31 years have passed since the moment — one of the greatest in Israeli lives.
When I told this to Anwar Sadat, he laughed: “The moment the door of your airplane opened, all Israelis held their breath. I live on a main street in Tel Aviv, and at that moment I looked out at the street below. It was totally empty. Nothing moved, except one cat which was probably hurrying home to the television.”
(White House photo: Nobel Peace Prize winners Sadat and Begin, at Camp David w/ President Carter)
The notorious Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas is the most dangerous and heavily militarized border in the world. It is also a strip of land containing almost every type of ecosystem you can imagine, home to migrating flocks of rare cranes and some of the last wild bears and leopards in the region. Now, there is a call to preserve this transnational monument to war as a nature park – which could also be a step toward peace between the two Koreas. (Christian Science Monitor)
What can we be thankful for in the midst of doom and gloomy news of the economy? Here are 7 items from the news for which we can ALL be grateful this holiday season…
What can we be thankful for?
Buying gas for $1.89 a gallon is now a reality for much of the country as crude prices dropped under $50.00 a barrel for the first time in 3 years — REAL relief, just in time for the holiday season, when families fill cars with presents and travel on highways to visit loved ones.
2) Traveling will likely be safer this season – whether by car or airplane.The U.S. traffic death toll in 2008— according to a mid-year study— could reach its lowest level in almost 50 years. Traffic deaths last year dropped to the lowest level since 1994, and deaths per 100 million miles traveled are the lowest on record, the government said in August.
2007 was also one of the safest years in modern aviation history, with the lowest number of crashes worldwide since 1963, 28 fewer than in 2006, even while the number of airplanes in the sky increased.
Historically, looking at the trends over 40 years, charitable giving overall has not declined much during hard economic times…
What can we be thankful for in the midst of doom and gloomy news of the economy? Here are 7 items from the news for which we can ALL be grateful this holiday season…
What can we be thankful for?
Buying gas for $1.89 a gallon is now a reality for much of the country as crude prices dropped under $50.00 a barrel for the first time in 3 years — REAL relief, just in time for the holiday season, when families fill cars with presents and travel on highways to visit loved ones.
2) Traveling will likely be safer this season – whether by car or airplane.The U.S. traffic death toll in 2008— according to a mid-year study— could reach its lowest level in almost 50 years. Traffic deaths last year dropped to the lowest level since 1994, and deaths per 100 million miles traveled are the lowest on record, the government said in August.
2007 was also one of the safest years in modern aviation history, with the lowest number of crashes worldwide since 1963, 28 fewer than in 2006, even while the number of airplanes in the sky increased.
Historically, looking at the trends over 40 years, charitable giving overall has not declined much during hard economic times…
A resounding majority of Iraqi parliament members Thursday approved a security pact that calls for an end to the U.S. occupation by 2012, giving the measure a mandate of national unity that was considered critical for its long-term success, reports the McClatchy News Service.
The U.S. yesterday passed an important milestone in the fight against cancer: For the first time the recorded rate of new cancer cases has fallen for both men and women. At the same time, the number of cancer deaths has continued to decline within an impressive 15-year trend that translates to people living longer after they are diagnosed. The decline of new cases holds across racial groups, black, white, hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islanders. (Read more in the Chicago Tribune)
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Kevin Walters is not only known for his business savvy and love for art and music, he has a deep appreciation for the Harlem community and the many nonprofit groups serving the disadvantaged residents there. So the restaurant owner decided this year that he would open his doors to the community and host a Thanksgiving banquet for the areas neediest residents free of charge.
“With the election of President-Elect Barack Obama and the current economic state of our nation it is truly the best and worst of times,” said Kevin Walters, Owner, Creole Restaurant and Music Supper Club. “It is in times like these that we must join forces, lock arms together and to take care of our community.”
Some of the first to respond were Congressman Charles Rangel, Hope Community, Inc, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, the NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Dave and Bob Acosta, owners of El Barrio Hardware Store, NYC Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, The Coalition for the Development of the Black Family, Stroehmans Bread, NYPD Inspector Montgomery, the 25th and 28th Police Precincts. 
Together they plan to attract more of the area businesses and leaders to join forces this afternoon in providing a complete traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all of the trimmings for 500 families in their community.
