Photo: Oxfam International

So far, the flooding has left between 1,400 and 1,600 people dead and 20 million more people affected by the floods are without proper shelter, food, or clean water to drink.

In a BBC news article discussing flooding in Pakistan, Daniel Toole of UNICEF said, “It is probably the biggest emergency on the planet today.” According to the latest data, 900,000 homes have already been destroyed from the flooding and one-fifth of Pakistan is submerged. Some of the people displaced from their homes are now living in temporary tents or community buildings; others have no place to go and are sleeping under the stars.

The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs has already identified at least one case of cholera and an additional 36,000 cases of diarrhea. Without clean water to drink, it’s not so much a question of if but when many more people in the flooded region fall ill. According to CNN, the United Nations fears that 6 million people, the majority of whom are children and infants, are in danger of catching diseases that are carried by contaminated water resulting from a shortage of aid money.

How Relief Organizations Are Helping

Here are some global organizations helping with the relief efforts:

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 and still operates today. It offers humanitarian aid to victims of war-torn areas as well as to victims of natural disasters, both on a local and global scale. So far, the American Red Cross has committed $1 million to families in Pakistan who are affected by the flooding.

Oxfam International is a relief confederation of organizations operating in 99 countries that fight poverty and injustice. So far, Oxfam’s efforts in Pakistan have provided clean water and hot food to 182,000 people. Oxfam has also provided 30 boats used in the evacuation of 80,000 people in flooded regions.

Hidaya Foundation, along with its Pakistani sister organization Hidaya Trust, are currently aiding in four locations in Pakistan with the help of more than 250 employees and volunteers. Since the flooding started, Hidaya has provided more than 64,000 cooked meals, over 80 tents, and over 1,800 clothing packages (along with other items), and those numbers continue to climb.

CCP (Concerned Citizens Society of Pakistan) is a non-partisan organization of volunteers who are committed to establishing the “rule of law” and helping to aid suffering of Pakistanis in any way possible. So far, CCP has donated a combined amount of over 3.5 million rupees (the equivalent of over $40,000 USD) worth of cash, food, tents, and rations. CCP’s short term goals include providing temporary shelter and food to those left homeless. Longer term, CCP’s goal is to raise 25 million rupees (the equivalent of over $291 million USD) by December in an effort to feed, provide medicines for, and clothe 500 families affected by the disaster.

UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) was established in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly to assist with refugee-related issues. UNHCR has already begun to airlift supplies such as tents and mosquito nets to help flood victims.

Why You Should Help

The United Nations has said that the amount of people affected by the Pakistani floods could be more than the total number of people affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti — combined.

Homes weren’t the only things washed away or ruined by the flood. According to a BBC news article, the Crops Protection Association estimated the cotton crop loss at $1.8 billion. Agriculture officials estimate that another 17 million acres of farmland are submerged. Roads, bridges, and power and communication lines have also been damaged or washed away.

“Two million dollars are needed every day to provide water – this is not sustainable. We don’t have two million dollars a day,” UNICEF’s regional director, Daniel Toole, told BBC News.

People are suffering, and the region’s monsoon season is only halfway over. Water levels are expected to rise even higher as more rain falls.

How You Can Help

So what can you do? Donate now, and here’s how:

The American Red Cross is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Cash donations are tax deductible (in the United States), and you can donate online. According to the American Red Cross’s website, on average, 91 cents out of every dollar is used on humanitarian services and programs.

Oxfam is a non-profit 501(c)(3). Direct campaigns for the Pakistan floods are being run out of multiple Oxfam locations: Oxfam America, Oxfam Australia, Oxfam GB (Great Britain), Oxfam Germany, Oxfam Hong Kong, Oxfam New Zealand, Oxfam Novib (Netherlands), Oxfam Québec, and Intermon Oxfam (Spain). Visit the Oxfam website for more information on how to donate.

Hidaya Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3). All cash (and in-kind donations) are tax deductible (in the United States), and you can donate online. Funds received by Hidaya are wire transferred to Pakistan and go towards four programs and 30 projects. According to the Hidaya’s website, none of its funds are given to government agencies, and less than 2 percent of those funds are given to other non-profit organizations that help Hidaya.

