CorpsJD (https://www.corpsjd.com) was recognized on Microsoft’s blog today. Read more at MSDN.
Dear Lori,
It is with great pleasure that I write to you on behalf of Northern Nevada’s international community and the International Center. You have been selected by your community to receive the Global Citizen Award for your contributions over many years in making Nevada a more global community!
The Global Citizen Award is presented each year to an individual who has worked diligently and without much recognition to bring a vision of a more global society to Northern Nevada and helped to increase awareness of international issues to our community. This award will be presented at the 11th Annual Global Gala on April 2, 2009 at the Peppermill Casino/Tuscany Ballroom along with two other international awards. The other two recipients this year are Dr. Robert Maxson of Sierra Nevada College and Mrs. Dee Gamal-Eldin.
An International Center staff member will contact you next week to go over biographical information we will need for the program booklet. You will receive two complimentary tickets in the mail as well as information about the event. I hope you will be able to receive the award in person!
Lori, congratulations once again on receiving the Global Citizen Award. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this recognition.
Carina A. Black, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Northern Nevada International Center
The Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) is located south of the main entrance to the beautiful campus of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and is a non-profit organization serving Nevada’s communities.
We are a sponsored project of the University of Nevada, Reno and our main objective is to foster better understanding between people through our public diplomacy programs, our language and culture projects and our foreign policy forums. The Northern Nevada International Center provides a resource for local residents as well as visitors interested in international activities and events.
To get an idea of our most current activities, we have a combined listing of all our news, events, activities, and incoming delegation announcements. For our first-time visitors, we have a brief introductory page where you can learn more about the NNIC and its three main activity areas.
To recap, and among other things: we provide interpretation and translation services; organize programs for international visitors, through the U.S. Department of State and the Open World Program; teach language and culture classes for children and adults; provide cultural competency training; and organize many other enticing public / community events and activities. Feel free to explore our site by using the horizontal menu above, to learn more about the many interesting and diverse activities we develop here at the Northern Nevada International Center!
Are you interested in volunteering at the Northern Nevada International Center? We have a few options for you: please see our Join the NNIC Team page for more information and an application form. And of course, if you have a question that isn’t answered on our website, please feel free to contact us!
A Reno woman who’s been helping get Haitian orphans to their new homes in the U.S. is starting to work on an ambitious project to change Haiti forever.
Story by Ed Pearce, KOLO-TV Channel 8, Reno, Nevada:
These days Lori Carpenter’s thoughts rarely stray from people she knows thousands of miles away in Haiti.
Work continues at her hydrology consulting firm in south Reno, but she works the phone and computer keeping an eye on an orphanage outside Port Au Prince.
Carpenter is on the board of directors of God’s Littlest Angels orphanage and she’s been trying to get some of its children out of the country and trying to get supplies in.
Today’s news is good. Seventy eight children left for new homes in the U-S, making room for a few of the hundreds of thousands of new orphans created by the earthquake.
But Carpenter is also working on an idea that she thinks could change Haiti forever–bringing some Haitian high school students here to finish their education before returning to their homeland.
“We’re hoping that some of these students would come to the U-S, see how we run our society, see how things are done both from a business, cultural and family standpoint and that they would be able to go home and want that for their own culture,”
It’s an ambitious goal. Haiti was born of a slave revolt and has been literally paying the price for the past 2 centuries.
Saddled from the beginning by a crushing national debt imposed by its former French slave masters, cruelly served by a succession of corrupt dictators, it has remained the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Carpenter sees hope for a different Haiti rising from its ruins, inspired by a new generation of Haitians with stronger, more personal ties to its big neighbor to the north.
“We couldn’t feed these people before the earthquake and we can’t feed them now,” she says. That it took this disaster, as sad as it was, maybe something good can come out of it. Maybe we can help haiti on to a sustainable future.”
And she sees this happening, not through some big government program, but through individual families throughout the U-S opening their homes to individual students, much as they do now through exchange programs
The students would take some of our values home with them, Carpenter says, and ties forged during their stay would remain. “Those American families would also be invested in Haiti’s future.”
Huffman & Carpenter, Inc. has been long involved with Haiti, and the orphanage - God’s Littlest Angels – located in the mountains above Pétion-Ville, close to the village of Fermathe. According to posts to the GLA website, strong aftershocks still occur, and even the babies have had to sleep outdoors for fear of the buildings collapsing.
Collage from H&C trip to the GLA orphanage in May 2007. Lori Carpenter with her husband, Clay Cooper, and H&C hydrogeologist Joy Giffen joined an eleven person team to locate a clean water well and redesign the facility to better serve the needs of its children.
