Put Your Back Into It!
Ban Wat Chan is a small village in the hills outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. West East Missions Handclasp (www.handclasp.org), a faith–based volunteer organization, supports a resource center for the local hill tribes there. I was there to help build homes. The building site was a beautiful lot on a hill with an incredible view of the entire Ban Wat Chan valley. The old man we were building this for was blind.
The next morning, 22 people from Handclasp and half a dozen locals arrived in the pre–dawn mist, ready to start building. We measured off the foundations, dug holes, dropped in concrete foundation pillars, cut and mounted vertical timbers, and framed the floor. In one day we framed the whole house. The only task left undone was the traditional bamboo wrapping, which would be completed later by the locals.
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At the end of that long hot day, I took the blind man and walked him across a field and placed his hands on his new house for the first time. He walked around feeling the frame and vertical columns. His wrinkled hands saw what his eyes could not. An expression of pure joy spread across his face. Here, near the Burmese border, four days travel from Los Angeles, I was holding this old blind mans' hands against his new home as he repeated "Kop khun krup" again and again, "Thank you, thank you." by Mike Towle
Write for the Right Thing
Party of Nepal and government forces has generated a human rights crisis in a land renowned for its peace and tolerance. According to reports by Amnesty International, both government security forces and the Maoists have committed human rights abuses. These include unlawful killings, "disappearances", torture, rape and arbitrary arrest and detention.
What can you do? Send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible asking U.S. authorities to urge the Nepalese Government to:
- Ensure that human rights are protected during this conflict.
- End impunity by prosecuting security forces responsible for human rights abuses and pass laws making torture a crime.
- Strengthen the National Human Rights Commission, including the establishment of regional offices.
- Ensure that those implicated in human rights abuses are not provided with military training or weapons.
- Ensure that U.S. military aid does not contribute to further abuses.
Send your appeals to:
Ms. Christina Rocca
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20520
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Double Click for a Better World
Don't dig Thailand? Scared of your Senator? Here are some more ideas on the most popular and diverse ways to give back to places you've traveled, or want to travel, or just need help. Hey, cyber geeks–fight global issues from your computer! Take online action against extreme poverty via Netaid.org where you can donate your time as an online volunteer, or give school kits, educational kits or other tools to aid local development. Practice ethical consumerism. Your sweatshop Kathie Lee Gifford handbag or stylin' Nike running shoes may look cool, but you need to find out how goods you buy here affect people and environments around the world. Look for organizations that produce goods that positively affect world communities.
Be like Miss America and end world hunger, not by starving yourself but by joining Results.org, a grassroots lobbying group with chapters in communities throughout the United States. They are committed to generating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. Results.org is founded on the principle that every individual can make a difference. We agree. How about organizing a Famine for a Night Fundraiser? During a Famine for a Night, groups of people do not eat for 24 hours to raise awareness of issues related to world hunger and poverty. Have no time but got the cash? Support your cause financially. There are thousands of organizations that you can support that are working for positive global change. For a great place to get started visit crossculturalsolutions.org. by Rich Steel
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