NGO on sustainable living

I lived and worked in India for nine months when I was 21. I worked and taught 150 village girls elementary education. The organization that I worked with was a non-government organization (NGO) that assisted rural communities with basic needs. The organization was founded around fabrics, and natural dyes for clothing that they sold on their property.
The activities of Urmul trust have so far concentrated on primary education, health care, group organization, agriculture and animal husbandry, income-generation, water and sanitation, capacity building of local governments as well as advocacy. The education program has focused on increasing community awareness and responsibility for children’s education, with special attention to girl children and adolescent girls. The health care program has focused on child and maternal health with a view to develop local resources by strengthening the capabilities of dais (local midwifes) or trained village health worker. Pharmacies have been set up too in many villages and immunization facilities established. Further, Setu has established a number of Sangathans (Organizations) as participatory platforms for people, especially women, with a common interest to come together and engage in collective action to improve their living conditions in a consciously orchestrated effort. Setu works in 110 villages and hamlets (which are distributed in three tehsils) in Lunkaransar block of Bikaner district.
In chapter 15 of the rural social work book it discusses sustainable living at an international level. Financial side of I had the opportunity to see first hand how a country like India survives when ¾’s of any given year is dominated by drought. This organization that I worked with had multiple projects in the Thar Desert an area that’s on the boarder of India and Pakistan. I had the opportunity to visit two that were specific for finding ways to save rainwater. Building water wells and dikes for areas to continue their annual crops and feed their livestock.
This was an amazing experience and adventure for me. I will never forget my time there and will hopefully one day return for a visit.

Breakdancing

Only The Super-rich Can Save Us

Only The Super-rich Can Save Us is a fictional book with real-life public figures written by Ralph Nader.
In chapter 18 of the rural social work book it talks about charitable choice, social workers, and rural congregations. In a rural setting some social workers have sought out help from rural churches as a resource for social service provisions. Through these rural congregations one can find 4 components; organization, leadership, relationships, and methods (to the madness). Each of these serves a purpose and can be utilized by a social worker whose trying to maximize services for a rural community.
Ralph Nader’s title is a quote from an elderly lady who thanked Warren Buffett for bring food and other supplies to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Is this the wave of the future? Should social workers begin seeking out multi-millionaires as our saviors or stay with the rural congregations. These rural congregations have been and will most likely continue to be valuable partners in coalitions of organization in rural communities. Will these super-rich, mega power individuals assist those in need or are they looking for a tax break? Do these super-rich folks even have a clue as to what it would take for public policy to be sufficient. What about collaboration between these two bodies? I think that would be great. Get the local, rural congregations together and the super, duper, rich and see what happens.

Health Care reform...is it good for me

Health care debate has made it to the Senate floor, however will it stop there or make it through….what changes will be made and will the bill look anything like its original version. The Senate tentatively plans to vote on the bill today, however with all the uproar surrounding the abortion segment it seems debates will be heated. It seems that the House passed the bill with antiabortion language and now the Senate is attempting to do the same. So those abortion rights advocates need to start stirring the pot in order to get their needs met. After reading through NPR’s blog from yesterday, it seems the bill will most likely not pass but the more yes votes for the abortion amendment will make it trickier for the abortion rights advocates to get their voices heard.
The main reason I brought this up was not to talk about abortion but to inform you of my past. I am 28 years old and haven’t had health insurance for close to 4 years. I have worked on and off for 8 years at one of the most prestigious golf resorts in the world, as well as other courses in the nation and overseas. When I say I’ve worked there, I caddied at these places. I’ve caddied for some of the wealthiest people in the nation who don’t bat an eye at health insurance, and for the most part I enjoy meeting them and getting to know who they are. However, as a caddy there certainly is one major drawback/benefit in that I’m an independent contractor, so unless I want to research an insurance that’s right for me I won’t have any. Which for now is fine, I have no health concerns, and have been able to utilize clinics in the area that assist those without insurance. But what happens when I’m ready to start a family… what happens if a health concern suddenly becomes apparent. These are concerns that I have, and will continue to have without some sort of universal coverage. But I am not in agreement with this broad bill that the Senate is attempting to pass and link with the House bill, so who knows what the future holds for me and thousands of other Americans.

Coos County NAMI

Breakdancing machine

CIVIL WAR FOR THE ROSES!!!!!!

Civil War in Oregon has come and gone. This time who ever won would be heading to the Rose Bowl, this is a first in University of Oregon and Oregon State University history. Since Oregon beat Arizona on November 21 it’s been nothing but “civil war for the roses” across the state of Oregon. Tee shirts, stickers, ice cream, arrangements of yellow or orange roses, and ESPN commercials non-stop. Again the media has taken hold of a historical event and ran with it. Of course all these businesses that are making and selling these products are jumping for joy, and most of these businesses comment that even once the game is over Thursday December 3rd, people will be buying Rose Bowl specific items Friday December 4th.
Myself and most of Oregon was probably glued to their TV’s around 6pm excited to see the outcome and cheering for their favorite team. I rooted for the ducks and was very excited to see them pull ahead in the forth. Thankfully it was a good game so for those Beaver fans can at least say their team didn’t go down without a fight.
I want to briefly recap on a past blog that I posted in regards to a duck player Blount. He was okayed to begin playing back in early November, but he hasn’t…. until civil war, where he came out after half time, scored and brought the ducks ahead. Even though hes made some mistakes in his past, its nice to see that the coaching staff was willing to give him a second chance.
I want to end with saying that I don’t own any Duck or Beaver paraphernalia and can’t say that I ever will, but I am still a fan and will root for both teams depending on the sport. So the media and all the other businesses that gain from these events haven’t captured my need for more stuff.

Governers and their choices

Since the announcement of governor Sanford skipping town for five days, to continue his affair with an Argentine lady became public in June. He is now possibly facing 37 ethics charges for acts such as; using first and business class tickets for personal pleasures, reimbursing himself $3,000 of campaign money to attend Republican governors meetings in Miami and hunting trips in Ireland. The Register Guard (Eugene, OR paper) stated that these ethics violations will be pivotal in a push by some lawmakers to remove him from office.
My thoughts are, is he under all this scrutiny because our evolving media has been able to retrace his every move since coming into office and look at every possible mistake he’s made. And at that particular time in June he was the biggest scandal to hit nation wide news so he stayed in the spotlight for a while. Now that I flipped through the paper, I find this news about 37 ethics charges on page 3 in a corner, not so important anymore. We can’t forget the reasons he was caught in the first place….off gallivanting to south American countries to have an affair, when he was suppose to be hiking some mountain. Since we are all aware that he isn’t the first to utilize tax payers money for personal trips even if one was for a special hair cut. We have had presidents fall into this category, but did they face the same bashing that Republican Sanford has/is. Just some thoughts in regards to our current media abilities.
In the mean time his wife has taken her place in the limelight, endorsing a female Native American Republican governor, as well as publicizing her autobiography, which will be in stores later this year.