will be donated. On May 14th, 2008 Mimi delivered her first round of free kibble, 240lbs, to the Humane Society of Central Oregon. Her next delivery was for 500lbs, enough to feed 1,000 dogs for one day! Sponsors such as Zootoo.com pay for the kibble. Mimi has even added a second game for cats: Free KibbleKats.com.
Several months ago I wrote two articles: Raising Children to Make a Difference in the World and Children can help too. There is something about the selflessness of a young child that blows me away. If Mimi can make such a difference, imagine what we can do if we set our mind to it!
You Want To Help; But How?
July 11, 2008 | 2 Comments
Approximately 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes according to the United Nations. We see natural disasters like the recent floods in the Midwest on the news almost every night. The list of endangered species is growing.
The needs of our world can seem overwhelming, especially if you or your friends aren’t currently involved in any organizations or volunteer efforts.
Can one person really make a difference?
Absolutely!
But, where do you start, how do you help, with whom can you speak? If you or someone you know wants to find a tangible way that they can help here is what you tell them:
- All you need is about 1 hour and a computer with an Internet connection.
- During the first part of the hour, assess your personal passions. What touches you the most? Is it world poverty, animals, victims of natural disasters, victims of abuse?
- Once you have decide what problem you want to help solve sit down in front of your computer.
- Open the Google or Yahoo search and type in exactly what you are thinking: ie “Helping African Poverty”.
- You will get pages and pages of responses so just start clicking on any title that sounds interesting to you
- My bet is that within less than 1 hour you will have found so many ways to help and read so much important information that you will be able to make a decision right there as to what you want to do.
To prove my theory I did just that. I searched “helping African poverty” and within minutes came up with these sites:
- Network for Good Their “End Poverty in Africa” homepage has three different categories: Make a Donation, Be a Volunteer, Speak Out. You can simply click on a button to donate to such organizations as Action Against Hunger, Africa AIDS watch, Bread for the World. Or find out about volunteer opportunities with CARE, Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity International, Idealist.org to name a few. Finally, if you want to speak out in support, they have links to 5 different campaigns including The ONE Campaign.
- African Aid offers information about education, health, water and economic programs in which you can get involved or support. And they provide a link to Tinyrevolutionary.com where you can buy a Tee-Shirt that says: This Shirt Saved a Life. For every purchase of one tee-shirt, $20 will be donated directly to Africa Aid to fund a child in their school lunch program in the Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana for an entire year!
- World Vision has a Child Sponsorship program in which you can donate money to sponsor a child. You will even get a photo and name of the child you are helping!
- On Mongabay.com you can learn how Seniors are mobilizing to fight poverty in Africa. Referred to as the “Gray Corps” or “Senior Citzen’s Corps”, these aging citizens volunteer in developing countries similar to the Peace Corp.
- World of Good.com is an incredible resource created by ebay. On this Beta site they have 222 articles about how to make a difference; from “Growing Gardens in a Dry Desert” to Giving crafts people a helping hand”.
- One.org
- Outreach-International
- Poverty.com
I was simply blown away by how easily and quickly I found so many amazing ways to give…whether it be my time or a donation.
This is my list. Now, I challenge each one who reads this post to add a link to an organization or information about how to make a difference in something YOU are passionate about!
Just Give
June 9, 2008 | 1 Comment
How simple that sounds. Two small four letter words. It is so easy to just give to someone. Some people give so much and some give just the right amount. Search inside your soul to find out if you want to Just Give. I stumbled upon Just Give as I googled Domestic Violence charities. It amazed me as it appeared before my eyes how many different options they have for you. So many to choose from. If you click Just Give Domesitc Violence Charities you can see for yourself that there are at least ten different places for you to look into. You can donate monetarily, volunteer your time or even add this charity to your wedding registry if you are about to be married. Could you imagine how wonderful your soul would feel donating something to charity instead of receiving for yourself?
I want to commit myself to working toward the day when all women and men will be safe and abuse will be no more. Violence against women, inside or outside the home, is never justified. Violence in any form—physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal is wrong.
When you give to someone the gratitude you feel is very overpowering. It will make you realize that you have just helped save another soul from the torture that they are enduring everyday.
I thank you from all the battered men and women out there. I know, I was there years ago. In my heart I know when we work together as a team, anything is possible.
So please, go visit Just Give and take a look for yourself.
Earthquake causes China’s Ministries of Health urgent request | Blood donations needed
May 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
My husband Tony and I are regulars. Regulars at the blood bank. No, we aren’t vampires, silly…. we have standing appointments every 8 weeks at the Heartland Blood center to give blood. I’m pretty much always about a pint short. 3 weeks ago we were both sick and couldn’t donate but I knew the kids had a blood drive coming up at school so I figured I would just donate then. It only took 20 minutes and yes, I won’t lie, it hurt a bit, but seriously so did having 4 kids!
Given the devastation of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit China on Monday, China’s Ministries of Health have issued an appeal for blood donations to help victims who were injured in the earthquake.
My husband has a lot of friends and co-workers in China that he has met over the years through work. I’ve met some of them too. He just got back from his last trip at the end of January, and I’m so glad he isn’t there now. They are awaiting news to hear how everyone is, but a lot of communication is down and right now it’s nighttime in China. Even while food, medical aid and supplies are being rationed out and are in short supply, there is no rioting, fighting, stealing or looting happening there. The Chinese have an old adage that translates in English to “Eat Bitterness”. Simply put, deal with the cards you are holding.
So, if your healthy… and not pregnant, I encourage you to make an appointment to donate blood today. There will probably be a long time need for it as rescuers locate injured survivors. There are 26,000 people missing in addition to the 15,000 that have already been confirmed dead. Many of them were school aged children and their teachers who were attending school when the quake hit at about 2:20 in the afternoon. In an event like an earthquake, injured victims can survive for great lengths of time trapped under the concrete and debris that fell around them. The need for blood will be great in the days and even weeks to come as they care for the already 64,000 people who have sustained trauma and injuries, and rescue more survivors.
That’s all. Give Blood. Save a life. Spread the word.
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