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CJ’s Bus - A Safe Haven For Children In Disaster

The Story behind CJ’s Bus

CJ’s Bus was born out of three unique ingredients: the personal experience of Jeff Parness following the 2003 San Diego wildfires; Kathryn Martin’s experience providing emergency child care assistance to a family following the May 2006 Otwell, Indiana tornado; and a conversation Jeff and Kathryn had in June 2006 in which Kathryn stated her desire to honor her son C.J.’s legacy by continuing to reach out and help other families by caring for their children in the immediate aftermath of disasters. What came out of this experience was the realization of the need for a mobile recreation unit to drop directly into disaster sites in the immediate aftermath of disasters in order to keep kids distracted in a safe group environment.

At that moment the “light bulb went off” and the idea for CJ’s Bus was born.

December 4th, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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UNICEF’s child-friendly spaces use movement and dance to help children heal

UNICEF’s child-friendly spaces use movement and dance to help children heal

By Quinn Lundberg

NEW YORK, USA, 21 July 2008 – The tragedies of war and natural disasters leave children struggling to cope with deep psychological wounds. One of the ways that UNICEF and other organizations have helped to alleviate children’s emotional scars is through dance and movement.

UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Amanda Melville views movement and dance as a way for children to reconnect to their normal lives after emergencies.

“It can be a way of getting people back in touch with what’s happening in their bodies, but also a way of releasing some of that stress,” she said. Dance and movement have been shown to alleviate symptoms of aggression, anxiety and depression.

Preserving cultural traditions

In addition to providing children with opportunities to draw, sing and perform in plays and skits, UNICEF-supported child-friendly spaces in post-emergency situations around the world make use of movement and dance. Such programmes emphasize the importance of helping communities retain and strengthen their cultural traditions.

“We have to validate and base our work with movement and dance on the local traditions as a starting point, and that’s really important,” said Ms. Melville. “If we want to connect with something that is meaningful for the children in those situations, you have to start from where their traditions are coming from.

“Very often, what you see is that cultural traditions such as dance get disturbed or disrupted by the emergency,” she added.

Means of expression

At the same time, dance and movement can transcend cultural boundaries to offer a universal language for children to express their pain. Even children who are unable to communicate verbally can often express themselves through dance in a safe environment.

Through the use of dance and movement in child-friendly spaces – informed by more than 60 years of experience by psychiatrists and psychotherapists using movement as a therapeutic tool – UNICEF hopes to provide children in distress with an alternative to their isolation and a way to reclaim their childhood.

For more information or to donate please visit the UNICEF web-site.

July 29th, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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1000 Marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind. He sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles”.

I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. “Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.”

He continued, “Let me tell you something, Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of “a thousand marbles”.

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.” “Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part.”

“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”

“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.”

“I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday, then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.”

“It was nice to meet you, Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is D9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile. “Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids.” “Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”

Story submitted by Joyce Arnold

June 21st, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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Rookie Teacher Plants Seeds Of Hope

CODY THOMPSON | Ohio native starts science Olympiad club; takes on KRS-One

  Despite a school year marred by death, the earth around Crane Technical Prep is bursting with new life.

  And rookie teacher Cody Thompson and the garden club he started can’t wait to survey it.

  At the farthest reaches of Crane’s campus, the group examines the strongest survivors of 1,500 red and white tulip bulbs they planted last fall.

  "These are the best ones because there’s nobody here to bother them,” says club member Tyeisha Underwood, 16.

  As the students stare, fascinated, it’s clear these kids have been transported to another world, far from the gunfire 2 1/2 blocks away that killed a classmate March 7 and drew attention to the violence that has claimed the lives of 24 Chicago Public Schools students this school year.

  Thompson, a slightly built first-year chemistry teacher from Ohio, has led them to this quiet spot where they can relax, think and soak up the wonders of nature — in peace.

  After eight months, kids say, Thompson has made a difference. The year’s tragedies and triumphs have only reinforced his belief that he was meant to teach — even that he was meant to teach at Crane.

  "I’ve heard a lot of teachers say their first year in teaching made them rethink their career choice,” said Thompson, 27, who looks like a 1960s folk singer with his shag haircut and goatee.

