5 things that caught my eye this week
Having sent Who I am, the third Fey book, and sent it off to the proof readers, I have been cruising around the web. Here’s a few things that caught my eye.
1. As a follow up to last weeks post about the disgusting cowardice of the Republican party, Representative Andrew Weiner discusses why he was so angry. There’s not much we can do about this bill now. There feels like there’s not much we can do about the grid lock in Congress over reasonable issues. The Republican’s are holding until election day in the hopes of changing Congress. We can only hope they are not satisfied.
2. This is an interesting article in the Financial Times about the Crisis of the Middle Class. This is not a new story. The War on the Middle Class
was published in 2006. What’s interesting about this article is how it relates issues like the Tea Party to the crisis of the Middle Class. I posted this link to Twitter and was surprised to hear from a number of people overseas. They were surprised at this look at America’s middle class.
3. This is a gorgeous gallery of photos. “Taking old World War II photos, Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov carefully photoshops them over more recent shots to make the past come alive. Not only do we get to experience places like Berlin, Prague, and Vienna in ways we could have never imagined, more importantly, we are able to appreciate our shared history in a whole new and unbelievably meaningful way,” says Alice. Here’s my favorite.
4. While we’re on photos, this was posted by Drew Carey on Twitter. In celebration of the Federal Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage, I share:
5. I can’t find a link to this. I was sent this Haiti update from SOS-Children’s Villages. (If you haven’t looked into SOS-Children’s Villages, they are an amazing charity.) SOS Children’s Villages had been in Haiti a long time prior to the earthquake. When the news media looked for legitimate resources, they went to SOS Children’s Villages. Here is their report about Haiti five months later:
HAITI: FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
June, 2010
On January 13, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and destroyed thousands of buildings and hundreds of thousands more lives. Our SOS Village of Santo, near Port-au-Prince, was spared. There, over 200 orphans were already living prior to the earthquake, safely and well taken care of in SOS houses in SOS families. Good construction made all the difference and left all our facilities standing. The SOS Village subsequently has become a haven for other children who have lost their parents. We currently have custody of over 500 children for whom we still search for family members; we have 800 students in our primary and secondary schools.
The Phases of Haiti Relief
What follows below is a description of the phases of SOS relief efforts. Budgets will be refined over time as fundraising continues and needs change.
Phase I: Basic survival, water and sanitation, food and medical treatment (January – March, 2010)
Phase II: Mid-term shelter, protection and care (March, 2010 – present)
Phase III: Assistance in Haiti reconstruction
- Phase I: Basic survival (COMPLETE)
In the initial weeks following the earthquake, tons of food and medical supplies, as well as hundreds of tents, were distributed by SOS in collaboration with other international nongovernmental organizations (INGOS) who were part of the Cluster on Child Protection. We also took in hundreds more children without parental care and started work immediately on family reunification.
At that time the Haitian government gave SOS temporary custody of the 33 children who were being transferred illegally out of Haiti. That incident positioned SOS in the middle of an international news story. Coverage on the Today Show, MSNBC, Anderson Cooper, Larry King, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post enabled SOS to address a key question: what exactly happens to children who lose their parents in a natural disaster? As experts in raising children without parental care, SOS was able to answer: children are first registered and receive safe shelter. Following that, efforts start to reunify families. When reunification is not possible, more long-term options must be considered.
- Phase II: Protection and temporary care (IN PROGRESS)
We are now in the second phase of Haiti relief and coming to terms with the fact that our SOS Village has swelled to over 800 children who need love, food, clothing, trauma and grief counseling, schooling and a sense of hope. Conditions are overcrowded for meals, play and sleeping. Tents on the ground predictably will create challenging conditions as the rainy season—and hurricane season—descend. Therefore, SOS is now bringing to Haiti innovative polypropylene shelters that “pop up” quickly into sturdy, dry, lightweight houses that can last 3-5 years and withstand winds of well over 100mph.
By mid-June, each of these 100 shelters will house up to eight people in 242 square-foot individual family units. Another 16 small shelters will be used as latrines and showers. Many will likely be installed in the community as well as in the SOS Village. SOS is also feeding an estimated 10,000 people a day through dozens of food distribution centers in the Port-au-Prince area.
SOS Children’s Vilages is working with major INGOs on child protection issues, including UNICEF, Save the Children, and World Vision. We are also pursuing a collaboration with Partners In Health and its sister associations, Zanmi Lasante and Zanmi Beni.
- Phase III: Shelter and reconstruction
SOS intends to build new facilities when critical needs assessments have been completed. This likely means new schools, community centers, and perhaps the construction of a new village.
Each other…all they have left.
Yampa River Canyon
Yampa River Canyon
It’s hard to gain a perspective on the scope of these canyons. We hiked 1 mile into a point to see the junction. We’re over 7,000 feet. The river is bright florescent green and the mountains seen to go forever. There’s a sense of unreality and timelessness to the place.
In this shot, you can see the river winds behind these gorgeous canyon.
This photo shows the Echo Park area they were going to fill with water.