EVENT: FREE COMMUNITY PRE-THANKSGIVING BANQUET
WHEN: TODAY, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26, 2008 12:30 P.M. TO 3:30 P.M.
WHERE: CREOLE Restaurant & Music Supper Club
2167 Third Avenue @ 118th Street New York, New York 10035
Operation Smile in Russia organized its first medical mission to the Republic of Chechnya in September. A team of medical professionals representing six countries traveled to Grozny where they provided free physical examinations to 202 children, and surgeries for 49.
This mission was truly an example of medical diplomacy and helping to heal the scars of war. The republic is still recovering from two civil wars in the 1990’s. “This mission,” said Gianluca Biavati, Operation Smile’s Regional Vice President, “bridged political and cultural barriers and represented the desire of the Government of Chechnya to open the season of reconstruction and of hope.”
J.P. Hayes is the personification of ‘a good sport’. The latest candidate for most honest athlete in America is a 43-year-old golfer who hasn’t won a PGA tournament in six years. He had one last chance in November to do just that, and gain a spot on next year’s PGA Tour, but he turned himself in to officials for accidentally using an unsanctioned ball in tournament play.
No one knew but him, yet he reported the incident to PGA officials. So because Hayes decided to be honest, he will not be able to participate in next year’s PGA Tour, losing out on the chance to earn a substantial income.
But Hayes says it was important to tell the truth…
(ESPN has the story and video)
One bright spot on the holiday retail landscape will be online shopping. Despite economic downturns, internet sales are expected to rise by 12 percent this year. That means more business for shipping companies like UPS and FedEx and web IT companies. Job opportunities exist there, as well as in the field of tax preparation. Happy shopping and happy job hunting from the Good News Network. (Info gathered from the CBS Early Show)
Joe Miller, a Colorado farmer wondered if there were any way he could save the leftover potatoes and onions from going to waste in his fields. He decided to open up his 600 acres to the public. He guessed he might see 5,000 people show up. A massive response from about 40,000 clogged the freeway and caused Joe some anxiety, but for all the thanks and blessings he received from people, he deemed it was well worth it. 300 tons of leftover vegetables were dug up and carted away by happy neighbors. Listen to an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition. You can also read the story from AP at Cleveland.com.
Successfully balancing sports and books, Myron Rolle, the starting strong safety for the Florida State Seminoles, has been awarded the Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University. The pre-med student had to miss part of Saturday’s game against Maryland because he was being interviewed for the scholarship. (Listen to the story or read it at NPR’s All Things Considered)
Watch a video below…
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A group of Iraqi soldiers stepped up to help California residents victimized by recent wildfires raging throughout the state.
Iraqi army Col. Abbas Fadhil and his team of “Abbas’ Eagles” raised $500 for wildfire relief.
“We want to send a message to the American president and the American people,” said the Besmaya Range Complex commander. “We feel that we are a family — one body. When one part of the body suffers, the other parts suffer, too.”
This is the fourth donation the soldiers of Besmaya have sent to the American people recently. In September, they raised $1,500 for victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The Eagles also donated $500 to the National Sept. 11 Memorial.
(American Forces Press Service)
Dance For All provides children in historically disadvantaged communities in South Africa with the opportunity to dance. Founded in 1991 by Philip Boyd, a former principal dancer with the Cape Town City Ballet, Dance for All builds on the legacy of Cape Town ballet chief David Poole, who started teaching ballet in the townships of Cape Town in the mid-80s.
Daily outreach programs in ballet, African, contemporary, musical theatre and Spanish dance serve more than 700 young people in 7 disadvantaged townships and neighborhoods. Beyond teaching dance, these classes promote the personal development of the children by encouraging their creativity, self-discipline, self esteem and confidence. Students receive first-class training from a talented and diverse teaching team.
A clean-burning diesel sedan, Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI, won the ‘Green Car of the Year’ award, beating out BMW, Ford, Saturn and Smart at the Los Angeles auto show on Thursday. The first time a diesel-powered car has taken the industry’s top environmental honor, “This signals that clean diesel has arrived,” said the editor of Green Car Journal, the trade magazine that awards the prize.
