Photo: Charlie Brewer

Direct from the Sierra Club’s press release:

“The lucky young person (age 18–25) selected to be our Outdoors Youth Ambassador will:

*Travel around the country camping, rafting, hiking, contributing to environmental service projects, and enjoying the outdoors with the Sierra Club’s youth programs.
*Create an awesome video blog that documents the experience.
*Be based in beautiful San Francisco at the Sierra Club’s headquarters.
*Earn a $2,500 stipend for the 8-week internship, plus all expenses paid for travel.
*Be outfitted with $2,000 worth of gear from The North Face and Planet Explore.

The Outdoors Youth Ambassador will spend the summer video-blogging on a variety of Sierra Club-sponsored programs that include National Outings Volunteer Vacations, Inner City Outings, and Building Bridges to the Outdoors programs. Find out more and apply online at www.sierraclub.org/bestinternship. Deadline is March 31st!”

Community Connection:

Looking for a job in the great outdoors? Check out our Travel Jobs Focus Page!

Photo: Morgan Solar

Everyone with an Internet connection knows what Google is and has used it for a basic search. Beyond its basic search engine, though, Google’s got a bunch of other products, many of which are virtually unknown to users.

One of those products is Google PowerMeter, a free software program that calculates your energy use for you. A project of Google.org, Google’s philanthropic umbrella, the purpose of Google PowerMeter is to “help users understand how they use electricity and help them use less,” as well as save money on energy costs.

The PowerMeter isn’t widely available just yet– it requires the collaboration of local utilities, and Google has formed initial partnerships with 10 providers in the United States, Canada, the UK, and India. If you happen to be a customer of one of these utility providers, you can apply to become a beta tester of the PowerMeter.

If you’re not a customer of one of these utility providers, you can either purchase a monitoring device that streams live energy use data to your computer or register for updates.

Community Connection:

Check out Matador’s Global Environmental Issues Focus Page.

Photo: Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake

One of the most popular articles we’ve published on MatadorChange is How to Start a Successful NGO in 10 Steps. The article, written by photographer and NGO-preneur Ryan Libre, has had more than 200,000 views since it was published in September 2008.

Every day we receive comments on this article, often from people in “developing” countries who are fired up on solving local problems with local solutions. They view starting an NGO as an excellent way to do just that.

They’re right, but the challenge they all face is funding. If dollars were distributed on the merit of good ideas alone, well… you wouldn’t need an article like this one.

If you’ve got a sweet idea about an NGO, non-profit, or small business that could change your community–or the world–here are a few ways you can bootstrap your start up with some funding methods beyond the usual approaches.

1. Set up a blog.

If you’ve got a great idea but no one knows about it, how do you expect to get funding for it? Setting up a blog is almost as simple as having an Internet connection… and it’s free.

Start establishing your Internet presence by setting up a simple blog on WordPress. Matador’s got dozens of resources to help you understand exactly how to do this on our Blogging Tips Focus Page.

Essential information includes: the name of your organization; your mission; who you’re working with and/or serving; what need you’re fulfilling; and why no one else is filling it. Provide a way for visitors to get in touch with you if they want to ask questions. Let them know how they can help.

2. Broaden your web presence.

Screenshot of Matador member Misty Tosh’s NGO’s website

What evidence can you provide that you’re already working to solve the big social problem your NGO, non-profit, or small business is going to address?

Flickr and YouTube will let you compile and present visual evidence that you are (1) who you say you are, (2) where you say you are, (3) working on what you claim to be working on.

Flickr and YouTube accounts are free and they’re essential to building and broadening your web presence. They also can be integrated into your WordPress blog easily.

Beyond Flickr and YouTube, set up a Twitter account. Connect with other social entrepreneurs who have started their organization or who are in the process of setting one up. Share ideas and contacts; provide each other with support. Connect with journalists and other people who may be interested in your enterprise. Ask for their support.

3. Now, start raising funds.

It used to be the case that starting an NGO or non-profit required non-stop grant writing.

While grants remain a significant source of operating income, the Internet provides many more tools you can use that will supplement your organization’s financial flow:

ChipIn: ChipIn is a free widget you can embed on your blog to raise money for your cause.

Screenshot from ChipIn

People who want to support your fledgling organization donate money using their PayPal account by clicking on the ChipIn button that now appears on your blog. You can also add the ChipIn widget to your Facebook profile.

Matador has used ChipIn to raise funds for our Brave New Travelers scholarship.

Kickstarter: Kickstarter’s a bit like ChipIn, but with a twist- you set a fund raising goal for your project and you have to meet our goal within a certain period of time in order for the donors’ money to be released to you.

Screenshot of Irina Zhorov’s project on Kickstarter

There are two other catches: (1) You have to have a US bank account and address in order to set up a Kickstarter account and (2) Kickstarter makes its money by taking 5% out of your funded project.

But if you’re agreeable to those terms and if you have a network of people you can reach out to to contribute, it can be an effective fund raising platform. Charyn Pfeuffer, who was profiled on MatadorChange recently, recently funded her $20,000 international voluntourism project on Kickstarter and Matador contributor Irina Zhorov is currently fund raising for a project on Kickstarter, too.

Grow VC
Grow VC is a brand new venture capital funding platform for entrepreneurs who are launching start-ups with a mobile or web-based focus. If your project falls into that category, read about this new funding option on the Grow VC website or in this article from TechCrunch.

Amazon Affiliate Program
You won’t be able to fully fund your start-up as an Amazon affiliate. You likely won’t even make enough to buy coffee for a week, but if you use this program as part of a diverse set of passive income sources, you might just cover some basic operating expenses, like simple office supplies.

There are all sorts of catches, but if you’re approved, the program is easy to use. Read all about it in Amazon’s overview.

Google Grants and Google for Non-Profits
Google has all kinds of resources that relatively few people know about, and Google for Non-Profits is one of them. In addition to its grants program, Google offers in-kind AdWords advertising to non-profits. All of their relevant resources can be accessed on the Google for Non-Profits page.

Community Connection:

Do you have experience funding a non-profit or NGO? Want to share your tips? Leave your advice in the comments section.

Photo: kjunstorm

WildlifeNearYou wasn’t designed to save animal species.

Instead, the purpose of this newish website is to create a dynamic, crowdsourced clearinghouse that can point animal lovers to places where they can see certain types of animals.

The developers of the website specifically state that WildlifeNearYou was “born out of a passion for zoos, nature reserves, and wonder and awe at the vast amount of amazing creatures that inhabit our beloved planet.”

To that end, they invite users of the site to upload photos of animals they’ve seen on their travels and to document where those animals were seen.

Though they specifically indicate that “We’re interested in places where wildlife can be seen reliably,” noting that “A badger spotted in your back garden or an eagle hovering over the M4 aren’t of interest because other people can’t go and see them later,” it seems to me that WildlifeNearYou has the potential to serve as a forum where animal lovers can document sightings of species that may be endangered or even thought to be extinct.

WildlifeNearYou also has the potential to raise awareness about animal species around the world that may be unfamiliar to people outside their local territory. Travelers, in particular, could use WildlifeNearYou to let other users of the site know about the buffy hummingbird (Leucippus fallax) in Colombia’s Tayrona National Park or the elusive (extinct?) ivory-billed woodpecker in Cuba.

Are you a birder or animal lover? What animals have you seen in your travels, and would you use a site like WildlifeNearYou to either document your trip or help you plan places to visit?

Community Connection:

Love the outdoors? Check out 10 Birding Hotspots for our favorite places to spot the world’s most beautiful birds.

Via: Online Schools Feature photo: yeowatzup

What do you think about this infographic? Sound off in the comments.

Community Connection:

Want to learn about SOUTH Korea? Read South Korea Exploration: Roadtripping the Peninsula, Gonzo Traveler: Surviving the Beef Riots in South Korea, and How to be a Vegetarian in Korea.

Best Buy announces its recycling program on a billboard in Times Square. Notice that the sign is made of disposed electronics. Photo: Francisco Collazo

E-waste–the garbage that takes the form of disposed electronics–is largely responsible for landfill overuse and health problems in communities where e-waste ends up.

Many people see electronics as difficult to recycle, as their local recycling programs don’t accept e-waste. Here in New York City, our periodic e-waste collection days were eliminated last year due to municipal budget cuts. It’s easier to throw these items away, even when we know that the consequences of doing so may harm the environment or other people.

Electronics retailer Best Buy is attempting to make e-waste disposal easier and less damaging to the environment and to communities by sponsoring an e-waste recycling program. If you have a TV, DVD player, computer or laptop, cables, cell phones, or other electronics you’d like to get rid of, Best Buy will accept them– even if they weren’t bought at their store– and work with third party vendors to recycle or repurpose the items.

It all sounds good, but upon hearing about the recycling program, I was somewhat suspicious: is Best Buy ensuring that these electronics won’t end up in developing countries, where they’ll be stripped of valuable components like copper wire, exposing people to harmful chemicals in the process?

Best Buy addresses such concerns in its FAQ section. In response to concerns like mine, they write:

Best Buy makes sure that the recyclers we work with adhere to the highest guidelines and standards so that the products customers bring into our stores for recycling don’t end up in landfills or in foreign countries, and that all hazardous materials are disposed of properly. We partner directly with a short list of qualified, respected recycling companies who ensure all products collected for recycling through Best Buy are handled responsibly. These recycling companies meet our standards, and we encourage them to examine and consider additional third-party standards for responsible practices (such as the EPA R2, eStewards, etc.). Please refer to our Consumer Electronics Recycling Standardsfor more information and a list of our partners.

If you’re interested in recycling your e-waste through Best Buy, stores in the US and in Puerto Rico are accepting drop offs (two items per person, per day) indefinitely. The store locator can help you identify a drop off point near you.

Not in the US? Please let us know of e-waste recycling resources in your city or country by leaving information in the comments section.

Community Connection:

Get more information about environmental responsibility on our Global Environmental Issues focus page.

Instead, they’re the ones shot by locals who have the greatest stake in what’s occurring around them.

Carlos, a Chilean photographer, took these shots in his neighborhood, Santiago Antiguo. He writes:

“Many immigrants live in this overcrowded neighborhood, and many are living in the streets. In some neighborhoods, there’s no lights or water… though the situation in Santiago isn’t as grave as it is in the south.”

1. A car is surrounded by rubble from partially collapsed buildings.

2. Neighbors survey the damage.

3. A woman salvages what she can.

4. A man assesses damage.

5. People have moved what’s left into the street.

6. A view of the old buildings in Santiago Antiguo.

7. Residents line up for aid provided by The Salvation Army.

Community Connection:

We are currently communicating with Matador members in Chile to find out what kind of help is needed. We will update readers here as we have more information.

A woman in Santiago surveys damage after the quake. Photo: todosnuestrosmuertos

One of the stories we’ve been working on since the Haiti earthquake is how social media platforms are being used in disaster to improve rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts.

In addition to Twitter, Facebook, and text messaging, a new and powerful app has been unleashed by Google: the Google Person Finder.

The Google blog explains:

“After hearing of the devastatingly powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile overnight, we began to mobilize several teams to see what Google resources could help with disaster response. For those concerned about loved ones in Chile, the Person Finder tool, initially created in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, can be used to submit or search for information about individuals who may have been affected. The Person Finder tool has been translated into Spanish and is currently available at http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/, as well as several media sites and the US Department of State website.”

As a community of travelers and expats, Matadorians are in a unique position to use this app for massive information diffusion. Do you know someone in Chile? Have you heard from them since the quake? Add their name and update their status using the Person Finder tool.

The other app Google’s making available is Google Map Maker.

Again, from the Google blog:

“Google Map Maker is currently available in Chile, and we are making this map data available for download by relief and aid organizations. Visit http://mapmaker.google.com/datadownload for more information and to access the data. If you have familiarity with the region, please help these efforts by contributing data about Chile on Google Map Maker. We will be refreshing the download data frequently to reflect the latest set of contributions.

How are you using social media and online tools to respond to the quake and the resulting tsunami? Share your experiences in the comments.

Snowboarder Shaun White. Photo: hypergene

Philanthropy among athletes has achieved a certain de rigeur status.

Though we’ve questioned his extra-marital dalliances, Tiger Woods has helped more than 10 million children through his Tiger Woods Foundation, which focuses on youth development.

Magic Johnson has used his celebrity athlete status–and the considerable fortune it brought him–to establish the Magic Johnson Foundation, which supports community-based organizations in urban neighborhoods around the United States.

Tennis great Billie Jean King is another philanthropist, responsible for establishing multiple foundations, including the Women’s Sports Foundation, which advocates for women’s equality in sports.

And Olympic athletes have long been involved in philanthropic work, too.

Soccer superstar Mia Hamm started her own foundation. In addition to promoting opportunities for girls and women in sports, the Mia Hamm Foundation is also involved in raising awareness and money for bone marrow disease research, and to support families involved in the marrow transplant process.

Ice skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation works to provide funding for existing programs providing services to children.

This year’s Olympians are no exception.

Snowboarding favorite Shaun White, popular for his youth, cheerful attitude, and his shock of red hair, has also been spotlighted for his charitable work with the Tony Hawk Foundation, Heartgift, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Summit on the Summit.

Hannah Teter, the 2006 women’s gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding, also has a foundation, Hannah’s Gold, which sponsors the town of Kirindon, Kenya, providing residents with clean water, health services, and educational opportunities.

What other stories have you heard about Olympians doing good? Share your favorite in the comments!

Community Connection:

If you haven’t had a chance to catch any Olympic action, MatadorSports has a round up of the first week of events.

Screenshot from “Reporter” trailer.

In his twice-weekly column, on his blog, and in his books, Nicholas Kristof takes a social problem and trains his focus as close-in as someone can get to find the single story that will make the rest of us care about what’s going on in other parts of the world.

It’s a method that’s been both criticized and praised, and which compelled filmmaker Eric Metzgar to make a documentary about Kristof.

That documentary, “Reporter,” debuts tonight on HBO. Full details about the documentary and airing time are available on HBO’s website.

Here’s the trailer:

Community Connection:

Who do you read and what sources do you consult to find out about what’s going on in other parts of the world? Let us know by leaving a comment.

William Kamkwamba, one of the TED presenters. Photo: whiteafrican

Here are six of our favorite TED Talks about the environment:

1. Yann Arthus-Bertrand captures fragile Earth in wide-angle.

“You know the problem [is that] we don’t want to believe what we know,” Arthus-Bertrand says at the beginning of this 15 minute talk, in which he presents large-format photos he’s shot that show exactly how we’re damaging the planet. The statistics he superimposes on the photos of Kilimanjaro, the North Pole, and the New Caledonia coral reef are given weight by the fact that those images illustrate numbers that remain abstract unless we see the damage with our own eyes.

I first saw Arthus-Bertrand’s photos in Puerto Rico a couple years ago and recall thinking, “This is important. It’s only by presenting familiar information in a new way that we’ll take action.”

Though Arthus-Bertrand’s photos might leave you feeling desperate, the other part of his talk provides reason for hope. He presents his other projects, an Internet-based multi-media documentary called “6 Billion Others,” and a film, “Home,” both of which aim to collect and disseminate people’s stories about their own lives.

These two projects complement his large-format photos of destruction in an important way: they put a human face on the problems we’ve caused and show just how much is at stake. “It’s too late to be pessimistic,” Arthus-Bertrand concludes. “We can all be part of the solution.”

By showing us the problems, Arthus-Bertrand helps point us toward solutions.

2. James Balog on time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss

I learned about James Balog’s work in the NOVA special, “Extreme Ice.” Balog, a photographer like Arthus-Bertrand, is also director of the Extreme Ice Survey, and it’s through this research project that Balog documents the rapid recession of glaciers in time-lapse photography. “Ice,” Balog says, “is the canary in the global coal mine.”

Photos and film of receding ice can help reshape our understanding of why glacial melt is important.

You can argue all you want about climate change, but once you see Balog’s work, you’ve got to concede that the planet is heating up… and that the consequences are likely to be devastating.

3. Edward Burtynsky photographs the landscape of oil

Do you really know where your oil comes from? Burtynsky shows you where it comes from–and where it goes–in this super-short but profoundly powerful talk. To me, Burtynsky’s photos of the landscapes of oil–the places where oil comes from and the places where oil-powered and oil-based objects end up– are evocative of Chris Jordan’s photographs of mass consumption, and they have the same effect: that of making us more conscious about our consumption.

4. John Francis walks the Earth

The fact that John Francis even gave a TED Talk is fairly remarkable: the man spent 17 years in silence. That’s just one of the unconventional commitments he made in his personal campaign to improve environmental awareness.

That campaign began in 1971, when Francis watched two oil tankers collide in the San Francisco Bay, spilling 1/2 million gallons of oil. He immediately decided to stop driving, choosing to walk everywhere instead.

It’s an unusual journey, he acknowledges in this TED Talk, but one that can serve as a means of reflection for all of us on our own journeys.

If you think environmentalism is for boring people, then bump Francis’s talk to the top of this list.

5. Nalini Nadkarny on conserving the canopy

Nadkarny’s verbal intensity can be a bit much, especially by the end of this 16 minute talk, but it matches her passion for her subject: the importance of the canopy in forests around the world.

Nadkarny believes that the life of the tops of forests can tell us a lot about the health and future of these vital areas. But she also believes that most people could care less about the forest because they have little experience with it.

Rather than simply try to convince listeners by presenting them with scientific facts, she conveys this information through creative approaches, including distribution of TreeTop Barbies and scientist-artist collaborations she refers to as canopy confluences. These have resulted in dances, art installations, and urban youth rap.

I’m a big fan of making academic information accessible and engaging, so Nadkarny’s talk was inspiring.

You’ve got to sit through seven minutes of no-nonsense, fast-talking fact-dropping before you get to that, but the wait is worth it.

6. William Kamkwamba on harnessing the wind

I just love the absolute honesty and transparency of Kamkwamba as he talks about what it was like for him to be invited to give his first TED Talk in Tanzania. Kamkwamba, of Malawi, said: “Before that time, I had never been away from my home. I had never used a computer. I had never seen an internet. My English lost,” he says. “I wanted to vomit. I’d never been surrounded by so many azungu (white people).”

One of seven children, Kamkwamba was forced to drop out of school in the midst of a famine. Looking at his father and seeing the dry fields was “a future I couldn’t accept,” he said. So he changed it.

He taught himself English by looking at graphs and diagrams in physics books he borrowed from a library. And then he built a windmill, which generated both electric and water power. “People started queuing up at my house,” he explained, “to charge their mobile phone. I could not get rid of them. And the reporters came too, and the bloggers, which led to something called TED.”

And why did he agree to give a TED talk?

“Because maybe one day, you’ll watch this on the Internet” and will be inspired to “not give up on your dreams.”

Community Connection:

For some home-grown Matador inspiration, check out Ian MacKenzie’s Interview with Casey Kochmer on Taoist Travel.

Photo: Peter Gene

Nobody will grant you a degree for checking out these podcasts and video lectures, but you’ll be a bit smarter about the world after listening to them.

And bonus? They’re free.

1. Chomsky on Gaza

A lecture from America’s most and least favored intellectual (especially since the death of Howard Zinn), Chomsky’s lecture on Gaza, available as both a video lecture and a podcast, will take up about two hours of your day. That may seem like a lot of time, but breaking down the Gaza situation has taken plenty of other people years to understand and summarize.

Chomsky does a pretty good job of distilling the high (and low) points of the conflict, and though plenty of listeners will take issue with Chomsky’s political leanings and sympathies, it’s important–particularly in this conflict–to get a handle on all sides’ arguments.

2. Design as Activism

This nine part video lecture series presented by the University of California, Davis, may seem highly specialized for urban planners, but it appeals to my frustrated inner architect. Each video lecture ranges in length from 37 to 52 minutes, touching on topics like “Architecture and Social Change” and “Designing with Humanity: Using Design to Advocate for Change.”

The relevance of the series seems obvious, what with reconstruction efforts in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and in Haiti following the January 12 earthquake.

3. CSIS: Center for Strategic and International Studies’ podcasts

I was curious about the innocuous sounding CSIS and so I clicked through to their website to learn it’s a bipartisan policy group that’s a who’s who of older American white men receiving at least 43% of its funding from corporations.

That icky disclosure being made, I still find tremendous value in their podcasts, of which there are hundreds on topics as diverse as global energy, drug trafficking, the international economy, human rights, and health. Even if CSIS is the “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” as a friend said, it’s good to know what the wolf’s wearing, right?

4. Brown University’s “The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons”

With this week’s news that Iran is stepping up its nuclear program, now seems like a pretty good time to learn more about nuclear issues. There are 28 mini-lectures in this series, each of which maxes out at about two minutes in length.

The program includes both historical perspectives (”What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?”) and contemporary concerns (”What would happen in the Middle East if Iran had a nuclear weapon?”), as well as information that was obscure to me, like “Why did Brazil end its nuclear weapons program?”.

5. Open University’s International Development Series

Available as video lectures and podcasts, the Open University’s series on international development touches on poverty, education, health, environmental sustainability, and human rights, tackling these macro issues from a micro, hyper-local perspective, as in “London’s Greek Community.”

6. Yale University

I could spend hours listening to lectures on topics as specialized as “Issues in Jamaican Legal Reform,” “Censorship and Speech in Bangladesh,” and “Iraqi Women’s Ordeal Under Occupation.” Several hundred lectures offered completely free will keep you busy for a while.

Community Connection:

Looking for more learning resources? Check out our Focus Pages, where we’ve collected thousands of resources on topics like Language Learning, Study Abroad, and Travel Reading.

Image: XOZ

The news is so fresh that even the New York Times hasn’t published anything about it as I sit down to write this:

The United States Department of the Treasury has just announced it has decided to collaborate with international partners to extend total debt relief to Haiti, a policy which is consistent with US’s own debt relief, which occurred this past September.

Below is the full text of the Department’s press release:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the United States will work with its partners around the world to relieve all debts owed by Haiti to international institutions and to ensure grant financing to support Haiti’s reconstruction and recovery from the devastating earthquake in January.

“The earthquake in Haiti was a catastrophic setback to the Haitian people who are now facing tremendous emergency humanitarian and reconstruction needs, and meeting Haiti’s financing needs will require a massive multilateral effort,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Today, we are voicing our support for what Haiti needs and deserves – comprehensive multilateral debt relief.”

Secretary Geithner also welcomed International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s call to provide full relief for Haiti’s outstanding IMF debt, including the $102 million emergency loan approved on January 27, 2010.

“We are committed to working quickly and closely with these institutions in a way that provides immediate grant assistance to help the Haitian people recover and rebuild,” Secretary Geithner continued. “I very much welcome the initiative taken on this issue by leaders in Congress, the IMF, and the MDBs and look forward to working with them to provide the critical support Haiti needs for recovery as well as to discussing this issue with my G-7 colleagues this weekend.”

Treasury announced that the U.S. intends to seek a commitment with other donors for the relief of Haiti’s debt to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Development Association (IDA) in a manner that provides direct and immediate grant support to Haiti.

In September 2009, the U.S. concluded an agreement with Haiti that eliminated 100 percent of the Haitian Government’s outstanding debt to the U.S. This action was taken following Haiti’s successful completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative process in June 2009.

Photo: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep

All of the people on this #FollowFriday list have played an important role in informing their followers about Haiti. Some approach their tweets from an historical perspective, others with an urgency informed by their on-the-ground experiences in Port-au-Prince and other Haitian cities.

Some share their stories visually, others mobilize people with their passionate, energetic words. All of them are worth following, though, because of their ongoing commitment to help the rest of the world understand and care about Haiti, and compel followers to take action.

Folks Who Provide Backstory and Insight

@Anita5446:
In her doctoral studies, Anne explores popular thought and the connections between Dominicans and Haitians in the 1800s, overwriting what has been too often an anti-Haitian story in the east. Somehow, she manages to distill all her knowledge into digestible 140 character bites that make sense even for a Haitian history novice.

She’s also an excellent source of information about news and cultural events related to the Caribbean and the diaspora.

@RAMHaiti:
If Richard Morse doesn’t follow you back, don’t take it personally. He’s too busy dropping knowledge on Twitter directly from Haiti.

Richard Morse is an anthropologist AND a new wave/punk musician. Though born in the US, his mother was Haitian, and he moved there more than 20 years ago.

If you could go back to three and a half weeks and read all of @RAMHaiti’s tweets, you’d have a crash course in Haitian history and a pretty damn good sense of what the challenges are on the ground right now.

Photographers

@jeffantebi

and

@jeremycowart:

Both of these photographers have been on the ground in Haiti since the quake and their photos serve as crucial visual documentation of disaster and recovery. Antebi had also worked in Haiti before the quake, and his photo essay, “Port-au-Prince Before the Quake,” was published on Matador a couple weeks ago. Cowart just returned from Haiti this week and may be sharing photos with Matador in the coming weeks.

Both photographers, while on the ground in Haiti, updated followers on what they were seeing through their lenses. Antebi has been releasing limited editions of his photos, with proceeds going to Haiti relief efforts.

Connectors and People Who Get Things Done

@MelyMello:
Toronto-based Melissa Elliott exemplifies the positive power of social media. Her day job with Blackbox Communications has her focused on messaging, and she’s brought all of her professional skills to bear on getting out the word about relief efforts and serving as a powerful connector of people with information, resources, and the ability and energy to help.

@ShaunKing:
Featured earlier this week on MatadorChange, Shaun King continues to give his all to cutting through red tape and getting aid to Haiti. He’s currently focused on helping get temporary shelters to Port-au-Prince.

@amadril:
Quite simply, a one-woman tweeter rounding up information and news that serves as a daily digest of what’s happening right now in Haiti.

@LouisOxfam:
Louis Belanger, Oxfam’s humanitarian media officer in New York, was on the ground in Haiti immediately following the quake. His tweets continue to inform about relief efforts, and not just those headed up by Oxfam. Belanger also maintains an excellent, informative Posterous blog with entries from aid workers and journalists in Haiti.