  "My first year in teaching has only solidified my belief that I am absolutely doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  One victory for Thompson was starting an after-school garden club in this hardscrabble area, where many students’ primary concern at dismissal time is making it home through various gang turfs. Thompson persuaded about 25 Near West Side kids to shovel dirt, hoe soil, scatter blood meal and plant bulbs in an effort to expand the clubs at Crane, an almost all-black, high-poverty school where just 7 percent of juniors passed state tests last year.

  More…

June 2nd, 2008 Posted by admin | Inspiration | no comments

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The Hope Foal Project

  The HopeFoal Project is designed to address issues of low self-esteem, depression and suicidal ideation in young girls who live in our community.  These at-risk youth are paired with Premarin foals, newly separated from their mothers, to provide a unique opportunity for personal growth. Giving these young girls the responsibility of "gentling and handling" the foals – who have had a rough start in life and need great amounts of love and kindness – helps provide these teenagers a reason to live, thrive and mature.  Through this unique partnership, girls from the HopeFoal Project can learn to embrace life once again, while the foals flourish from their newfound trust in humans. Meet our Premarin foals on our Foals page.

April 20th, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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Grandmother Finds Purpose In Africa

  KAOLACK, Senegal (CNN) — After the sudden death of her 26-year-old daughter left five grandchildren in her care, Viola Vaughn searched for peace.

  Though she was a native of Detroit, Michigan, Vaughn had worked in Africa for most of her life and considered it home. So she and her husband returned there to raise their new brood and "watch the coconut trees grow."

  "But the universe had other things in mind for me," says Vaughn.

  She couldn’t have imagined those plans would include both further tragedy and the motivation to provide educational opportunities to hundreds of failing schoolchildren.

  Soon after their move to rural Kaolack, Senegal, in 2000, Vaughn’s husband — jazz musician Sam Sanders — died of black lung. Amid her grief, she found comfort in her grandchildren, ages 4 to 12, and filled her days home-schooling them. Her success soon garnered attention from the locals.

  "There was a little girl that my granddaughter played with. This little girl kept coming around and wanting to be taught with my grandchildren," recalls Vaughn.

  "I went to see this child’s mother, and her mother said she had already failed school once, that she couldn’t pass because she wasn’t smart enough. Well she was smart enough to come find me. And I said, ‘OK, I’ll help you.’ "

  Within two weeks, Vaughn had 20 girls in her house who were failing school and asking her to teach them.

  Vaughn learned that the regional pass rate for girls was low because it was rooted in the economic need of young girls to work at home. They begin missing classes, then failing exams, often ultimately failing or dropping out of school.

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April 19th, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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Hoops of hope

  Austin was 9 years old and all he wanted to do was play basketball.  Unfortunately, he didn’t make the team.  So with his some extra time on his hands he decided to spend more time writing his penpal.  While communicating with his friend in Africa, Austin learned that as a result of the AIDS epidemic about 15 million children had been orphaned.  Austin wasn’t sure what he could do to help but he wanted to do something.  So, he put together a hoop-a-thon to be held on World AIDs day.  On that day, Austin shot 2057 free throws to represent the 2,057 kids who would be orphaned during the period of time that Austin would be in school.  He took pledges from his friends, family, and community.  When it was all said and done, Austin raised $3,000 which he then donated to World Vision to help take care of orphaned children.

  That was years ago.  Each year this program has continued to grow as other children (and adults) have taken their shot at the freethrow lines.  The program has become a national movement.  Austin’s latest project is to help build a school so that the children would have a chance to improve their lives.  You can learn more about Hoops of Hope on their web site here.