CCP accepts monetary donations through direct deposit to a bank or by foreign remittance in USD, GBP, or Euros. Visit the CCP website for more information on how to donate.

UNHCR’s tasks are to protect refugees and resolve worldwide refugee issues. Only 2-3 percent of the UNHCR’s funds come from the United Nations; the remaining funds come from direct contributions. Donate online.

UNICEF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) global organization operating in over 150 countries for the betterment of children in the areas of: “health care, clean water, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more.” Cash donations are tax deductible (in the United States), and you can donate online.

Protest in support of Dhondup Wangchen; Photos: SFTHQ

In the early hours of the morning, she will sell this bread on the main square of the Indian town of McLeod Ganj. This little town is famous all over the world for being the residence of the Tibetan government in exile and of the Tibetan community’s most known and respected member, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

It is a colorful community made of displacement. Travelers abound, mixing with the Tibetan and Indian populations. If you look closely enough, you’ll see signs of protest everywhere: the ubiquitous “I Love Tibet” bags, organizations such as Students for a Free Tibet, and the Tibet Hope Centre. Recently, Lhamo Tso, the subject of this article, spoke at the organization, Learning and Ideas for Tibet.

Dhondup Wangchen; Photo: SFTHQ

Lhamo Tso’s story is a microcosm of what lies behind the smiling faces of many of the Tibetan people travelers encounter in McLeod Ganj. Lhamo Tso’s husband, Dhondup Wangchen, was arrested by Chinese authorities in March 2008 for making a documentary film about Tibetans’ opinions of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He spent some time on a dangerous journey through Tibet, and was arrested along with his helper shortly after they successfully managed to smuggle the tapes of the extensive interviews he had conducted out of the country. He was charged with inciting seperatism and since his arrest his family have had no opportunity to see him or communicate with him. You can find out more about Dhondup’s exceptional film here.

Lhamo Tso is a remarkable woman, who independently supports Dhondup Wangchen’s parents, the four children she has with him, and a niece. She speaks clearly, with conviction, and relentlessly about her husband’s arrest, citing that he has committed no crime in documenting people’s opinions. She recounts that he has been denied medical treatment and legal representation by the Chinese authorities.

Dhondup Wangchen was kept in detention for two years, and finally sentenced to six years of imprisonment in January 2010. Two different Chinese human rights lawyers offered to represent him, following which both were threatened with the suspension of their licenses. Dhondup has been beaten, tortured, and has contracted Hepatitis B in prison, and has been transferred to a hard labour camp. Lhamo is fearful that he will not survive the ordeal, especially considering the fact that he is denied medical treatment.

The Tibetan Women’s Association has made a documentary about Lhamo Tso’s life, called “Lhamo Tso: Behind the Sea,” that you can watch here. Lhamo Tso and other women who have lost partners and family members need support. You can help to contribute to an international movement petitioning for the release of Tibetan political prisoners at Free Tibetan Heroes International pressure has been known to reduce the sentence of political prisoners, and your voice can make a difference. If you have a blog or a Facebook profile, you can help make a difference in Lhamo Tso’s life and in the lives of many women like her. Your voice counts, and people like Dhondup Wangchen and Lhamo Tso need you to speak out for them.

Community Connection:

Want to learn more about Lhamo Tso and Dhondup Wangchen? Visit the Reporters without Borders website.

Photos courtesy of author

The eruption of Volcano Pacaya and the arrival of Tropical Storm Agatha have decimated Guatemala. To date, 142 people are confirmed dead, more missing, 30,000 homeless and 111,000 affected. [Editor's Note: Since this story was filed, a sink hole attributed to the tropical storm opened in Guatemala City, swallowing a three story building. Reports indicate one person was killed.]

The GOD’S CHILD Project is one of the largest service providers in Guatemala and its base of operations in Antigua is perfectly positioned to provide assistance to those most affected. It is working with mayors and community leaders to organize relief efforts.