Other Recommendations:

In addition to my recommendations, Matador member AyeGotPassport has organized a list of Haiti tweeters worth following. She also mentions @lindsaybranham, @EstherHavens @ijeanson @jonathanolinger, all of whom she follows because “of their courage to do what they do and to provide support/encouragement in the process.”

Community Connection:

Who would you add to our list? Please let us know by leaving a Twitter handle and your reason for the pick in the comments.

Photo: artemuestra

The global economic crisis has hit most people and business sectors hard, but big oil says it’s feeling especially pinched.

The quarterly earning report for the last segment of 2009 came out for Chevron last week, and the news wasn’t good: Profit margins fell 37% to *just* $3.1 billion USD.

Shell hasn’t faired much better. In fact, its quarterly earnings report, released earlier this morning, reflected that the company is even worse off than Chevron, which is beleaguered by the Amazon lawsuit, the world’s largest class action environmental case.

Shell’s earnings plunged by more than 50%, leaving company execs with the not so enviable task of informing shareholders that earnings were *only* $12.52 billion USD.

Sure, the profit losses are a huge hit for these companies, but as international aid and advocacy group Oxfam notes, oil companies have operated on a “take the money and run” scheme for years, leaving people who live in oil-rich communities wondering where their profits are.

Check out this Oxfam video, then visit the organization’s website to learn how you can support their efforts:

Community Connection:

Read about two Matadorians’ experiences documenting oil companies’ work in Interview: The Filmmakers of “Crude Independence.”

Photo: Stanislaw Wojtkowiak

The day after the Haiti earthquake, I was reading a post “How to Help in Haiti” on the AFAR blog. The post excerpted from a piece on another blog, titled Six Ways You Can Help in Haiti.”

Number 6? “Learn more about Haiti.”

The advice seemed like a no-brainer, but what did most of us really know about Haiti on January 12?

If you were like me–needing to learn more about Haiti– here are three ways to get started:

1. Read everything you can by Edwidge Danticat.

Though she left Haiti to emigrate to the United States when she was 12, Edwidge Danticat has never been far from her home country. Haiti has been as much a presence in her books as it has in her entire body of work, which includes documentary film work with Jonathan Demme.

Danticat lost family members in the January 12 quake, including her cousin Maxo, about whom she wrote in this powerful essay in The New Yorker.

Start with the essay, then take the time to listen to Danticat speak in this interview with NPR, conducted the day after the quake. Finally, get a better feel for Danticat and for Haiti in this video:

2. Let Dr. Paul Farmer school you on Haitian history and public health.

In a video I watched of Dr. Farmer giving a lecture, the host took a full 3.5 minutes to introduce the physician, anthropologist, and founder of Partners in Health, an organization that’s been working in Haiti for over 20 years.

And with good reason.

The man who says that “Haiti has been my greatest teacher” has so much to teach the rest of us about the country where few travelers venture.

Farmer is both the subject
and author of several books, including Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor and On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman’s Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti.

If you don’t have time to read any of his work, you can catch one of his lectures for free on iTunes. One excellent, relevant lecture, given in October 2009, is “Paul Farmer on Development: Creating a Just and Sustainable Future.” Farmer makes Haitian history accessible, and explains many of the existing public health challenges and best practices for responding to them.

3. Learn the language.

When you do travel to Haiti, your best opportunity for learning about the country and its culture will be by talking to its people. Be prepared for conversation by taking advantage of Pimsleur’s Haitian Kreyol language course, which is currently available for FREE, thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster.

According to Pimsleur, the course is a “stand-alone 10-lesson (5 hours) program, [that] teaches beginning language strategies for essential communication and traveling needs, plus an introduction to reading.”

I’ve just downloaded the course… if you do the same, let me know and we’ll practice!

Community Connection:

What other resources do you recommend for learning about Haiti? Share them in the comments.

Giving makes you feel good. Photo: Shahram Sharif

I fly a lot and have frequent flyer memberships with almost every U.S. airline and a few international carriers, but the process of redeeming my points for award travel is usually maddening and mind-numbing.

Between black-out dates, service fees, and multi-layover itineraries, I rarely use the points for award travel, and often wonder why I even bother to maintain these frequent flyer accounts.

Increasingly, airlines are offering ways to redeem frequent flyer miles (or kilometers) for other aspects of travel–lodging, car rentals– and even for magazine subscriptions.

Many airlines also offer numerous options for frequent flyers who want to donate their miles to a good cause. Here’s a comprehensive list of 109 ways to use your frequent flyer miles for good. The airlines included on this list are major carriers in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and South America. Future articles will cover the rest of the world’s major airlines.

U.S.-based Airlines

AirTran:
AirTran’s A+ Rewards program supports military leave programs and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Full details can be obtained by calling AirTran at 1-800-247-8726.

Alaska Airlines:

Photo: Kiwi Mikex

If you have miles with Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan, now would be an exceptional time to donate them. Between now and February 15, the airline is matching all donated miles mile for mile, and is giving these miles to charities working in Haiti.

Eight other charities receive miles from frequent flyers of Alaska Airlines; these include: Angel Flight West (providing transportation for medical patients); Dream Foundation (providing transportation for terminally ill patients and their families); Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Foundation; Hero Miles (providing transportation for military service people injured in war); The Make-a-Wish Foundation; Medical Teams International; The National Forest Foundation; and The Nature Conservancy.

American Airlines:
Two of the options for donating miles offered by American’s AAdvantage program are Donate Miles to Kids and Operation Hero Miles.

Operation Hero Miles helps members of the U.S. armed forces who have been injured or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan by providing travel for families of these service men and women to visit their loved one being treated for injury at military hospitals around the globe.

Continental Airlines:
Continental’s OnePass program allows frequent flyers to donate miles to one of 14 charities, including: March of Dimes, Dream Foundation, M.D. Anderson (a cancer research center); UCP Wheels for Humanity; Golfers Against Cancer; The Ayuda Foundation; The Cleveland Clinic; CAREFORCE; the Make-a-Wish Foundation of America and Make-a-Wish Foundation International; AmeriCares; Healing the Children; the American Red Cross; and the Fisher House Foundation.

Delta:
Delta’s SkyMiles program offers the option to donate to 19 different charitable and conservancy organizations. The full list can be found on Delta’s SkyMiles site.

Photo: USAID IMAGES

The SkyMiles program is also running a limited-time promotion through which miles can be donated to organizations conducting relief work in Haiti.
donate miles to Haiti.

Frontier Airlines:
Frontier’s frequent flyer program, Early Returns, prefers that members donate miles in 1,000 mile increments to support one of five charities: The Fisher House Foundation, The Make-a-Wish Foundation of Colorado, Adoption Exchange, The Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation, and the El Jebel Shrine.

JetBlue:
At present, JetBlue’s “True Blue” frequent flyer program has no partnerships established that allow donation of miles.

Southwest Airlines:
Although Southwest supports a number of charities and environmental organizations, its Rapid Rewards program is not currently set up to transfer donated miles to charities.

Spirit Airlines:
Spirit Airlines FREE SPIRIT program does not currently allow donation of miles.

United Airlines:
United’s Mileage Plus program makes donating miles easy, using a simple online form.

With 27 options, you can support a cause you care about.

US Airways
US Airways offers five miles donation opportunities through its Dividend Miles program, including: Miles of Hope; the American Red Cross; Fisher House Foundation; the Make-A-Wish Foundation; and Mercy Medical Airlift.

Virgin America:
Virgin America’s frequent flyer program is called Elevate. The program does not currently have any charitable partners accepting donated miles.

Canadian Airlines

Air Canada

Photo: pfala

Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is currently permitting members to donate their miles to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, both of which are working on the ground in Haiti.

Eight other charities are partner organizations that accept donation of miles; these include Earth Day Canada, Engineers Without Borders, Kids’ Horizons, Doctors Without Borders, Schools Without Borders, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, Veterinarians Without Borders, and War Child Canada. You can choose which organization receives your miles.

In addition, you can choose to earmark your donated miles for Aeroplan’s carbon emissions offset program through Air Canada’s Green It Up initiative.

Mexican Airlines

AeroMexico
AeroMexico’s Club Premiere offers award travel and redemption of miles for loyalty partners’ services, and does not facilitate charity donations at present.

Mexicana
Mexicana’s Frecuenta program allows use of miles only for award flights or stays with hotel partners.

South American Airlines

Avianca:
Avianca’s Avianca PLUS program allows frequent f;yers to donate their miles to a children’s charity; however, the charity is not named on its website.

Copa:
Copa’s program, OnePass, offers 14 ways to donate miles.

LAN:

Photo: BriYYZ

LAN’s frequent flyer program, LANPASS, does not allow redemption of miles for anything other than award travel.

TAM:
TAM’s frequent flyer program, Fidelidade, does not allow redemption of miles for anything other than award travel.

Varig:
At present, Varig’s “SMILES” program does not allow redemption of miles for anything other than award travel.

Community Connection:

Thinking about changing your traveling habits? We give you a full run-down of how to travel by cargo ship and how to travel the world without flying.

Sarah Shourd; Screenshot taken from “A Mother’s Plea”

On August 2, 2009, we reported that Matador contributor Sarah Shourd was one of three Americans detained by Iranian officials after accidentally crossing the Iraq-Iran border while hiking in the mountains.

Since that time, Shourd’s family and the families of the other two hikers have established a strong online presence intended to raise awareness about the hikers’ detention and to call for their release.

In this video, released on December 19, 2009, Shourd’s mother addressed Iran’s Supreme Leader, calling upon him to show mercy and release the hikers:

January 31 marked six months of detention. The anniversary was a solemn one, of course, and one that the families acknowledged by redoubling their efforts to free the hikers.

In this video, siblings of the three hikers call upon viewers to send video responses to Shourd and her companions:

In addition to submitting a video response, here are four other ways you can help free the hikers:

1. Sign the Free the Hikers petition.
2. Write your elected representatives and encourage them to get involved.
3. Write a blog post to raise awareness of the situation among your readers.
4. Follow FTH on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

Improvised tents at a camp in Port-au-Prince; Photo: UNICEF Sverige

Now, on top of all that, Shaun King is a one-man crusader (ok, with a few thousand passionate followers) for Haiti relief.

King, a frequent commentator on NPR, has been recognized by numerous media outlets and organizations as a leader to watch, particularly due to his skillful use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to bring together diverse people for a single, focused cause.

Shaun King; Photo via King’s blog

Since the quake, King has been using social media to mobilize the masses to take action, and his latest effort may be his boldest and most important one yet: he’s hoping to collect 10,000 tents for Haiti in 24 hours.

Nearly three weeks after the earthquake, thousands of Haitians are living in the street without any shelter. And with seasonal rains expected to start in about six weeks, the need to get people housed–albeit temporarily and in provisional shelters–is critical. Haiti’s President, Rene Preval, said in an interview with PBS Newshour last week that the country needs at least 200,000 tents.

King has secured transportation for the tents on a cargo ship that is leaving Miami for Haiti on Thursday, so he has set a goal for his followers on Twitter and Facebook: collect 10,000 tents by Wednesday. Details of the 10,000 tents drive are available on King’s blog.

I’ll be buying a tent tomorrow (BUY WATERPROOF!) and shipping it out via overnight mail. If you’re able to do the same, leave a note in the comments so we can track how many Matadorians are able to support King’s efforts.

Follow King on Twitter: @shaunking.

Community Connection:

Keep following updates about ways you can help Haiti on www.matadorchange.com.

An immunization clinic in Cambodia. Photo: Cambodia4Kids

Those of us living in the Western world have the luxury of indulging in debates about whether we should get vaccinated for common, deadly diseases.

For many people in developing countries, though, vaccines could–all debate aside–perform life-saving functions, particularly in areas where sanitation and public health services are in limited supply.

And many people in those areas don’t need to think about debating vaccines because they simply can’t afford to get them or they live in communities far from clinics where vaccines are administered.

Those are the people the Gates Foundation hopes to reach with its new vaccine initiative, announced last Friday at the Davos World Economic Forum.

The Gates Foundation announced that it would dedicate more than $10 billion USD to vaccines over the coming 10 years. “Why now?” asked Melinda Gates, the wife and philanthropic partner of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. “Because of the success we’ve seen” with the work they’ve done so far.

Among those successes are the eradication of polio from all but four countries in the world, the distribution of rotovirus vaccine (a diarrheal disease that kills babies and young children), and the ongoing research into the development of a malaria vaccine and an HIV/AIDS vaccine. At present, malaria kills more than 880,000 people every year.

“Our commitment isn’t enough to take full advantage of what needs to be done,” Bill Gates said at the press conference announcing the aid, inviting government, pharmaceutical, research and development, and private sector support to realize the full potential of what Gates calls “the decade of vaccines.”

According to the Gates Foundation, the vaccine project has the potential to save more than 8 million lives by 2020.

Watch the Gates’ full announcement of the initiative in this video:

What do you think about the Gates’ declaring the next 10 years “the decade of vaccines”? Do you support their vaccination project? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Community Connection:

Read more about the development of the malaria vaccine in In Search of a Malaria Vaccine: What Travelers Should Know.

Map of Haiti on the wall at the Haitian Consulate, NYC, Photos: Francisco Collazo

As the editor of MatadorChange–the Matador blog focused on social change, environmental awareness, and community building–I felt compelled to organize Matador’s response to the earthquake in Haiti. What follows below are hastily scribbled notes written on receipts, in a rain-soaked notebook, and on the back of my grocery list during one of the most intense weeks I’ve ever experienced.

**
1. Francisco is serving dinner when we hear about the earthquake in Haiti. The idea to use Twitter to mobilize a relief effort comes immediately.

2. I cared about the Sichuan earthquake. I cared about the Aceh tsunami. But there’s something about Haiti being in the Caribbean–closer to home, a place where I’ve spent a lot of time, a place I know well–that makes the disaster seem more concrete, less abstract, and more urgent.

3. We are in a waiting room at the Consulate. “My family is sleeping in their car because the house is falling down,” says a young woman–22 maybe?– whose hair is combed carefully into place, whose clothes are pressed. “Your big beautiful house?” the Consul says, his voice rising into the question.

The Consul

They are cousins. Hers is not a horror story within this palimpsest of disaster, but it’s terrible enough. Everyone’s suffering is individual, and, to that extent, is relative.

4. “A lady is crying in the hall,” Francisco whispers to me. “She just learned that she lost someone.”

5. “Logistics” is a word I’ll avoid using for a long time.

6. What’s more haphazard: disaster or disaster response?

7. I think of 9/11, of Katrina, of the pervasive sense of powerlessness so many people feel. What I want to do is help people feel they can contribute meaningfully.

8. The vultures are circling at the consulate. The fat man has medicine to send, but “Somebody’s gotta pay for it.” The other economic hit men, talking about bulldozers and helicopters, rub their hands together and talk about the “return on investment,” about “long-term gains.” One looks at me and sighs, “Bureaucracy is such a pain.” Does he expect me to empathize with him?

9. In a way, though, I do. Empathize with him, I mean. I want to say: “Fuck red tape. People are dying.”

10. I wish I could draw what this process looks like. It would look chaotic but ordered. For some reason, I get the sense it would be easier to explain and understand that way.

11. I’ve become so dependent on Twitter, I find myself writing #Haiti with a hash tag no matter where I’m writing.

12. The Consul says he is hungry. He says it as if he’s not in the middle of coordinating a response to a disaster. I’m not sure what to make of his seeming calm.

13. I take a nap with Francisco and Mariel. We sleep close together, as if disaster might touch us while we’re not awake. I dream of falling down a long, narrow flight of stairs. When I look up the symbolism of this dream, there are mixed messages: one, a fear of failure. The other, an object of envy. I don’t know what to make of this, but it leaves me unsettled.

14. More than 1,500 emails. I have sent more than 500 replies and my gmail is blocked. I set up a secondary account. It fills up quickly. So many people want to help. I am awed by this, am grateful. And slightly overwhelmed.

15. I’ve “met” some phenomenal people: Rene, in Chicago, who’s in contact with an organization that may take some of our volunteers. Daniel in Miami, who’s working on press. Jess and Carlos here in New York, handling our volunteer list and picking up donations, respectively. Jackie in Boston, who’s focused on collecting donations for babies and kids. Andrea in central Florida, who has tons of water (literally) ready to ship. And Matador members- Gabriela, Cathey, Allen, to name just a few– all pitching in in different ways. I think, as I always do in extraordinary situations, what could we do together beyond disaster?

16. Three days into this, and I’ve forgotten what I was doing before the quake. Francisco says I should take a shower. I’ve been sitting in front of the computer or on the phone for 13 hours today.

Vigil in a Haitian neighborhood in Brooklyn

17. Coordinating well-meaning people gets complicated. From the outside, it’s hard to see how much work it takes to put together something as simple as getting donations to a warehouse. Everyone wants an answer now. Answering now is not possible.

18. When it’s night, I don’t sleep well. My last thought is of the Bresma kids, sleeping in a yard. Under other circumstances, there might be something adventurous about that. Under these circumstances, it’s terrifying.

19. And that’s why I say to Francisco before we fall asleep one night–which night?– “I just can’t imagine. I’m torn up over it.” I can’t even say “the babies,” our 3.5 month old daughter sleeping soundly between us. “You’ve got to stop,” he says, reaching over and touching my hair. He means to stop thinking about it. It. The babies.

20. We have mobilized thousands of people to take tangible action. It’s exhilirating. It’s complicated.

21. It’s been two weeks and two days since the quake. I was waiting to end this with some hopeful note. So far, I’m not sure what that would be.

Mai Alyschild, RN volunteering in Haiti

Mai Alyschild retired from her job as a psychiatric nurse at San Francisco General Hospital when she turned 60.

That was five years ago.

Rather than join a bridge club or take up knitting, Alyschild began pursuing a different pastime: humanitarian work in the developing world.

Alyschild has conducted a study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in rural Afghanistan; worked in Nairobi’s Kibera Hospital and AIDS Clinic; and has gained extensive experience in disaster relief, having provided medical assistance after an earthquake in Peru and a flood in Villahermosa, Mexico.

Alyschild, the mother of a friend of Brave New Traveler co-editor, Christine Garvin, has been on the ground in Haiti helping with earthquake relief efforts since January 21. She has been keeping a running journal of her impressions and experiences on Facebook, where her status updates give the rest of us an unedited, unscripted sense of what it’s like to be volunteering in Haiti right now:

Thursday, January 21: Oh.My.God

“We made it through the 7th level of hell (immigration bs/customs at the border). We were besieged by desperate hungry children at every turn….

…[W]e are …at the UN compound at the airport in Port-au-Prince. The Turkish NGO, Helping Hands, is feeding us dolmas and dates and grapes – after going hungry all day…. We will start work at the Hospital near the palace Nacional tomorrow.”

Friday, January 22: Greetings from UN Hospital

Photo: The US Army

“I no sooner got my scrubs on this morning at 6am when I was immediately coopted by the UN hospital here on the airport grounds… they were desperate for nurses… over 100 pt’s in the post-op recovery tent and 45 in the Pedi/Kids tent…(eek) and a full surgical theatre… with choppers airlifting in more pt’s every 1/2 hr from ground zero with gangrenous open wounds.

I was assigned vitals, wound care and hydration/nutrition… wound care was a bit daunting but the other nurses and I all pulled together and no one died…

[W]orked 12 hours running my ass off…and there was never enough time…everyone hollering “Doctora” “Doctora!” at me…. (This place makes “Mash” look like a 4-star hospital).

We even conscripted carpenters to ma[ke] us more OR surgery tables… as we needed them!
One funny thing: a team of Scientologists showed up to feed the Dr.s and Nurses hot chicken soup (bless them).
I may be here for awhile.”

Saturday, January 23: Day 3 at UN Hosp Hell City

“It is NOT getting any better…. The CDC would shut us down in a heartbeat for (absent) infection precautions… but what can we do??…. I want to scream at all the voyeuristic media hanging around, ‘Go home and send us nurses!’”

Sunday, January 24: 3-dot journalism

“passing soup across the cracked lips of a 96 yr old Creole woman…
one constancy intrudes: the whup-whup-whup of incoming choppers
and your gut tenses, wondering What now??

Untenses in the brief respites around coffee urns with colleagues
14 lenguas…two phrases in common:
‘What do you need?…How can I help?’

One certainty: I am where I need to be
You’d have to drag me away from here

Every moment you are ‘in the moment’
paying attention to the need in front of you.”

Monday, January 25: UN Hosp…

“Checking charts: (well, ‘charts’ is a bit of a stretch…stapled together sheets of paper)
‘TB positive’…’sickle-cell crisis’…’Hypertensive’…’rule out Typhoid’…’chicken pox isolation.’

Earthquake survivor, Photo: UN Development Programme

How many ways can the human body crump [sic] on you aside from earthquake trauma?

Don’t ask.”

Tuesday, January 26: How long have I been here?? IT FEELS LIKE A MONTH.

“Received ‘NO Code’ patient in advanced AIDS with advanced tetanus… prognosis: 24 hrs. Family at bedside
I gave him care and had a translator explain that this was their time to say goodbyes….

…[T]his is going to be Hell for the foreseeable future….

Tuesday, January 26: Reality bites

…Tonight a Haitian band came in and played some rousing gospel music and the patients families got up off the floor and began dancing and shouting in all the available open spaces…it was a sight to behold. Somehow they find it in their heart to be joyful for just being alive in the face of such dire adversity.

There is surely a lesson there for all of us….

Wednesday, January 27: Stress rears its ugly head

“I resorted to sneaking food from the mess to patients families who are here overnight without much to eat. Officially we have ‘only enough for patients and staff’ but there are cargoloads of donated food/supplies coming in every day marked ‘For the people of Haiti’ (I didn’t see any marked ‘for patients and staff only’).”

Wednesday, January 27: Greetings from (now) an armed camp

Previously known as the UN Hospital.
“The Army has taken it upon themselves and in a matter of 8 hours pounded posts in and hung a 6 foot chain link fence around the hospital to prevent locals and looters from coming into our camp.

I asked one: ‘Is that to keep the nurses in here from fleeing this scene?’ He laughed out loud.

Big problem: Cargoloads of donated items flown in in crates and dumped on our doorstep but no time or personnel to go thorough [sic] them and find what we need and get it on shelves… too busy with the need in front of us.”

Community Connection:

Another perspective on Haiti in this post-quake period is provided by students at the local film institute in the town of Jacmel. Check out MatadorTV’s video: After the Earthquake: A Compilation of Cine Institute Coverage.

Photo: takomabibelot

In case you missed it–which is entirely possible, given that mainstream media made a quick mention of it and moved on to the next big thing–the US Supreme Court handed down an alarming ruling in a critical case last week concerning the role of corporate America’s influence in American politics.

In brief, the justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the US government can neither prohibit nor control corporations’ political spending in elections. In a rather astonishing leap of (il)logic, the majority decision stated that spending is a form of speech, and as such, spending can’t be controlled by the government because imposing controls would be a violation of the First Amendment.

Well, money does talk, but as Justice John Stephens expressed in his 90-page dissenting opinion, corporate speech (made possible by deep pockets) and the speech of individual Americans aren’t exactly equivalent.

With this in mind, we argue there are at least five reasons why last week’s Supreme Court decision means the end of democracy as we know it:

1. Because it’s an alarming precedent for illogical judicial analysis.

The judicial branch of federal government plays a crucial role in Americans’ lives.

It affects our education, our relationships, and our bodies.

It’s precisely because it’s so powerful that Americans depend upon its decisions to be rooted in the most thoughtful and careful analysis of the law possible.

And in this decision, such analysis was absent.

As MatadorTrips co-editor Hal Amen observed, “I don’t believe relaxing campaign spending restrictions has anything to do with free speech.”

The fact that the Court made a case otherwise sets an alarming precedent for this Court with respect to its ability to analyze legal matters logically.

2. Because it shows just how pervasive the corporatocracy is…

Corporate lobbyists already exert almost unimaginable influence over politics, law, and daily life in the United States.

Graphic: OpenSecrets

They determine everything from what kids eat for lunch in public school cafeterias to what warnings the EPA can compel manufacturers to attach to their products.

And corporate interests have long shaped our foreign policy, from Latin America to the Middle East.

Do we really need more of their meddling? Do they really need any more power?

3. and emboldens them even more.

If you thought the arrogance of corporate America had reached unsurpassable heights (see AIG and big banks’ bonus fiascos), then just wait. Corporate America just got a big blank check, signed by the Supreme Court.

4. Because it further exposes the hypocrisy of American “democracy” to the rest of the world.

As we continue our world tour for democracy, claiming that we’re going to liberate “oppressed” countries from their self-interested “dictators,” we might want to take a minute to reformulate our elevator speech, because the jig is up: the self-interested party is corporate America.

5. Because it means that the little guy just got even smaller.

It used to be that anyone who met the requirements of office could aspire to public service through politics. Exhibit A? Jimmy Carter.

This was a hallmark of American politics.

No longer.

Unless you’re a friend of big business, forget your political aspirations.

Community Connection:

What’s your opinion of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Chris Mburu, recipient of educational assistance, Harvard grad, & UN human rights lawyer; Photo from A Small Act

A few months ago, an acquaintance was talking with me about Mexican children whose education she sponsors. She obviously felt good about the effects she believed her quarterly donations were having in the lives of a few kids; she spoke energetically, smiling a lot, describing the changes she imagined had been brought into their lives as the result of her modest contribution.

I didn’t say much, just listened. Honestly, I was skeptical about the kind of situation she was describing. While I’m an advocate of micro-loans, I’ve always been suspicious of supposed educational sponsorship programs. Unlike a micro-loan administered by an organization like Kiva, educational assistance programs are often far less transparent.

And so it was with interest that I read an article in last Sunday’s New York Times about an exceptional outcome in a case where a woman living in Sweden paid $15 USD per quarter for a Kenyan boy’s school fees… and he went on to become a Harvard graduate and human rights lawyer working for the United Nations.