Here is a first person account of the earthquake from GLA orphanage from co-founder, Dixie Bickel, with NBC Today Show host, Matt Lauer:
Matt Lauer interview with GLA co-founder Dixie Bickel
Considering the extent of the loss of life as a result of the earthquake, it’s no doubt that the ranks of the current population of the GLA orphanage will swell beyond their current resources. Although you might want to race down there to help, please don’t. This simply adds to the burden of already overwhelmed rescue workers. As this situation evolves, you will be able to donate directly to the US office of GLA, and that money will be directed to the orphanage near Fermanthe.
Bookmark the GLA website on your computer for updates, and watch the H&C website/blog for additional news and updates.
The rest of our time in Panajachel (Pana) we spent taking day trips to different communities in the area and distributing water filters in San Pedro La Laguna, and conducting evaluations on the use of water filters in the communities of San Andres Semetabaj and Patanatic. Our last day we installed a cooking stove in a home, which was previously burning a fire on the floor with no ventilation whatsoever.
Juan, our coordinator with Heart to Heart Jorge’s brother who works in Guatemala with ACONANI, gave me more of a context of the precarious living situations of some of these families. He explained to me that during the 36 year civil war (in which about 200,000 people were killed), many people were driven from their homes into the mountains, given the option of fleeing and giving up their land or having their family or themselves killed. While I was walking through alleyways and remote passageways in each community with our community leader (who could translate from Spanish to the traditional Mayan language of that community), I never felt unsafe and I always felt very welcomed, and I thought to myself that it takes a lot of courage and resilience for these communities to trust outsiders like us given such a tumultous past.
Our last day in Pana, Jorge, our coordinator, arranged for a special dinner. The principal of the primary school we visited in Patanatic and community leaders involved in helping us take this project from the school to the community level also came. Jorge presented them with one of our red “Heart to Heart” and “Rotary International” t-shirts, which they had expressed that they wanted so that they could be recognized and respected as leaders in this and future projects in their communities.
We had traditional Mayan music at dinner – marimbas, maracas, drums, and flutes. It was really beautiful and really touching. The father of two of the marimba players is very dedicated in preserving this aspect of Mayan culture, a tradition that is slowly being lost to modern pop culture music. The father of the two girls told us that he had heard the marimba (like a xylophone played with rubber clad sticks) being played once with his daughters, and loved it so much that he had them promise him that they would learn how to play it. Classes proved to be too expensive so the girls eventually just learned to play on a small makeshift marimba until a man walked by one day and said that he had a nice full sized marimba at home that they could borrow. This happened on two separate occasions so that the two girls were soon playing on two large, full-sized marimbas and were eventually able to earn enough money, by playing music, to buy their own. They were truly amazing, young musicians, and in between songs their father explained to us a little bit more about Mayan culture (there are about 23 different languages, and many different types of dress showing animals or symbols of significance to that area) and the history of the songs. And, of course, at the end, we all got up to form a giant Congo Line around the marimba players and through the entire length of the restaurant, and sang along to the “Guate-Guate-Guatemala” song!
When we left Pana we went to the first capital of Guatemala, the ancient Mayan city of Ximche. We were able to marvel at the 500+ year old ruins, buried and in some cases overgrown by trees, and to get a glimpse of what a Mayan city looked like. I tried to imagine vendors coming to the market, bartering and bargaining goods when we were standing in what was once the central town plaza. We even saw a ceremony being conducted by a Mayan priest for a newborn baby who had evidently been recognized as one of the “chosen ones” (how that is determined and what that actually entails is still a Mayan mystery to me). We tried our best to walk by unnoticed and to not interfere with this very important ceremony.
Then we headed back to Guatemala City (about a two hour drive, but first we had to pull over a couple of times for policemen to inspect our vehicle and for me to vomit after getting thoroughly sick of inhaling diesel fumes on a windy road). In the capital we attended a Rotary meeting at Guatemala Sur, which, to my surprise, still at this day in age does not admit women! The next day we all left early and luckily half of our group was on the same flight (we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye just yet). We had lunch, reflected on our trip, and had a few last laughs. It is truly amazing how close an experience like this can bring a group together in such a short period of time.
I really enjoyed seeing the beauty of Guatemala – the greenery, the mountains, the volcanoes, the lake, and most importantly, the people, and to get a glimpse of the daily lives of a few of the Mayan people with their elaborate, colorful, unique, beautiful traditional dress, to hear people speak a languaged unchanged for centuries, to see homestead growing their own crops or raising their own livestock or weaving their own clothes, and to see a way of life more elemental than our modern way of living that is much more removed from nature.