Ciudad Vieja is one of the cities most affected by the disaster, with mudslides destroying homes and taking lives. It’s not the first time this has happened here; Ciudad Vieja means “old city”, and it was once the capital of Guatemala… before devastating mudslides forced most inhabitants to abandon the city.

Since the disaster, The GOD’S CHILD Project has been providing food, clothing, and shelter to over 1,000 victims daily. Victor Garrido, a GOD’S CHILD Project staff member says, “We are literally digging people out of the ground with our shovels.” Volunteers, who came to Guatemala thinking they would be volunteering in a school or taking care of malnourished infants, are finding themselves on the front lines of disaster relief.

Long-term volunteer Corinne Castro updated her Facebook status after working a twelve-hour day in Ciudad Vieja: “The city is covered in 6ft of mud. Houses are destroyed, thousands are left without food, and while I was there several bodies 
were dug out, one including a mother still clutching her baby. The 
organization with which I am working, The GOD’S CHILD PROJECT, is desperate 
for supplies and donations. PLEASE PLEASE help if you can!”

Disasters do not strike when it fits into our schedules; they strike and then our schedules and priorities change. With Chile, Haiti, and other disasters that have struck this year, Tropical Storm Agatha and Volcano Pacaya could not have happened at a worse time. Media coverage is limited, and people cannot help but feel they have seen this episode before.

But people on the ground face waning resources; they need help and they need it now. At the heart of the disaster, they know just how far a little more help can go, and they have seen both the faces of the rescued and the faces of those who were not helped soon enough.

For the past two years I have worked for The GOD’S CHILD Project in Guatemala and I have seen first-hand our response to need: to give everything we can of whatever we have. Because of recent assistance that was provided to Haiti, our project’s resources are wearing thin.

Executive Director and founder Patrick Atkinson, in a letter to supporters said, “We are not only facing a horrible disaster, but a lack of resources due to the material and financial assistance we provided to Haiti. We are rationing our supplies for the most needy and most affected victims, and sending out a call to action. We need your help and we need it now.”

The GOD’S CHILD Project is a widely known international development organization on the front lines of rescue efforts in the most devastated areas of Guatemala. 92 cents of every dollar make it directly to victims. You won’t find another organization here with such thin administration costs.

If you’d like to make a donation, please visit The GOD’S CHILD Project.

A woman receives a bed net to protect her from mosquitoes bearing malaria and other diseases. Photo: Ixtla

A few years ago, while living in Puerto Rico, my husband and I both spent a week bed-ridden with dengue fever. Imagine feeling the symptoms of every illness you’ve ever had–simultaneously–and you’ll begin to understand how terrible that week was.

Dengue is just one of many mosquito-borne illnesses, which are especially common in tropical climates. Another common mosquito-borne disease is malaria, which threatens half the world’s population according to the World Health Organization.

Every year, more than 200 million experience malaria; of that number, almost one million die.

The Gates Foundation, one of the world’s most active proponents of malaria prevention and treatment, believes that this disease can be eradicated.

While the research it funds is focused on preventing malaria through vaccination, an important intervention that’s available now is the bed net.

The Gates Foundation noted in January 2010 that bed nets have had a positive effect in reducing the total number of malaria cases and deaths. According to the Foundation, “Rwanda has seen a 45 percent decline, Zambia 50 percent, Cambodia 50 percent, [and] Eritrea 80 percent” since the Foundation introduced a concentrated effort to distribute nets widely.

Photo: Nothing But Nets

Today, as part of World Malaria Day’s awareness efforts, Nothing But Nets, one of the best-known non-profits working on malaria eradication through mosquito net distribution, is inviting you to help ensure people in malaria-prone areas have access to nets. You can purchase a $10 net or start planning a “sleep out” for next year’s World Malaria Day using the information and promotional tools available on the NBN site.

Want to learn more about the malaria vaccine that is current in the research and development phase? Matador’s resident doctor, Erik McLaughlin, offers an overview in “In Search of a Malaria Vaccine: What Travelers Should Know.” [Note: Statistics in the introduction of that piece have since been updated by the World Health Organization.]