Their story is told in the documentary “A Small Act,” which debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival last week. Here’s the trailer:

The film will be shown on HBO later this year.

Community Connection:

Want to learn more about what happens to your donations? Read two viewpoints on micro-loans: Why We Need Micro-loans Instead of Slum Tourism and Hand Up or Help Out?: The Case Against Micro-loans.

Photo: courtneyrae312

Allen Burt, a long-time Matador member and contributor, describes himself as a “former business consultant turned vagabond and social entrepreneur” in his Matador profile, so we’re not surprised he has organized a fundraiser for Haiti.

Burt, who’s also one of the co-founders of Library for Laos, invites Matador members and readers to the Hope 4 Haiti Happy Hour, which will be held in Chicago this Friday.

Here are all the details:

Date: Friday, January 29
Location: Hi-Tops: 2462 N. Lincoln Avenue (between Altgeld & Montana Streets) , Chicago
Time: 8-10 PM
Deal: From 8-10 PM, $30 all-you-can-drink domestic drafts and well drinks, as well as $2 shots and $5 bombs. From 10pm to close, it’s $3 “you-call-its” with your wristband. Appetizers will also be served.
Proceeds: 100% OF MONEY COLLECTED WILL GO TO SAVE THE CHILDREN

Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1978 and currently has more than 200 staff on the ground in the country. It has set up and staffed a mobile health clinic in Leogane and Jacmel, and is working urgently to prevent public health crises among infants and children in the aftermath of the quake.

Charity Navigator gives Save the Children a four star rating, noting that the organization allocates 91.7% of funds raised to actual services (the remainder are used for administrative and additional fund raising costs).

Anonymous donors will match the first $600 of donations.

Even if you can’t attend the event, donations are being accepted through the fund raising website set up for the event. Donations will also be taken at the door on Friday night.

Community Connection:

Read about other ways money is being raised for Haiti: Help for Haiti: Big Music Gets in on the Act

Feature photo & photo above of Michael Franti, by feverblue

What do an American Hasidic Jewish rapper and an African-American roots-hip-hop-funk-jazz-folk-rocker adopted and raised by Finnish American couple have in common?

An unshakable belief that music can and should inspire.

That and the fact that they’re both musicians who make our #MusicMonday list of the Internet’s most inspirational music videos.

Here are our favorites… who would you add?

1. Matisyahu: “One Day”, picked by BNT editor, Ian MacKenzie

“‘One Day’ is meant to be an anthem of hope. The song [is] a prayer for peace which Matisyahu hopes will be a source of inspiration for people struggling to open their hearts and stay positive.”

2. Michael Franti & Spearhead: “Hey World (Don’t Give Up)”, picked by BNT editor, Ian MacKenzie

“The music that Franti makes and his dedication to greater understanding on a global level, are not two aspects of his life, but very much one and the same.”

3. Playing for Change, Various Artists: “Stand by Me”, picked by Matador intern, Nancy Harder

Even if you burned out on this song years ago, you’ve gotta love the spirit of the musicians who contributed to this video, and the whole idea behind the Playing for Change project.

4. Wyclef Jean, “Hold On”, picked by MatadorChange editor, Julie Schwietert

Wyclef Jean’s musical message to quake survivors in his home country, Haiti.

5. Bjork, “Declare Independence”, picked by contributing editor, Paul Sullivan

It’s worth noting that one of Paul’s other selections was Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. Um, Paul, what does *that* inspire?

Community Connection:

Looking for more music? Paul Sullivan keeps you stacked with free beats from around the world in his “#MusicMonday: 50 Music Sites That Matter.”

Photo: United Nations Development Programme

Earlier this week, a Matador member wrote to say:

“I’ve been finding myself wanting to fly out & lend a hand for the tsunami, Katrina & now this, but I just don’t have the experience & feel I would only be in the way. I was wondering what you might suggest for getting the training I might need to be able to do the work I want to do to help.”

If you’ve been wondering how to get disaster training, here are a few resources that will prepare you to help:

1. American Red Cross Disaster Training

If you want to get started with your disaster training right away, the American Red Cross has a comprehensive introductory course online– and it’s free.

The course consists of three modules, which familiarize you with the Red Cross and its role in disaster response; the specific skills and actions required of disaster response volunteers; and the opportunities for volunteering with your local Red Cross chapter.

While in-person disaster training courses provide better opportunities for question and answer, as well as interaction with other learners and seasoned disaster response experts, the ARC online course seems like a solid way to begin learning some basic disaster relief principles.

If you do prefer in-person training, many Red Cross chapters offer classes at their local offices.

2. FEMA Emergency Management Training

Though many Americans are likely to argue that FEMA–the Federal Emergency Management Agency– could benefit from some training itself in light of its poor response to Hurricane Katrina, the agency offers independent study courses that cover a range of disasters, including earthquakes.

Specialized topics include how to respond to emergencies involving animals, hazardous materials, and pandemics.

The courses are self-paced, delivered online, and are free. You can even earn college credit for your coursework.

3. Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services Training Program

“Trained volunteers are effective volunteers,” says the Salvation Army, which has been providing disaster response and relief services for more than 100 years.

Like FEMA, the Salvation Army offers courses focusing on specific aspects of disaster, such as “Psychological First Aid” and “Emotional and Spiritual Care in Disaster Operations.” They also offer an “Intro to Disaster Services” class for new volunteers.

These classes take place at Salvation Army locations around the United States. Check the schedule of trainings to see if there’s a location near you.

4. The National Center for Disaster Preparedness

Students pay thousands of dollars a year to attend Columbia University, but you can access the university’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness courses–offered through its highly respected Mailman School of Public Health– for free.

Online webinars offered by the NCDP go far beyond your basic disaster preparedness and response curricula offered by the other organizations… these topics are high-tech: “Geospatial Intelligence, Social Data, and the Future of Public Health Preparedness and Response.” Having organized Matador’s social media response to the Haiti earthquake, I’m all about this course: “Learning Networks of People & Places from Mobile Data.”

Seriously, dig into this website. Columbia’s offering some highly specialized knowledge delivered by world-renowned scholars.

5. Centers for Disease Control

Need to deepen your knowledge and skills about bioterrorism attacks, bombings, or other chemically-related emergencies? The CDC is your one-stop shop in these areas. Download courses for free–in English AND in Spanish– on their website.

Most of these resources are focused on learners based in the United States. If you’re from another country, what resources are available to you locally? Share them in the comments!

Community Connection:

Learn more about disasters and disaster relief in these articles from our archives:

Disaster Aid: Killing with Kindness?

How to Survive Travel Disasters: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

Photo courtesy of Amazon Watch

MatadorChange has been following the ongoing saga of Chevron’s shenanigans since last May, when our colleagues at the environmental group Amazon Watch forwarded us a letter from Emergildo Criollo, a representative of the Ecuadorean community of Cofan, which has been devastated by Chevron’s oil extraction activity.

We’ve written several articles about Chevron and other big oil interests, including Shell, since that time, and we’ve been following developments in what has been called the largest class action environmental lawsuit in history.

Amazon Watch notified us recently that Chevron has a new CEO. On January 1, 2010, John Watson, Chevron board member, was appointed head of the company.

With more than 30 years of his career invested in Chevron, environmentalists critical of the appointment wonder whether Watson can really lead the way in cleaning up the company… not to mention the countries and communities it has harmed.

On It’s Getting Hot in Here, a youth climate action blog, writer Nick Magel observed:

“…John Watson is the very man [who] orchestrated Chevron’s takeover of Texaco, and with it the 18 billion gallons of toxic waste water and 17 million gallons of crude oil deliberately dumped in Ecuadorian rainforest communities. Given Watson’s intimate understanding of Chevron’s toxic legacy there is no question he knows what is necessary to clean up their mess and compensate the communities that have been living with the effects of Chevron’s contamination for decades.”

Magel went on to issue a challenge, asking “Will Watson build a tenure on human rights or legal fights?”

Amazon Watch has released a video of Ecuadorean people who ask Watson to take charge and lead Chevron in a new direction. You can watch that video below, and then read on to learn about the petition campaign led by Amazon Watch and how you can get involved:

The petition being led by Amazon Watch reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Watson:

As the new CEO of Chevron, climate change and the environmental and human rights impacts of Chevron’s operations are the two issues that will define your tenure at the helm of one of the world’s largest oil companies. Chevron has fallen behind other businesses and many political leaders already taking a leadership position on climate change. Furthermore, your company is drawing increasing criticism for failing to rectify its massive human rights and environmental disaster in Ecuador. Taking the following steps will demonstrate a true commitment to environmental responsibility and respect for human rights – which will only strengthen your company’s future.

We the undersigned call on Chevron CEO John Watson to:

Clean up Chevron’s toxic legacy in Ecuador, compensate affected communities for health and environmental impacts, and provide affected people real access to health care and potable water.

Develop a global environment and human rights policy that will prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Adopt aggressive strategies to provide clean energy to a carbon-constrained world.

To sign the petition, visit ChevronToxico.

Community Connection:

Educate yourself about oil! What Cuba Taught Us About Peak Oil is just one article from our archives that addresses oil as a dwindling resource.

Photo: United Nations Development Programme

The tone of email messages from people who want to help in Haiti echoes the tone of those already on the ground in Haiti: Why are we still in a holding pattern? Why does everything take so long to get moving? People need us!

It’s a tone tinged with equal parts urgency and exasperation, as well, I think, of a sense of hopelessness or uselessness. “I have skills!” people write me, attaching their resumes and enumerating the experiences they have that make them qualified to volunteer in Haiti. “But I have half a warehouse full of water! And people are dying of thirst!” writes another, asking how we can help him get pallets of bottled water to Haiti.

The answer is: We can’t. Not right now.

For anyone who continues to watch or listen to the news out of Port-au-Prince, rescue and relief efforts there continue to move at a pace that no one finds satisfactory. From a distance, it’s easy to criticize the organization (or lack thereof, it seems to us) of whoever’s in charge (Is anyone in charge?).

But among the many lessons I’ve learned in the past week of organizing Matador’s relief effort, it’s that the coordination of many people for a complex project with acute needs is a task that requires input and action from many different people and agencies. While the bureaucracy of this all just seems unbearable, we have to deal with the system we have right now… and work damn hard to fix it once Haiti has some real relief.

So what do all these observations mean for our efforts? A lot. Here’s the latest:

1. Volunteers ARE needed, though often under strict conditions.

Over the weekend and early this week, we have been in touch with on the ground partners who continue to screen potential volunteers to serve in Haiti. Partners in Health has already received a list of volunteers with medical credentials who contacted Matador last week. If they are in need of your assistance, Partners in Health will contact you directly.

If you are a medical professional who did NOT sign up with Matador last week, please visit Partners in Health’s website to fill out this online volunteer form.

For other volunteer opportunities, please complete this online form, and Matador’s partner organizations will contact you directly if they need you. Please do not contact Matador about volunteer requests or submissions, as these are currently being handled by the partner organizations.

2. Donation sites need volunteers for sorting and packing.

Some aid organizations are calling for an end to material donations, as it is difficult to ship them at this time. However, sites that have been accepting donations do need assistance sorting and packing donated items. If you are in the New York City area and would like information about sorting and packing, please email me at julie[at]matadornetwork[dot]com for a list of sites. Please put SORTING AND PACKING NYC in the subject line.

3. NYC area volunteers are needed for an event tomorrow.

The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs is hosting a panel discussion of humanitarian disaster relief experts on the Haiti earthquake. Panelists will speak on the state of the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, the progress on the ground and how individuals can get involved in the relief efforts. The IIHA is looking for volunteers to staff the event, which is Thursday afternoon. If you are interested in volunteering for this very important and timely event, please email Jenna Felz TODAY at felz@fordham.edu.

4. Decide if you’re in this for the long haul.

I said this the other day, but the message bears repeating: Haiti will need help for a long time to come. If you’re not able to play a direct role now, please be patient; the opportunity will arise for you to do so at a time when many people will have moved on. Your help will be even more valuable then.

Community Connection:

Matador Life editor Leigh Shulman examines our response to the Haiti earthquake in her article Five Elements of Running a Successful Social Media Campaign for Emergency Relief.

A sidewalk shrine set up in front of a Haitian restaurant in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Photo: Francisco Collazo

[Editor's Note: Due to scheduled maintenance of the MatadorNetwork, we were unable to publish this update last night.]

Many readers have written to say how frustrated they are that they can’t be on the ground in Haiti, that it’s painful for them to sit at home, watching the rescue effort on TV, and “doing nothing.”

But as independent journalist Ned Sublette wrote today in his daily email digest, Nedslist, “Watching disaster porn on TV is my definition of powerless.”

There’s something all of us can do, and there’s no need to feel powerless. Here are a few options, all of which are being spearheaded by Matador members or readers who responded to our initial call for volunteers. Read on… you’ll likely feel more clear about your own role in the recovery effort, and you’ll definitely be inspired.

1. Donation sites in New York City are being verified.

I spent today verifying the donation sites that are on the list provided by the Haitian Consulate. Only one of four sites visited is actively accepting donations, and that is Roland Realty, which is located at 907 Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. You can drop off donations of non-perishable food, clothing, and small household items at Roland.

Matador will be coordinating a sorting and packing day with American Airlines, The Society for the Advancement of People, and Roland Realty next week. More details to follow in future updates.

2. Matador contributor Gabriela Garcia announces opportunities to help in Miami. Other opportunities are announced in central Florida.

For anyone in the Miami area: We are taking donations of medical supplies, food, and blankets (clothing and building materials will be accepted later on as the warehouses are overwhelmed and the most items are going out first). The first shipment leaves Monday aboard the USS Comfort.

The drop off location is 7230 NW Miami Court in Little Haiti. Donations are being accepted on Sunday from 9am-3pm and Monday from 1pm-5pm.

Andrea Brown of central Florida reached out to Matador as a coordinator for local donation efforts in the Orlando area. Please follow her on Twitter (@aharbrown) for updates in that region.

3. Matador is sharing the information of medically qualified volunteers with Partners in Health.

Partners in Health has been working in Haiti for more than 20 years. We have been in touch with PiH since Wednesday and have agreed to share our list of volunteers with medical credentials with PiH.

More than 180 people who responded to Matador’s initial volunteer request, in addition to 70 Haitian American doctors who contacted Matador, will have their information made available to PiH. If you are among these people, please DO NOT contact PiH directly, as they are overwhelmed with calls. If they need your assistance, they will follow up with you directly.

Other volunteers without medical experience will remain on our volunteer list for a future trip to Haiti to assist in recovery efforts.

4. A Matador volunteer arrived in Port-au-Prince and reports he was able to get supplies to Bresma orphanage.

Vladimir Tilus was one of the first readers to respond to Matador’s call for volunteers. A former serviceman with experience serving in Port-au-Prince, Vladimir was determined to return to the city to assist in rescue efforts.

He reported that he arrived in Port-au-Prince last night. This afternoon, we asked Vladimir if he could try to deliver water and food to the children of the Bresma orphanage, as they had run out of water completely and food was running low. At 10:37 EST tonight, Vladimir wrote to say that he had reached the orphanage and was able to deliver both water and food. Though the kids are not out of danger yet, these critical supplies will help them hang on a bit longer.

We will continue to keep you posted with updates as new information is available.

Thank you for your continued support.

Haitians wait in line for water. Photo: UN Development Programme

There are three important updates to share this evening, so let’s just get right to it.

1. All volunteer information submitted to Matador is being reviewed by relief agency partners to match skills to need.

We have been collaborating with relief agency partners to match volunteers with service opportunities. All prospective volunteers need to submit their information using this online form. The organizations will review volunteer applications and follow up if your skills match needs for upcoming projects in Haiti.

Initial priority will be given to volunteers with medical/nursing skills; proof and verification of all credentials will be required.

We are not able to respond to individual inquiries about volunteering at this time due to the volume of volunteers who have expressed interest in offering their time and service.

Please note: Volunteer opportunities are not likely to be immediate. The Port-au-Prince airport remains clogged with international military planes and an influx of volunteers is still not feasible at this time. You will be contacted if a volunteer opportunity is identified for you.

2. Matador continues to work with American Airlines and other local organizations and businesses to coordinate donation efforts in New York City.

Over the weekend, we will be working with local donation centers approved by the Haitian Consulate to determine how volunteers can assist with sorting and packing items for shipping. Details will be provided as they become available.

We’re grateful to American Airlines, the Association for the Social Advancement of People, and Caribbean Cargo & Packaging for their collaboration.

3. Matador members in other cities are coordinating local efforts in their communities.

As information is available about these opportunities, we will announce them here.

Thank you for your continued support. We are in contact with volunteers on the ground in Port-au-Prince, and will be sharing direct reports as they become available.

UN forces performing rescue operations in Haiti. Photo: UN Development Programme.

[Special Note 1/14/10 @2:15 EST]

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and willing volunteers. Thank you.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more.

Here’s the update as of January 14, 2010, 7:30 PM EST

I’m writing after having spent the better part of today at the Haitian Consulate of New York City, where I met with the Consul and representatives from American Airlines to discuss how Matador and the immense energy of those of you who have reached out can best be directed to help Haiti intelligently and meaningfully.

The highlights of that meeting are as follow:

1. The on-the-ground situation in Haiti and basic infrastructure cannot support an influx of volunteers at this point.

American flew two planes of equipment from San Juan, Puerto Rico into Port-au-Prince yesterday. The American representatives indicated that the airport, while open, may not be structurally sound and the control tower needs repairs. In addition, commercial planes are having difficulty landing, as aid and military planes are taking up a great deal of space at the airport. They do not have an immediate timetable for flying people into Port-au-Prince.

In addition, the Consul indicated that fresh water and other aspects of infrastructure are not sufficiently intact to be able to support an influx of volunteers. Although it’s difficult to watch the destruction and need that undeniably exist on the ground right now, the Consul considers a mass deployment of volunteers to be an action that would complicate current efforts.

2. American will prioritize delivery of medication and medical supplies.

Immediate flights will deliver medication and medical supplies. Commercial carriers are limited in their ability to deliver other items because of TSA and packaging regulations.

3. American will be collaborating with Matador to organize the collection of donated goods in New York City.

Most relief efforts need to be organized locally at this point. Matador will be collaborating with American to collect, sort, and pack donated goods in New York City. We are currently speaking with another NYC organization about the logistics of shipping those goods. We will continue working directly with the Consul to determine which organization will receive and distribute the goods in Haiti.

Additional information will be provided about the NYC collection effort after a logistics meeting tomorrow afternoon.

4. If you are not in New York City, you can still help.

In addition to donating money to the trusted organizations indicated at the opening of this article, you can reach out to your local Consulate to determine how you can best direct your efforts. As Matador members organizing efforts in other US cities are able to coordinate with their local Consulates, we will post their information here. Such efforts are currently underway in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Miami.

5. Be patient.

My mom has a saying: “Hurry up and wait.”

It’s hard to sit still and watch the news of such devastation and not feel compelled to help. Hundreds of the messages we have received start by saying “I have to go to Haiti to help.” Matador will continue working on organizing a trip; however, all of our contacts and organizations with direct contact to Port-au-Prince have indicated that the time for that trip is not now. We will maintain our list of volunteers and provide information about on-the-ground opportunities as they arise.

Feature photo by US Army Africa. Photo above by Julien Harneis

[Special Note 1/14/10 @2:15 EST]

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and willing volunteers. Thank you.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more.

I went to bed last night (this morning, was it? Yes, I think so) with a full heart and a million thoughts, reaching over to the notebook by the bed every few minutes to make another note.

So many Matador members have volunteered hours of time to organize volunteer lists. Hundreds of you that had never heard of Matador before the earthquake have emailed, called, or tweeted offers to help.

We are doing everything we can to provide specific, concrete opportunities for you to help.

While we continue to discuss logistics about a trip to Haiti, please know that we are working on several other aid and relief projects, too, and will be posting information about how you can help, so check here often.

Here’s the morning update:

1. We will be talking with our contacts in organizations that are on the ground in Haiti to continue discussing needs and logistics.

As of 3:00 AM EST this morning, the last aid organization representative I spoke with cautioned that sending in volunteers–even those with specific and much needed-skills– right now may cause more harm than good. The organizations are still trying to assess their needs and capacity to handle volunteers. Safety is a serious concern, as is availability of fresh water.

Until they can determine what kind of help they need and the best way to provide it, international and domestic aid organizations are sending this consistent message: PLEASE BE PATIENT. They are struggling to get organized and to communicate their needs. Haiti will need our help for a long time, so don’t expend all of your energy right now.

2. I will be conveying the resources Matador has been able to organize to the Haitian Consulate in New York City this morning.

The New York City consulate is the key organizer in the US Northeast to mobilize all efforts. Updates will be posted here as they are available.

3. You can help immediately by donating to one of the orgs listed above.

Also, please check Wyclef Jean’s website www.yele.org to learn about how you can donate money.

4. We are working with amazing individuals all over the US to coordinate donations of goods.

If you are in New York City, we may begin pick ups of donated goods as early as today. If you have a substantial number of items to pick up, please email me at: julie@matadornetwork.com (Subject Line: NYC DONATIONS).

UPDATES WILL BE POSTED HERE.

Haitian Consul General of New York, Felix Augustin, giving press conference today. Photo by Francisco Collazo

[Special Note 1/14/10 @2:15 EST]

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and willing volunteers. Thank you.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more.

You are amazing!

As of 7:00 PM EST, we’ve received more than 900 offers of help from people around the world who want to offer their time, skills, and energy to help Haiti.

And those offers are still coming in.

Your support was so overwhelming that my email was shut down by a spam alert (thanks to Matador contributor Carina Port for getting that worked out) and we had to set up a dedicated email account: matadorhaiti@gmail.com.

Until around noon today, I was able to respond personally to everyone who emailed their offers; however the sheer volume of email, phone, Twitter, and Facebook messages has become so enormous that I’ll have to communicate with most of you through this site. We’ll be updating it as often as we can, so please check back regularly.

As of 7:30 PM EST, here’s the latest news we have to offer you:

JetBlue has not committed to sending a plane of Matador-organized volunteers… yet.

Although New York’s Haitian Consul General Felix Augustin praised JetBlue for being the first airline to offer flights of emergency relief supplies and volunteers (which you can see in the video shot by Francisco Collazo at this afternoon’s press conference), JetBlue has not made a decision regarding Matador’s specific request. JetBlue’s community relations department is working closely with the Haitian Consulate in NYC, as well as established aid organizations, to determine the current and specific needs on the ground in Port-au-Prince, and to discern how everyone who is interested can be of the most help.

JetBlue has put Matador in touch with the Red Cross.

Matador will not take volunteers into Haiti without a confirmed volunteer placement with an established aid or service organization in Haiti. I have emailed JetBlue’s contact at the Red Cross, but have not yet received a response.

Matador continues to work with other organizations and individuals to discuss logistics.

I have been in touch with representatives at Partners in Health (thanks to Matador contributor Alyssa Martino for that lead) and other organizations in Haiti. At this time, these organizations do not yet have reliable, consistent contact established with their workers on the ground in Port-au-Prince to be able to determine exact needs. Until the specific needs are determined, we’re in a holding pattern. We’re aware that a poorly planned project could do more harm than good, and we won’t go into Haiti unprepared.

In the meantime, we will continue to collect names, contact information, and skills of volunteers who are interested.

I will be contacting the Haitian Consulate in the morning to convey that 900+ volunteers stand ready to travel to Haiti to provide assistance, and will be in conversation with them about the best way we can help meet existing needs.

We will continue to provide information and updates for those who want to help in other ways.

1. If you would like to make a donation, the Haitian Consulate of New York has established an account with Chase Manhattan Bank: account number 761-549-039.

2. If you have responded to our call for donations, THANK YOU! Keep collecting and email us at matadorhaiti@gmail.com with the subject line DONATIONS. Let us know where you are and we will be in touch about coordinating collection of your donated goods. Please be patient; there are only a handful of us working on this project, so it may take us a bit to respond.

We’ve all got to pace ourselves.

Don’t lose this initial wave of incredible energy. Haiti needs help today, but it will also need help next month and six months from now. As the Consul General said at today’s press conference, “We always needed something.” The need now is greater than ever, and we’ll respond to it as soon as we have all of the logistics hammered out to do so.

Thanks to the many people helping out behind the scenes- from Chicago to Miami and here in NYC- your work is so important. Keep it up!

Photo: Schnitke

[Special Note 1/14/10 @2:15 EST]

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and willing volunteers. Thank you.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more.

Plans are coming together for a trip of Matador volunteers to go to Haiti to assist in earthquake recovery and relief.

Whether you’ve already contacted us to express your interest in going, or whether you want to help from home, here’s a list of the items we want to take with us. Consider starting a collection among your friends and family members. Every donation makes a difference.

Baby formula (dry/powder)

Baby wipes

Baby bottles

Diapers

Baby clothes

Toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothpaste)

Hand sanitizer

Vitamins

First aid kits

Over the counter medicines

Socks

Blankets

Mosquito repellent

Flashlights

Batteries

Candles

Flip flops

T-shirts, pants, lightweight jackets

Non perishable food that’s not in cans (seal-paks of tuna, for example)

There are dozens more items; this is just a starter list. Think flat, lightweight, easily packable.

Interested in sending your donations to Haiti with Matador? Email matadorhaiti@gmail.com.

[Special Note 1/14/10 @1:54 EST] We are working to connect qualified volunteers with reputable and well established NGOs on the ground. If you are someone wanting desperately to help but don’t have these qualifications, we strongly encourage you to donate to the following:

- UNICEF. Go online to unicefusa.org/haitiquake or call (800) 4UNICEF.

- Red Cross. Go online to redcross.org, or call (800) REDCROSS.

- Direct Relief International. Donate online at directrelief.org.

