Third world countries ...

Last week, I was watching the Duggars go to El Salvador. The photos from this post are from my trip to Africa. And for being in a third world country, I didn't see NEARLY the trash that I did in Niger. Maybe they avoided it?


It's hard to watch and NOT have an opinion. I know, when have I ever lacked for an opinion? ;-) I'm NO expert ... but it's difficult to watch groups just hand out aid.

I'm NOT saying aid isn't needed. It IS ... but after the awesome tour guide I had in Africa ... who stressed how aid is needed, but it has to be coupled with revitalization efforts. It's good to hand out food, but what about working with residents to help work and cultivate their own gardens or fields? Agricultural supplies are needed, too!

Education and good skills are ESSENTIAL! If girls learn life skills, they will have other OPTIONS rather than turning to the streets to make money.

I'm happy I met Catholic Relief Service early on in life. They have revitalization efforts going on all over the world. But here's my favorite part about them: They just meet the needs of the people. Yes, they ARE a religious-based organization, but they do not preach. They just practice it. Heck, a few years ago, Time magazine lauded the organization for just that.

I'm also wishing I could remember the name of the religious brothers I met in Africa. In the slang, they're referred to as "The White Brothers" ... but try Googling "white brothers" and see what kind of sites YOU come up with. ;-)~ If I recall the name, I'll be sure to drop it by the blog.

Ice, ice baby....

Ok, all old school music aside, I want to be a little serious today. This post is about ICE — In Case of Emergency.

Dad and I were talking last week and I said something about ICE and how I had a few ICE numbers programed into my cell phone. HUUUUUH????? was his response. Nice. But mom had no clue what I was talking about either. SO it occurred to me others might not be aware of this as well.

REWIND: While working as a reporter in Hays a few years ago, I covered cops, and in the course of it, someone mentioned ICE. I didn't know what it was, so they explained it to me. The basic idea is many people carry a cell phone with them at all times. If (God forbid) something were to happen and I was to be unconscious or unable to communicate with emergency workers, they would grab my phone and go through my address book and find ICE. I would have an emergency contact or two or more dialed in.

Since I rarely carry a purse or wallet on me, but generally have my phone on me, this seemed to make good sense. SO.... I have ICE in my phone.

But do you? ;-)

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2006 that 1,600,000 emergency room patients could not provide contact information because they were incapacitated." — from the ICE sticker Web site.

And of course, everything you wanted to know about ICE on Wikipediasite.

Bone Marrow donation

I've been wanting to write about my bone marrow donation for a long time, but haven't had any reason to get my rear end into gear. Until this week. My co-worker, Kaley, was writing about an upcoming marrow donor drive. So ... I slowly shifted into gear and put my thoughts together for the Hays Daily News.

The column can be viewed online here.

More information regarding bone marrow donation on the National Marrow Donor Program Web site.