Going on this trip definitely makes me feel grateful for all of the basic services that we have readily available to us in the US with the turn of a spigot, turn of a knob, or flip of a switch. It also makes me sad or overwhelemd at times because there is SO MUCH still to be done.
For those interested in joining a trip like this, just be aware that this is not your standard “vacation”. We were up early and worked all day – not to say that it wasn’t enjoyable and rewarding in itself. I think that a trip like this is so important for Rotarians to take to see the project that they helped make happen all the way through – to ensure that the intended beneficiaries receive their filters, and to truly understand the impact that these filters will have on people’s lives.
Every single contribution, great or small, counts, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to make clean drinking water (or a cooking stove) readily available to at least a few Mayan families in Guatemala.
Andrea’s Rotary group is using an updated version of a very old idea, a BioSand Filter.
Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them:
BioSand Water Filters are a technological adaptation of the centuries old slow sand filtration process. While implementations exist in many different sizes and varieties, the most common design is intended for use in rural homes where naturally safe or treated water sources are not available. BioSand Filters remove 95.0 to 99.0% of organic contaminants, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, worms, and particles. Safe water produced by the filters is free of discoloration, odor, and unpleasant taste, and can be used for drinking, food preparation, personal hygiene, and sanitation. Most common home-based models can produce between 20 and 60 litres of water per hour.
The BioSand Water Filter (BSF) was developed by Dr. David Manz, while he was a professor and researcher at the University of Calgary, in Calgary, Alberta. BSF development began in 1990 and has continued, involving numerous individuals and organizations that actively develop and deploy the technology. While several commercial and community-scale implementations exist, the largest use of BSF technology has been in the humanitarian arena. The relief organization Samaritan’s Purse has installed 70,000 filters world-wide , and has recently embarked on an initiative, called Turn on the Tap to install at least 65,000 more filters by 2010. The first large scale production of plastic biosand water filters was begun in 2007 by International Aid Inc. ; some 300,000 units are scheduled for worldwide distribution by 2010, 61,000 of which are planned for Honduras.
Most BioSand Filters are constructed from concrete, though a new patented light weight plastic model has been tested and is being distributed by HydrAidTM for both humanitarian and commercial purposes. Gravel and sand are layered inside the filter with a PVC collection pipe situated at the base of the filter. Contaminated water from rain, surface, or ground sources is poured through the top of the filter and passes through a plate that diffuses the stream and blocks large contaminants (e.g. stones, large twigs, leaves).
The top few centimeters of the sand trap the bulk of micro-organisms, which accumulate and develop into a highly active food chain, called the Biological Layer or Schmutzdeke. The biological layer, which must remain partially wet, traps and feeds on the micro-organisms and contaminants in the water. Further filtration occurs in the lower layers of sand and gravel, which removes contaminants that cause odour, cloudiness, and taste.
A 2007 study conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates that BioSand Water Filters can reduce the incidence of diarrheal illness by up to 40 percent. Over time, the top layers of sand may become clogged with material, causing flow rates to drop. A simple stirring or skimming of the top layer of sand is usually sufficient to restore optimal flow. Frequency of needed maintenance is dependent on the quality of the source water. Although longitudinal studies have not been completed, Samaritan’s Purse reports that filters have remained in effective operation for over ten years.
When you watch the film above, if you’re like me, you’re going to want to know where to send a check, because a drink of clean water is just that important.
Contact Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group or the Rotary group in your local community today.
Our second day here my father’s cousin (Mario), another Rotarian, and I took a car tour of Guatemala City. We saw a lot of old government structures (i.e. a post office now converted into a museum) that were constructed from stone and really beautiful, natural colors of the rock, I couldn´t believe that they weren´t painted (like a light green, or rosy gold) as well as a few older Spanish colonial style buildings, a central town plaza, and rows upon rows of makeshift shops.
Surprisingly a lot of the architecture has a French influence (i.e. the main street is lined with sculptures of mainly animals like bulls or jaguars, and they even have their own version of the ¨Eiffel Tower¨, called the ¨Tower of Reform¨). Then we met up with the other Rotarians at the airport, where Mario (the only person in Guatemala I knew at this point) also happened to be picking up his son!
Once we were all together we had lunch at a local fast food joint (Pollo el Campero, latin version of Kentucky Fried Chicken) and made our way to Panajachel, a town on Lake Atitlán, about a 3 hour drive.
We got settled into Panajachel and the next day we started work!
We woke up and had breakfast, then had a meeting to learn how to assemble the water filters in homes, then lugged the filters down to the lake, and hopped on a boat to Cerro de Oro. In Cerro de Oro we were received by the principal, then we broke up into groups of 3 (our group consisted of 3 Rotarians, 3 women receiving the filters, and a male translator in the traditional Mayan language. I served as the translator from English to Spanish, and in some cases could directly communicate with the families).