- Mercy Corp. Go online to mercycorps.org or mail checks to Haiti Earthquake Fund, Dept. NR, PO Box 2669, Portland, Ore. 97208 or call (888) 256-1900

Photo: RJ Bejil

Here’s the latest:

When I went to bed at 4 AM this morning, I’d already responded to 70 people who’d reached out to say “I want to go help Haiti.”

When I woke up an hour ago, my inbox had 130 new messages.

Everyone’s looking for a way to help Haiti; they just need someone or some group–like Matador–to organize it.

I’ll be updating you all day with developments related to the trip, and will be posting ways you can help even if you can’t travel with us.

The big update is this:

I’ve just gotten off the phone with JetBlue representatives, who are working on logistics. We should have an update this afternoon around 5 PM EST.

If you’re on Twitter, retweet this message:

Critical #Haiti update: @JetBlue is currently working on logistics. Stay tuned. THANK YOU @JetBlue. We can do this!

In the meantime, I’d like to share some of the volunteers’ stories with you:

“I am arriving to Puerto Plata on Friday for a previously planned vacation with my boyfriend. We are willing to join your group to volunteer if it is safe and feasible (we have a car) so I look forward to seeing how that plan comes together.”

“I have no idea where to even start but I did a quick google search and I have a HUGE feeling in my heart that I need to get to Haiti as soon as possible to do whatever I can to help these people. I have little money, but I have been a dairy farmer my whole life and I am more than able to work long and hard for these people.”

“Please keep me posted on possible volunteer opportunities in Haiti. My husband and I are adopting a little boy named Jeffry from Haiti, and had the opportunity to travel there in September. The people of Haiti and the country itself hold a piece of my heart. I have a current passport and am willing and able to do whatever I can. Thanks for your care and concern for Haiti!”

“Hi, my name is Joanne, and I am very saddened by this terrible and devastating event that has happened yesterday. I wouldn’t want anything more than to go to Haiti and help as much as I can. I am CPR certified and have almost complete training as an EMT. Please keep me up to date about possibly going over to help. Thank you.”

I’ll be updating again after talking with JetBlue this afternoon and will post within the hour about supplies that we’ll be collecting.

If you’ve emailed me about volunteering and haven’t heard back from me yet, I WILL be in touch. Hang in there!

Thank you for your amazing show of support. Haiti, I hope you’re ready for Matador!

Photo: ingro.comagenciadenoticias2.0

[UPDATE AS OF 1/13/2010 at 11:55 EST is that we're in the process of partnering with Red Cross on the ground and are waiting to hear from Jet Blue this afternoon. Please continue to show your support by tweeting: Critical #Haiti update: @JetBlue is currently working on logistics. Stay tuned. THANK YOU @JetBlue. We can do this!]

[UPDATE AS OF 1/13/2010 at 11:49 EST is HERE]
Earlier today, an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the capital of Haiti, with a series of aftershocks as strong as 5.5 rattling Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. As of this writing [9:45 PM EST], the full scope of damage has not been determined; however, the collapse of a hospital and extensive structural devastation suggests that the death toll may be high.

We’ve already been contacted by Matador readers and community members who want to know how they can help.

At present, we are working to coordinate a trip to Haiti via the Dominican Republic for Matador readers and members who want to contribute as volunteers in the post-earthquake recovery. It’s a huge effort and will depend to a large extent on the goodwill and quick response time of travelers and travel industry leaders.

Logistics include arranging transportation and lodging, as well as determining the best organization to partner with in order to contribute our time and skills. These details are being worked on right now.

Specifically, Matador is encouraging JetBlue to provide transportation to Hispaniola (the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic) via a Twitter campaign. Our request is being taken to JetBlue’s corporate relations department for their consideration.

In the meantime, we need your help. Here’s what you can do:

1. Spread the word via Twitter

Though JetBlue’s resident Twitter peep has agreed to carry our request to corporate relations, we want to show JetBlue we have a critical mass of people willing and ready to volunteer. If we can fill a plane, will JetBlue fly us there? It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

Retweet this message:

@JetBlue: If @MatadorNetwork could fill a plane with volunteers, would you fly them to Santo Domingo to help #quake vics in #Haiti?

2. Help us fill a plane!

Could you travel to Haiti to help quake victims? Email me at matadorhaiti@gmail.com to let me know you’d like to be kept up to date about our volunteer project efforts.

And ask your contacts if they’re interested by retweeting this message:

Are you interested in joining @MatadorNetwork to help #quake victims in #Haiti? DM us!

Post a status message on Facebook:

Are you interested in joining MatadorNetwork.com to help earthquake victims in Haiti? Email Julie @ matadorhaiti@gmail.com for more information.

3. Share your contacts and on-the-ground knowledge of the region.

We’ll need lots of help to pull this trip off. If you can help by sharing contacts in Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince who could help with local transportation, food, and lodging, please direct them to matadorhaiti@gmail.com. If you have contacts in the US who could provide much-needed relief supplies, share the same email with them.

4. Spread the word.

If you have a blog or write for a news outlet, spread the word about the way we’re using social media to coordinate this trip. Queries can be directed to me: matadorhaiti@gmail.com.

Photo: hdptcar

This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that finally forced an end to Sudan’s seemingly endless civil war, the longest running conflict in Africa.

The country is now at a critical crossroads: within the next year, it must resolve differences between the north and south or formally divide the country into two distinct nations.

Though mainstream media haven’t given as much attention to this story as it needs, artists and musicians from around the world lent their talent to the cause of peace in order to draw more awareness to current events in Sudan:

January 9 has come and gone, but you can still take action.

Read this quick primer on recent and current events in Sudan to get a sense of what’s been going on, then click back to Sudan365’s website and consider signing this petition, which calls upon key world leaders to provide the diplomatic support needed to uphold peace in Sudan.

Community Connection:

Are you a traveler who has spent significant time in Sudan? Consider becoming one of our Africa destination experts.

Pete and Andrea; Photo via Wedding Cans

Lots of Matadorians care about the environment. And lots of us have had budget weddings.

But I think we’re all going to be bested by Pete and Andrea.

The Spokane, Washington couple are planning to pay for their wedding by recycling 400,000 aluminum cans.

On their website, Wedding Cans, Pete and Andrea explain the motives behind this unusual way of funding nuptials:

[E]ven simple weddings cost more than a few dollars. We don’t really have much extra cash sitting around, since we’re just starting out. Add that to the fact that environmental responsibility plays a big part in our lives, and we hatched the crazy plan. Pay for the wedding – with recycling. Aluminum recycling is one of the most sustainable and useful forms of recycling. We’re shooting for 400,000 aluminum cans – approximately 5 tons of empty cans. We would like to get married on July 31 – which gives us 7 months to hit the goal.

For neighbors in Spokane, Pete and Andrea teamed up with a local recycler so folks can drop off cans and earmark their earnings for the wedding. For folks elsewhere, Pete and Andrea suggest taking your cans to a local recycling center and kicking a portion of your proceeds to their project after you treat yourself to a coffee or a microbrew.

Read all about the project on their website after you check out this video:

Community Connection:

Maybe you don’t want to collect cans, but if you do want to plan a budget wedding, MatadorTrips’ co-editor, Carlo Alcos, offers plenty of practical advice in A Budget Traveler’s Guide to Wedding Planning.

Daily life in Dubai*. Photo: Lara Dunston

By the time the evening news broadcast on Monday, I was already over the Burj.

I’d seen no fewer than four TV spots with snazzy graphics comparing the height of the Burj to the heights of the Empire State Building, the Willis Tower, the Eiffel Tower.

I’d heard too many redundant comments about Dubai’s wealth (former) and debt (current), too many “analyses” about the “seeming paradox” of a strictly religious people surrounded by such opulent, ostentatious gluttony.

The news cycle may only be 24 hours these days, but sometimes those 24 hours can really seem to drag along.

And so it was that Monday night, right before I signed off the computer for the evening, I banged out an exasperated tweet:

“You know what I don’t care about? The Burj, that’s what.”

Lots of stuff we throw out on Twitter’s blank wall doesn’t stick, but this tweet did.

Matador member Eloren agreed with me, tweeting:

“@collazoprojects Agree.. So fed up of hearing about it. I don’t see what’s to be so proud of? Tsss.”

And Aussie expat journalist Caitlin Fitzsimmons agreed, too:

“@collazoprojects I know! My husband was trying to tell me about it tonight.”

One person didn’t agree, however, and that was travel writer Lara Dunston, who I respect for her professionalism and her genuine and generous support of colleagues, including myself. An expat who has called Dubai home for more than 10 years, Lara tweeted back politely, but firmly:

“@collazoprojects The people who care about the Burj are the people who live there & love the place, and for whom it’s symbolic of so much…”

“@collazoprojects …which is why I care about it; I think we must feel the way Aussies felt when the Opera House or Harbour Bridge opened”

And just like that, with two tweets, I realized that maybe I *did* care about the Burj.

The problem was that mainstream media had totally overlooked the story that Lara was alluding to in two simple tweets.

She elaborates in her description of the photo that appears at the top of this article:

The pic is of Dubai Creek, the historical centre of the city and lifeblood of Dubai, taken from the wharf at Bur Dubai Souq. There’s something happening down here 24 hours a day, but I love it most in the evening when, with the fairy lights are on the dhows (wooden boats in the background)…. This is the first part of Dubai I ever visited when we moved to the UAE in 1998 and it’s still my favorite part….

There were only a handful of shopping malls in the city then, Burj Al Arab had not yet opened and there were no crazy manmade island developments. It cost less than 20 cents to cross the Creek on an abra (the main boat in the pic) then and now it costs around 30 cents. For many people who live in this area, this is the real Dubai.

When Terry and I lived in the city full-time (ie. before we put our things in storage and decided to live out of our suitcases four years ago), we would walk down here to the Creek several evenings a week…. Friday (like Sunday in the Western world) is liveliest when everyone seems to be down there shopping in the souqs. We saw this side of Dubai far more often than we ever saw the sumptuous shopping malls or extravagant five star hotels, which would only be when we’d go shopping and go out on weekends.

For most people in the city, as in any city, the luxe side represented by the media isn’t the side the locals experience every day. The difference is that with New York, Paris or Sydney, the media also makes an effort to discover and report on the everyday life of the city too – in Dubai they’re not interested. And I could write a novel about why that’s so.…

The Burj is more than snazzy graphics and a gasp-inducing fireworks show.

And that’s precisely why I was “over” the Burj before I really knew anything about it.

All the coverage was from the outside looking in: “Look how Dubai bested us!”

Nobody but Lara, it seemed, was inside looking out. It took a travel writer’s two tweets to make me aware why I found mainstream media coverage of the Burj so tiresome:

It lacked the human element.

Thanks to Lara for restoring it.

Community Connection:

Read other Matador editors’ takes on the Burj. Hal Amen’s Dubai, the UAE, and the World’s Tallest Building can be found on MatadorTrips, and Tim Patterson’s Could the Burj Kahlifah Collapse? is on MatadorAbroad.

Learn more about Lara in this article from our archives: What’s In Your Backpack, Lara Dunston, Travel Writer?

Protesters in solidarity with gay Ugandans. Photo: riekhavoc

Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity seems to be a very busy man.

In late 2008, Minister James Nsaba Buturo announced that the government was going to step up its efforts to manage “quality of life crimes” that threatened the integrity and well-being of all Ugandans.

Women known or thought to be prostitutes would have their names published in newspapers or on the Internet, and broadcast on television news. (Convenient, as Buturo is also the Minister of Information and Broadcasting).

Buturo also proposed the resuscitation of an Idi Amin-era law banning mini skirts, which, the Minister said:

“can cause an accident when you are… in a car. Men while driving gaze out when they see these women and this causes accidents.”

Oh dear.

But the bee that’s really been buzzing in Buturo’s bonnet is homosexuality, and the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 was intended to quash this “emerging…threat to the traditional heterosexual family” by making homosexuality punishable by death.

Under the law, homosexuality would be defined broadly, including not just sexual acts or identity, but also activities the government considers to be supportive of homosexuality, such as the distribution of literature or other “pornographic material.”

Buturo and the government supported the imposition of a death penalty for gays until the United Nations and other world governments expressed their outrage and their intent to withhold aid and other support. This week, the government announced it would dial down the punishment. Instead of death, gays are eligible to be imprisoned for life.

All of this is troubling enough, but what’s more disturbing to me is the fact that three Americans appear to have played a significant role in helping the Ugandan government craft the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The men–one a “reformed” gay man who leads “healing” workshops and the other two, missionaries–gave talks to thousands of Ugandans at a three day conference last year; they were presented as American experts on homosexuality.

According to Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times, “police officers, teachers and national politicians” were in the audience, and the effect of the conference was the setting in motion of “what could be a very dangerous cycle.”

Reverend Kapya Kaoma, a minister from Zambia who was interviewed by Gettleman, observed, “What these people [the missionaries] have done is set the fire they can’t quench.” Gettleman cited Kaoma as adding, “the three Americans ‘underestimated the homophobia in Uganda’ and ‘what it means to Africans when you speak about a certain group trying to destroy their children and their families.’”

Though the missionaries claim to have been horrified that their conference led to the crafting of such an aggressive bill– one is even quoted as saying something to the effect of “Some of the best people I’ve met are gay.”–their eagerness to present to a group of people about whom they obviously knew little, if anything, is problematic because they weren’t even able to imagine the potential consequences.

If you’re concerned about this issue and would like to keep track of events and make your own opinion heard, here are a few steps you can take:

1. Subscribe to the blog Gay Uganda, a personal blog maintained by a gay Ugandan. The first person perspective of this blog is paired with up to date information about developments regarding the bill.

2. E-mail members of the Ugandan government to express your concern about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009. Contact information can be found on the Ugandan government’s website.

Community Connection:

Wondering how homosexuality is treated in other parts of the world? Read about India’s decriminalization of homosexuality.

Photo: Marc van der Chijs

Compared to paddler David Miller, rock climber Abbie Mood, and runner Sarah Menkedick, I’m probably the most sedentary member of the Matador team, but even I know that climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is no Sunday stroll.

But this little tidbit from ABC News, in which it’s reported that five celebrities will be doing a Summit on the Summit “charity climb” of Africa’s tallest mountain, makes the arduous trek seem exactly that.

Emile Hirsch (of “Into the Wild”), Jessica Biel (of, well, you know), Lupe Fiasco, Isabel Lucas and Elizabeth Gore will step off on Thursday, aiming to reach the summit in an effort to “use star power to help raise awareness about the need for clean water worldwide.” Fans of these celebrities can follow the climb and donate “as little as a dollar” to raise money for the cause.

Exhibit A; Arranged by Hal Amen

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for celebs using their status to do good. And anyone with 20-20 vision can see (Exhibit A) that Biel has a body that’s in way better shape than mine. But climbing Kilimanjaro takes a bit more skill and effort than putting together a charity ball, designing a reusable bag for Whole Foods, or even running the New York City Marathon… especially if they’re shooting video and Tweeting at the same time, as they apparently intend to do.

Curiously absent from the article and from the Summit on the Summit website is information about how (or whether) the stars have trained for the ascent.

Though I wish them the best of luck and hope they raise a ton of money in the name of clean water, I’m curious to see how they handle the climb.

Community Connection:

Matador member CaliforniaKid7 intends to summit Kilimanjaro this year. Read about his 2010 resolution in Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2010.

A front page article in The New York Times caught my eye last Friday:

“Lower Prices Aid In Conservation: Some See Silver Lining to Dip in Real Estate.”

Writer Leslie Kaufman explained:

“[There's] a green lining of sorts in a credit crisis that has depressed real estate prices, prompted foreclosures and derailed development projects across the nation.”

Plummeting real estate prices have made it possible for conservationists to buy land that was out of their reach just a year ago.

Kaufman continued:

“[P]urchases by conservationists and state and local governments assure that thousands of acres will be put aside in perpetuity for parks, watershed protection or simply preservation of open space.”

We reached out to four photographers who have documented some of the spaces described in Kaufman’s article and asked them to share their work with MatadorChange readers.

1.The Florida Everglades. Photo by Michael Pancier
Although the Florida Everglades comprise the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, this World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, and Wetland of International Importance is threatened by draining and development. Such activity has undermined the native plant and wildlife species, as well as the stability of this entire ecosystem. At risk species include manatees, the American crocodile and American alligator, and the Florida panther.

2.New Jersey Marshes. Photo by Mario Burger
If you ever take NJ Transit from New York City to Newark’s Liberty International Airport, you’ll ride through New Jersey’s marshlands. Though New Jersey’s nickname is the Garden State, its marshes have long been abused as dump sites. Many of the marshes are part of the state’s brownfield clean up program (local officials have their work cut out for them: the state has more than 10,000 brownfield sites), but conservationists argue that the state needs to expand its protected marsh program as well, as marshes are important breeding grounds for migratory birds.

3.Boise, Idaho. Photo by Pulok Pattanayak
Big city folks like myself think of places like Boise, Idaho as nothing but open land. As the Idaho Conservation League points out, though, even seemingly pristine places are threatened by all sorts of human activity. The Boise River, for instance, is currently at risk of pollution by a proposed open pit mine–the world’s largest.

4.Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York. Photo by Paul Grebanier
Yes, that’s the New York City skyline you see in the background. The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge currently consists of 9,155 acres and is home to more than 325 bird species. Who’d have thought salt marsh, upland field and woods, and fresh and brackish water ponds could all be found within New York City limits? The wildlife refuge is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, a park that offers biking, surfing, fishing, and camping.

Community Connection:

Why should we care that preservationists, environmental conservationists, and land trusts protect large tracts of land? Read Matador senior editor David Miller’s Notes on Finding a New Home River for a few thoughts on the subject.

Photo via Sovereign Mind Radio

By his own count, John Perkins has lived at least four lives: one as an economic hit man (EHM); one as the CEO of an alternative energy company; one as a reformed EHM and whistle blower who has become an expert on indigenous cultures, shamanistic healing, and sustainability; and one as an author who writes about all of these topics.

Perkins’ most recent book, Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded–and What We Need to Do to Remake Them explores all of these lives and continues expanding upon the insights shared in his earlier books, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World.

Perkins spent the 1970s as the Chief Economist of a major international consulting firm. In this capacity, Perkins was tasked with the responsibility of convincing the governments of developing nations to agree to high interest loans provided by bodies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in order to enrich U.S. businesses and advance the diplomatic, defense, and economic interests of the American government.

As Chief Economist–a fancy name, Perkins says, for an economic hit man–Perkins saw the damage his work was wreaking on the environment and on human communities. Eventually, his guilt led him to leave that work behind, though he maintained a vow of silence about it. It was only after the September 2001 terrorist attacks that Perkins decided to talk publicly about his experiences as an economic hit man.

And he began to actively atone for the damage his work had caused by going back to communities in countries where he had worked–especially Ecuador–in order to begin repairing them.
*
I first spoke with John Perkins in September 2008 after reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. I spoke with him again a couple weeks ago.

It seemed an especially fitting time. With the close of one year (and one decade) and the beginning of another, and after 12 months of particularly turbulent world politics– the massacre of indigenous people in Bagua, Peru; the continuing political unrest in Iran; and the coup in Honduras– I wanted to ask John how his experiences as an economic hit man and the knowledge he has acquired over his “four lives” could help us all understand the world better and how we can use our own lives to be the change we want to see in the world.

The first step, Perkins says, is “to change our dreams.”

By way of explanation, Perkins recounted a conversation with members of the indigenous Shuar community in Ecuador:

“More than anything, it’s your dream [that's standing in the way of true progress....] When you give energy to a dream, it happens. [But you've] given energy to a nightmare that’s destroying the world. The way to change it is to change the dream.”

A few months back, in another article, I asked readers, “What’s your exquisitely absurd dream?” With Perkins’ advice about changing the dream, and with the fresh start offered by a new year and a new decade, it’s worth asking the question again.

What dreams do you want to change? What new dreams can you give energy to and make happen in 2010? Share your dream in the comments below.

You can listen to my entire, unedited interview with Perkins here.

Community Connection:

For some more thoughts on change, read Christine Garvin’s article, “Change Is Not a Four Letter Word.”

I knew wildlife trafficking was a problem, but I didn’t realize just how much of a problem until I read this article by Charles Bergman in the November 2009 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

According to Bergman and NGOs like the Coalitions Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT), animals stolen from their natural habitats and sold on the international black market represent a $10 billion business. Traffickers poach and then sell animals for food, medicine, pets, religious rituals, and private collections.

The threat of wildlife trafficking isn’t just species depletion or even eventual extinction. When animals are removed from their natural habitats, their absence disrupts the local ecosystem, and their introduction into a new environment results in problems related to non-native and invasive species.

Here are a few animals–from pocket sized to portly– prized by wildlife traffickers. Captions include text from Bergman’s article, as well as statistics from CAWT and TRAFFIC.

1. Butterflies Butterflies and other insects may be fragile, but they’re especially easy to traffic because of their small size. Butterflies are often sold to private collectors looking to expand their exotic menageries. Photo: e3000

2. Chicks Birds represent one of the biggest sources of income for traffickers, and Central and South America are high bird trafficking zones. As Bergman noted, “Ecuador–about the size of Colorado–has about 1,600 species of birds; the entire continental US has about 900.” Photo: oldcockatoo

3. Hummingbird According to Bergman, “two to five million wild birds, from hummingbirds to harpy eagles, are traded illegally worldwide every year.” Photo: hickoryhollow113

4. Turtle Turtles are sold for food, as pets, for medicine, and for their shells, which are turned into decorative items. Photo: notsogoodphotography

5. Snake Not every trafficker has the courage to hunt down and bag the world’s most venomous snakes, but those who do are paid handsomely for their efforts; snakes are sold for medicine, their skins, and as pets to exotic snake collectors. Photo: travlinman43

6. Monkey Monkeys may be harder to conceal, but experienced poachers know the pay-off is worth it: primates of all types are a hot commodity on the illicit wildlife underground. Bergman writes, “Wildlife trafficking is thought to be the third most valuable illicit commerce in the world, after drugs and weapons…according to the U.S. State Department.” Photo: individuo

Community Connection:

Concerned about animals and the impact of your travels on non-human communities? Read From Elephant Tourism to Elephant Voluntourism to learn how you can use your travel experiences to help protect animals.

Photo: Francisco Collazo

Yesterday, I wrote: “[A] tropical island is only paradise for people who come for a short, pleasant visit, not for the people who live there day in and day out.” Read on if you’re wondering why.

Number of years since being bought by the United States: 92

Photo: Francisco Collazo

Amount of money paid by the US for St. Thomas (along with St. Croix and St. John): $25 million USD

Current population: Just over 50,000

Current minimum wage (as of late July 2009): $7.25

Average monthly electricity bill (for a family of 2 that runs air conditioning at night): $300.00 + (Yes, you read that correctly)

Average weekly wages for a St. Thomas resident (as of last quarter of 2008): $673.00

Total number of St. Thomas residents employed in the last quarter of 2008: 23,900

Guardsman in Iraq. Photo: National Guard

Number of St. Thomas National Guardsmen who have served in Iraq & Afghanistan since 2001 (total number reflects National Guardsmen from St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John): 500

Number of St. Thomas National Guardsmen who have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan in the line of duty since 2001 (total number reflects National Guardsmen from St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John): at least one dozen

Number of St. Thomas National Guardsmen who have ever been able to vote for President of the country they serve: ZERO. Due to the terms of its status as a US territory, St. Thomas residents are citizens of the United States but do not have the right to vote in federal elections.

Number of people who have told me “Things aren’t what they used to be.” 7

Community Connection:

Want to learn more about the Caribbean? Read “Hope, Change, and Yes, We Can in St. Kitts.”

The author on her balcony at the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Photo: Francisco Collazo

Yesterday, the public relations firm Diamond PR sent nine travel writers to nine Marriott properties it represents in seven different locations in the Caribbean and Mexico. I’m one of them.

The purpose, of course, is the same as any other press trip: to expose writers who have a large audience of readers to its clients’ properties in the hopes that what those writers blog/tweet/Facebook about their experience will stimulate interest in the destinations and the properties.

If you’re a regular reader of my work, that preceding paragraph might seem incongruous with what you know about my writing. I’m not one for lavishing praise on anyone or anything unless it truly impresses me, which is tough (if you’ve got doubts about this, just check out this doozy of a book review).

And higher-end travel isn’t exactly my niche. If I had to narrow down my interests–which is tough–they’d fit more or less comfortably into the categories of political, cultural, social, and environmental movements, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

And finally, if you know me personally, you know that the word “paradise” isn’t one that makes a frequent appearance in my vocabulary… mainly because I lived in “paradise” (Puerto Rico) for 2.5 years and know that a tropical island is only paradise for people who come for a short, pleasant visit, not for the people who live there day in and day out.

So what am I doing on this trip?

There are at least two answers.

1. Though I don’t write often about higher end travel–and though it’s not my travel style when I’m footing the bill– I won’t deny that I enjoy it. I like high thread counts, I like sleeping under a duvet even better than I like saying “duvet,” and I like eating dishes that have overwrought, absurdly detailed names like: Sofrito Marinated Filet Mignon with roasted poblano crema, manchego cheese, chile-toreado salsa, and house-made cilantro-corn tortillas, garnished with cilantro petals.

A frou-frou appetizer in Oaxaca. Photo by author

And if something on those travels–a hotel or inn, a meal, an experience–impresses me, I have no problem writing about it, though it won’t be here on Matador.

2. But at the end of the day, I have to admit that I only know the difference between the salad fork and the entree fork, I don’t like to dress up, and I choose my wine based on whether I like the looks of the label, not because I really know anything about terroir.

And when it comes right down to it, I’m more comfortable with the people providing a service rather than those receiving it.

That’s the real reason I’m in St. Thomas this week.

*
A few years ago, when I lived in Puerto Rico, I jumped to the cause of some locals who’d set up (illegal) residence on a beach in Carolina. “La playa no se vende!” read banners spray painted and hung limpidly between sea-salt speckled tents.

“The beach is not for sale.”

