Heute ist Congolesen. Um 21.00 Uhr. Im Café du Congo. Motto: Schnüffler, Spitzel und Spione. Außerdem ist es der Tag nach dem ersten Advent. Das steht in keinem Zusammenhang, aber gestern habe ich meinen ersten Glühwein für diesen Herbst getrunken. Musste ich auch, weil ich noch keine Texte habe. Bis gleich!

Timeline-

Before Winter Break:
- Talk to Sarina
- Who’s speaking
- Format
- Ideal time for speaking
- Tell her about date (March 8th, two events day and night, dinner)
- Ideas about things on the side

- Meet with Loc about logistics
-AB schedule/two session and night

- Reserve Fick for whole day and night, Community Room for whole day
- Talk to Rachael and reserve through Laurie Hill at District

CPC:
- Maddie’s super involved
- Press Release and Posters
- Communications department with Cory
- Follow up with Cory about talking to Paul about funding
- Developing relationship with CPC Hospital with Congo
- Media contacts
- Cory could talk to other youth church leaders

- Contact Sarina about more details for event
- Monday March 8th event

- Contact Alix Kendall FOX, Sun Current, Star Tribune Publicity, Edina Magazine and AM 950 (Talk to Emma/Shara)

- Staff meetings

-Dinner before night event

- Contact other TV stations/newspaper/radio. Kelsey Kaplan’s dad is friends with Robin from FOX

-T-shirts

United Way’s Helpline (Ellen)

Talk to middle schools (if we have two sessions), signup, fieldtrip,

Schedule:
AB schedule/two sessions

Behind these children, an entire village was burned by one of the main armed groups, the FDLR, as a means of intimidating the local population. The FDLR controls many mines in eastern Congo. Source: Grassroots Reconciliation Group / Sasha Lezhnev

Tonight, CBS’ 60 Minutes exposes how the trade in Congolese minerals, used in cell phones, laptops, and dozens of other electronics made by Apple, Nokia, Nintendo and other companies, is fueling the deadliest war since World War II. While the electronics industry, the largest consumer of the minerals from eastern Congo, profits from cheap raw materials, an estimated $180 million annually goes to armed groups in Congo from the trade in four main minerals: the ores that produce the metals tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold.

Electronic devices require these specialized metals. Tin is used to affix components to circuit boards; tantalum is a vital element of capacitors; tungsten is used in vibrate alert functions and LCD displays. But mineral mines in Eastern Congo, one of the world’s largest sources of these minerals, are controlled by armed groups who perpetrate some of the world’s worst human rights abuses, while profiting from taxes on the trade in conflict minerals as well as the exploitation of local workers and communities.

Some companies, including HP, Dell, Intel, and Motorola, are developing a multi-industry forum to help develop transparency, accountability and assurance mechanisms in the supply chain of extracted metals. The Congo Conflict Minerals Act, introduced by Senators Brownback, Durbin, and Feingold, would create State Department and other efforts to investigate and eliminate minerals trade related to conflict, and encourage electronics companies to exercise due diligence when purchasing raw materials.

Consumers can also take action. By sending a message that we will not buy from companies that ignore the human rights violations committed by suppliers of raw materials, we can use the power of the marketplace to help end violence in the Congo.

Hey everyone, how are you doing? Well, the site I am doing with Emmanuel is almost ready to go up, though our hosting site is being a bit difficult. Thanks for all your encouragement and support as we transition to our new web presence. This project was definitely a labor of love… and it will be live next Monday at www.ugandansabroad.org.

There has been all sorts of interesting/disturbing/fascinating stuff going on in Uganda and her neighbors…

-The U.N. released a damning report to some media houses (still haven’t been able to access the real thing) that said two Rwandan rebel groups, including the FDLR (composed largely of the former Interahamwe, which commited the Rwandan genocide), were recruiting in two refugees camps in Uganda– one of which I even visited in 2007, Nakivale, when I was with SIT. It also said that Uganda and Burundi were smuggling $1.2 billion in gold out of the DR Congo, purchasing gold from FDLR-controlled mines, and reselling it in the United Arab Emirates.
As a reporter, as sick it is, my first impulse was– whoa, what a story! I could imagine eight or nine follow-up stories coming from this report, and stories that would come from the follow-up story. Immediately, I began imagining commodity chains (it’s the Joshua Muldavin in me!). And this report had one hell of a commodity chain, from Spanish NGOs giving funds to the FDLR to recruiting in the camps that are repatriating their Rwandan refugees as we speak (I got to cover this for Women’s eNews!).  If you somehow can find a copy of this report, please let me know– I am dying to see it, and I don’t get why the UN leaked it so many press organizations, then didn’t share it with the public.

