Shelter For Life - A Sustainable Cause

Shelter For Life - A Sustainable Cause

Shelter For Life

When I think of Afghanistan the first thing that comes to mind is the Taliban, of course this is what has been the story for the past 10 years since our nation was attacked. I have become so accustomed to hearing about this bombing here and that bombing there that I guess I never thought there was anything else too Afghanistan. Recently thinking to myself the questions came to my mind what about the people who live there? The people who are not military combatant’s who's taking care of them while there country is at war? After a little research it easy to find many eager and willing to help. One of those agencies is Shelter For Life.Which focuses their attention on countries with refugee and returnee populations like Afghanistan.

I wanted to learn a little more about how Shelter for Life worked so I called their Headquarters located in Wayzata, MN and spoke with Allison who is the Program Officer there. She explained to me what her role was their as the Program Officer. She explained she primarily works with donations, contracts, and the day to day operation including working with and negotiating with other countries of the world in which they are working. She explained that they their efforts are focused on refugee and returnee populations and work to help the nations in which they are working build a sustainable community by offering services like building homes and city buildings, building roads and city services, and offering small financial assistance to small businesses. They seek for sustainable opportunities that would help the they work in be capable to sustain themselves once Shelter for Life is done helping. She also explained that they receive about 85% of their operating funds actually come from government grants and the rest of their operating funds come from private donations. Allison stated that they are always looking for help and they often post openings as internships for those looking to participate in their cause.

There are many ways one can help Shelter For Life in their cause. We can make a cash donations to help, we can volunteer at there office in Wayzata, and we can simply pray for them. Shelter For Life is a faith based organization and ask for whatever we can offer if we share the faith of prayer. Here is a link to there support page for those looking to help. Partner With Us

There are many examples of success stories of how Shelter For Life has helped to improve the communities in which they work. The Link Below tells the story of Murad Ali and how Shelter For Life helped him to become an independent shop owner and in turn help his community.

Murad Ali's Story

This is a strong example on how Shelter for Life is working to help people like Murad get a start to be able to offer a service to provide to his community that is sustainable. We may wonder how much assistance is needed. In this case for Murad he received only 416$ this translated to about 20,000 AFS which is the local currency in Afghanistan. With this money he was able to buy the necessary components and provides a service to the community in which he lives by opening his own store for goods. The Picture below is of Murad Ali in his shop shelter for life help his start. Here is a link to many other success stories in Afghanistan Success Stories.

To contact Shelter For Life or to learn more about Shelter For Life Just visit their website or the link I have listed below for the Contact Us portion of their website.

Contact Us

As I was spending time on Shelter For Life's website I found this very cool slide show of the people and scenery of Afghanistan.  

Peoples Portraits - By Bill Kish

This is a neat video showing a little of the culture in Afghanistan.

A Long way home Reading and reflection 3

“Someone came on the radio and announced himself as the new president of Sierra Leone. His name, he said, was Johnny Paul Koroma, as he was the leader Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which had been formed by a group of Sierra Leone Army (SLA) officers to overthrow the democratically elected President Tejan Kabbah. Koroma’s English was as bad as the reason he gave for the coup. He advised everyone to go to work by saying that everything was in order. In the background of his speech, gunshots and angry soldiers cursing and jubilating almost drowned him out.”
I chose this paragraph to write about because to me reading this third part of the book it seem that every time there is some sort of normality of chance for hope of living a normal life or I guess as normal as possible of a life Ishmael faces a tragic rude awaking of the horrors that haunts his home country. I could not believe it as I was reading of the rebels and the Army over taking the current government sending what was a healing country back into a society of violence. I could only imagine the confusion he must have been feeling as he wrote about himself asking the questions “why does this keep happening to me?” It really seems horribly ironic as this seemed to have happened so many times before and after all he had been through to have to face this fear again. This time had to be worse than the last, with the fear of rejoining the army and returning to that life that still haunted his nightmares. I can’t relate in any way to this type of feeling or the idea of being faced with such life changing traumatic situation so many times in one’s life like Ishmael faced. I can only imagine and hope that one day these regions of the world can experience peace and freedom away from the fears they face today.