Marriott was allegedly planning to extend its domain to a public beach, gobbling up the sand and closing it off to everyone except hotel guests. Of course, I was on the locals’ side.

The problem was, I didn’t really know anything about the issue and I hadn’t talked with either side.
*

A worker in St. Kitts takes a break. Photo by author

Since that time, I’ve been working on a long-term photojournalism project about the effects of big hospitality corporations on local communities, specifically in areas of the Caribbean where local industries have collapsed in the past 20 or so years.

From the outside, it’s easy to be on the side of those people on the beach. Like anything, though, once you hang around for a while and start listening to people’s stories, the “truth” is a lot more complex.
*
So, long story short, I’m not in St. Thomas because I hope to experience a little slice of paradise and bring it back to you… though if I do have some incredible peak moment, you can read about it on my own blog.

I’m here because I’m always looking for the back story, the untold story, the stories of people who are overlooked. .

And if you follow my writing, that’s the ever-present thread that informs my work… no matter where I am.

The very cold & very windblown author in front of an iceberg in Chilean Patagonia. While posing for the photo, a large chunk of the berg sheared off and began floating away.

Maybe you’ve been following news coming out of the international climate change conference in Copenhagen, which wraps up later this week. With the end of talks slated for December 18, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said earlier today that world leaders “face a defining moment in history” as they decide whether to commit their countries to serious, significant environmental protection policies related to climate change.

Many observers are pessimistic about that possibility, as talks about climate change have gotten stuck on issues related to the divide between rich and poor nations.

If that’s not discouraging enough, there’s been disturbing evidence that the climate change problem is accelerating at a pace that’s even faster than we once thought.

Last week, the international news outlet France 24 reported that a “monster iceberg” has been spotted drifting toward–of all places–Australia. The 12 mile long slab broke off a larger berg about a year ago and has been making a slow but steady drift toward Australia.

If you’re curious about what that might look like–and what implications it might have–check out this 2008 video of a Newfoundland iceberg collapse, found by Eva Holland and reposted on World Hum last week:

Community Connection:

Want to see what climate change looks like around the world? Check out Abbie Mood’s article, Explore Climate Change With Google Earth.

Feature photo: ABA; Photo above: littledan77

“The public execution is… a hearth in which violence bursts again into flame.”- Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

The words of the French philosopher Michel Foucault are charged with a passion and urgency uncharacteristic of “objective” academic texts. In his classic work, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Foucault explained that the hallmark of modern “justice” is that it is ultimately meted out far from public view.

The horrors of punishment become private, even anonymous… the person who throws the execution switch remains anonymous to everyone but himself. And, being beyond our line of sight, the person being punished is effectively silenced.

*
I’m not a soft-on-crime bleeding heart: I believe people who commit heinous crimes should be held accountable for their actions.

But I also believe that there’s more than enough evidence to suggest that the death penalty is not an adequate form of accountability. There’s the Innocence Project’s report documenting at least 17 cases of death row sentencing of people who were wrongly convicted.

And then there was Republican Governor George Ryan’s commutation of sentences of all 167 death row inmates in Illinois in 2003. It was a decision, Ryan said, that he knew would draw serious criticism, but the possible burden of that decision was one he would bear willingly because the administration of the death penalty was simply too flawed to be morally or constitutionally legitimate.

Rarely, though, does the public hear from death row inmates themselves.

Napoleon Beazley was just 17 years old when he murdered John Luttig in 1994. On May 28, 2002, Beazley was executed by the state of Texas. In his final statement he reflected upon the death penalty as an effective form of justice:

The act I committed to put me here was not just heinous, it was senseless. But the person that committed that act is no longer here – I am.

I’m not going to struggle physically against any restraints. I’m not going to shout, use profanity or make idle threats. Understand though that I’m not only upset, but I’m saddened by what is happening here tonight. I’m not only saddened, but disappointed that a system that is supposed to protect and uphold what is just and right can be so much like me when I made the same shameful mistake.

If someone tried to dispose of everyone here for participating in this killing, I’d scream a resounding, “No.” I’d tell them to give them all the gift that they would not give me…and that’s to give them all a second chance.

I’m sorry that I am here. I’m sorry that you’re all here. I’m sorry that John Luttig died. And I’m sorry that it was something in me that caused all of this to happen to begin with.

Tonight we tell the world that there are no second chances in the eyes of justice…Tonight, we tell our children that in some instances, in some cases, killing is right.

This conflict hurts us all, there are no SIDES. The people who support this proceeding think this is justice. The people that think that I should live think that is justice. As difficult as it may seem, this is a clash of ideals, with both parties committed to what they feel is right. But who’s wrong if in the end we’re all victims?

In my heart, I have to believe that there is a peaceful compromise to our ideals. I don’t mind if there are none for me, as long as there are for those who are yet to come. There are a lot of men like me on death row – good men – who fell to the same misguided emotions, but may not have recovered as I have.

Give those men a chance to do what’s right. Give them a chance to undo their wrongs. A lot of them want to fix the mess they started, but don’t know how.

The problem is not in that people aren’t willing to help them find out, but in the system telling them it won’t matter anyway. No one wins tonight. No one gets closure. No one walks away victorious.

Community Connection:

To learn more about American “justice,” read How the US Prison System Has Become Big Business.

For a look at life inside a prison, check out Photo Essay: Going Inside Brazil’s Prisons.

Photo: CarbonNYC

Hanukkah doesn’t seem to pose the same kinds of environmental problems that Christmas does, what with the latter’s cut and artificial trees and excess waste in the form of wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows.

But that doesn’t mean that Hanukkah can’t be greener.

Though most menorahs lit at home feature candles, public menorahs often blaze with the glow of electric light.

Two Yeshiva University physics students wanted to “green” these public menorahs, so they invented a wind-powered menorah, which they tested out this evening to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

From the New York Times City Blog:

“Their menorah is four feet wide and four feet tall, made of plastic and spray-painted gold. The lights are nine compact fluorescent bulbs. A cable connects them to a car battery. Another cable connects the battery to a wind turbine with a two-foot propeller…. The propeller turns a generator that generates current to charge the batteries. They provide a constant current and voltage to the compact fluorescent bulbs, which give more light on less power than incandescent bulbs.”

As Mark Stauber, one of the student inventors, remarked:

“In the miracle of the menorah, they got back to the temple and there was only enough oil for one night, but they made it last eight days…. I see an analogy with the world’s fight for sustainable energy, to take that and make it last as long as we’re going to need it.”

Happy Hanukkah.

With the global water crisis, can you really buy bottled water in good faith? These facts that might make you think twice before buying bottled water.

Community Connection:

Read 40 Shocking Facts About Water to learn more about water use around the world.

Feature Photo: khym54

Bhopal, Photo: openDemocracy

That’s the last line of the first paragraph of writer Suketu Mehta’s op-ed about the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster, published in yesterday’s New York Times.

In that paragraph, Mehta’s describing the difference between his son’s kindergarten class in Mumbai–where servants cleaned up after the kids–to the same child’s first grade classroom in Brooklyn, “where the teachers made the children tidy up at the end of the day.”

In elementary school, at least, Americans get it right: We have to take responsibility for our actions. We have to clean up after ourselves.

But what happens, Mehta insinuates, between that fundamental lesson of childhood and our supposed maturity into adulthood?

The anecdote is a lead-in to Mehta’s meditation on the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster. The short version of that story is this: the American chemical company, Union Carbide, had a pesticide plant in India that belched out a poisonous chemical cloud over Bhopal.

Four thousand people were killed instantly, and according to Mehta:

“An additional 15,000 people have since died from the aftereffects, and 10 to 30 people are said to die every month from exposure to the hundreds of tons of toxic waste left over in the former factory.”

That news would be devastating enough to any sentient being, but what Mehta goes on to note–and how it all ties in with his opening anecdote about the “wonderful American tradition”–is the real kicker: Union Carbide (subsequently bought by Dow) never cleaned up the contamination.

It’s disgusting, but hardly surprising and definitely not an anomaly. This year alone, we’ve written here on Change about a string of similar incidents, mostly perpetrated by big oil.

It’s easy to finger wag or wring one’s hands or bitch about mega-corporations’ greed and irresponsibility. But none of that does much–if any–good. And in some ways, we’re complicit with their actions.

“What’s missing in the whole sad story,” Mehta concludes, “is any sense of a human connection between the faceless people who run the corporation and the victims.”

He goes on to tell a story about a woman from Bhopal who wrote a letter to Union Carbide after losing her husband and her son to the company’s negligence:

“[P]ut your hand on your heart and think…if you are a human being, if this happened to you, how would your wife and children feel?”

Mehta says the woman never received a response. That’s not surprising either.

It’s tempting to read Mehta’s op-ed or other accounts of the Bhopal disaster, shake our heads, and move on. We always do… it’s our normal, default position, a self-protective action to keep us from totally breaking under the weight of the world’s problems.

But what if, instead, we decided not simply to move on? We can’t, perhaps, change the corporatocracy. But what we can do, every single day, is think about how our own personal choices and actions affect other people.

We can clean up after ourselves.

Community Connection:

Read about other corporations’ take the money and run actions around the world:

Chevron’s Greenwashing Ad Campaign

First Person Dispatch From the Chevron Protest

The Salvation Army bell ringer?

That’s so old-school.

This year, people and organizations raising money for charity and community development projects are using the power of Twitter to raise money and awareness.

Here are a few of those projects from travel bloggers we admire:

@Travellerspoint: The Hippo Rollers Project

Maybe you’re broke this holiday season. That’s ok– there’s still a project you can support.

The Travellerspoint travel community will donate a certain number of hippo rollers to African communities for each milestone reached in their crowdsourced wiki travel guide. All you have to do is write: Travellerspoint will buy the hippo rollers.

What is a hippo roller?

According to Travellerspoint, “a hippo roller is a large drum that can hold 90 litres (24 gallons) of water and can be pushed along the ground, making it much easier to transport clean drinking water. It’s a simple technology that has the capacity to make a huge difference in places where water is scarce.”

Read all about the Hippo Rollers Project here.

@travelinggreen: Adopt a Koala

A big supporter of the Matador community, @travelinggreen is a green travel and green living blogger at traveling greener. The site has lots of green gift ideas for the holidays; one of them is the Adopt a Koala program.

@MatadorNetwork: Brave New Travelers Youth Scholarship Fund

We’ve just announced the launch of our fundraising campaign for the 2010 Brave New Travelers Youth Scholarship Fund, which will send as many as 15 inner city students abroad for the first time. No problem if you’re strapped for cash: we’ll accept donations as low as $1.00.

@nerdseyeview, @deliciousbaby: Passports with Purpose

This is the second year that the founders of Passports with Purpose have used Twitter to raise money for a pet project: this year, they’re building a school in Cambodia. Matador has donated free tuition to our travel writing program at Matador U; read all about it in this article.

@joanna_haugen: Karikuy-Haugen Machu Picchu Porters’ Fund

We recently profiled Matador associate editor JoAnna Haugen’s Karikuy-Haugen Machu Picchu Porters’ Fund. There’s no better time than the holidays to help JoAnna realize her goals for this ambitious project. Read about the fund and learn how you can contribute by visiting her blog.

Community Connection:

Do you know about a project we missed? Leave your Twitter handle and some basic details in the comments section below.

Photo: Ed Yourdon

I was really at wit’s end last week, when not just one but both of my laptops died the night before a trip. “I’m going to walk over to Staples to check out laptop prices,” I told my husband, who reminded me that we weren’t exactly in the market for making a big purchase.

He fancies himself something of a handy man, so he logged on to YouTube and entered the search phrase: “laptop battery hack.” He found this video, then bought replacement Lithium batteries and a soldering kit for about $20.00. Thirty minutes later, voila: a laptop battery almost as good as new… and for a price that was a lot more comfortable than the cost of a new laptop.

Community Connection:

There’s another reason why the battery hack trick is good: it keeps dead batteries out of landfills. To get some perspective on where your e-waste goes, check out the photo essay, “Intolerable Beauty: Chris Jordan Photographs American Mass Consumption.”

Photo: Franco

For 52 years, the U.S. Marine Corps has sponsored Toys for Tots, an annual charity drive in which toys are collected for needy children.

People who want to participate in Toys for Tots can take a gift to one of their local drop off centers, which are usually located at toy stores.

One San Francisco strip club has gotten in on this year’s Toys for Tots campaign, potentially generating interest among a new group of gift givers. The Market Street Cinema is offering free admission AND a free lap dance to patrons who bring in an unwrapped toy.

There are all sorts of jokes I could make, but I actually think the campaign is a great idea. I’d love to know about other non-traditional venues participating in holiday charity drives. If you’ve heard a good story, drop me a line at julie@matadornetwork.com.

Community Connection:

How much could one piece of paper cost? Feature photo: Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Photo: Bekathwia

A few years back, I took a tour of the United Nations.

I stopped by the information desk and noticed a stack of booklets, each stamped with the date. The UN publishes information about its proceedings and resolutions in a daily brief that rivals the page count of many towns’ newspapers. Produced in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, any official UN document requires the work of many minds and hands.

It also requires a lot of money.

According to an article published in The New York Times a couple weeks ago, “it costs the United Nations an average of

$2,473 per page

to create every single document in its six official languages….”

Outside contractors could produce the same page for what seems like a bargain basement price in comparison: $450.

Obviously, the UN can’t keep its members in the dark about what’s going on with respect to decisions related to peace-keeping, aid, and development missions around the world. The cost of being uninformed is just too high.

But with a single UN committee producing more than 10,000 pages of documents a year, the organization is facing a few tough questions: What information is truly critical, how can it be presented in the most concise way possible, and who needs it?

Is there a solution to this costly form of communication? What are your thoughts about documents costing an eye-popping $2,473 per page? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Community Connection:

In addition to its peace-keeping, aid, and development operations, the UN performs vital functions like designating World Heritage sites, a status which confers protection on important historical sites around the world.

Read about 13 of Asia’s Most Spectacular World Heritage Sites or check out Hal Amen’s round up of Overlooked World Heritage Sites.

Would practicing poverty really help the world’s poor? Photo: Let Ideas Compete

Over on the Guardian’s environmental blog, a debate is raging.

On one side–and he’s pretty much a one-man team–is writer Tom Hodgkinson, who argues that “far more sensible than a ‘make poverty history’ campaign would be a ‘make wealth history’ campaign. “It is, after all,” he says, “the wealthy people who do all the damage.”

In his rather convoluted defense of this somewhat interesting, albeit totally unlikely to ever be realized idea, Hodgkinson grumbles that we’re all too divorced from the land, ourselves, and each other. We’re too tech dependent– “addicted” is the word he uses (though, curiously, he’s sharing his thoughts on a blog… I’ll leave you to ponder that one)– too consumerist.

We’re destroying the planet, he suggests, though we could save it, maybe, “[i]f we lived poor for just one day of the week….” In addition to “instantly reduc[ing] pollution by a seventh,” we–the world’s wealthy– “would rediscover the simple pleasures, such as cards, chess, backgammon, draughts, talking, dancing and playing music.”

I’m all for reducing consumption, unplugging more frequently, and spending quality time with the people I love. But I’m not sure I buy Hodgkinson’s argument that a “make wealth history” campaign would solve the world’s problems or make the world any more just for the poor, especially when he doesn’t really describe what such a campaign might entail besides harking back to the supposed “good ole’ days” before Blackberrys and iPhones.

I’m not the only one at odds with Hodgkinson–check out the comments section of his post.
What do YOU think? Share your thoughts in our comments section below.

Community Connection:

“Does traveling abroad = less conspicuous consumption at home?” asks Matador Abroad editor Sarah Menkedick.

A wind farm in Scotland; Photo: beltzner

Last month, I drove from New York to Boston.

Along the way, I noticed a couple wind turbines dotting the landscape, their blades turning slowly in the coastal breeze. I wondered how much energy they produce.

According to this 2006 Boston Globe article, a single modern-day windmill generates a lot more energy than I thought: One turbine is capable of powering an entire town’s streetlights and traffic lights.

Wind turbines haven’t taken off in the U.S. yet, but it’s hard to understand why with news like this: wind farms in Spain generate more than 50% of the country’s electricity needs.

In fact, the total output of Spain’s wind farms exceeds the energy generation capacity of 11 nuclear power plants.

If this is the case in Spain, which takes third place in the top 10 list of countries using wind power, then imagine what’s going on in Denmark, which claims the top spot on that list. It gained that position, says TIME journalist Bryan Walsh, because it had the “political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader.”

With the conversation about the imminence of peak oil intensifying, maybe it’s time for other countries to exercise that same kind of will to explore the power of wind energy.

Community Connection:

Learn more about peak oil in these articles:

What Cuba Taught Us About Peak Oil

Interview with Derek Wallace from OrganicReform.org

Photo: mamaloco

Let’s keep this short and sweet.

The world’s honeybee population is declining.

No one knows exactly why.

More research is needed to determine the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder.

Haagen-Dazs, which sources ingredients that are pollinated by honeybees, has donated half a million dollars to honeybee research over the past two years, and launched an awareness campaign intended to get consumers involved in saving the honeybees.

There are a few different ways you can take action, but one step you can take right now is to use your Twitter account to raise money for honeybee research.

For every tweet that’s marked with the hashtag #HelpHoneyBees between now and 11:59 PM EST tomorrow night, Haagen-Dazs will donate $1.00 to research efforts at the University of California, Davis.

Learn more about the “twitcause” here.

Photo: Lisa Brewster

The latest twitstorm blew through the travel writing universe over the weekend, leaving the blogosphere breathless–but certainly not speechless–over the quantity and quality of mudslinging that can be done in 140 characters.

I daresay the majority of us following the #followmeatsea hashtag on Saturday and Sunday didn’t give a damn about the spa treatments, fruity drinks, or lavish meals that bloggers on the Princess Cruise Twitter press trip were enjoying and then thumb-diddling about online. I mean, really: who wants to hear about someone else’s free trip while they’re sitting at home up north, slogging away at work? I’m just saying.

As several of us following the twitstorm admitted, we couldn’t look away. Some colleagues even suggested we all go make some popcorn and pull up a virtual chair in this online theater.

The twitstorm was about this: A travel blogger following the hashtag from home raised the issue of the environmental impact of cruise ships. Unfortunately, her phrasing was charged with a certain holier-than-thou tone. What ensued was an hours-long joust of keyboards between said blogger and the bloggers on the cruise, tempered with an occasional observation from those of us on the sidelines.

Before long, the whole exchange–which could have been an excellent opportunity for thoughtful discussion–devolved into a mutually defensive and embarrassingly immature display in which each party clearly wanted to have the final say.

In the midst of the storm, a couple of bloggers on the trip declared they’d speak to cruise ship representatives in order to provide a definitive answer about the environmental impact of cruise liners. They tweeted about their 5.5 hour tour of the ship, remarked about the GPFs (gallons per flush) of cruise toilets (”better than home!”), and insisted that “NO SOLID WASTE [read: poop] goes off a cruise ship!” Princess even, reportedly, “turns its old cooking oil into biofuel.”

Some onlookers were content, saying they “can’t wait to hear the REAL enivronmental facts” from the bloggers who were determined to resolve the matter once and for all.

All of which is well and good, I guess, but the whole exchange leaves me with a few questions:

*Is a 5.5 hour tour of the cruise ship led by people who clearly have a stake in presenting the ship in the best light really going to produce compelling evidence about the “REAL environmental impact” of cruising?

*Were any of the bloggers on the trip concerned about the environmental impact of cruise liners before the issue was raised by someone who wasn’t on the trip?

*Should travel writers care, ultimately, about their own environmental impact?

*And if the answer to that question is yes, how do we figure out what our true environmental impact is?

As I’ve written elsewhere, I’m not opposed to press trips. I’m not envious of the bloggers on this trip–I’ve never been interested in going on a cruise. I wouldn’t have been the least bit interested in #followmeatsea if it hadn’t turned into a disturbing yet fascinating real-time case study about the intersection of comped travel, social media, and environmental issues. Were any of the bloggers on this trip concerned about the environmental footprint of the trip before they eagerly signed on to cruise around the Caribbean on Princess’ dime?

Should travel writers care about their environmental impact? Should travelers?

My own opinion is an unequivocal yes. What’s yours? I hope you’ll share it–politely, please–in the comments.

Community Connection:

Missed the other recent twitstorm about travel writing ethics? You can read all about it here.

Photo: jsgphoto

And once the bottle is open, you know what to do.

Once you’re finished, you can recycle the bottle or get creative. Here are 10 ways to reuse wine bottles:

1. Turn it into a candle holder.
Every cheesy Italian restaurant you’ve ever visited has the red and white checked oilcloth, topped with a Chianti bottle that’s living its second life as a candle holder. This DIY project requires zero skills: buy a taper candle, shove it in the bottle. There, that was easy.

2. Use it as a flower vase.
This one falls into the super-easy category, too. Scrape off the label (soak in warm, soapy water first) and voila, you have a ready made vase, perfect for a single long-stemmed flower, like a Gerber daisy.

3. Make a dish soap dispenser.
All you need to do for this project is buy a pour spout and pop it into the bottle’s mouth. You can buy a pour stop at any kitchen supply store.

4. Store olive oil, vinegar, simple syrup, or salad dressing.
If you buy a couple of those pour spouts, you can reuse your wine bottles for all sorts of kitchen purposes.

5. Create a garden path.
If you’ve got lots of old wine bottles, you can turn them upside down and “plant” them in the dirt to turn them into a pretty garden path.

Photo: Francisco Collazo

6. Make some windchimes.
Wine bottles can be melted and flattened into wind chimes. The Flat Bottle Company can take your bottles and flatten them, giving the bottles new life.

7. Let it water plants.
Fill the bottle, tip it upside down, and stick it into your potted plants at an angle. The slow drop will keep your plants hydrated.

8. Channel your creative side.
Turn a bunch of bottles into a folk art piece, like this curious bottle tree, found in a garden in Mississippi.

9. Make a lamp.
Using the wine bottle as a base, buy a lamp kit and turn the bottle into a DIY light source.

10. And don’t throw out the corks!
You can make bulletin boards and photo holders out of the corks.

Community Connection:

Reduce, reuse, recycle. What about upcycling? Learn all about it here.

Photo: Tulane Public Relations

In fact, you hold much more influence over your school now then you did when you were a student on campus.

Every college and university wants to keep alumni happy; they’re crucial to building and sustaining a school’s endowment. But even if you’ve never contributed a dime to your alma mater’s annual fund, you can still let them know your future support is dependent upon them demonstrating their commitment to the environment.

Here are five steps you can take as an alum to help your alma mater go green:

1. Request that all communications be paperless.
How many letters do you receive each year asking you for money? Let your alma mater know that you won’t even consider making a contribution if you continue to receive requests through the mail. Call your alumni relations office and request that future communications be sent via email. If you do plan to make a contribution, ask if it’s possible to do so electronically.

2. Designate your contributions for green initiatives.
Most schools permit alumni to designate how their contribution will be earmarked. If you want to send a message about your environmental values to your alma mater, let them know that your contribution should be applied toward the construction of green dorms or a scholarship for a student studying environmental science.

3. Praise positive steps.
University administrators are like anyone else: they like acknowledgment of their good work. If your alma mater, like mine, is really taking the lead on environmental stewardship, send the president a letter and let him or her know how proud you are of their leadership.

4. Offer your skills.
Alumni who want to stay involved in their alma mater often serve on alumni boards, help organize reunions, or maybe even mentor current students. But your involvement doesn’t have to be limited to these activities. If you have a unique skill set, offer it to your school. Know how to install solar panels? Plan and plant a garden? Talk with your alumni office about how you might be able to give back by sharing what you know.

5. Stay in touch.
Keep up with the environmental and sustainability projects your alma mater is implementing. Check your school’s website or alumni magazine or newspaper to learn about current and planned projects.

Community Connection:

Still a student? Check out five ways you can help your school go green here.

Hey guys, let’s get rid of those trays! Photo: Totsie14

Earlier this week, I received a copy of the alumni magazine from my undergrad alma mater, Emory University.

Believe it or not, it’s always an interesting read, and it’s often packed with inspiring stories. This issue included a handful of articles about some programs that students and staff have implemented to expand environmental awareness on campus and in the Atlanta community while reducing the university’s carbon footprint.

These projects seemed pretty adaptable, and set me to thinking about how they could be replicated on other campuses. Here are five ways you can help your college go green if you’re a student. Tomorrow, I’ll offer five ways you can help your college go green if you’re an alum.

Current students can:

1. Talk with the campus dining director about trayless eating…
When I was an undergrad, students would crowd their trays with an entree plate, a bread plate, a salad bowl, a soup bowl, a glass, and a dessert dish. They’d eat too much (remember the freshman 15?), waste too much, and generate a lot of plates to wash.

Consider this: The dining hall introduced a trayless system in January. Throughout the spring semester, students had to carry their plates individually to the table and, when finished, to the wash area.

The result? A 14,587-pound reduction in food waste compared to the same period a year earlier. Water consumption also decreased significantly, as there were no trays that needed to be washed.

There’s no data about students’ waistlines, however.

2. And while you’re at it, talk to them about composting.
Though food waste declines when a trayless serving system is introduced, plenty of food is still thrown out. As an alternative, ask if it’s possible for the dining hall to set up a disposal area where uneaten food can be collected in preparation for composting.

3. Advocate for a campus garden.
At Emory, the overall sustainability goal is to purchase 75% local or sustainably grown food by 2015. That’s a good goal, but what if the food was ultra local… as in, on-campus local?

Take a look at your college’s or university’s academic programs. Is there a department or course where planning and growing a garden might fit into the curriculum? Emory has just launched a degree program in the field of sustainable development… growing an on-campus garden seems like a natural fit, and one that converts classroom theory into community-based practice.

4. Advocate for greener transportation.
This is especially important at large universities with spread out campuses. If your school offers shuttle buses, how are they fueled? Could they be hydrogen run or converted to vegetable oil engines?