In eastern Congo, the mineral trade fuels and funds war-- at the expense of millions of people.

Other things that I have been paying attention to…

-If you want a good story, there’s always the General James Kazini murder saga (and see, this actually is a nice segway from the UN report, since Kazini spent a great deal of time looting minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo).  This famous general, who has led troops against all sorts of insurgencies in the Great Lakes region, was allegedly bludgeoned to death by his lover in Namuwongo, in one of the strangest stories I’ve heard in awhile.  Andrew Mwenda had a great take on it. Whether Lydia Draru, his 28-year-old lover, really killed this top general, I have no idea…

-The Land Amendment Bill 2007, which passed last week after what seems like years of agonizing.  Meant to reform land issues in Uganda, it’s gotten a lot of heat and attention since it was first introduced in Parliament.  Land issues are so complex in Uganda that I can barely begin to understand what’s going on sometimes.

Did a lot of writing today, and apparently also a lot of fingernail biting.  Practically chewed off my fingers (just kidding, I’m exxagerating), but it does hurt to type with my left index finger.  I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving went well.  I ate loads and loads of food, then went back to Brooklyn and somehow ate more food (then worked out for two hours the next day! ahhh).  I went to visit my stepfamily with my Dad and stepmom in New Brunswick, and got a copy of the Star Ledger, which I’ve heard so much about.  A bunch of my friends work there, and someone from the Star Ledger came to our entrepreneurial journalism class last fall.  I also visited my best friend Josh on Long Island, and saw my other best friend Steph.  I used a Wii for the first time, which was a lot of fun– I created a “mii” character of myself, and then played virtual tennis with Josh, which actually made my arms really sore! (You put the controller in a tennis racket, then watch your game on TV, hitting ‘the ball,’ which is really just air).

It’s amazing how much things have changed since I first stepped foot into grad school.  I can barely recognize the person who first entered Times Square that fall, and stepped foot into jschool.  Things are really, really different.  I feel as if I am twenty years older, but really it’s only been two years.   Well, wish me  luck in the upcoming week ahead, and send me a lot of prayers! I need them! A lot on my plate that I am really concerned about.

Your nail-biting friend….

Since WWII, what would you guess was the bloodiest war on this planet? Darfur? Korea? Nope, it’s in the Congo. The toll is an estimated 5 million lives, and a lot of folks are reminded of the similar crimes comited for blood diamonds. The next logical thought should be, can we curb this violence as we have by tracking the source of this valuable commodity?

Click here to watch a preview from 60 minutes as it takes a look at one of modern histories most horrific war.

Sunday night (11/29/09) at 7pm on CBS, 60 Minutes will be airing a segment on the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  As you may know, Roger and his family, Christ Church United attendees for the past couple months, escaped the violence of the Congo by immigrating to Uganda until they were able to come to the U.S. just recently.  I encourage you all to watch this 60 Minutes segment to educate ourselves a bit about the country of origin of one of our newest CCU families.

“It was horrible, physically. I was dizzy. My thoughts just left me.” – Kazungu Ziwa, one of an increasing number of men raped in a crackdown against rebels in Congo.

A boat accident on a lake in the Democratic Republic of Congo leaves at least 73 people dead, Red Cross officials say…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: boat sale. The blog is also related to: sailboat.

Le rôle que peut jouer les média dans la dissémination des informations sur la santé n’est plus à démontrer dans une société dite de l’information.

C’est donc pour donner aux media la position d’acteurs incontournables et indispensables dans la promotion de la santé en général et du paludisme en particulier qu’AZUR Développement, le Club Des Jeunes pour l’Education Sexuelle et à la Santé (CJESS) et le Réseau Sida Afrique avec l’appui de Malaria Consortium ont organisé à Pointe-Noire, ce 4 Novembre 2009, un atelier sur la communication sur le paludisme pour les professionnels des média.

Cet atelier qui avait pour objectifs échanger sur les techniques de couverture médiatique du paludisme ; identifier les défis rencontrés par les journalistes dans la couverture médiatique et proposer les solutions et aussi à définir un programme d’activités à court terme sur la communication sur le paludisme à des fins de plaidoyer, et a réuni vingt cinq (25) journalistes hommes et femmes évoluant dans les media à Pointe-Noire.

