Not laboring today

I had planned to write a post today, as I did yesterday, the day before, and many days in the last few months. I haven't moved beyond a few ideas, and one great title (Goose à la Road may still find it's way into written form). I've thought about doing the Alphabet posts that Courtney, Charlotte and others have done, but while I already have great things for b, d, i, s, and w, I can't seem to settle on something for a.

But, today is Labor Day, the ceremonial last day of summer. Here, in the Heartland of the US, it's chilly and grey. Unseasonably cool nights have already signaled to a few trees that it's time to turn color and prepare for dormancy. It's 2pm and I'm still in my pajamas. I looked at my blackberry once, said "not today", and threw it back in my bag. No laboring for me today.

Yet, I will encourage you to watch the clip below about work. But not just work. Hopes, dreams, struggles, and what the nature of work can mean regardless of one's economic status. One's life work is not necessarily one's job.



Makes me feel even lazier on my non-laboring day. Even that is okay once in awhile.

$51 -- it's adding up

I promised when I started NaBloPoMo that I would make a charitable donation for every comment I received this month. So far, I've received 51 comments. That's $51 dollars for a good cause. 11 more days. I'd like to reach 100 comments. $100 dollars for 100 comments.

I said that I would donate to a cause dedicated to helping eradicate hunger and water scarcity. A few facts about water scarcity on our planet:
Each year more than five million people die from water-related disease.

2.5 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who still have no facilities at all.
Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.
Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

These facts come from the website of the organization I have chosen to donate to: Water Partners International.

Water Partners is a non-profit dedicated exclusively to helping provide safe drinking water and sanitation to people in eight developing nations: Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Guatemala, India, Kenya, and the Philippines. The organization partners with other organizations 'on the ground' in these countries and also offers micro-loans to villages to build their own water infrastructure.

Here is an indication of how funding can help Water Partners Int'l provide people in need with safe water:

$25: provides someone with access to safe drinking water for life.
$150: meets the water needs of an entire family.
$200: provides a household water tap and toilet to a family in Honduras.
$1,000: provides public water points and latrines to a village of 400 in Bangladesh.
$5,000: covers construction of a spring protection system for a village in Ethiopia.
$10,000: Provides water hook-ups and toilets to 300 people in an urban slum in India.
$20,000: covers the cost of a deep borehole well for an entire village in Kenya.

Isn't it amazing what so little money can do?

Just ONE question

Only two questions about global poverty have been asked in the history of modern presidential debates.

It's a shocking figure and in 2008, at the next Presidential debate on October 7, we need debate moderator Tom Brokaw to ask John McCain and Barack Obama Just ONE question on their plans to fight global poverty.

I just took action with the ONE Campaign and you can too. Please consider adding your name to the petition here.

Since this blog is supposedly about books -- though I haven't written much about books in recent months -- I'll refer you to a previous post here if you're interested in books on issues about global poverty and efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

EcoJustice08

Have you read the EcoJustice08 blog yet? If not, go to this site setup by Emily of Telecommuter Talk. Read about her challenge to you to challenge yourself to change in ways to benefit the planet.
Emily writes that this is about justice, not simply environmentalism:

The term “ecojustice” encompasses justice for all of creation (plant, other animal, and human alike). It does not assume any one species (i.e. human) is better than any other species. It assumes that within the human race, those who are most negatively affected by the rape of the earth are the poor ... and that by making this planet a safer and better place to live, all will benefit. It assumes that every living being on this planet deserves its rightful, ecological place (whether certain species want others here or not). It also assumes that we humans are the ones doing the most damage with the most means to stop what we are doing.

Mostly, I agree with this philosophy, although I have to consider the comment about no species being better than another. I'm not sure that I can agree with that, but I do agree that even if other species are not our equal, humans have a responsibility to be good stewards of this planet and life on it.

Participants in this challenge will commit to trying at least one change each quarter that can have a positive impact and bring about ecojustice. Then, if you wish, blog about your experiences incorporating that change into your life.

I've already taken on one change so far this year: using canvas tote bags instead of grocery sacks. It is a simple change, one that causes little disruption in one's life. But, it's damn difficult to remember to bring those bags with you to the market!

This weekend, my local Farmer's Market opens. Usually I skip the local markets during May as there is little offered that I usually eat until the local summer vegetables are in season. But, I'm going to stop by to see if that is the case again this year. I don't know much about the 'eat local' movement, but from what I do know, it makes sense to buy locally grown foods.