These may seem like big changes–and they are–but a university is the perfect place for students to get hands-on experience. Convince university officials that your school should be an incubator for sustainable practices.

5. Advocate for degree programs that bridge the theory-practice gap.
As I mentioned above, Emory has just announced a new degree program in sustainable development. It’s only one of 10 universities in the United States that offers such a degree.

Combining classroom teaching with in-the-field experiences in agriculture, policy-making, health care, engineering, management, environmental science, education, and nutrition, this seems like a practical degree that won’t leave you wondering why you accumulated so much debt. Talk with the dean of your division to see if similar programs are on the drawing board at your school.

Community Connection:

Thinking about studying abroad? Look for a university that embodies sustainable environmental and social practices. Here are seven countries where graduate school is a fraction of US costs.

Photo: *Andrew

It’s a ruling that sets a powerful precedent.

Judge Michael Burton, the justice who ruled last year that Al Gore’s climate change documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” was “political and partisan,” ruled in a separate case earlier this week that:

“[A] belief in man-made climate change … is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations.”

The ruling was made in the case of Tim Nicholson, the former director of sustainability for a British property firm. Nicholson was fired in 2008 due, according to his claim, to his “philosophical belief about climate change and the environment.” Nicholson had protested the activities of firm executives who made decisions that not only weren’t green… they were downright ridiculous. In one instance, Nicholson told the judge, an employee was dispatched to take a flight from London to Ireland simply to deliver a Blackberry to another employee who had forgotten it, leaving it behind in the London office.

In court, Nicholson’s former employer tried to argue that “green views [are] political and based on science, as opposed to religious or philosophical in nature.” Because religion deals with matters that cannot be proven and because climate change can be substantiated, Nicholson’s views should not be considered religious, the company argued.

Their argument fell flat, though, as Judge Burton ruled in Nicholson’s favor.

The ruling is significant because it may establish precedents for significant, positive policy changes in British corporations… though it may also encourage more litigation. In its analysis of the case, the Telegraph explained:

“The ruling could open the door for employees to sue their companies for failing to account for their green lifestyles, such as providing recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel.”

If that’s what it takes to get climate change on corporate agendas, though, it might not be such a bad thing.

Community Connection:

The international conference on climate change is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen next month. Keep visiting Change- we’ll have a correspondent at the conference who will be filing daily dispatches.

Photo: ctenophore

Well, this is a depressing way to start your Thursday.

As if the news of glacial melt and polar bear deaths wasn’t enough to make you want to crawl into a hole until the environmental apocalypse has come and gone, here’s a stunner:

Scientists now believe that coral reef destruction is so accelerated that it’s impossible to save these living underwater ecosystems.

According to this article from the BBC, the only intervention believed viable at this point is to collect reef samples and freeze them for posterity. Should we get our act together on climate change and help restabilize the oceans’ temperatures, then, the reasoning goes, the cryogenized coral can be reintroduced to sea beds.

All the more reason why the world’s superpowers need to start walking the walk on climate change at next month’s Copenhagen summit.

Community Connection:

Members of the Matador community are active in coral reef protection and restoration. Check out the organizational profile of the Reef Doctor, an environmental conservation and activist group based in Madagascar that’s dedicated to conserving coral reefs through local education and community-based environmental projects.

Feature photo: 826 Chicago; Photo above by author

Late this afternoon, Media Bistro reported that Dave Eggers’ most recent book, Zeitoun, has been optioned by Jonathan Demme to be adapted for the big screen.

Zeitoun, a non-fiction account of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, recounts how the eponymous protagonist remained in New Orleans during the epic hurricane and his efforts to help neighbors and strangers after the levees broke. But the otherwise feel good story about Zeitoun’s belief that God might have selected him to witness the aftermath of Katrina and to provide whatever help he could turns, as Salon.com summarized, into a “a quasi-legal bureaucratic nightmare that resembles a Kafka story but is all too real.”

Eggers, whose previous book What Is the What? was about Sudanese refugees, learned of Zeitoun’s story and became interested in converting it into narrative form, while working on his Voices of Witness project, an oral history program that “depicts human rights crises around the world through the stories of the men and women who experience them.”

Demme, for his part, had not only been moved by Eggers’ books; he had also witnessed firsthand the physical and psychological destruction of New Orleans while working on the documentary series, “Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward.” Connecting through mutual friends, Demme let Eggers know he wanted to adapt Zeitoun for film.

Eggers agreed to Demme’s proposal and has reportedly donated all of his option money to the Zeitoun Foundation, the mission of which is to help rebuild New Orleans and protect human rights across the United States.

You can read an excerpt of Zeitoun here or learn more about Eggers here. To learn more about Mr. Zeitoun, check out this video:

Community Connection:

New Orleans still needs volunteers. Read my suggestions about the six best volunteer opportunities in the Crescent City here. Still need a reason to visit NOLA? Here are 10 to get you packin’.

Photo: (nutmeg)

“‘Most NGOs are still quite web 1.0 – we want to apply the web 2.0 technology that Obama used so effectively to the whole helping world.’” -Phil Noble, Founder, PoliticsOnline

Anticipation is building up around the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for December 7-18 in Copenhagen, with environmental advocates expressing increasing concern that certain world powers–including the United States–won’t take a strong enough stand to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

But whatever comes of the Climate Change Conference with respect to international environmental accords, there’s one piece of exciting news we can expect to see coming out of Copenhagen: the launch of “Hope Plus,” a new online platform that’s been dubbed the world’s “online Peace Corps” by founder Phil Noble, also founder of PoliticsOnline and technology adviser to President Obama during his campaign.

“Most NGOs are still quite web 1.0 – we want to apply the web 2.0 technology that Obama used so effectively to the whole helping world,” said Noble in a pre-launch announcement about Hope Plus. The idea of the program–to be backed by President Obama and Bill Gates–is to provide a global, multilingual platform where people interested in social change projects can meet online, share ideas and resources, and start planning projects.

We’ll be interested to see how Hope Plus develops and how it is adopted by changemakers around the world.

Thanks to our Twitter friend, @lrakoto, for the tip on this article.

Community Connection:

Other technology articles from our archive include:

Open Debate: Can the Internet Really Solve the World’s Problems?

Digital Divide Getting Smaller?

United Nations Launches Global University

]]> http://matadorchange.com/obama-gates-team-up-to-create-world-online-peace-corps/feed 5 http://matadorchange.com/nyc-elections-are-tomorrow-should-i-rock-the-vote http://matadorchange.com/nyc-elections-are-tomorrow-should-i-rock-the-vote#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:29:05 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1376

Photo: annnna

It’s said that voting is the most powerful instrument of change citizens possess in a democracy. If that’s the case, why do I feel so apathetic about tomorrow’s election?

I’ve only felt truly depressed a couple times in my life:

1. In the days following 9/11

and

2. The night of the 2004 presidential election, when it became clear that there was something seriously wrong with the American electoral system.

This second circumstance was a distant, fuzzy memory by this time last year. In the run up to the the most interesting American presidential election in decades, it seemed possible–finally–that the people could actually exercise their democratic rights and elect an interesting, intelligent candidate who wasn’t part of the good ole’ boy system and who hadn’t yet been corrupted by conventional politics, a candidate who’d run a smart campaign and invited the American people to get involved.

And the fact that we did–get involved AND elect that candidate–was powerful. Exciting. It’s not hyperbole or sentimentalism to say that it restored my faith in democracy and made me feel like one person really could make a difference.

So a year later, why am I so apathetic about getting out to vote?

*
Tomorrow is election day in New York City. Registered voters in the five boroughs–Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island–will be pulling the lever (because yes, we still have the old-school voting booth) to choose their candidates in the races for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, City Council, and borough presidents.

The most contested of these offices is that of mayor. The leading contenders are Democrat Bill Thompson and incumbent, Independent (and billionaire businessman) Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg’s been mayor for the past two terms and, by all rights, shouldn’t be running in this election. That’s because the office had a limit of two terms… until he strong-armed the city into overturning the term limits law last year.

“Why one of the most dynamic cities on the planet doesn’t have a more dynamic roster of candidates for public office is puzzling.”

Now there are few people who would argue that Bloomberg hasn’t done some good things for the city (not the least of which is living in his own home, instead of the mayoral mansion, and refusing a salary, both of which save New Yorkers some money). But his public demeanor is often sarcastic, biting, and borderline rude. And what’s really irked voters–even the ones who like him and have voted for him in previous elections–is that in overturning the term limits without taking the issue to the voters in a referendum, Bloomberg’s really only interested in self-aggrandizement.

Thompson, for his part, isn’t particularly engaging. I’m not even sure what I could tell you about him, other than the fact that he’s currently the city comptroller.

Why one of the most dynamic cities on the planet doesn’t have a more dynamic roster of candidates for public office is puzzling. And it dampens my desire to vote.
*
This isn’t a contest that involves voting for the lesser of two evils. Bloomberg and Thompson both seem competent enough. But they also both seem bland. Uninspired. Lacking in the charisma and desire to really engage their constituents in the way that President Obama did during his campaign… all of which leaves me with minimal motivation to walk the 1/2 block to my polling place tomorrow to pull the lever for either of them.
*
What do you think? Should I get out and vote, even if I don’t feel an affinity for either candidate? Make your most convincing argument in the comments.

Community Connection:

Recapture the spirit of the 2008 US presidential election by reading blogs from Matador members around the world.

]]> http://matadorchange.com/nyc-elections-are-tomorrow-should-i-rock-the-vote/feed 5 http://matadorchange.com/sitting-beneath-the-buddha-with-barbara-bush http://matadorchange.com/sitting-beneath-the-buddha-with-barbara-bush#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:57:49 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1360

Photo: Joe Stump

Matador editor Julie Schwietert and former First Twin, Barbara Bush, sit beneath Russell Simmons’ Buddha, giving Julie something to meditate about.

“Russell Simmons has a lot of Buddhas.”

That’s one thought I have as I realize my cup of coffee has tipped over onto the gorgeous Persian rug covering the floor of his ample living room… the rug the moderator has expressly asked us *not* to rest our coffee cups upon.

Oops.

“Russell Simmons OWNS the Shepard Fairey ‘Obama Hope’ painting.”

That’s another thought.

“And a Basquiat.”

That’s the third thought, and the last one I have before I hear John Forte (who, I will later learn, is a rapper and former producer of The Fugees), addressing another member of the group, asking her to “thank your father for granting me a pardon.”

Forte, you see, was just released from prison in January, after President Bush commuted his 14 year federal sentence (of which he served seven years) for a drug-related conviction.

That means he is addressing President George W. Bush’s daughter.

I stop trying to sop up my coffee as Forte picks up the guitar to play his song, “Breaking of a Man”:

*
It’s a rainy Saturday in September and I’m one of about 40 people under 40 years old sitting in the living room of hip hop mogul and philanthropist Russell Simmons, gathered here–directly across from the World Trade Center site–to “create an honest and open assessment of our generation and develop action items that will grow [among group members] and ultimately unite the generation in a more meaningful way.”

The people seated in the circle represent some of the most important thinkers and doers of my generation. Some of them are people whose work I’ve been interested in for a long time, like Jay Parkinson, founder of Hello Health, and Jehane Noujaim, documentary filmmaker and director of “Control Room” and “Pangea Day.”

There are also people I haven’t heard of before, but over the course of the weekend, I learn their stories. Dan Choi, the Army National Guard Arabic linguist and Iraq War veteran who was discharged for acknowledging he was gay. Robert Reffkin, a Wall Street analyst who’s running a marathon in every US state to raise money for underprivileged kids. Debbie Berebichez, aka “The Science Babe,” who takes her PhD in physics to break down the scientific mysteries of daily life (the physics of high heels?) in an accessible way (she’s particularly passionate about getting young girls interested in science).

I don’t know about you, but the big lessons I have to learn in life are the ones that are the toughest to “get.”

There are women and men; blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, and biracial folks; Muslims, Christians, Jews, and agnostics; Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians; people from really wealthy families and those of us from middle or lower class backgrounds; people who are familiar with the polished wood tables of the nations’ most influential board rooms and those of us with more experience in street activism.

I look around and notice all the difference.

*
I find myself in a break-out group with Barbara Bush, daughter of the former president. I’ve made no effort to restrain myself from offering my assessment of her father openly here on Matador, compiling a round-up of his less articulate moments and praising the Iraqi “shoe throw” journalist (and just wishing he had better aim) and I sit in our circle with a concealed dubiousness about what she brings to the table other than her name.

One of the Buddhas is poised in a corner of the room, a benign presence on this overcast afternoon, the day after the 8th anniversary of the attacks, in a penthouse within view of the WTC site. Its golden legs folded easily into a triangle, its forehead relaxed, the Buddha’s eyes look down at us without judgment.

Me?

I’ve judged Barbara before she has a chance to share her ideas, projecting her father’s ideology and his shortcomings onto her unfairly. It’s only when she speaks up about health care and the potential uses of technology that I realize we actually have a great deal in common. She’s articulate, thoughtful, a good listener. The hour allotted for our conversation ends quickly. I’m surprised that I want to know more about her work, to hear more of what she has to say.

*
I don’t know about you, but the big lessons I have to learn in life are the ones that are the toughest to “get.” Being patient? Recognizing that sometimes getting my way or being right will do more harm than good (even if I am right)? Being in the moment? Being non-judgmental? The opportunities to finally get these–and get them right–come up over and over again. I don’t know if that’s the challenge of my generation, but it’s certainly *my* challenge, and it’s what I take away from the weekend, and what I realize I need to work on moving forward.

]]> http://matadorchange.com/sitting-beneath-the-buddha-with-barbara-bush/feed 11 http://matadorchange.com/paulo-coelho-on-political-correctness http://matadorchange.com/paulo-coelho-on-political-correctness#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:10:39 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1334

Photo: rockinfree

The best-selling author tweets his opinion about political correctness.

Is being “PC” passe?

Here’s what the Brazilian author and author of the popular self-help book The Alchemist had to say about political correctness on Twitter (yes, Paulo Coelho’s on Twitter: he’s @paulocoelho):

“Political correctness doesn’t make us more respectful; instead, it makes us feel ‘good’ but it also widens the gap.”

Do you agree with Coelho? Why or why not?
Bonus points if you can comment in 140 characters or fewer.

Community Connection:

Paulo Coelho’s bestseller The Alchemist made Matador’s list of the 10 Most Influential Spiritual Books of the Past 50 Years. To find out why–and to see the other 9 books on the list–click here.

]]> http://matadorchange.com/paulo-coelho-on-political-correctness/feed 13 http://matadorchange.com/dear-justice-of-the-peace-bardwell-an-open-letter-against-institutionalized-racism http://matadorchange.com/dear-justice-of-the-peace-bardwell-an-open-letter-against-institutionalized-racism#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:09:08 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1289

Matador’s managing editor, Julie Schwietert, and her Afro-Cuban husband.

Louisiana’s Tangipahoa Parish became newsworthy last week when Justice of the Peace Kenneth Bardwell refused to marry an interracial couple, citing his concern “for the children who might be born of the relationship,” especially since “most interracial marriages don’t last.”

Here at Matador, we took the news personally.

See, many of us on the editorial team–at least six of us–are partners in long-term interracial and/or intercultural relationships.

Matador’s senior editor, David Miller, his Argentinean wife, and their daughter. Photo courtesy of David Miller

I’m one of them.

Having just given birth to our first child–almost one month ago today–I have some thoughts I’d like to share with Justice of the Peace Bardwell.

**

Dear Justice of the Peace Bardwell:

I’m sure this isn’t the first letter you’ve received since the nation learned of your policy against performing marriages of interracial couples because you “don’t believe in mixing the races that way.”

I’m sure you’ve been reviled for your comments like “I’m not a racist…. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

I know there are folks who want your head. Even Louisiana’s ultra-conservative governor, Bobby Jindal, has publicly called for your resignation.

I thought that’s what I wanted too. In fact, just an hour ago, I changed my Facebook status to read:

“Julie Schwietert Collazo is working on an article to unseat that ass of a justice of the peace in Louisiana.”

But as I started to think about you, to think about me, to think about my husband, my child, my friends, and what I believe in most–namely, that words matter– I realized that:

1. “unseat the ass” is just crass, not constructive.

and

2. what I really want is not for you to lose your job because then you’d lose the lesson.

What I really want is for you to understand that the children of interracial and intercultural couples don’t need your “protection.”

Matador Trips editor, Carlo Alcos, with his German wife.

That you’re not protecting them–or anyone else for that matter– by refusing to marry two people who love one another and who have thoughtfully considered the immense responsibilities and the profound joys implied by the institution of marriage and who have then decided to say to one another, “Yes, I do.”

In its ruling in the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court unequivocally stated, “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state.”

In fact, you’re doing the couple and the community a tremendous disservice.

Matador Abroad editor, Sarah Menkedick, & her Mexican husband.

By assuming that neither black communities nor white communities can or will accept interracial couples or their children, should they choose to have them, you allow both groups (which you’re assuming to be monolithic in their opinions and beliefs) to perpetuate tired stereotypes that have little relevance in contemporary society (if, in fact, they ever had relevance).

If you haven’t noticed, sir, the president of this country is biracial.

In its ruling in the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court unequivocally stated, “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state.”

The ruling, subsequently translated into law, seems fairly clear to me.

The author’s biracial daughter.

When I looked into the eyes of my daughter as she was placed on my chest after being born, I was overwhelmed by thoughts about her fragility and her strength. About the challenges she’ll face in her life. About the disappointments, the sadnesses, and the losses she’ll encounter, and how her father and I won’t be able to protect her from all of them.

None of these thoughts had to do with her race or ours.

They had to do with the human condition.

Matador Goods editor, Lola Akinmade, exchanging vows.

Your job, the one you chose for yourself, is to preside over marriages between two people who have come to a decision between themselves that they are willing to face life’s joys and challenges together with equal commitment.

If you truly felt that Beth Humphrey and Terence McKay were incapable of fulfilling that commitment, then you could be guided by your conscience to decline presiding over their marriage.

But if you made the decision based solely on race, then you are merely part of the same group of people from whom you presumably want to protect the McKays’ future children.

And that is neither your responsibility nor your right.

]]> http://matadorchange.com/dear-justice-of-the-peace-bardwell-an-open-letter-against-institutionalized-racism/feed 29 http://matadorchange.com/from-the-editor-come-sit-around-the-campfire http://matadorchange.com/from-the-editor-come-sit-around-the-campfire#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:12:57 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1278

Photo: wili hybrid

Some thoughts from the editor.

If you scrolled through the gmail chats between senior editor David Miller and myself over the past year or so, you’d find at least half a dozen references to campfires.

It’s funny: he’s currently biding time with his wife and daughter at his parents’ gated community in Florida before heading down to El Bolson in Patagonia to set up a home. Me? I’m in New York City.

Neither place is conducive to building a campfire, and maybe that’s why the image is so present in our conversation. We’ve both spent lots of time around campfires and though we both make our living online, our favorite places are offline–way offline–sitting around a fire with people we love, having conversations that matter.

The Matador editors and interns–the Matador tribe, as we refer to ourselves–are spread across the globe. Tim Patterson’s in Luang Prabang. Kate Sedgwick, Hal Amen, and Adam Roy are all in Buenos Aires, soon to be joined by Tom Gates.

“Our favorite places are sitting around a campfire….

Sarah Menkedick’s in Oaxaca. Lola Akinmade, lately of Stockholm, is making her way to NYC for a visit. Ian MacKenzie’s in Vancouver. Twitter Ninja Andy Hayes is in Edinburgh. Intern Eileen Smith is in Santiago.

And that’s not even all of us.

Our campfire is virtual, and every day we invite you to come sit around it with us to talk about the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met, the experiences you’ve had, and the communities you’ve been a part of.

Then, we hope you’ll take what you’ve learned here and share it with others… preferably around a campfire.

]]> http://matadorchange.com/from-the-editor-come-sit-around-the-campfire/feed 11 http://matadorchange.com/climate-change-seen-firsthand http://matadorchange.com/climate-change-seen-firsthand#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:47:14 +0000 Julie Schwietert http://matadorchange.com/?p=1269 Today is Blog Action Day.

Maybe climate change can really only be understood by seeing it first hand.

In their travels around the world, Matador’s editors have witnessed the effects of climate change with their own eyes. Today, in recognition of Blog Action Day, Matador editors Lola Akinmade and Hal Amen posted dispatches about climate change issues in Nigeria and Bolivia.

Photo: Lola Akinmade

Matador Goods editor Lola Akinmade examines this image, explaining how global poverty and climate change are inextricably linked. Click here to read the full article, “The Scarcity of Breath.”

Photo: scropy

Matador Trips editor Hal Amen reports on why a receding, melting glacier matters to a community in Bolivia. Click here to read about “los pobres dying of thirst. Just one consequence among countless others of climate change.”

Community Connection:

Have you witnessed the effects of climate change in your travels or in your own community? Share the story below. If you have a photo that tells the story better, consider submitting it to Matador’s Flickr photo pool!

Ice that sheared off a glacier in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile; Photo by author

Polar bears are dying, ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising.

You’ve heard these facts so many times, you’ve likely tuned out any mention of them.

You know the planet’s climate is changing, and it’s not for the better.

But judging from some of the (ahem) informed comments we receive in response to climate change articles on Matador, it’s pretty clear that some folks still don’t believe climate change is a problem.

That’s where you come in.

October 15–that’s this Thursday–is Blog Action Day, an “annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance.”

This year’s issue is climate change.

Besides being an urgent issue that affects everyone on the planet, the organizers of Blog Action Day selected climate change as this year’s topic in order to stimulate conversation about the issue leading up to the Copenhagen climate meeting scheduled for this December.

To get ideas about a post you can write for Blog Action Day, click here. And for other ideas about how you can take action, the Blog Action Day organizers offer 12 concrete steps you can take to address climate change in your own community.

Community Connection:

Want to learn about someone who’s concerned about the environment every day? Check out Chris Jordan’s Pacific Garbage Patch project here.

Photo: Yafut

Greenpeace has some advice for you.

Recognizing that the most hard-core environmentalists want to make every aspect of their lives green, the environmental activism group published an “Eco-Sex Guide,” consisting of 10 tips for greater, “greener” sex.

If you’ve never thought about the carbon footprint of your sex life, check out some of their suggestions:

Turn off the lights. We all have to do our part to stop climate change; energy reduction and energy efficiency are an important part of changing our energy culture. If you want to see your partner, or what you are doing, have sex during the day.

Forget the fossil fuel based lubricants like petroleum jelly! Esso’s screwing the planet, but you don’t have to.

Soap up together in the shower or bath to save water and create passion for more than the environment. More than one billion people do not have access to clean water; it is a luxury…

If you want…paddles for something other than rowing, please, for God’’s sake, make sure they are made from sustainably harvested timber. Look for timber, paddles, whatever, certified by the only internationally recognised ecological forest certification organisation, the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC.

If you’ve got advice for eco-friendly sex, share your tips below.

Community Connection:

Want to go green while you’re traveling? Check out our green guides to cities like Milan, Barcelona, and Washington, D.C..

Found these fantastic photos in my inbox this morning. I’m not sure where they originated, but God bless the folks who had their camera at the ready because I just love some good spelling errors, especially from self-righteous people like these:

Michelle and Danny explain the impetus for their documentary project:

Our job was to capture the stories and images related to prison life, the city streets, the courtrooms and the debates shaping the future of Brazil’s legal reform.

It wasn’t easy.

Our opportunity in Brazil was organized by International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), an organization open to young travelers who would like to use their skills in documentary photography or writing to assist programs in the developing world.

In July of 2009, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) sent us to Brazil to assess the impact and potential of IBJ’s fellowship program there. The program, known as JusticeMakers, granted Dr. Aziz Saliba the financial support to produce an educational DVD on habeas corpus and the Inter-American Court.

Every prison that IBJ’s team visited was at least twice over capacity, except for one- APAC (Associação de Proteção e Assistência aos Condenados). This prison is Brazil’s homegrown vision of a jail guarded by prisoners themselves. It was the cleanest, most cost-efficient, spiritual and calm prison we’d visited during our stay. The energy and the optimism of the lawyers we worked with kept us going.

The surreal characteristic of the other prisons we visited reminded me of Ursula K. LeGuin’s famous story, “Those who walk away from Omelas.” But on the whole, I was most struck by the humor and the optimism of people like Adão, a spiritual leader in a community with high incarceration rates; Thomas, a young boy of 15 who knew his rights front and back; Lupe, a man who had re-written a book about his life in prison memorized completely in his own head; Roberto Tardelli, a leading prosecutor who worked in neighborhoods where locals thought they were still under the military dictatorship of the 1970s; and Casé, a lawyer leading the campaign against pedophilia and child abuse who still had time for his own love of comic books and family.

These people all have their own stories.

I hope our photos encourage you to learn more about their situations, help their cause, or join IBJ in the future.

1. Prisoners are given time during the day to sunbathe in a courtyard at Presidio Floramar, an adult prison located in Divinopolis, Brazil. They are required to sit during this period until the head count is completed. Meanwhile, some chant, sing to themselves, or talk with the guards, but are on the whole much quieter than the inmates at the adolescent jail next door.

2. Though Floramar is considered to be one of the more well-managed prisons in the region, it suffers from the characteristic overcrowding that affects most prisons throughout the country. At approximately 500 inmates, the prison is already over twice its formal capacity of 250 inmates. Even so, grievances are hardly addressed. Fire riots broke out at Floramar due to overcrowding just weeks after this photo was taken, eventually put down by brute police force.

3. The Brazilian justice system is plagued by a number of serious problems, most notably, a lack of investigators and endless bureaucratic red tape. A single case could take up to 10 years to process. Here, an employee files away paperwork for a case at Forum, a civil and criminal courthouse in Divinopolis, Brazil.