A Long Way Home Post #2

Chapter 11 Pg 95
“My entire body went into shock. Only my eyes moved, slowly opening and closing. I tried to shake my legs to get the blood flowing, but I fell to the ground, holding my face. On the ground I felt as if my eyes were growing too big for their sockets. I could feel them expanding, and the pain released my body from the shock. I ran towards the house. Without any fear I went inside and looked around the smoke filled rooms. The floor was filled with heaps of ashes; no solid form of a body was inside. I screamed at the top of my lungs and began to cry as loudly as I could, punching and kicking with all my might into the weak walls that continued to burn”
                This stood out to me from the book because of the sheer emotion I felt when I read it. Up to this point of the book there was little to no hope for Ishmael but with recent news he finds that his family is alive and barely holding back he hurries to find them, only to find that the rebels had just attacked the city and no one was left alive. As he moves towards the hut where his family once lived he loses all control and what little hope existed is now gone and his emotion in this moment was so strong because of all that has happen to this point to have his family yet again taken from him because of the rebels is heart breaking. In my own life I have never been in a situation where I have ever come close to losing my family and certainly not in a circumstance such as this. I cannot imagine how Ishmael must have felt having gone threw it twice.

A Long way gone Ch 1-7

"One of the elders stood up and added to what my father had said: "I pray to the gods and ancestors that your family will always be together, even when one of you crosses into the spirit world. To family and community." The old man raised his open hands in the air. My father came over and stood by my mother and motioned for Junior and me to come closer. We did, and my father put his arms around us. The gathering clapped and a photographer took a few snapshots."

This touched me and was so powerful, because everything about it said, "family." My family means more to me than anything in the world, I so related to this passage because I have one brother and a mom and dad that I am very close to. I could just see the connection going on for Ishmael, how powerful to love that strong and to have such a delight in your life, as a loving family. How awful to have it pulled away from you, it must have took his heart and his soul. I thought of how Ishmal must have to believe what the elder said about the family always being together even when they, "cross into the spirit world." This is so important because Ishmal no longer has his family in the flesh, but no one can take his memories and their love away. When the elder prayed this over his family, it came to be true, for I think his family in the spirital world saved him many times over from death and knew there was something more powerful for him on this earth. Just to picture his whole family with their arms around each other makes one almost want to cry. It would be one of his last sweet memories of family. He had a very strong father and Ismal takes after him by being strong and going on with his life. It just made me think harder about my own family and that fear of ever losing any of them. I just can't comprehend his pain of a loss of all of his family. That passage really touched me.

Rough Draft - Research

Obama Care

Obama Care the topic which is soon to light up the political stage as we come close to yet another political election for the 2012 presidential election this is one topic that whether we like it or not will affects everyone who lives in the United States. It seems we have heard so much about national Healthcare or Healthcare reform and up to this point it seems difficult to understand exactly what is Obama care and what affect will this have on the nation.

                What is Obama Care? Well Obama care is the name given to the current health care legislation or Healthcare reform called “The Affordable Care Act” that was passed by congress and signed by President Obama on March 24^th 2010 as reported on an article posted by Stephanie Condon of CBSNews.com. In this post we here that health care reform passed by a small margin of 219 to 212 that means healthcare reform passed by 4 votes in the House of Representatives. Looking for a definition of what Obama care is the White House Website has a link to healthcare reform on White Houses web site we find answers to common questions about Health Care reform and our rights as Patients even documentation of “A New Patients Bill of Rights” as documented on www.whitehouse.gov . So it’s safe to say that Obama care is Healthcare reform that is legislation being developed by the Obama administration and the United States Government. The White House web site made navigating the site easy to do and the White House has made it simple to learn about Healthcare reform or Obama Care.

The Patient’s Bill of Rights include eight points that are meant to sum up what health care reform is going to cover and or provide for all affected by it. This was also reported on the Washington Times Website in an article written by Associated Press journalist Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. They are as listed below.