My new commitment for this month is to make use of the Energy Efficiency Kit provided by the local power company. This kit was available in limited quantities to those who asked for one. When I heard about this, I dug out my bill to get my account number and registered. The kit contains:
- two CFLs (a 14-watt, the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent, and a 20-watt, equal to a 75-watt incandescent.
- a water-saving showerhead
- a hot water gauge
- a refrigerator thermometer
- a luminescent night light
- switch & outlet draft-stoppers
- water flow meter bag.

I replaced many of the incandescent bulbs in my house a few months ago. But, these 2 bulbs will force me to do a recheck. I bet there are still a few incandescents in fixtures in my son's room. Since he'll be home from school in a week, I need to check it out.

I used the water flow meter bag on my kitchen sink. It passed the efficiency test, but I'm sure that there are some bathroom faucets that won't fare as well. Once we know which aren't efficient, it will be off to the hardware store to buy plumbing parts (aerators, etc).

The Hot Water Gauge was put to use immediately. Results: kitchen sink temperature was below scalding and in the 'OK' zone, but it was above the recommended 120-130 degree zone.

I'll try the others. If I can't use the showerhead, I will give it to someone who can (and will). Since the Water Flow Meter Bag is a plastic bag, similar to a bread bag or a newspaper bag, once I'm done, I'll pass it along to someone else who will use it. I'll have to assess the fridge temperature. I'd guess that there is a wider gap that there should be between bottom shelf and top shelf. It's an old unit and I doubt that it is EnergyStar compliant. The Night Light isn't something that I'll use, but I will install the draft-stoppers.

I have other ideas of how I will take on this challenge, such as a few books I want to read (thanks to Emily for an interesting title that will soon find its way to my front door), a commitment to learn more about issues related to ecojustice, possibly riding my bike to work (we'll have to see how that goes! I'm sure there will be a story in that effort -- or two!), and some discussions here about topics related to poverty and environmental sustainability, along with, I hope, the occasional photograph of the natural world.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, visit the EcoJustice blog and consider joining us. Even if you don't want to be an active participant and blog about your efforts on your site, you can read along for suggestions that you can incorporate in your home or office.

$1/Day, Child-headed Households, 28 Million, A Continent Dying....Don't Look Away: Part II

I wrote yesterday that I would post a list of books about global poverty, the UN Millennium Development Goals, and Africa. These are books that I have read or am in process of reading. There is much more information out there. Reviews are from Amazon's web pages (linked).

On global poverty:

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Times Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin, 2005.

From Publishers Weekly:
Over 18 chapters, Sachs builds his case carefully, offering a variety of case studies, detailing small-scale projects that have worked and crunching large amounts of data. His basic argument is that "[W]hen the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development." In order to tread "the path to peace and prosperity," Sachs believes it is encumbant upon successful market economies to bring the few areas of the world that still need help onto "the ladder of development." If there is any one work to put extreme poverty back onto the global agenda, this is it. (Mar 21).

Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works, Stephen C. Smith, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,

"We have an opportunity, in this generation, to reduce global poverty, both through acts of charity and by working as citizens to influence public policy. Stephen Smith offers reliable information, stories of success, and good advice on how to get personally involved in this important fight. Read it, and then take action. " --David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World

What One Person Can Do, Sabina Alkire, Church Publishing, 2005.

What Can One Person Do? confronts a poverty-stricken world, and with clarity of purpose offers practical steps to create lasting change.

Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Public Affairs, 2003.

It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.

On the AIDS crisis in Africa:

A Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa (CBC Massey Lecture) Stephen Lewis, 2006, House of Anansi Press

"We have an opportunity, in this generation, to reduce global poverty, both through acts of charity and by working as citizens to influence public policy. Stephen Smith offers reliable information, stories of success, and good advice on how to get personally involved in this important fight. Read it, and then take action. " --David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World

28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, Stephanie Nolen, Walker Publishing Company, 2007.

From Booklist:
Nolen puts a very human face on HIV/AIDS in Africa, verbally and visually. A photograph accompanies each of the book's 28 personal histories (one subject stands for one million infected people in sub-Saharan Africa). The faces in the photos appear no different than faces of everyday Americans, but that appearance belies the horrific reality of lives shredded by devastating disease.