Community Connection:

Do you get vaccinated before you travel? Matador editor Tim Patterson doesn’t– and identifies nine other travel risks worth taking. Join the conversation!

4A, or the Asociacion de Ayuda al Animal Abandonado (Association for the Help of Abandoned Animals, in English), is an organization attached to the University of Chile’s Veterinary School that educates the public on pet care, medically treats and sterilizes stray dogs, and arranges adoptions.

Felipe Esteban Canales Pangui

I interviewed Felipe Esteban Canales Pangui, educational coordinator of 4A, to learn more about this complicated problem and find out how travelers and expats can help reduce the number of dogs on the streets of Santiago.

Cathy:

How many dogs are in Santiago?

Felipe:

The canine population in Santigo… is estimated to be 1.25 million dogs. Approximately 260,000 are on the streets. Almost 70% of the dogs on the streets have owners, but the owners let them wander the streets during the day. The street dogs with owners contribute the most to the population problem because they are far healthier than those without owners and have a [better] capacity to reproduce.

Cathy:

How does your organization help to reduce the number of dogs on the streets?

Felipe:

4A focuses on three areas: rehabilitation, education, and adoption. We provide shelter for dogs we find in our local community who are badly wounded, sick, or in a state of malnutrition. There are approximately 30 volunteers who take care of the 14 dogs at the shelter. The daily shift includes cleaning the kennels, giving food and water, and taking the dogs for walks.

Destinations

Community Connection to Chile

We have also started a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program. Our volunteers find stray dogs, bring them to our organization to be sterilized, and then return them to the streets. This helps reduce the tremendous population growth on the streets.

Our second area is in education. Without a change in attitude and how owners take care of their dogs, our efforts will change very little. Recently, we went to schools to educate children on how to properly care for their pets.

Thirdly, we focus on adoption. Approximately once a month, we bring the animals downtown to pass out educational material and try to find a permanent home for the dogs.

Cathy:

How many dogs are adopted per year?

Felipe:

In 2009, approximately 10 dogs were adopted from our association. It’s a low number this year.

Photo: Rodrigo Basaure

Cathy:

What can travelers in Santiago do to help the dogs on the street? Does it help to give food and water if they’re not planning on staying?

Felipe:

Giving food and water alleviates immediate necessities. There are people who give food and water with regularity and this helps to lessen the dogs’ hunger, but the solution to the real problem of dogs on the streets is through education in responsible care for pets, adoption, and sterilization.

If we succeed to do all three well, and together, we can resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, to give or not give water or food doesn’t help much in the long run if the person is not going to take on the responsibility of the animal permanently.

Cathy:

Are there other organizations like yours that help stray dogs?

Felipe:

Yes, there are several: AEDA, Student Association for the Defense of Animals, which is connected to the University of Santiago; EPA, Students for Animal Protection, connected to the agricultural department at the University of Chile; and CEFU, Coalition for the Ethical Control of Urban Animals, an entity formed by professionals concerned with how the urban animal population is controlled.

Cathy:

If travelers want to help, can they volunteer at your organization?

Felipe:

Yes, they can help in the shelter cleaning, walking the dogs, helping with construction projects, painting, adoption shifts, and education activities.

They can e-mail me (informaciones.4a@gmail.com) to schedule a time to volunteer or look on our website for more information. They can also choose to partner with us and donate money. The money we receive each month first goes for food, then to buy medicine and materials, and to create informative education brochures.

Community Connection:

Headed to Santiago and beyond? Check out all of our Chile articles on our Chile Focus Page.

BBC TV presenter Kate Humble came up with the idea for Stuff Your Rucksack while stuck in a small Saharan village, where she had been invited to make an appearance at a local school.

The kids asked her how many hours it would take to travel by camel to England. Wondering out loud how camels might cross the sea and whether they were allowed on ferries, a little arm went up: “What’s the sea?”

The teacher asked Kate if she had a world map. Humble was humbled. If you grow-up in a land-locked country with no access to maps, books or the Internet, how do you learn about the ocean?