Plusieurs thèmes ont été développé : après la présentation du contexte de l’atelier, les journalistes ont été édifiés sur les généralistes sur le paludisme parce qu’il est difficile de parler de la maladie si l’on ne la connais pas. D’autres communications notamment le rôle de la communication dans la lutte contre le paludisme ont permis aux professionnels des medias de savoir qu’ils ont un rôle essentiel d’éduquer, d’informer, de sensibiliser, conseiller et d’orienter les populations.

En effet, le communicateur a commencé par une interrogation : Pourquoi des milliers de personnes meurent tous les jours du paludisme ? Comment faire comprendre les populations ? Cette question trouve sa solution dans le rôle que doit jouer le journaliste qui, selon le communicateur, est non seulement le « porte parole mais l’historien du moment ». Il a surenchérit en disant que si « une fausse nouvelle est un poison, une bonne est sûrement un médicament capable de guérir » ; nombreuses sont en fait des personnes qui meurent par manque d’information.

Ainsi, le journaliste doit non seulement donner la parole aux spécialistes de santé pour transmettre les informations y relatives aux populations, mais aussi aller vers les populations pour recueillir leurs points de vue sur les différents problèmes concernant le paludisme. Il est par exemple important pour les journalistes d’aller dans les hôpitaux pour voir quels sont différents problèmes concernant le traitement du paludisme.

Un autre thème a été développé sur les défis dans la couverture médiatique du paludisme. Il a été noté que les journalistes rencontrent des difficultés d’accès à l’information. En fait, souvent le personnel soignant est souvent débordé (le seul pédiatre de l’hôpital Adolphe A ; Cissé peut recevoir en une nuit 90 enfants), ce qui fatigue et souvent ils ne sont plus disposés à renseigner le journaliste.

Après la présentation du guide de reportage sur le paludisme, les professionnels de média ont travaillé en groupe pour voir quelles étaient les questions urgentes à débattre dans les media concernant le paludisme.

C’était l’aussi une occasion pour se rendre compte que les media ne sont pas considéré comme partenaire dans le programme national de Développement Sanitaire 2007- 2011. D’où l’interrogation les media sont-ils écartés par les pouvoirs publics ou ils se font écarter ?

Les professionnels des média, dans leur mot à la fin de l’atelier, ont d’abord remercié les organisateurs de cet atelier, et ont pris « l’engagement d’asseoir leur réseau afin de mieux communiquer pour réduire les cas de morbidité et de mortalité dus au paludisme ».

Passports and visas in hand, Mahindo & Gabriel are getting on a plane this Monday, November 30th for Chennai, India!  God’s provision so quickly for all the logistics has been extraordinary to witness.  Gabriel will be undergoing heart surgery in India to repair his tetralogy of fallot, allowing him to get oxygen back to his body and to have a chance at living like he has never had before.

I am so thankful for all of your financial support and prayers.  I still need about $4,000 to finish paying for the plane tickets, travel expenses, and the follow-up care for Gabriel after he returns to Goma following the surgery.  Please consider a small financial sacrifice for this boy, knowing that your sacrifice means he will have the opportunity to LIVE.

I also want to pass along my thanks from Gabriel’s father, Mahindo.  They are so incredibly grateful and give glory to God for this opportunity.  They have been through a situation before where someone came to take children from the Congo to Israel for heart surgery, and ended up choosing two other children and leaving Gabriel behind.  For this reason it has been very hard for them to get their hopes up that people who do not know them could actually care enough to follow through on their promises.  I made a commitment when I was in the Congo to do everything in my power to help Gabriel and sacrifice all I can for his life.  Again and again, I have been presented with the chance to do that, and people who have responded to help with me, without having met Gabriel themselves.

Please contact me for an address to mail your financial contributions, or buy Christmas gifts from my website.  We are so close!

Funds needed:  TOTAL: $14,690

• Heart Surgery – $7500
• Passports – $300 (x2), Visas – $110 (x2)
• Airfare to Kinshasa – $650 (x2), Airport tax – $20 (x2), Room & Board in Kinshasa – $240, Wife help – $140
• Airfare Kinshasa to Chennai – $1880 (x2), Airport tax – $50 (x2), Insurance tax – $95 (x2)
• Lodging, food, and travel expenses while in India – $30/day (x20 days?) = $600

Raised to date: $11,651.15

The public is being kept in the dark about what is happening in the US and world; they have been kept from finding out just how big this ‘mutation’ issue is becoming. Please pass this site on to as many family and friends as you can and post links to it on as many sites as you can. We will continue to update as new information becomes available.

