Adopting Rinah

Today I received an absolutely wonderful email in my mailbox from carissa gallo. My first thought... "Who are you and why are you emailing me?" Unfortunate response I know. But then I remembered I had watched this video last year of a girl just like me (except extensively more creative) wanting to adopt a girl named Rinah from Uganda. The video of course made me cry so I sent them some money. 


This morning I got a thank you email from her saying they had brought Rinah home. Here is an except from the email (I hope it is okay that I am putting this up here)


"This morning I was trying to explain your generosity to Rinah and what it means, and she said, 'Mom, it can be like all of America is about to love me.' ... and that's how we feel. 


Thank you is hard to say for something as deeply precious as this. To receive help to become a family. So our daughter can have a home and family and opportunities she wouldn't otherwise have had. This is big.

We are so filled with joy, each one of us. We can't imagine changing one single thing about these last few days, and even these last few years. We feel like all the happiness in the world is radiating from within and coming from without will cause our small abode to implode into a gigantic symphony of joy."

I am absolutely astounded and blessed that my measly 20 bucks contributed to something as beautiful as this. What an honor to participate in their joy! Check out their happy thankful family video! Let it remind you of the hope we have that good and wonderful things do happen and are attainable :)

Why you should love George Clooney - How satellite technology is saving lives in South Sudan

How satellite technology is saving lives in South Sudan

The Sudan People's Armed Forces (SAF) have launched two attacks on refugee camps in South Sudan, on November 8 and 10. The Satellite Sentinel Project, initiated by George Clooney and John Prendergast in 2010, confirmed the attacks that killed seven civilians. Read more about it and why gorgeous hollywood actors actually do good things sometimes.

                                                                          Photo from Huffington Post

Swords into Plowshares

                              Writing on a wall near the UN Plaza in New York. The quote comes from Isaiah 2.

Shell in the Niger Delta

Amnesty Report on Oil Spills in the Niger Delta

The True "Tragedy"

Check out Pages 44-45 for Responses and things you can do.

Also follow amnesty on twitter

AIDS Statistics

click here for - Statistics on AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
It will overwhelm you...

Why you should care...

I sit through class after class listening to the injustices people in Africa experience daily. Not to generalize an entire continent, but the amount of suffering that this place holds is enough to make me believe in hell on earth. 1.3 million people in sub-Saharan Africa die of AIDS each year. The oil I put in my car comes from companies exploiting local Nigerian economies and livelihood. 18% of all children in Somalia will die before age 5. Subsistence farm lands in Ethiopia are being taken from farmers and sold to high paying companies in order to produce cash crops for rich countries like Saudi Arabia.


The list doesn't stop. And all I do is sit and listen as these statistics, these heartbreaking realities are thrown in my face daily. But my reality is so much different. I can leave class and eat almost any food I want to. I have access to clean and safe drinking water, did you know that 1 in 6 people in the world don't? If I have a medical emergency, I can receive treatment within minutes. My life is overflowing with blessings that I didn't work for, that I don't deserve and that I consistently take for granted. I live in the 1 percent of the world who has access to a college education, occupation and a life relatively free from suffering or discomfort. 


The last thing I want to do is paint a sentimental picture of sub-Saharan Africa, full of suffering people who need the superman of the West to come and save them. I do not want to perpetuate the stereotype of starving malnourished children in Africa - you know the children we tell our children about if they don't eat all their food at the dinner table. Yes there are many malnourished children in Africa, but there are happy children too. There is so much suffering in this place, but don't trivialize it, ignore it or exploit it. 


It should make us genuinely angry. It should upset us that our brothers and sisters consistently get the short end of the stick. I am not pointing fingers or blaming one government over another. But I am saying that greedy and selfish leaders from all over have inflicted, perpetuated or closed their eyes as immense suffering overburdens the poor, destitute, sick, marginalized and unwanted.


This should mobilize us into action. Not a top down, paternalistic let me save you type of action - but instead a beautiful joining of different colored hands in agreement to share suffering until justice is found. I cannot just sit in class anymore.