The White House Patient’s Bill of Rights

·         Ban on Discriminating Against Kids with Pre-Existing Conditions

·         Ban on Insurance Companies Dropping Coverage

·         Ban on Insurance Companies Limiting Coverage

·         Ban on Insurance Companies Limiting Choice of Doctors

·         Ban on Insurance Companies Restricting Emergency Room Care

·         Guarantee You a Right to Appeal

·         Covering Young Adults on Parent’s Plan

·         Covering Preventive Care With No Cost

These are considered basic rights that will put an end to some of the previous faults that we found in the previous healthcare system.  The Bans are to prevent insurance companies from Discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage in the middle of a condition they cannot limit the amount of coverage you can receive in a lifetime due to serious conditions. Insurance companies cannot limit the choice of doctors a patient can visit or Ban Emergency room care. This Bill of rights also a right to appeal an insurance companies decision to a third part for consideration. This Bill of rights also increases the age in which young adults are covered under their parent plan until the age of 26 making this standard legislation for all insurance companies nationwide and last and definitely not least covering preventive care at no cost. These are a basic summery of what Obama care or Healthcare reform is going to cover. But the white house’s Patients’ Bill of Rights isn’t the first of its kind the American Hospital Association in 1973 adapted a similar Bill of rights for patients in need of care this doesn’t limit or enforce what insurance companies may do but require a level of service to be offered and rights that every patients has so it’s easy to see this isn’t the first attempt at a patients’ bill of rights but has recently been revised and replaced by The Patient Care Partnership as noted on www.aha.org.

The Patient Care Partnership has been adapted to inform a patient of what to expect during their hospital stay with regards to their rights and responsibilities as reported on the AHA’s website. These are the standards in which the hospital is expected to perform and the expectation of the patient during a hospital stay in the United States. They are as listed.

The Patient Care Partnership

·         High Quality Hospital Care

·         A clean and safe environment

·         Involvement in your care

·         Protection of you privacy

·         Help when leaving the hospital

·         Help with your bills and claims

These are Basic right and should be the standard of what hospitals should be providing to the patients it admits into the hospital. These are enforced by The American Hospital Association. An important look into these that Healthcare reform doesn’t appear to affect how hospitals operate rather how the insurance companies interact with Us the patient to provide a more complete healthcare. But this isn’t the first attempt to a healthcare reform in the United States.

Healthcare reform can be traced back to the 1920’s as noted in an article written by Timothy Noah on slate.com an online news journal which is associated with the Washington Post. In this article Timothy Noah Explains a short history of health care. The start of health care was quite simple it was to provide quality healthcare while keeping cost down. At that time insurance companies were regional and worked directly with the hospitals. The origination that started Healthcare in the United States was the AHA or the Blue Cross who worked to provide quality healthcare and keep costs to the patient low. The Blues insurance group or the BlueCross which later became the organization we know today as BlueCross BlueShield Association as noted on their website bcbs.com was one of the first to provide this coverage to patients. By the 1940’s more national insurance agencies found that there is profit in providing healthcare insurance as more business looked for means in which to insure employees of their business and so begun corporate sponsored Health Insurance. On positive Note about the blues insurance offering that it provided coverage for its customers at a standard rate or the same rate for everyone customer no matter age or health status this begun to change as more and more companies begun offering healthcare insurance. Healthcare saw a steady rise as the medical technology rose and was more widely developed by the 1980’s companies such as the Blues provided majority of the healthcare in the united states and companies like HMOs that started off as nonprofit very quickly turned to a profit based system and between the 1980’s until 1997 that number was more like 65 percent. Thus changing the way health care would work in the United States from a largely non profit customer driven industry to a profit driven business industry. History has shown that as Health care became more privatized and insurance companies became more business driven and fewer customers driven there became a shift in the focus of care offered to the persons seeking healthcare. With the steady change in Healthcare over the yrs has driven questions and action over the years by the National Government.