We showed 3 families how to assemble the filters, then walked to their homes to place the filters in their homes. Then we ate a local meal of patín, beef cooked in tomato, lime, salt, and pepper and wrapped in a banana leaf, prepared by the locals, accompanied with a bottled Coca-Cola.
photo by Kirsten Noelle Hubbard, About.com, of Lake Atitlan. La Cueva Maya — the Mayan Cave — is the site of Mayan rituals and ceremonies, and boasts a captivating view from its interior. The cave is a fifteen minute hike above the Lake Atitlan village of Panajachel.
After lunch we took a questionnaire to homes that had had the filters for about a year and conducted a brief (surprise) assessment, checking if the filters were being properly maintained, asking the families how they were working, and so on. The feedback is that the families want more! I have to go to breakfast now, but today we’ll be heading to another town and only assembling filters (no questionnaires because this community has not received the filters before).
¡Hasta mañana!
Andrea Marie Castro, once a student intern and now an Environmental Scientist at 7Q10, is off to Guatamala with other Rotary volunteers to participate in a program that will bring clean, safe drinking water to rural populations in that country. Andrea was a natural choice for the project since she is bi-lingual and has experience in clean water engineering and sanitation, having also worked on similar projects in Africa. She will be meeting with principals of schools and community leaders, assembling and installing the water filters both in homes and schools, and installing cooking stoves in homes.
A fund of $19,600 was raised for 392 water filters at $50 each, with the participation of the Reno Central Rotary, Grand Prairie Texas Club, a local Guatemala club, the Florence, Oregon Club and matching grants from two Rotary districts.
The Heart to Heart International project joined forces with The National Comission of Action for Children, Youth and Family (ACONANI) to improve health in Guatemala through a targeted, phased approach to water, sanitation and hygiene improvements. Over a five year period, this program intends to increase access to safe water supplies, appropriate sanitation facilities and hygiene education among target populations in Panajachel, San Antonio Palopo,
San Juan la Launa, San Andres Semetabaj, Santiago Atitlan, San Pedro la Laguna and San Pablo la Laguna, located in Soloa, Guatemala.
For the first year pilot program, elementary schools will be targeted due to the potential impace of water, sanitation and hygiene education in school settins. Currently, none of the seven target schools have access to potable water supplies, While most do have some form of latrine, they are unsanitary and in need of repair and improvement.
We will be following along with Andrea as she sends dispatches back, telling us more about the mission, the local conditions and challenges, and her progress.
A Washington Post editorial- October 1, 2009
AFTER MONTHS of meetings, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released their long-awaited climate bill with great fanfare. But missing from the 800-page Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act is a cap-and-trade system. That’s disappointing, since Ms. Boxer announced earlier this year that the Environment and Public Works Committee would start from scratch on devising a system of capping greenhouse gas emissions and issuing a declining number of pollution allowances to covered industries. Instead, she and Mr. Kerry released a bill that is being called a starting point.
There are a number of pollution-reduction measures in the Kerry-Boxer bill, but the hallmark of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act is that it has a stronger cap on greenhouse gas emissions than the Waxman-Markey bill that the House passed this spring. By 2020, there must be a 20 percent reduction below 2005 levels. The House measure calls for a 17 percent reduction over the same period. Unlike Waxman-Markey, the Senate legislation maintains the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority over issuing permits to coal-fired power plants. There are programs for retraining and assistance for those who want to work in the emerging clean-energy economy. The bill also mandates a report on the efforts made by other major emitting nations, such as China and India, to reduce their pollution.
But in addressing global warming, the hard part is the cap-and-trade system. Mr. Kerry told us Wednesday that work on that is being left to the Senate Finance Committee, which, of course, is slogging through hundreds of amendments on health insurance reform. Because this pollution-reduction regime would fundamentally change the U.S. economy, the debate will pit politicians, regions and industries against one another in a fight for self-preservation. As we saw with Waxman-Markey, it will neither be pretty nor go quickly. Despite the obvious calendar crunch, Mr. Kerry, who is also on the Finance Committee, is confident that a cap-and-trade bill could be voted on in time for the Kyoto II climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. We’re not nearly so sure.
The following video allows noted scientists – such as Secretary of Energy, Dr. Stephen Chu - speak to this serious issue, dismissing those who would characterize this phenomenon as a passing trend that will reverse itself in time.
In the following photos of Pt. Barrow, Alaska, recently released by the White House, it’s obvious that the sea ice is in retreat.