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OFFICIAL ‘UKRAINE CRISIS’ NUMBERS 11/26/09

1,751,546 SICK

104,332 HOSPITALIZED

414 DEAD

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Has the Ukraine swine flu mutation spread to the United States?

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Bleeding Lungs and Tamiflu-resistance -Do H1N1 mutations make the swine flu vaccine less effective?

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Rise in pneumonia cases linked to H1N1- Also Says Convergence of 3 Viruses – Pneumonic Plague

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D225G Evades Human Immune Response

Worldwide Transmission Of D225G Confirmed

WHO Silence On D225G Evading Immune Response

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Global Swine Flu Deaths Surge

Swine Flu – Record UK Deaths In Last Week

China Readies For Flu Mutation Epidemic

Chicago begins offering inoculations at airports

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H1N1 (D225G) mutation now confirmed in China – Chinese watch for H5N1/H1N1 hybrid – YouTube

H1N1 is now a full blown ‘mutated’ pandemic in many countries – “fills lungs with blood”

Plague of ‘Black Lung’ Is Sweeping Through Europe

Iowa’s Announcement of Appearance of Virulent Swine Flu Virus Spells Trouble Ahead

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Probable Swine Flu In Congo – 3 Dead, Hundreds Sick

One Million Iranians Test Postive For Swine Flu

England Swine Flu Deaths Reach Highest Level

WHO Studying Swine Flu Mutations – (And Has Been For Weeks)

Man dies in Sweden from the “swine flu” – now 9 ‘official’ deaths

132 Flu Patients Hit with Brain Disorders Since July

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Vaccine-Induced Disease Epidemic Outbreaks

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Peer reviewed study in Virology Journal shows why H1N1 was most likely released from a lab – YouTube

From Where Did the 2009 Swine Flu Emerge?

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Military To Work With FEMA During Swine Flu Pandemic

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Foods That Can Help to Prevent Swine Flu

10 Things You’re Not To Know About H1N1 Vax

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Reported flu stats by country

(courtesy of Flu News Network)

China
•  8 cases of swine flu mutation (Link)
•  Chinese expert warns of H1N1 and H5N1 pandemic mutation (Link)
•  Detected H1N1 mutations ‘not dangerous’ (Link)

Canada
•  Helen Branswell – GSK says still no answer on whether H1N1 vaccine batch triggers more reaction (Link)

Japan
•  Japan to send experts to Canada over flu vaccine reactions (Link)

Latvia
•  Baltic states swine flu death toll rises (Link)

Saudi Arabia
•  Swine flu fears for hajj pilgrims (Link)

Slovakia
•  Ill Man with A(H1N1) Flu Virus Dies in Prievidza Hospital (Link)

South Korea
•  South Korea Unlikely to Buy Problematic H1N1 Vaccine from GSK (Link)
•  22 new deaths recorded last week, total now 104 (Link)

Taiwan
•  Confirmation of death of 4 yr old girl from H1N1 (Link)

United Kingdom
•  Scotland has 3 more deaths, 43 total now (Link)

United States
•  US: CDC says that the rates of ‘invasive pneumonia’ tripled in Oct vs 5 yr averages in Denver metro (log in required) (Link)
•  Decoding the turkey’s genetic gobbledygook (Link)
•  FL: New mom in coma w/ H1N1, newborn survived 5 days (Link)
•  IL: 2000 hospitalizations from H1N1 and 389 new hospitalized (Link)
•  IN: 33 of 35 deaths from flu so far are confirmed H1N1 (Link)
•  MN: Minnesota news reports seem inconsistent now (Link)
•  MN: Six Duluth deaths associated with H1N1 (Link)
•  NM: Two Deaths In Eastern New Mexico Linked To H1N1 (Link)
•  OR: only 17 more hospitalizations since yesterday, no new deaths (Link)
•  OR: Oregon Hospitalizations up 22 in four days and 4 new deaths (Link)
•  PA: (7) New Deaths on PA DOH Website for 11.25.09 (Link)
•  TX: 2 more deaths confirmed in El Paso (Link)
•  UT: Utah confirmed another death and 72 more hospitalizations last week (Link)

General
•  WHO: Possible Tamiflu resistance (translated) (Link)
•  Biological H1N1 Vaccines: Too Little, Too Late (Link)
•  Drug-resistant swine flu probed (Link)
•  The Hajj: A perfect storm for swine flu? (Link)

Dann isses wieder soweit. Congolesen.