Midwinter Writing Festival

Attending the presentation of the key note speaker James Lavine was a great experience. As I contemplated which presentation to watch I thought it would be an honor to listen to someone as accredited as James Lavine who has established a great legacy in his field as a health professional all over the world. One thing I found very surprising was his kidnapping story and how he told it with almost a smile on his face you can tell a lot about his character very optimistic even thought the primary focus of his presentation was about the book he wrote the blue notebook. He spoke a lot about childhood slavery and how this was a big problem in the world. He answered questions at the end of the presentation and made some really good points. One good point he made was about a questions about how he writes and he said he found that it was easier to write about something that he knew nothing about than something he was very familiar with he said it just came together better and he learned a lot. The main thing i learned from this presentation was the need to be aware of what’s happening in the world and help make others aware and help were we can also that writing is a process of learning and writing and proofing. I'm grateful for the opportunity i had to learn a little more about the experience of Dr James Lavine and all the great work he has done.

Snow Angles

“Snow Angles”

                 

                  It’s a very cold Friday night in Minnesota. I know what you’re thinking, its Minnesota, of course it’s cold. Anyway it was a very cold -5 degrees outside. On this occasion I was meeting up with an old friend, one of those friends that you have once in a lifetime.  The type of friend that no matter what happens you know you are going to laugh and end the evening  feeling better than when you started.  To catch up for lost time, we decided to get a slurppes and find out what’s new. Yes, that’s right, I said slurpees.

                  The drive to get slurppes seemed like a drive in space with the gleam of the headlights hitting the snow falling outside making it feel like a space shuttle shooting threw space.  With a little music playing in the back ground and the smell of my friends perfume it’s very easy to say that a night like this night I wouldn’t trade for anything. Pulling up to the Super America we run inside to try to avoid the obsessive cold.  There it is, the slurpee machine; a Mountain Dew slurpee at the pull of a lever. Filling up our cups we begin to laugh.  Just knowing the joy these slurpees are going to bring keeps the smiles from blowing up on our faces.

                  When we got back in the car we maneuvered our way to the spot where we are going to devour these slurpees and sit hiding from the world that wants nothing more than to consume us in the rigorous day- to day activities it requires of everyone. At this moment we are officially checked-out and enjoying just being there in the moment.  Instantly conversation breaks out and the laughter begins; that long lost feeling that I missed so much.  It is the feeling of the companionship of someone whose company you actually enjoy.  Next comes the randomness.              

                  Randomness is one of the best things in life.  It is the unexpected; doing something just because. With the car heating up and the heat from the seat causing both of us to shed our thick winter coats my friend looks at me and says “Snow Angles” and at that moment leaps out the car door and begins to run to the snow and in one fail swoop flies into the white abyss. I not wanting to be showed up in any sense of the word am close behind finding myself jumping into the abyss in just my jeans and button shirt. Before we know it we are flat on our backs briskly moving our arms and legs making the best snow angels we had ever seen.  That’s my opinion of course. Quickly admiring our great creation we run back to the car quickly brushing the packed snow off of each other’s clothing and back in the car we go to enjoy the warm and comfort of friendship once again.

My earliest writeing memory...

    The earliest memory i have of writing comes from what i think was 3rd grade learning to write essays and reports on topics of out choice usually. I remember this as a enjoyable experience but i cant say the same for all of my writing experiences. For me writing has always been fun when I could write and create from my imagination or from a topic that i choose.. What gets tough or frustrating is when your told your imagination or creativity is wrong and no longer needed.. I believe our own creativity it what drives great writing whether its a fiction or factual. My freshman yr writing professor helped me realize that once again. Writing has always been a big part of my life weather for school or in my professional life writing technical documentation or writing performance reviews writing and using writing properly has been very beneficial. As I look back I feel my most successful was in my freshman year at Normandale with a number of assignments all of which i really enjoyed and because i enjoyed writing so much is why i would say it was my most successful. Crazy to look back and to think about something as simple as writeing but it plays such a big part in our day to day... Heres to writeing...