4. Under such circumstances, many temporary detention centers have been converted into full time prisons for both accused and convicted criminals. This alberque, living quarters originally meant for accused individuals imprisoned for a maximum of 30 days, is located just outside of Divinopolis. Like Floramar, it is also twice over capacity, at 50 inmates in a 25-person facility.

5. One inmate we spoke with had been detained for two years and three months. Though he suffered from severe medical conditions, including a tumor, he was still awaiting trial. Most inmates spend their free time writing letters to friends and family.

6. IBJ Fellow Dr. Saliba is hoping to inform these prisoners of their right to habeas corpus, which would protect them from illegal detainment. Through the distribution of a short film, he can make a difference by making it easier for people to both learn about their right to habeas corpus and for communities to exercise this right more often. As such, the film is directed toward a lay audience with no experience in law or legal training. Dr. Saliba is also producing a second film for legal aid workers on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – a resource they could appeal to when all else fails.

7. Faiçal narrates Dr. Saliba’s film on habeas corpus. As the General Director of Universidade de Itauna, a law school in a nearby city, he has been assisting Saliba as he approaches completion of his project with International Bridges to Justice.

8. The road ahead is still long. Weak institutions and bureaucratic inefficiency are only two of a host of obstacles that Brazil faces. Most prosecutors we spoke with in Brazil agree the legacy of the military regime is a major cause for the gaps they face in the fair application of Brazil’s legal code. The stigmatization of Brazilian human rights commissions, historically related to criminals and those on the margins of society, means that society as a whole is less willing to embrace human rights reform and debate. Above: Two security agents accompany an inmate down the halls of Forum, the civil and criminal courthouse in Divinopolis.

9. Continued racial profiling and troubled state-society relations can also make people reluctant to learn about their legal rights. In this photo an inmate consults with his lawyer beside Floramar’s open courtyard, defying the traditional stereotypes of social class and race. To this day, many Brazilians question the authority of the police, largely as a legacy of the decades of military dictatorship.

10. Nonetheless, progress is being made, albeit very slowly. A new form of detention is now being implemented in Brazil and worldwide — one that focuses on the prisoner as a human being with dignity and potential rather than as a mere prisoner. In many ways that addresses the plight of the Brazilian legal system, especially with regard to its historical legacy and social stigmatization. The system, known as APAC (Associação de Proteção e Assistência aos Condenados), boasts success on all accounts, from reeducation rates to financial sustainability standards. Above: an inmate looks out the window from an APAC office, where all of the administrative work is carried out by inmates.

11. Imprisonment does not dampen the youthful spirits of inmates, as one young man reaches out spontaneously to pose for the camera.

To learn more about the documentary journalist positions at International Bridges to Justice, please visit this site.

If you’d like to make a donation to the habeas corpus project, please click here.

If you’re interested in volunteering with an NGO in Brazil, please contact Cecilia Neves Silveira at cecilia@omnes.org.br. Cecilia coordinates opportunities at OMNES, an NGO working with the defense of human rights as a whole. Projects include teaching professionals how to work with the human rights legal system. Another project assists prisoners and defends their rights.

Cecilia also coordinates volunteer opportunities at De Volta Para Casa, an NGO helping children return to their homes or to help them find families. De Volta Para Casa also works with children in adolescent prisons.

Community Connection:

Brazil isn’t the only country with overcrowded prisons. Read this article from the archives to learn how the US prison system has become a big business.

About the Photographers:
Michelle Ferng studies International Relations at Virginia. She has always had an interest in photography, but it had usually been more of a casual hobby. IBJ afforded her the opportunity to show her talent through documentary photography and the production of photo-essays.

Danny Thiemann is assisting research and program development for IBJ’s expansion in Brazil. He has completed previous academic studies on international law in Costa Rica, art-for-peace programs in Lebanon, creative fiction programs in Egypt, a recent documentary for the Clinton Global Initiative in Palestine. He is a 2009/2010 Fellow for The Modern Story in Hyderabad, India.

It’s man vs. beast (the kudu) in this amazing race. Photo: kevincure

I could finally confess publicly that I have a thing for David Attenborough (he’s the old white guy and narrator of this video).

Why?

Because if you live to be his age (he’s 83) and you’re still as active, hard-working, and passionate as he is, then you’ll know you’ve really gotten the most of your time on the planet (even if you don’t have the title of “Sir” before your name).

But what’s really cool about this video isn’t Attenborough; it’s the hunters who track the kudu and the runner who pursues the kudu in an exercise of mental will and physical persistence… for a full eight hours:

Community Connection:

Interested in the relationships between animals and human beings? Check out these articles from our archives:

“Bird Song: Can You Hear the Melody of Nature?”

“Close Encounters: Reconnecting to Animals Through Our Primitive Nature”

Villa Sevilla (in feature photo) and Hacienda Los Laureles (in photo above) can teach hotels a lot about going green. Feature photo and photo above: Francisco Collazo

Maybe I don’t represent the traveler norm–that’s entirely possible–but my average hotel stay is no longer than two nights. I don’t need my sheets and towels changed at all during that time.

Hotels claim to save “thousands and thousands” of gallons of water through their pillow card sheet-towel change policy, and I’m willing to concede they probably have. But if hotels are really committed to going green(er), here are 10 tips I’d like to offer them based on some smart environmental strategies I’ve seen during my travels in the past year.

1. Replace disposable plastic coffee pods and bleached paper filters.

How about reusable mesh filters and small packages of coffee in recyclable paper envelopes? Or take a cue from Portland, Oregon’s Heathman Hotel, which offers a French press in each room. Any of these three options reduces waste and cuts costs… a management no-brainer, if you ask me.

2. Replace disposable cups with ceramic or glass.

While we’re talking about coffee, can we get rid of the disposable cups… especially Styrofoam, which contains toxins and takes hundreds of years to break down? Your guests can drink their coffee in the room or fill up their travel mugs (bonus points if you sell reusable travel mugs on-site).

3. Turn room wastebaskets into trash sorters.

Improve recycling and the use of your staff’s time by turning each room’s wastebaskets into a simple sorting system. The Doubletree in San Juan, Puerto Rico does this. Each wooden wastebasket has two plastic bins nestled inside: one for regular trash, one for paper and plastic recyclables. Employees don’t have to sort trash from recyclables, and guests get visual confirmation that the hotel is taking an extra step in reducing its negative environmental impact.

4. Get rid of toiletries in little plastic bottles.

Matador contributor Teresa Ponikvar confessed that she loves hotel shampoos, conditioners, and lotions that come in little plastic bottles. So do I (and I have a whole collection of them).

But getting rid of these little plastic bottles and replacing them with refillable pumps that adhere to the side of the shower are much more environmentally friendly and cost efficient. Villa Sevilla in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico uses refillable pumps, and proprietor Marina Lawson says:

“Those small sample bottles of shampoo and conditioner are not only expensive but they generate much waste. Instead, we purchased wall dispensers for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand soap. These are easily refilled and can be taken down to be cleaned. At the cost of $15 for each dispenser and about $0.06-$0.12 cents per ounce for the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and soap, this won hands down over the cost of $0.75-$0.95 cents per one ounce unit of plastic bottled product with our logo. For guests on a week-long vacation, we calculated that we’re preventing at least 14 small plastic bottles from going into our landfills. We’re also lowering our operational costs, and we can pass those savings on to guests.”

5. Replace plastic laundry bags with cloth bags.

By now, I hope you’re cluing into the fact that going green also reduces hotel operators’ costs. Switch out those plastic bags guests use for laundry service and replace them with cloth bags, which the guest leaves in the room at the end of his or her stay, just like all the other linens.

6. Switch to a key card system that activates lights and air conditioning.

Last year, while working on a couple of city guide assignments for Gayot Guides, I stayed at five boutique hotels in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca, Mexico.

In each hotel, I noticed that my room key controlled the lights, making it impossible for me to be irresponsible and leave the lights on when I went out. When the guest enters the room, he or she inserts the hard plastic room key into a wall unit that allows the lights and air conditioning to be controlled. When the key is removed, the lights and utilities are disabled.

According to Sylvie Laitre of Mexico Boutique Hotels, there’s an obvious reason besides environmentalism to switch to the key card system: electric bills are cut by as much as 40% in hotels where key cards are used.

7. Green your roof.

Photo: pnwra

This step is a big one, no doubt… one that requires more planning, effort, upkeep, and up-front investment than the preceding tips. Yet it’s also one of the most visible ways to show your hotel’s commitment to the environment, and its long-term payoffs guarantee a respectable return on investment.

Among the benefits of green roofs: (1) longer lifespan of the roof; (2) cost savings on heating/cooling bills; (3) improves sound insulation; (4) improves aesthetics and–depending on design–creates attractive recreational/amenity space; (5) provides potential space for small-scale food production; and (6) contributes to decreasing overall temperature of urban spaces.

That roof you see in the photo above? That’s the green roof of Marriott’s Victoria, British Columbia property.

8. Build an on-site garden.

This is an especially smart step for hotels that also operate or host restaurants. On-site growing cuts sourcing costs and provides visual confirmation to guests that some of the food they’re enjoying is just about as local as it can get.

9. Implement a gray water recycling program.

Like the green roof and the garden, setting up a gray water recycling program is a step only the most committed hotels are likely to take, but Peter Kaiser, owner of Hacienda Los Laureles in Oaxaca, Mexico, offers persuasive evidence suggesting that the switch is worth the effort.

“We recycle approximately 90% of the water consumed per room (or 20.000.00 liters per day based on a full hotel)…, and recuperate 20,000.00 or more from our pool when cleaning,” Kaiser says. Not only does he feel better about the impact of his operations; he saves money, too.

Beyond gray water recycling, Kaiser also recommends installing energy-efficient light bulbs with a lifespan guarantee of one year or longer. In addition to being environmentally responsible, says Kaiser, “it saves me many complaints and work hours.”

Kaiser’s boutique hotel, which turns nine years old today, also has an excellent on-site restaurant, Los Cipreses, which composts egg shells, coffee grounds, fruits, and vegetables.

10. Encourage guests to enjoy environmentally friendly activities.

Provide bikes for loan or rental. Partner with local ecotourism companies to promote low impact activities that also expose guests to the local ecosystem. Include recommendations for local farmers’ markets and the like in your concierge’s list of recommended activities.

Community Connection:

Hoteliers: What other strategies do you recommend to your colleagues? Share your tips in the comments below and don’t be shy showing off the environmentally friendly steps you’ve taken to make your property greener!

When he’s not running, he’s flying- Greg in white PJs. Photos courtesy of Greg Krause.

The promotion sparked some debate on Matador’s news blog, MatadorPulse, where readers weighed the attraction of cheap flights against the indulgence of a crazy carbon footprint.

Carbon footprint concerns notwithstanding, at least one traveler who bought the All-You-Can-Jet Pass is using Jet Blue’s promo to draw attention to his own pet project: supporting a school his parents developed in Zambia. Between flights, Greg Krause took the time to answer some questions about his 30 Days on Jet Blue initiative, including what he hopes to achieve and how he responds to critics who raise the dreaded carbon footprint question.

*

The school in Zambia

Matador: How and why were your parents asked to start a school in Zambia?

Greg: My parents are retired. My mother was a school teacher/principal/administrator and my father was a chemical engineer. About 14 years ago they decided to help run an elementary school in Gaborone, Botswana, during their retirement. While there, they made many connections.

About 4.5 years ago, they were approached by some local people from Macha, Zambia who had heard of them and asked if they would come and help establish a school in this area where there was no quality education for the children. My parents agreed and moved up there. Where they are located, there is no electricity and no running water. They use solar power and a generator to get by.

Matador: How much are you hoping to raise?

Greg: The school is in dire need of a reliable 4×4 vehicle and we are currently $22k short of the needed funds for the purchase and shipment of the vehicle. I would love to be able to check that need off the list for the school. There are also many many other needs, including building funds. With the generous help of the many people who hear this story, I am also hoping that we will be able to raise enough to put some money toward the building fund. It is a work in progress and the school/orphan boarding home is quickly outgrowing its current space.

They also are waiting for electricity. When/if the government brings power to the area we want to be ready financially to have that installed. I am hoping this project can make a major difference in the lives of these kids, and I am optimistic that if we all pitch in a little, we can accomplish this.

Matador: How much have you raised so far?

Greg: We have raised a little over $2,000 so far with this project. Last year, I agreed to run the NY Marathon in pajamas for a company called SnoreStop, in exchange for a $9,000 donation to the school.

Matador: What kinds of corporate sponsorship and support have you received?

Greg: I do not have any corporate sponsorship. I would love to have some, but have not been able to arrange anything. My main sponsor is the winner of the eBay auction – Orphan’s Promise. I am essentially promoting them (I have agreed to wear their shirts for the duration of the journey), but they are in turn promoting the school, the kids and the entire project.

Matador: How do you resolve some of the criticism people may have regarding the enormous carbon footprint generated by traveling so many miles against the presumed good that will come out of this project?

Greg: I don’t know if I can resolve any of the criticism regarding the giant carbon footprint all this air travel creates. This project would never have been possible without the “All You Can Jet Pass” sold by jetBlue. It is their lowest volume passenger period of the year. The planes are scheduled to fly even if they are not completely full. They are not adding any additional flights to their schedule to accommodate myself or anyone using the pass, With that in mind, the needs in Zambia are so great. These kids did not have the opportunity to attend school and they are now (or are on their way to) reaching their full potential.

Matador: Why is it so important to fund the school fully?

Greg: One of the students, Christopher, was 10 years old and had never been to school. He was an orphan being raised by a distant relative. They didn’t see him as a family member, but rather a burden and because of that, forced him to work as a donkey herder. Because of the school, Christopher is able to stay at the boarding home Monday through Friday. He has managed to go from the equivalent of kindergarten to 6th grade in less than three years.

There are many of these types of situations. They call these children “throw away” or “disposable”; many of them lost their parents to HIV/AIDS or malaria. There is no one willing to help them and give them a chance at a future. One little girl named Beauty was living with a distant relative in a one room hut and about 15 other children. The adult in the home told my parents “Take her, we don’t want her.”

With the help of this school, the hard work of my parents and many other individuals, we are able to make a difference in these kids’ lives and give them a shot at a great future.

Matador: How can people support you, financially and otherwise?

Greg: For support, there is a link on my website for donations that is linked through Orphan’s Promise. They have committed to give 100% of the funds received for this project directly to the school. If everyone pitches in and donates a few dollars we can make a HUGE difference in the lives of these children. (Oh, and yes…it is tax deductible). There is no percentage taken out for overhead admin costs.

We also are working on a container project to ship a cargo container with many needed supplies. That is still in the works, but when that is ready, we will be accepting donations of clothing, school supplies, and equipment. This will probably be next summer.

The school is also always looking for people to go to Zambia and volunteer. The ultimate goal of the school is for it to be fully self sufficient and Zambia run, so that my parents can walk away knowing that it will continue to grow, but in the meantime there is a great need for as much help as they can get!

Matador: What do you do when you’re not jetting around raising money for Zambia?

Greg: I have graduated from medical school and I am currently finishing up my medical board exams and waiting to start my residency in family practice next year.

Community Connection:

What do you think about Greg’s 30 Days on Jet Blue? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo: aussiegall

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Colin Beavan, a.k.a. “No Impact Man.” In case you missed it, here’s Beavan’s story: for one year, Beavan decided to go green… so green that he wouldn’t use public transportation. Or toilet paper. Or, at the most advanced stage of his experiment, electricity.

In my article, I wondered aloud whether Beavan was admirable or a bit off his rocker. Secretly, I thought he was a bit of both. He was clearly committed in a way that few of us are to really lessening his impact on the environment. But to drag his wife and daughter along for the ride–a bit unwillingly, it seemed– raised questions for me about how our personal commitment to various kinds of change impact the people we love if they’re unable or unwilling to make the same commitment.

Ultimately, Beavan’s wife came around, as she details in this article in Business Week.

But not everyone was convinced, and New Yorker environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert lit into Beavan as a way to approach the question, “What’s wrong with eco-stunts?,” which was also the title of her article.

Kolbert’s article opens by giving readers the Beavan back-story. Beavan, she says, wasn’t much of an environmentalist. He didn’t know much about global warming. But as he was casting about for a book project, he seized upon the idea of the no impact experiment, which he presented to his agent “[o]ver lunch at a pricey midtown restaurant.” She goes on to describe Beavan’s year of lessening impact, in a tone that’s often snide, concluding–after ripping into Thoreau (yep, THAT Thoreau) and a string of other environmental “stunt” artists–that Beavan is a “tad disingenuous.”

To support the claim, she says:

“Beavan is, after all, a man whose environmental activism began over lunch with his agent…. [E]very day Beavan bikes to the Writers Room…and plugs in his laptop. Meanwhile, Michelle [his wife] scooters off to work at the offices of BusinessWeek, and Isabella [their daughter] spends the day at the (presumably electrified) apartment of a sitter…. He worries a great deal about the environmental consequences of Michelle’s tampon use and the shrink-wrap around a block of cheese. But when it comes to his building’s heating system, which is apparently so wasteful that people are opening windows in the middle of winter, he just throws up his hands.”

She concludes by noting that poor people around the world were generating far less impact than Beavan during this time, implying that his experiment was somehow meaningless by comparison.
*
My problem with Kolbert’s analysis is its holier-than-thou undertone. Who cares if Beavan’s year of no impact was a stunt? He surely decreased his carbon footprint far more than Kolbert (who,it should be noted, writes for a magazine supported by big oil advertising). He’s brought attention to issues of overconsumption and waste. Maybe he’s inspired other people to try their own no impact experiments or, at the very least, to scale back some of their excess.

Does Beavan have to live in slum-like poverty or forgo restaurant lunches with agents (which is, after all, where many meetings with agents take place) to be an environmentalist?

If we each took just one of the steps that Beavan took, we’d dramatically reduce our collective negative impact on our planet. But if we’d rather sit around and call scaling back a stunt, then we’re not likely to avert some serious problems that will affect us all.

Community Connection:

And on the theme of holier-than-thou’ism, check out contributing editor Christine Garvin’s article, “6 Ways to Not Be a Holier-Than-Thou Traveler.”

Photo: heathbrandon

Project Name:

The Pro Bono Jeweler

The Big Idea:

Jeweler Gabriel Craig takes his studio out to the streets, where he makes jewelery as performance art… and then gives the pieces away.

History:

Craig started a similar project, “The Collegiate Jeweler,” as a college student back in 2007. In an interview with American Craft Magazine, Craig explained the purpose and spirit of the project:

“My objective was simply to share handmade jewelry with those who may not ordinarily encounter it. I wanted the format of the performances to reflect my educational and altruistic goals and so I gave away silver rings that I made on the spot—over 30 in the first few weeks. By giving away jewelry I was able to focus on its cultural value rather than its commercial value. The criterion for receiving a ring was participation. Those who seemed interested got to take home some of the excitement…. In the studio I am just a jeweler, but on the street I am a magician.”

Craig continued by explaining how jewelry might just be a meaningful vehicle for communication and community building:

“Approaching jewelry as a theme, I found that the opportunity for communication and change grew exponentially. Despite how pervasive jewelry is in our culture, as a maker I spend a lot of time in the studio by myself, complacent in the isolation and insular world built around studio jewelry. With The Collegiate Jeweler performances, I had finally found a direct way to share what I do with people. That was how it started—wanting to share and be inclusive.”

Logistics:

What do you make that you could give away? Whether it’s a poem, a small ceramic pot, a photo, postcard, flower from your garden, or a homemade candle, you can adapt Gabriel Craig’s pro bono art project wherever you live. Remember: the key is not just to give something away, but to create a moment where you and your public can connect, even if for a few brief moments.

For More Information:

Visit Gabriel Craig’s website.

The real scenario will be far more frightening than anything we can Photoshop. Photo: Cherrylynx

Yesterday, I was listening to The Brian Lehrer Show, a program on my local public radio station here in New York City. One segment featured scientists Rob Young and Orrin Pilkey, authors of the recently published book, The Rising Sea.

Young and Pilkey, climate change specialists, spoke about the 10 cities they deem most at risk from sea level rise caused by climate change. The cities are:

1. Miami, Florida, USA

Miami is the seventh largest city in the United States, so any abrupt sea change here would impact the lives of millions. Average elevation? Just six feet.

A Miami blogger, citing a July 2009 New Scientist article, wrote recently that even rapid action to decelerate climate change is unlikely to prevent an inevitable swallowing up of Miami by the sea. Instead, he argued, the only logical plan B for the city is to stop building in vulnerable areas…which is almost everywhere.

2. Venice, Italy

Venice is known as the city of water for good reason. Since 1897, the mean sea level around Venice has increased by three inches. That may not sound like much over a period just a shade longer than a century, but coupled with the phenomenon of sinking land, the public television show NOVA has referred to Venice as a city under environmental siege.

3. New York, New York, USA

What would New York City be like under water? Scientists predict that we may find out far sooner than anyone expected. According to this article from Science Daily, “Global warming is expected to cause the sea level along the northeastern U.S. coast to rise almost twice as fast as global sea levels during this century,” putting New York City at particular risk.

4. Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Mumbai is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, which makes predicted sea change effects here particularly frightening. Besides the fact that many parts of the city are just 46 feet above the Arabian Sea, Mumbai is known to have a poor drainage system and–as if that wasn’t enough–it’s located in a major seismic zone.

5. Singapore

Singapore was accurately described by The New York Times in 2007 as “surrounded by sea and almost pancake flat.” Though its highest peak is 540 feet above sea level, the vast majority of inhabited space is just a few feet above sea level. The inevitable slip into the sea is being addressed by the government, which has reached out to Dutch dam-building experts to help reinforce the Singaporean sea wall.

6. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

The vulnerability of New Orleans to the whims of the ocean was laid painfully bare by Hurricane Katrina. The highest point in the city is only six feet above sea level, and being surrounded by water, the future of the city in the event of even a minimal sea level rise is likely to be catastrophic.

7. Osaka, Japan

How’s this for a sobering statistic? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that a mere one meter rise in sea levels “would swallow about 90% of the sandy beaches in Japan and 100% of the sandy beaches in
Osaka.”

8. Tampa/St. Pete, Florida, USA

Sea levels in Tampa/St. Pete have been rising at a clip of an inch a decade since the 1940s.

9. Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, is another one of the world’s 10 most populated cities and one of its most low-lying.

10. Tokyo, Japan

At just 16 feet average above sea level, Tokyo rounds out the list of the world’s cities that are deemed most vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The common feature of all 10 cities is their low-lying elevation. For more of the science behind this list, listen to the podcast of this segment here:

Community Connection:

Carly Blatt’s “How to Survive Travel Disasters: Lessons From Hurricane Katrina” isn’t just relevant for travelers; it includes some useful emergency planning tips for those of us who live in low-lying and catastrophe-prone areas, too.

Photo: ingridtaylar

A couple months ago, we featured the photographs of artist Chris Jordan in the popular–and highly controversial–photo essay, “Intolerable Beauty.”

When I last spoke with Jordan, he was thinking about a new project. Exhausted by the stress of the “Intolerable Beauty” project, which confronted him daily with our tendency toward excessive consumption and waste, he knew he’d be moving on to a new subject soon.

But that new project wouldn’t be escapist in any way because “Intolerable Beauty” also taught Jordan just how profoundly art could exert an influence over public opinion and personal lifestyle choices.

So it wasn’t too surprising when we received a message from Anna Brones, Matador member and senior editor at Wend Magazine, alerting us to Jordan’s next project: a visit to Midway Island, where he’ll be photographing the Pacific Garbage Patch, described here in this video from ABC News:

Dubbed the Midway Journey, Jordan’s new project will involve not just his own artistic interpretation of the problem of human waste; he’s bringing a few other artists along with him.

From their perch on Midway Island, Jordan and his colleagues will bear “witness [to] the catastrophic effect of our disposable culture on some of the world’s most beautiful and symbolic creatures,” especially albatross.

“But even more,” Jordan writes over at the Midway Journey blog, the artists are “embarking on an introspective journey to confront a vitally relevant question: In this time of unprecedented global crisis, how can we move through grief, denial, despair and immobility into new territories of acceptance, possibility, and wise action?”

Jordan explains more about the project in this video:

A Message from Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.

Follow along on the Midway Journey blog or by adding @midwayjourney to the people you follow on Twitter.

Community Connection:

Matador contributing editor Carlo Alcos includes the Pacific Garbage Patch–also known as the Great Pacific Trash Gyre–in his list of the World’s Most Offensive Landfills.

Photo: 350.org

We’ve been keeping tabs on plastic bans around the world, and have come across two encouraging stories from different ends of the world this week.

First came the news that Mexico City has banned plastic bags. Our friends over at Wend Magazine reported that Mexico’s capital city has “banned businesses from distributing plastic bags that are not biodegradable. The ban affects all stores, production facilities and service providers.”

The policy is especially significant considering that Mexico City is one of the world’s most population dense metropolises. The plastic bag ban will prevent massive amounts of unnecessary waste from ending up in the country’s shrinking landfills.

On the other side of the world, the Herald Sun of Australia is reporting that a Melbourne primary school has banned students from bringing plastic water bottles to class. Instead, students are being told to bring reusable, environmentally friendly bottles from home, which can be refilled at fountains and taps in the school.

School principal David Foley indicated that the ban was part of a school-wide effort to improve its environmental consciousness and to decrease students’ collective carbon footprint.

What are policy trends related to plastic use where you live? Share the news from your area in the comments below!

Community Connection:

Why are plastic bottle bans important? Check out Eva Holland’s article “Bottled Water: Making a Big (Bad) Impact” for the answers.

Photo: gbaku

The centerpiece of the special issue was Kristof’s and WuDunn’s article, “The Women’s Crusade,” in which Kristof and WuDunn identify some of the most pressing problems facing women around the world and what can be done to address these issues.