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, Melissa Fay Greene, Bloomsbury, 2006.

From Publishers Weekly:
Not unlike the AIDS pandemic itself, the odyssey of Haregewoin Teferra, who took in AIDS orphans, began in small stages and grew to irrevocably transform her life from that of "a nice neighborhood lady" to a figure of fame, infamy and ultimate restoration. In telling her story, journalist Greene who had adopted two Ethiopian children before meeting Teferra, juggles political history, medical reportage and personal memoir.

On African Politics:

The Fate of Africa, Martin Meredith, Public Affairs, 2005.

From Booklist:
Meredith is a journalist, biographer, and historian who has written extensively on modern African history. His massive but very readable examination of African history over the past century unfolds like a drawn-out tragedy. Of course, the arrogance and ignorance of European masters planted the seeds of many of Africa's current problems. But Meredith refuses to let Africans off the hook for the endemic violence, corruption, and political repression that plague so many African states. While he pays tribute to icons like Mandela and Senghor, his contempt for the venality and worship of power that has characterized so many leaders from Nasser to Mugabe is palatable and justified by extensive documentation.

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

From Publishers Weekly:
This absorbing account by a young man who, as a boy of 12, gets swept up in Sierra Leone's civil war goes beyond even the best journalistic efforts in revealing the life and mind of a child abducted into the horrors of warfare. Beah's harrowing journey transforms him overnight from a child enthralled by American hip-hop music and dance to an internal refugee bereft of family, wandering from village to village in a country grown deeply divided by the indiscriminate atrocities of unruly, sociopathic rebel and army forces....Told in clear, accessible language by a young writer with a gifted literary voice, this memoir seems destined to become a classic firsthand account of war and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide. (Feb.)

$1/Day, Child-headed Households, 28 Million, A Continent Dying....Don't Look Away: Part I

I had in mind that I would write about several books that I have read recently on Africa sometime this month. Today, I read (un)relaxeddad's post which led me to Charlotte's posts on AIDS in Africa (here and here). If you haven't read Charlotte's posts, you need to. I don't have a firsthand story about the crisis in Africa like what is posted on Charlotte's blog -- I can't even pretend that I could capture such emotional impact. I don't know how one can read Charlotte's post, or any of the heart-wrenching stories coming out of Africa and not be moved to action. Once you are aware of the conditions in Africa -- and the ways some think we can find workable solutions -- it is an offense to the dignity of others to ignore.

Currently more than 1 billion people -- more than 1/5th of the planet -- live in extreme poverty. This means living on less than $1/day or having to travel (usually by foot) more than 2 kilometers to get clean drinking water. In an effort to eradicate such poverty, the UN adopted (187 countries!) the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) in 1998. From the UN's website:

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

What are the 8 MDG's?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (including TB which is epidemic in Africa)
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development.

For additional information on each of these goals, see this website

To help meet these goals the economic powerhouses of the world committed to contributing 0.07% of GNP in foreign aid. The US - and several other large countries -- have failed to meet this contribution. We have reached the 1/2 way mark to the target date of 2015, and progress towards the goals is slow moving. Consider:
* 10.1 million children under age 5 died from mostly preventable effects of poverty.
* 2.9 million people died from AIDS in 2006.
* 15 million children had lost one or both parents to AIDS in 2005.
* 1/2 of the population of the developing world has improper sanitation.

I could continue to bedazzle you with facts, but cold numbers do not have as great an emotional impact as personal stories. Read Charlotte's post; read books like 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa; or Jeffry Sach's The End of Poverty. Think what it means that there were 15 million children orphaned from AIDS. Some estimates cite that there will be 25 million AIDS orphans in Africa by 2010. 25 million children without a mother or father to hug them each day, to feed them, to love them, to show them how to grow into loving, caring adults. Many of these children are being raised by their elderly grandparents. Many live in what the UN has termed 'Child-Headed Households'. How can we life in a world were there is a term for that? How can one not be moved by such a horrific situation?

Below are a few sites where you can learn more. Tomorrow, I'll post a listing of several books that you might be interested in reading that discuss this pressing issue of our time and what we might do about it.

Millennium Development Goal Indicators
UN Millennium Development Goals
Make Poverty History
Millennium Promise
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa)


The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.