April 11th, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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Kid’s Are Sweet International

  War on poverty. Children are the innocent in the world. They endure the horrors of poverty, starvation, diseases, war, child slave labor, child prostitution, etc. They look to us for protection, and yet many of these children are orphans, or refugees from war, with no family to protect them. Other children who have a parent are barely living on the edge of existence, rummaging fifteen hours a day through garbage, to try and earn 50 cents to buy food. Spending part of a day in a third world city garbage dump, it is unimaginable that children as young as four and five are walking through hospital and chemical waste, working fifteen hour days. Going to school is not an option; either work or starve. Refugee camps, where several generations have lived without a means to earn wages or send their children to school; there is no childhood for these children. Children in Northwestern part of Cambodia, where there are still millions of landmines, are killed each year because they want to go out and play…. All children should be able to have what we would consider a safe childhood; riding bicycles, playing sports, skipping rope, at least one nutritious meal a day, and the privilege of going to school. We are so fortunate to have so many options, they have none.   

 Lesley Byrne created Kids Are Sweet International™, while spending time in Cambodia. She wanted to become directly involved with assisting impoverished children all over the world. She wants to empower these children by giving them a chance to get an education, so they are at least literate. Lesley wanted them to know that there are people in the world who do care about them, that they are loved, and will fight for them, to give them a chance for a better future through education and to know what it is like to be a child again. To break the bonds of poverty must be done on a grassroots level, with both an immediate and sustainable impact. It doesn’t take a lot, but it does take a commitment. She has several children in Cambodia that she sponsors personally, Aids/orphans in Africa and refugee children in Iraq.  Lesley wanted to do something more, to become more involved with their lives, their families and their countries, to help out and to give hope. She also wanted to share the results of how a little can go a long way. Together we can create a better world for these children and for our own children. They are the future and the hope for all of us in this world.  

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April 1st, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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OHAfrica - For hope, health and healing.

  In the mountainous country of sub-Saharan Africa there is a small country named Lesotho.  Two million people live in Lesotho and it is the third most severely HIV/AIDS-affected country in the world.  It is now estimated that 23% of people in Losotho, between the ages of 15 to 49 years, are infected with HIV as well as over 22,000 children under the age of 15 years.  Staggering numbers.  In addition to this there are nearly 100,000 children in Lesotho under the age of 14 years old that have been orphaned by the disease.  The life expectancy in this country is now less than 36 years of age.

  OHAfrica currently supports the Government of Lesotho in the delivery of its National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan. OHAfrica is directly involved in the development and implementation of Lesotho’s recently introduced antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy program for people living with HIV/AIDS.

  OHAfrica:

• Provides a small team of Canadian health care professionals and HIV experts to assist in treatment delivery at the largest HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Lesotho—the Tšepong "Place of Hope" Clinic;
• Trains and works with local nurses, health care professionals and community-based health care workers involved in HIV/AIDS-related treatment and patient care;
• Works with the staff of community-based primary care centres to support the roll-out of HIV/AIDS testing and treatment programs to the community level and to support the integration of HIV/AIDS programs into local health care systems;
• Collaborates with local People Living with HIV/AIDS Support Groups and other community-based organizations to encourage people to go to the Tšepong Clinic or their local primary health care centre for HIV testing, and if needed, enrolment in ARV programs;
• Assists in the development of community programs and support groups that provide education and assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS;
• Partners with local policy makers, government and other local and international agencies working on HIV/AIDS to develop a long-term plan for providing HIV/AIDS care in Lesotho.

  You can learn more about OHAfrica by visiting their web site. 

March 22nd, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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How about a cow for Christmas? What about some sheep!

  Did you know that you could give a birthday present from Heifer International, the foundation will let you donate animals to families around the world!  A gift that will surely keep on giving.  You can buy a water buffalo, a cow, geese, pigs, goats, and other animals!  The animals are then donated to farmers around the world.  The farmers then raise the animals and allow them to breed. 

  How about donating a sheep to a struggling family.  They can use the sheep’s wool to make clothes, or sell it for extra income.  Don’t want to give a sheep?  Then how about a flock of ducks?  Ducks are good for both people and the environment.  They add protein to a families diet from eating eggs, money in their pockets from selling eggs and ducks, and better crops in the fields, as ducks remove weeds and bugs and add fertilizer. 

  You can honor a friend or loved one by donating an animal in their name to a family in need. The gifts start at only $20.  You can’t go wrong.  You can learn more about Heifer International by visiting their web site.

March 21st, 2008 Posted by admin | Charity | no comments

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