If only she’d known the school needed a map, she could easily have stuffed one in her rucksack and opened up the world to a bunch of kids. Thus, Stuff Your Rucksack was born.

The idea is simple.

Small charities (or travelers who know about them) use Stuff Your Rucksack’s website to post wish lists of things they need. You check the site to see if an organization at your destination has wishlisted any items, pack a few bits and pieces for them, and then drop off the items in person.

The website encourages travelers to provide feedback on the organizations they visit and to keep their eyes peeled for more organizations that need support.

“The beauty of it is that it gives equal value both ways,” says Humble. “The community benefits from something they actually really need and you get a local experience that you just can’t buy or get out of a guidebook”.

Marybeth Gallagher from an after school program in Namibia says, “The children have benefited greatly from this website. I cannot begin to tell you how much loot people have hauled from all parts of the globe to donate to our kids. They have also come to visit and to spread the word about our work. It’s a brilliant idea!”

The site is currently getting a revamp and is due for a re-launch in May. The hope is that it will become a vast crowd-sourced message board among travelers that extends to include more information about volunteer work.

Aware that many big projects need volunteers to commit to six months or more, Stuff Your Rucksack wants to hear from smaller organizations that would appreciate even just a few hours of help as travelers are passing through town.

To get an idea of the kinds of items travelers are stuffing in their rucksacks, here are some recent posts:

A doctor in Chiang Rai in Thailand needs Ibuprofen
A charity that helps street kids in Guatemala needs more sleeping bags
A school for deaf students in Kenya wants toys
An animal hospital in Sri Lanka needs dog collars
A school in Cambodia needs English teachers (minimum 1 week)
A hospital in Malawi wants cell phones
A school in Cuba would love some musical instruments
A university in Macedonia is desperate for copies of The Economist
A school in China needs balloons
An organization in South Africa wants your bra

And if you’re traveling across the Sahara, there’s a school out there in need of a map….

Visit Stuff Your Rucksack for more information and join them on Facebook.

Community Connection:

Matador has lots of resources for backpackers; just check out our Backpack Travel Focus Page!

Photo: +Angst

This isn’t to say that I don’t have goals (I do) or that I’ve perfected living in the moment (I definitely haven’t). It’s just that I realize how quickly new opportunities can arise, and how an idea that seemed viable today may have fizzled out by next week.

So the premise of this video, put together by the organization Four Years. Go., is slightly overwhelming to me. What can I commit to today and work on steadily for the next four years to help prevent continued environmental degradation and to make the world more livable for everyone?

On the other hand, thinking about the urgency of doing something meaningful for the environment within four years as opposed to 40 or 50 years feels more doable and just makes sense.

Check out the video and Four Years. Go.’s mission. Is this a project you’d want to be involved in, and if so, what do you pledge to do?

Feature photo: Gamma-Ray Productions; Above: Screenshot of Free Rice

I don’t really understand Farmville or Second Life, and since work keeps me online all day, I don’t really want to spend my leisure time in front of the screen, too. But if you like online games, why not take a few minutes to play FreeRice, a game sponsored by the United Nations designed for you to show off your smarts in order to earn free rice for hungry people.

Yes, the UN is now into gaming.

Here’s the premise: The UN asks you questions– English vocabulary, chemistry, visual art, language learning, geography, and math–and for every answer you get right, the UN’s World Food Program donates 10 grains of rice to someone in the developing world. The rice is given away by sponsors of the game.

The game is great for nerds, especially those of us who love to travel, and contrary to what you might expect, the questions actually get pretty challenging. Do you know the meaning of the word “mucronate”?

I didn’t, and that’s why I kept playing while I wrote this article… all the way up to 1,000 grains of rice.

At least I’m procrastinating for a good cause.

Community Connection:

Everything you could possibly need or want to know about life online is collected on our Social Media Focus Page.

Whether you’re a hardcore biker or curious about walking a 5k, here are 50 charity events around the globe that’ll up your mojo and tone your quads.