Anti-retroviral therapy re-energizes a Tanzanian woman living with HIV to give back to others who face the same challenges. She is a different woman than she was four years ago—healthy and full of life, thanks to the Catholic Relief charity, and their wealth of HIV services, along with the U.S. government initiative that distributes antiretroviral treatment for millions of people living with HIV…
Sweeping into her small yard in northwestern Tanzania to welcome visitors, Tausi Rashidi is a different woman than she was four years ago—healthy and full of life. It’s hard to even imagine a time when she measured the remainder of her life in only the smallest blocks of time.
“I was sick, but I didn’t know what I was suffering from,” Tausi explains. “Then one day on the radio I heard people talking about HIV and AIDS, and I decided to go and get tested.”
The results were her worst nightmare. Tausi—like an estimated 7 percent of Tanzania’s 40 million residents—was HIV-positive. Burdened with the enormity of her new status, she barely remembers the walk home from the clinic that day.
“I was so scared,” she says. “I was so distracted I was almost run down by a vehicle on my way home.”
Suffering in Secrecy
Tausi hid her status from her husband and three daughters, fearing the stigma that still surrounds the virus in much of Africa. When she began losing weight and suffering from boils and skin rashes, she sought local herbal treatments for her long list of ailments. But as her health continued to deteriorate, her illness became less easy to hide.
“The neighbors were talking about me,” Tausi recalls. “Pointing fingers at me, saying, ‘She is sick.’ “
After six months of living with her secret, Tausi was losing hope. Then a friend pulled her aside—a day Tausi remembers well. Her friend was volunteering as a provider of home-based care for the Mwanza Outreach Group, a partner of Catholic Relief Services that provides a wealth of HIV services in the Lake Victoria region. Recognizing the signs of HIV in Tausi, her friend suggested that Tausi go and meet the caregivers at the center.
“My reception was very good,” Tausi says. “I didn’t know there were people in the world who could love me like that.”
Through the Mwanza Outreach Group, Tausi began receiving food and potent vitamin supplements. As importantly, she began receiving frequent home visits from volunteers who—among other things—provided emotional counseling, taught her healthful food preparation and shared information about disease transmission.
From Despair to Service
The biggest news came a year later, when Tausi learned she was a candidate to receive the powerful antiretroviral medications then being introduced in Tanzania through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR. This U.S. government initiative now aims by 2013 to prevent 12 million new infections and provide care for an additional 12 million people. Care services include antiretroviral treatment for 3 million people living with HIV and support services for 5 million children who have lost their parents or become vulnerable due to the impact of the virus in their households and communities.
CRS receives PEPFAR funding for numerous HIV projects in Tanzania, including care and treatment through the AIDSRelief consortium, and home-based care and support for orphans and vulnerable children through the Tunajali (We Care) project. These projects involve numerous local partners across the country, including the Mwanza Outreach Group: the organization that enabled Tausi to take advantage of both antiretroviral treatment and home-based care. With support from the volunteers at the center, she began taking the lifesaving antiretroviral medications in February 2005.
Today, you wouldn’t know how much Tausi once suffered. She has completely recovered from the many ailments previously plaguing her and has accepted her HIV-positive status. In fact, she has so much new energy that she joined the squadron of volunteers at the Mwanza Outreach Group, offering her own support to others in the community living with HIV. Asked how she feels now, she doesn’t hesitate to answer.
“I have plenty of peace,” Tausi says. “I am doing fine.”
Photo and story by David Snyder for CRS. David Snyder is a photojournalist who has traveled to more than 30 countries with CRS, including Tanzania. See David’s photojournalism website and learn why storytelling and photos are so important for NGO’s.
(Thanks to Ms. Colwell for submitting the link for publication!)
Indonesia, which has been losing forests at a rapid pace in recent years, plans to plant 100 million trees across the country this year in an effort to limit deforestation, a forestry official said Wednesday. (Read the Reuters report in full)
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
The members of the new Atlantic City Business and Community Association have taken it upon themselves to spruce up Atlantic Avenue. Taking responsibility for their own future, they recruited volunteers, including some of the city’s homeless, to clean the sidewalks and pick up litter. (Read more in Press of Atlantic City)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that it had entered into a partnership with Duke Energy to have wind power supply up to 15 percent of its energy load for roughly 360 of its stores and facilities in Texas.
Even in these tough times, it is becoming “downright common” for Starbucks customers at this drive-thru window to pay the bill for the car behind them. One cashier has even seen 15 cars of kindness in a row…
KUSA reports in this video from Loveland, Colorado that even in Wal-Mart people are paying it forward…