Today is the second day of the 16 Days campaign and there are a huge number of events taking place all around the country;

• Longford Women’s Link (LWL) is holding a “Walk of Remembrance “to commemorate the 159 women who have been murdered in Ireland since 1996
• Newbridge Family Resource Centre is hosting an Art workshop exploring issues around Donmestic Violence
• Wexford Local Area Network on Violence Against Women is holding an awareness raising event
• Dublin 12 Domestic Violence Service Forum
• Congolese Anti-Poverty Network awareness event
• Bray Women’s Refuge “Silence is Violence” event
• Banulacht conference on Violence Against Women

photo: (inconnu)

60 Minutes on CBS this weekend (7pm EST) will follow John Prendergast of the Enough Project to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to monitor the black market trade in ‘conflict minerals’ – mined in Congo, controlled and traded by armed groups, and used in electronics such as cell phones and mp3 players.

60 MINUTES TAKES ON CONGO’S CONFLICT MINERALS – ALL-NEW THIS SUNDAY

• Congo massacre witnesses were threatened [AP]
• UN chief urges new election date for Cote d’Ivoire [China News]
• Education not Execution: Uganda’s Defilement problem [Independent]
• Did Mbeki really support, for a while at least, the Equatorial Guinea coup attempt? [The Daily Maverick]
• Israel announces plans to limit West Bank construction for 10 months [LA Times]
• Burma engagement offers false hopes [Sydney Morning Herald]
• Indonesian government may allow mining in protected forests [The Jakarta Post]
• Haiti: UN troops shoot again [World War 4 Report]
• Blood Oil [VF]

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new global version of Amazon’s Kindle for Christmas, be aware that there are still quite a few places that the global version will NOT work.  I was disappointed to find that the new version still will not work in my country.

Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.   I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in (below).

It’s also interesting to note the PATTERN of groups of countries where the Kindle doesn’t work–some countries probably lack satellite coverage or delivery systems, while others probably don’t WANT readers to be able to download whatever they want by satellite.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,  Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S.,  Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009) the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan,  Yemen.

For some time now, I’ve been calling Senators Cornyn and Hutchison about S. 891, the Congo Conflict Minerals Act.  Until last week, there was only a Senate bill addressing the issue of conflict minerals from the Congo, but on November 19th, Representative Jim McDermott introduced H.R. 4128, the Conflict Minerals Trade Act.  The bill is very new and only has three cosponsors at this point, so today, I’ll be calling Representative Burgess (202-225-7772) about it.  Here’s what I’m going to say:

“Hello! My name is Allison Kami, and I’m from Denton, TX. I’m calling to express my concern about the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I’d like to ask Representative Burgess to cosponsor House Bill 4128 to help end the funding of illegal militias in the Congo.”

Please join me!  Also, I’ve got some good news and bad news about raising funds for Charity: Water.  We are now able to accept check donations that will go toward our specific campaign!  If you know of anyone who is interested in giving in this way, here’s how to do so.  Make the check out to Charity: Water, write “MYCW-1217″ in the memo line, and send it to Charity: Water at:

charity: water
200 Varick St. Ste. 201
New York, NY 10014

Before now, check donations just counted as general donations to Charity: Water.  That’s great, but it didn’t help us reach our specific goal of building a well.  Now, the bad news.  I don’t think a second fundraiser event is going to happen.  Too many doors have been shut, and time is running out.  Without another event, that means we’re down to word of mouth to raise more donations.  Please continue to tell people about the Denton Water Walk, and direct them to the website: mycharitywater.org/dentonwaterwalk.  Tell them that this Christmas, they have the chance to give the gift of clean water.  Thank you for your help, and may God bless you and your neighbor through you today!

Nature and Animal Conservation

 

     Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves. Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other challenges are making conservation a struggle.

Visit : http://www.globalissues.org/article/1…

 What is Biodiversity ?

 

    The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth.

   

    Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. Almost all cultures have in some way or form recognized the importance that nature, and its biological diversity has had upon them and the need to maintain it. Yet, power, greed and politics have affected the precarious balance.

Does it really matter if there arent so many species?

Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.

For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.

And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.

Who Cares?

  Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play. For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.

And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions

It is feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. From various animal species, forests and the ecosystems that forests support, marine life. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.

 

  

November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The white ribbon has become the symbol for the day.

Click on the picture to join the Community