WALK

Alzheimers

1. Alzheimer Association’s Memory Walk (US)

Memory Walk is the US’s largest nationwide walk to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimers.

Arthritis

2. Arthritis Foundation Walk (US)

Funds raised help find a cure for the most common source of disability in America. Volunteer or start a team.

Autism

3. Autism Research Walk Now for Autism Speaks (US + Canada)

Large grassroots autism fundraiser raising millions of dollars per year. Walks take place in the US and Canada.

Breast Cancer

4. Avon 2 Day Walk (US)

Walk 39 miles in two days to raise money for breast cancer screening, support and treatment. Nine cities around the US are holding the event.

Photo by: {just jennifer}

5. Susan Komen 3 Day Walk (US)

Kick the walk intensity up with the Susan Komen foundation’s 3 day, 60 mile walk. Join a local group or organize your own chapter and rally around breast cancer survivors and families.

6. Walk to Empower: Breast Cancer Support Today (US)

Walk to Empower commemorates and remembers breast cancer survivors and loved ones on Mother’s Day. The walk takes place in 16 cities around the US but also features a virtual walk for people in other areas.

Cancer

7. America Cancer Society Relay for Life (US)

Relay for Life raises money for cancer research, celebrates survivors, and remembers family and friends lost to cancer.

Cystic Fibrosis

8. Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk (US)

The Great Strides Walk is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s largest event of the year. 2009’s nationwide walk raised $35 million dollars to support CF programs.

Diabetes

9. America’s Walk for Diabetes (US)

Events around the country build community and fight the disease that affects 1 out of every 16 Americans.

Disabilities

10. Easter Seals’ Walk with Me (US)

The Easter Seals partner walkers with an Easter Seals Ambassador, an adult or child with disabilities. Walkers meet their ambassador before the event and exchange photos and stories leading up to the event.

Down’s Syndrome

11. Buddy Walk (US)

Buddy Walk celebrates Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October. The walk promotes the acceptance and inclusion of people with Down’s Syndrome.

Drunk Driving

12. Walk like MADD (US)

Walks around the US benefit the cause of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Heart Disease

13. American Heart Walk (US)

This is the American Heart Association’s signature event. Join teams across the nation to raise awareness and funds for heart disease.

HIV/AIDS

14. Aids Walk (US)

The Aids Walk of Orange County project, the National Aids Walk Directory, lists over 70 Aids walks throughout the US.

Infant Health

15. Walk America (US)

Walk America, the March of Dimes fundraiser, raises money for research and community programs designed to prevent birth defects, low birth weight and infant death.

Cheering on. Photo by- FaceMePLS

Juvenile Diabetes

16. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure (US)

Walk in over 200 locations to raise funds for juvenile diabetes research. Last year the foundation raised more than 80 million dollars for diabetes research.

Kidney Disease

17. National Kidney Foundation Walk (US)

The NKF walk’s primary purpose is to encourage people to understand the importance of early detection in kidney disease. The walk also raises funds for research and aid for kidney disease sufferers.

Liver Disease

18. Liver Life Walk (US)

Tens of thousands of people participate every year in Liver Life Walk, the largest fundraising event for liver disease.

Lung Cancer

19. American Lung Association Lung Walk (US)

Join a Lung Walk in one of the eleven cities or start your own and raise funds for the American Lung Association.

Lupus

20. Walk with Us to Cure Lupus (US)

Walk with US to Cure Lupus coordinates dozens of walks around the US. 100% of raised funds go to medical research.

Multiple Sclerosis

21. Walk MS (US)

Join over 600 walks and hundreds of thousands of people across the US to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.

22. MS Challenge (US)

MS Challenge is a walk-a-thon over two to three days and thirty to 50 miles. Walkers are provided with training assistance and fundraising advice. If you don’t feel like walking, MS Challenge also welcomes support volunteers.

Suicide Prevention

23. Out of the Darkness Community Walks (US)

Join thousands of people across the US to raise money to fund suicide prevention programs, support families and friends affected by suicide loss, and increase national awareness about depression and suicide.