Kristof and WuDunn have spent a lot of time with women, listening to their stories and reflecting about what a single anecdote can teach us about community phenomena. Here’s one of the compelling stories from the article, and an important lesson for all of us:

“…[W]hen Jo Luck [of Heifer International] came and talked to Tererai and other young women in her village, Luck kept insisting that… they could achieve their goals, repeatedly using the word ‘achievable.’ The women caught the repetition and asked the interpreter to explain in detail what ‘achievable’ meant. That gave Luck a chance to push forward. ‘What are your hopes?’ she asked the women….. Tererai and the others were puzzled by the question, because they didn’t really have any hopes. But Luck pushed them to think about their dreams, and reluctantly, they began to think about what they wanted.

Tererai timidly voiced hope of getting an education. Luck… told her… that she should write down her goals and methodically pursue them. After Luck and her entourage disappeared, Tererai began to study on her own, in hiding from her husband, while raising her five children. Painstakingly, with the help of friends, she wrote down her goals on a piece of paper:

‘One day I will go to the United States of America,’ she began, for Goal 1. She added that she would earn a college degree, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. — all exquisitely absurd dreams for a married cattle herder in Zimbabwe who had less than one year’s formal education. But Tererai took the piece of paper and folded it inside three layers of plastic to protect it, and then placed it in an old can. She buried the can under a rock where she herded cattle.

Then Tererai took correspondence classes and began saving money. Her self-confidence grew as she did brilliantly in her studies, and she became a community organizer for Heifer…. One day in 1998, she received notice that she had been admitted to Oklahoma State University.

…At Oklahoma State, Tererai took every credit she could and worked nights to make money. She earned her undergraduate degree, brought her five children to America and started her master’s, then returned to her village. She dug up the tin can under the rock and took out the paper on which she had scribbled her goals. She put check marks beside the goals she had fulfilled and buried the tin can again.

In Arkansas, she took a job working for Heifer — while simultaneously earning a master’s degree part time. When she had her M.A., Tererai again returned to her village. After embracing her mother and sister, she dug up her tin can and checked off her next goal. Now she is working on her Ph.D. at Western Michigan University.

Tererai has completed her course work and is completing a dissertation about AIDS programs among the poor in Africa. She will become a productive economic asset for Africa and a significant figure in the battle against AIDS. And when she has her doctorate, Tererai will go back to her village and, after hugging her loved ones, go out to the field and dig up her can again.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

What’s your “exquisitely absurd” dream? How can you achieve it? Who can help you?

And what are you waiting for?

Community Connection:

South Africa Education and Environment Project is just one of the thousands of organizations dedicated to education that belong to the Matador community. Learn more about SAEP and other organizations here.

Photo: Zack Sheppard

Rio has slum tours. New York City has an “underbelly” tour .

So why shouldn’t Alberto, Mexico have an immigrant immersion tour?

For 100 pesos, tourists can join the Caminata Nocturna, or “La Caminata,” a four hour night hike led by guides intended to simulate the experience of migrating by foot from Mexico to the U.S. The tour involves trekking through dark, treacherous terrain, including dry, rocky hills spotted with cactus, and being regularly insulted by the guides, who act as smugglers.

The threat of immigration catching you is simulated, but the risks of injury and overexertion are real.

“La Caminata is an homage to migrants,” say the organizers, “and is intended to make us conscious about the risks people take to fulfill the ‘American Dream.’”

It has also helped turn the community away from the brink of disaster, according to a recently released documentary about La Caminata. Alberto, according to one of the tour organizers interviewed in the film, had lost the majority of its young and middle aged people to migration; the community had become a ghost town. Economically, Alberto was on the verge of collapse.

But then they came up with the idea of La Caminata.

Over the past five years, La Caminata has not only helped bring much needed income into the community, it’s also lured back some of its citizens who migrated for better work opportunities.

Participating tourists interviewed in the documentary admitted the trek was challenging and frightening, but agreed that they came away with a more profound respect for people who feel compelled to migrate, and a deeper understanding of the kinds of challenges they face.

You can watch the trailer here.

Community Connection:

What do you think of this type of tour? Would you sign up for La Caminata? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: gailjadehamilton

What if new media could be the powerful engine for true, meaningful action in the areas of health care, the environment, global development, cultural diplomacy, and opportunities for youth? And what if young social entrepreneurs were the catalysts of such change?

These are the key questions motivating the New Media & Youth Action Conference, scheduled for Tuesday, September 1, 2009 from 10 AM til 3 PM in New York City.

The event, which is free, will feature keynote speakers, breakout sessions for brainstorming, and a networking “power hour,” where you can meet other like-minded activists and share ideas about issues of mutual interest.

For more information or to register, click here.

Community Connection:

To learn more about how Matador members are using technology to support youth development and cultural awareness projects, be sure to read about the Roads Scholars program, founded by Matador member, Digital Vagabond.

Feature photo: Diego 3336; Photo above: gauravonomics

I’m going to assume–and maybe I’m wrong, but I hope not–that if you’re a regular Matador reader you’re interested in living a conscientious life, making a minimal negative impact on the environment and a maximum positive impact in your community.

But would you go as far as Colin Beavan, a.k.a. “No Impact Man”?

Beavan, who lives in New York City, describes himself as

“A Guilty Liberal [Who] Finally Snaps, Swears Off Plastic, Goes Organic, Becomes A Bicycle Nazi, Turns Off His Power, Composts His Poop and, While Living In New York City, Generally Turns Into a Tree-Hugging Lunatic Who Tries to Save the Polar Bears and The Rest of the Planet from Environmental Catastrophe While Dragging His Baby Daughter and Prada-Wearing, Four Seasons-Loving Wife Along for the Ride.”

In November 2006, Beavan decided to undertake a radical personal project: he’d spend the next year reducing his environmental impact as much as possible. He’d swear off shrink wrap and subways. He’d take stairs instead of elevators or escalators. He’d try to trim his waste to zero. He’d buy local, eat organic, and, yes, compost his poop.

A project of this magnitude is game-changing for sure, and there’s no way his wife and young daughter would be able to go along for the ride without being deeply affected.

That’s what made directors Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein interested in turning Beavan’s experiment into a documentary film, which will be released in New York and Los Angeles on September 11, followed by other cities around the U.S.

I caught the preview for “No Impact Man” this weekend and can confirm that the Prada-wearing, Four Seasons loving wife was stretched to her limits by Beavan’s experiment to live more conscientiously. But the question left dangling in the air is whether Beavan’s experiment ultimately achieves its goal and brings his family closer in the process:

What do you think? Does Beavan seem to have gone to extremes with his low-impact living experiment, or is he right on? Share your thoughts below!

Community Connection:

Wonder how your consumption affects the environment? Read “Is Water the New Oil? Global Water Consumption Doubling Every 20 Years.“

Photo by author

The idea behind this new series is to show off cool projects from around the world that can be adapted and implemented in your own city. We kick off the series in New York City.

Project Name:

Rooftop Films

The Big Idea:

Rooftop Films partners with 15 venues–from museums and high schools to old factories–to show “underground movies outdoors” during the summer months. For just $9.00 USD, New Yorkers can enjoy films from around the world each weekend–as well as a view of the city most people never see. Most of the films are shown on the venues’ rooftops– hence the name Rooftop Films.

The films selected for each event are organized around a theme that’s customized to appeal to the neighborhood where the venue is located. And each screening is preceded by live music and followed by a filmmaker Q&A and/or after-party (with free drinks!).

But Rooftop Films is a lot more than a summer festival that brings together people to enjoy films they’d be unlikely to see elsewhere.

The organization also contributes $1.00 from every ticket sold to fund filmmakers’ new productions and teaches film appreciation and production classes to high school students.

History:

Rooftop has been showing films in New York City since 1997 under the direction of filmmaker Mark Elijah Rosenberg. From Rooftop’s website:

“[Rosenberg] was looking for an innovative way to get people together for screenings of new short films. … [I]nstead of trying to rent a small dingy theater, Rosenberg got out his 16MM projector, a cheap sound system and a big white sheet and invited everyone he could find up to the roof above his little apartment. Hundreds came out, many with their films in tow, and the movies were screened deep into the night amidst the water towers and pigeon coops of the East Village skyline.”

When his landlord got wind of the rooftop film fest, Rosenberg had to scout for alternative locations, which wasn’t a bad thing. Rooftop’s gone from a gathering of friends and artists to a city-wide event that’s open to the whole film-loving public.

Logistics:

Sure, Rooftop has fancy projectors and screens now, but it got its humble start with a bed sheet tied up between two poles. You can do the same. Scout your local thrift store for a projector or see if a local non-profit wants to partner up with you– they loan you a projector; you give them some exposure.

And you don’t need a roof– a little patch of lawn will do just fine.

For More Information:

For more information about Rooftop Films, visit the organization’s website.

Community Connection:

Love movies? Check out our guide to the world’s best film festivals.

Photo courtesy of Run For the Rescue

In 2008, singer-songerwriter Eric Proffitt was invited by the United Nations to perform at the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking Conference. Though Proffitt had long used his music as a way to communicate messages that informed and inspired his listeners, Proffitt’s experience at the conference left him feeling as if music might not be enough.

“I have never seen a problem so large, of which so few people are aware,” Proffitt said about global slavery. While at the conference, Proffitt learned that more than 27 million children around the world are enslaved as diamond, cacao, and sex workers; as the father of five children himself, he was determined to do something more than sing about the problem.

Most people wouldn’t do something as drastic as Proffitt has done: he and his wife sold their house and decided to start an educational awareness campaign called Run For the Rescue. But that’s not all: it’s what that awareness campaign entails that makes Proffitt convinced he’ll be able to make thousands–if not millions–of people more aware of the problem of global slavery and inspire them to do something about it.

On August 1 (Why August 1? Emancipation Day in the States) Proffitt started a 500 mile run– in chains. He anticipates the total run will take 42 days.

The goals, Proffitt states on his website, are two fold:

1) Raise $1 for each of the 27 million people living in slavery. This money will be used by non-profit organizations to rescue and rehabilitate girls like Theresa and to find and prosecute the perpetrators of human trafficking.
2) Create a global tipping point for the fight against modern day slavery.

The run started in Washington, D.C. and will continue in parts of the U.S. before Proffitt tackles the second leg, which will be in the U.K.

You can learn more about the run on Proffitt’s website, where you can also follow the journey as he blogs about it. Donations are being accepted through the website and if he’s running through your area– well, step outside and show him your support!

Community Connection:

Learn more about global slavery in this article from our archives: 10 Shocking Facts About Global Slavery in 2008.

A house in Appalachia, where lack of electricity is common. Photo: BillRhodesPhoto

A few years back, my brother, a computer programmer and web designer, told me that the university where he works wanted to donate some computers to members of a rural community. The plan was abandoned, though, when the university realized the community straddled the border between two counties.

“Neither county wants to accept responsibility for these people,” my brother told me. “Their roads don’t get repaired–some of them aren’t even paved. And an Internet connection? Please. These people are still waiting on phone lines.”

Forget computers… these folks didn’t even have basic utilities.

My brother’s story isn’t an isolated anecdote. The New York Times regularly runs stories and posts on its Bits Blog about the digital divide that exists in the U.S. between urban and rural areas.

Quite simply, plenty of people live in rural areas where getting Internet access is a secondary priority, priority one being tapping into a reliable, consistent grid that ensures they’re receiving basic utilities.

But maybe some of the technology being developed for poorer countries will also have an application in the U.S.

Krishna Palem, a computer science professor at Rice University and a fellow of the IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), leads a group of researchers developing a tablet PC-like device that will “be inexpensive, easy to use, and able to operate [in a] creaky (and sometimes nonexistent) electric power grid.”

The so-called i-Slate is about the size of a piece of paper and it’s almost as lightweight. The power source is a solar cell and the projected cost is just $40 USD.

While the i-Slate doesn’t function as a computer, the device does seem to offer benefits in educational contexts and the technology itself may be adapted for other functions in the future. Learn more about Palem and his team’s project here.

Community Connection:

Not all cities are created equal when it comes to technology. Check out Hal Amen’s round-up of the Techiest Cities in the World to learn which ones make the cut.

Photo: Ferdinand Reus

Ashoka International bills itself as a “global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems.” Ashoka’s members focus their efforts on six broad areas– civic engagement, economic development, the environment, health, human rights, and education–and the organization is always looking for entrepreneurs to support with funds and technical assistance.

Champions of Education in Africa is one of Ashoka’s most recent projects. Focused on generating sustainable, effective education projects in Africa and led by Africans, Ashoka partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to provide funding for three outstanding projects.

After having received and reviewed more than 300 proposals from entrants living in 35 different countries, Ashoka narrowed the pool down to 14 finalists. They’re now asking the public to vote for the three finalists, each of which will receive $5,000 USD toward the realization of their goals. You can read the proposals and make your vote here.

Community Connection:

Learn more about Ashoka in this article from our archives: “Are You a Changemaker?”

Read more about positive projects in Africa in this article: “Good News Out of Africa.”

Feature photo: Ferdinand Reus; Photo: dno1967

President Obama’s Cash for Clunkers Program (officially called–har har– CARS: the Car Allowance Rebate System) was renewed this week despite the grumbling of some lawmakers who view the program as yet another loopy Democratic scheme to prop up the wheezing economy.

The program, according to an official government website:

“…helps consumers buy or lease a more environmentally-friendly vehicle from a participating dealer when they trade in a less fuel-efficient car or truck. The program is designed to energize the economy; boost auto sales and put safer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles on the nation’s roadways.”

CARS was launched with enough money–Congress believed–to run through October; however, the rebate program has proven so popular that within six days of its launch, it was clear that more money would be needed.

Apparently, America’s got a lot of clunkers on the road.

But it’s not the only country with a Cash for Clunkers program.

In a recent article in The New York Times, reporter Carter Dougherty explained that France, Spain, and Austria have similar programs, as does Germany, where the Cash for Clunkers scheme may ultimately cause more problems than it solves.

Dougherty reports that unlike in the U.S.–where a provision was included to prevent the clunkers from being resold by unscrupulous dealers–the clunkers traded in by Germans aren’t simply being recycled… they’re entering a growing black market that sends the vehicles to Africa and Eastern Europe.

“Great!” you may say to yourself.

But hold on a second… the environmental motives behind the Cash for Clunkers programs, both in the U.S. and abroad, are to get old vehicles that are not fuel efficient and which are serious polluters off the road. Completely. The idea was not to simply put them on someone else’s road, and therein lies the problem.

By shipping the clunkers off to Africa or driving them across Europe’s western/eastern borders, some slick entrepreneurs are making a quick buck (and certainly more than they could make from recycling the car’s scrap metal– the Cash for Clunkers programs have had the unintended effect of causing a steep decline in the value of scrap metal as the market was glutted with the recyclable refuse).

But they’re also adding to environmental and health problems in other countries, exacerbating the divide between the “developed” world and the “developing” world.

Unfortunately, Dougherty’s article offers no indication of whether the German government is looking for ways to retool its Cash for Clunkers program so the problem can be controlled.

Community Connection:

In addition to cars, the West exports its e-waste to developing countries. Read about The Problem with E-Waste here.

Cars are one form of mass consumption. Check out Chris Jordan’s compelling photo essay “Intolerable Beauty: Chris Jordan Photographs American Mass Consumption.”

Finally, take a look at some of the implications of the West shoving its environmental problems on the East in East v. West: Who’s Responsible for World’s CO2?

Photo: bowena

Hari Kondabolu isn’t the only comedian who used the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States as a point of departure to create some powerful stand-up about race, ethnicity, identity, and human relationships.

But Hari, who holds a degree in comparative politics from Wesleyan University, is willing to go out on a limb in his routines by “speak[ing] truth to power with confrontational and personal material” rather than simply poking fun at others.

In this interview by Colors NW, Hari and fellow comedian Ahamefule Oluo talk about the ways comedy can be used as an effective way to raise social consciousness about profound human issues while having a good time:

Community Connection:

For a more philosophical take on how we can be more conscious, check out Matador editor Sarah Menkedick’s article “Travel Is For Idiotic Idealists: Three Americans Held in Iran.”

“Better your character. Don’t live like dogs. Thanks.” All photos by Francisco Collazo.

While living in Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2007, I frequently despaired about the state of the island.

At one point during my time here, Puerto Rico was ranked the fifth most violent nation (per capita) in the world. Despite its enormous potential to become the next Costa Rica in terms of ecotourism, the island was suffering from profound environmental problems, including limited recycling programs, an underdeveloped public transportation infrastructure and over reliance on cars, and rapidly shrinking space for landfills.

Adults lamented aloud–even in television and print ad campaigns–about the loss of valuable cultural traditions and general courtesy. “Que nos pasa, Puerto Rico?” the ads asked.

“What’s happened to us?”

I often wondered what it would take for massive social change here.

And fortunately, returning this week to work on a guidebook, I found some answers that give me lots of hope for Puerto Rico’s future.

Here are five:

1. Artist Carlos Mercado

In Puerto Rico, Carlos Mercado is best known, perhaps, for his series of paintings titled “Iconos” (”Icons”), which explore Puerto Rico’s history by building upon the images of New Deal-era photographer Jack Delano, who was famous for the portraits of ordinary people he shot in rural Puerto Rico during the Depression era.

But Mercado, a modern-day Renaissance man, may also be Puerto Rico’s best hope for a sustainable brand of community building and activism that can engage the masses. “As artists, we have a responsibility… not just to make something pretty,” he told me when I visited him in his Old San Juan studio.

In addition to using his art as a way to teach and interpret Puerto Rican history, Mercado is currently collaborating with other local artists and policy makers to create sculptural collection bins to promote recycling in Old San Juan.

It’s just one of the many projects he’s working on with his neighbors. Though Mercado could easily move abroad, he has no desire to do so. He’d rather stay in Puerto Rico, using his art as a means of consciousness raising and critical engagement.

2. Hacienda El Jibarito

The concept of ecotourism hasn’t quite taken root in Puerto Rico yet, though it’s hard to understand why. The island–just 100x 30 miles–is full of geographic and biological diversity that could be tourism’s best selling point.

One exception, though, is Hacienda El Jibarito, a country inn high up in the mountains near the town of San Sebastian.

Greenhouses at Hacienda El Jibarito

Dubbed the country’s first “agrotourism” go-to spot, Hacienda El Jibarito is unique in Puerto Rico’s tourism industry because it focuses on environmentally sustainable activities, all offered on property: horseback riding, hiking, and coffee roasting, to name just a few. The hacienda also has its own greenhouses on site, where gardeners nurture eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables destined for guests’ tables.

I’m hoping that other travel industry entrepreneurs on the island follow El Jibarito’s lead.

3. Paulette Beauchamp’s DanzActiva

Dance–like music, the coqui frog, plantains, and chuletas can-can (Can-Can Style Pork Chops)– are important aspects of Puerto Rican cultural identity.

But unlike these other symbols of Puerto Rican culture, dance has often been restricted to certain groups of people.

Dancer and choreographer Paulette Beauchamp set out to change that.

Beauchamp’s DanzActiva is one of the most exciting and ambitious community service programs I’ve come across in Puerto Rico. In addition to teaching a full schedule of open-enrollment flamenco, ballet, and kathak classes, Beauchamp offers classes in modern dance and bomba for people with Down Syndrome and other special needs. Her students even participated in this year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.

Her studio, located in the historic Ballaja building in Old San Juan, is fully accessible to people with a range of physical abilities.

DanzActiva is the first program of its kind on the island. To learn more about it or to make a donation, click here.

4. Casablanca/DaHouse/Casa Herencia

It would be easy enough to see the lodging trifecta of Casablanca, DaHouse, and Casa Herencia as the latest in a series of precious boutique hotels.

Yes, they’re trendy: DaHouse shares its building with the popular Nuyorican Cafe, Casablanca has deep stone bathtubs where you can soak on its roof, and Casa Herencia has a high class pour-your-own libations bar.

But there are a couple reasons why I’ll be keeping my eye on the group behind these three hotels: one, they’re deeply committed to collaborating with local artists and musicians, creating spaces for them to showcase their work and making connections they’d struggle to negotiate on their own in an increasingly rarefied art market in Puerto Rico. Two, they’re rescuing historic buildings that have either been vacant for years or would fall into complete disrepair without their intervention.

By restoring Casablanca and, in particular, Casa Herencia, the folks behind this boutique hotel group are leading the way in the massive amount of historic restoration work that still needs to be done in Old San Juan.

5. Rafael Ramos Carmona, Cigar Roller

A cigar roller as an agent of change?

Indeed.

Rafael Ramos Carmona

Sit with Rafael Ramos Carmona for any length of time, and you’ll quickly come to understand that the art of cigar rolling is an important aspect of preserving Puerto Rican traditions. As he rolls, Ramos Carmona gives impromptu lessons in Puerto Rican history and culture and can hold forth knowledgeably on any number of topics: traditional art, coffee picking, and the importance of local food, to name just a few.

Without people like Rafael Ramos Carmona, the question “Que nos pasa?” will take on disturbing relevance. Fortunately, Ramos Carmona is an easy enough antidote to find: he holds court under his tent in Old San Juan’s Plaza Colon several days a week. Want to meet him? Drop him a line at tabacaleraramos@hotmail.com.

Community Connection:

Learn more about current politics in Puerto Rico in this article, “US House of Reps Approves Proposal to Consider Puerto Rico’s Status.”

If you’re planning your own trip to Puerto Rico, check out our Green Guide to Puerto Rico and The Best Hikes in Puerto Rico.

Photo: Phillie Casablanca

Throughout its history, South America has been the “X” on the map of the metal mining industry. Multi-national corporations have extracted copper in Chile, iron in Brazil, gold in Ecuador, and other precious metals across the continent, causing intense controversy about environmental and human impacts of the practice.

In recent years, though, mining has been nationalized by various Latin American countries whose political and business leaders recognize that the lucrative practice could help them achieve greater economic autonomy. Decisions to nationalize mining are hardly conflict-free, however. It’s as much the practice of mining as who’s doing it that has caused communities to mobilize in support of anti-mining initiatives, such as El Salvador’s recent nation-wide ban on gold mining.

According to this recent article from the Americas Society, Bolivia is the latest country to be confronting the conflict between the economic lure of and the potential political mire that mining represents. The Americas Society indicated that approximately 5.4 million tons of lithium are buried under Bolivia’s salt desert, representing almost half of the world’s entire lithium reserves.

Lithium is an important ingredient in batteries, and is considered a more attractive metal for battery manufacturing than zinc due to its higher voltage.

Bolivian president Evo Morales has been praised for warding off salivating foreign investors from mining his country’s lithium. He’s also been praised for his long-term plans for the lithium: turning the metal into a usable resource for electric car batteries.

But his plans to nationalize lithium extraction have failed to gain widespread support.

As this BBC report indicates, the salt desert is a pristine landscape; mining would likely have profoundly negative environmental effects on “one of the world’s most unspoiled” places. Lithium mining on the salt flats would also be likely to detract from tourism, a significant part of Bolivia’s economy.

So how does Bolivia negotiate two seemingly competing needs: the need to become economically autonomous, on the one hand, and the need to preserve a pristine place on the other? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Community Connection:

Matador Nights’ editor Tom Gates went to Chile to learn more about the mining industry there. Read about what he learned–and didn’t learn–in “The Battle for Pascua Lama.”

Bolivia’s salt flats topped our list of the world’s most alien landscapes. Check out the photo essay here.

Photo: Seamus Murray

1. Using Urban Space Smartly.

As a city-dweller, I’m always interested in stories about how urban designers, policy makers, politicians, and activists collaborate to think of innovative ways to optimize space, so it’s no surprise that this short piece from The Stimulist about San Francisco turning curbs and other public space into mini farming plots grabbed my attention.

2. Developing Alternative–Real Alternative–Fuel.

In the US, we say we’re committed to developing alternative fuel, but as oil prices soar then drop, soar then drop, our interest in alternative fuel fluctuates accordingly. There are lots of reasons why–not the least being major infrastructural overhauls that would be necessary if we implemented a massive alternative fuel system–but that shouldn’t keep us from continuing research and innovation in this important area.

Over at The Atlantic, correspondent Lisa Margonelli muses about the true economics of conventional fuel (not to mention the environmental economics), and then references a couple articles about the urine-powered fuel cell being developed by researchers at Ohio University. For the quick and dirty lowdown on pee power, check out this article, which explains how a single cow can produce enough pee to supply hot water for 19 houses.

3. Telling “Convenient Truths”: Urban Transportation Reform is Easier Than We Think

I first read about Curitiba, Brazil and its former mayor, the visionary Jaime Lerner, a few years back, so I was excited to receive a screener copy of the documentary, “A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil,” by mother-son team Maria Terezinha Vaz and Giovanni Vaz del Bello.

The filmmakers interviewed Lerner and other Curitiba urban designers and planners, all of whom affirmed that urban redesign is a whole lot easier than most politicians and decision makers claim it is. It’s an inspiring model for the most sustainable design for cities, and though it would be naive to think that Curitiba’s solutions are one-size-fits-all blueprints for the rest of the world, there are lots of lessons to be learned from this Brazilian city:

If you’re interested in seeing the full documentary, purchase information is available here.

4. Rachel Maddow Proves Lots of People Want to Make a Difference… They Just Don’t Always Know How.

Last week, popular political TV talk show host Rachel Maddow did a segment on the Iraqi national baseball team (yup, there is one) and its struggle to get basic gear and uniforms. Within 48 hours, the segment had generated enough attention to result in donations that more than outfitted the team and got them fully geared up. The take-away lesson? Lots of people are ready to pitch in to help others– they just need someone to bring an issue to their attention and provide them with the means to make a meaningful contribution.

5. Matador’s Own Misty Tosh Gets Ready to Expand 4th World Love.

I’m always inspired by Matador members and someone who consistently makes me stand back in amazement is Misty Tosh, founder of the NGO, 4th World Love. If you’ve missed the work she’s doing in Indonesia, check out this article. And then get fired up about her next project: She’s taking 4WL on the road–to Mexico’s Baja California–and she wants you to come along with her! Read up on all the details here.