BIKE

Affordable Housing

24. Bike and Build (US)

Bike and Build organizes several cross-country events to raise money to benefit affordable housing organizations planned and executed by young adults..

Arthritis

25. California Coast Classic (US)

525 mile, 8 day tour from San Francisco to Los Angeles in September benefitting the Arthritis Foundation

Ataxia

26. Ride Ataxia (US)

Ride Ataxia benefits the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, an organization researching a cure for the debilitating neuro-muscular disorder.

Breast Cancer

Photo by- tibchris

27. Bike 4 Breast Cancer (US)

Bike 4 Breast Cancer coordinates local and cross-country events to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research.

Cancer

28. Lance Armstrong Foundation Livestrong Challenge (US)

The Livestrong challenge hosts walking, running, and biking challenges. The challenge cities in 2010 will be Seattle, San Jose, Philadelphia, and Austin.

Children’s Camps

29. Team Hole in the Wall (US)

Team Hole in the Wall is a grassroots organization that raises funds for Hole the Wall camps, the world’s largest family of camps for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Climate Change

30. Ride for Change (Australia)

This is Perth, Australia’s largest mass, free bike ride to raise awareness for climate change.

Diabetes

31. Tour de Cure (US)

Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events across 43 US states. Over 40,000 cyclists in 2009 raised $17 million for the American Diabetes Association.

HIV/AIDS

32. Aids/Life Cycle: Ride to End Aids (US)

Seven day bike ride in June through sweet California coast scenery, from San Francisco to LA. Aids/Life cycle is co-supported by the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS foundation

Juvenile Diabetes

33. Ride to Cure Juvenile Diabetes (US)

Ride to Cure benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The program trains bikers for events across the US and supports their fundraising efforts.

Lung Disease

34. Big Ride Across America (US)

7 weeks cycle bike ride from Seattle to Washington, D.C. to benefit American Lung Association research and advocacy.

Multiple Sclerosis

Photo by: Finding Josephine

35. Bike the US for MS (US)

Check out Matador’s own Bike the US for MS photo essay for a pictorial explanation of the team’s ride across the US to raise funds for MS research.

36. Bike MS (US)

Visit the Bike MS: National MS Society site for more than 100 easy to challenging ride around the US.

37. Rona MS Bike Tour (Canada)

Over 10,000 Canucks participate in one and two day events from June through September across Canada to raise money for MS.

Parkinsons Disease

38. David Phinney Foundation events (US)

The David Phinney Foundation keeps a calendar on their website of bike/walk/run events across the US that beneft Parkinson’s Disease.

RUN

Arthritis

39. Joints in Motion (US)

Similar to Team to End Stroke, Joints in Motion is offers a virtual training program for beginning and experienced walkers and runners. Again, if you meet their fundraising minimum, your trip is on them.

Breast Cancer

40. Race for the Cure (US)

The Susan Komen foundation’s Race for the Cure coordinates 5ks around the US to benefit breast cancer research and awareness.

Cancer

41. Terry Fox Run (Canada + World)

In 1980, Terry Fox set out to run across Canada for cancer awareness. In 1977 he had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, leading to the amputation of his right leg. Beginning in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Terry Fox ran, with an artificial right leg, the equivalent of a marathon everyday for 143 days. Along the way, he became more and more celebrated and used his public platform to raise awareness for cancer.  He died nine months later from the disease.

Now, Canada and other organizers around the world host an annual Terry Fox Run. For more information on the annual September Canadian run, visit the Terry Fox website.

42. Team ACS (US)

The American Cancer Society website lists a slew of runs benefitting the ACS. Check out their page to find an event in your area.

Dan you rock. Photo by- thelastminute

Deaf Children

43. NDCS events (UK and World)

NDCS offers a collection of UK running events on their website. They also organize global treks and bike rides for the cause.

Diabetes

44. Canadian Diabetes Association Team Diabetes (Canada + World)

Team Diabetes trains walkers and runners for everything from marathons to short distances. In addition to events in Canada, there are international destinations such as Athens, Reykjavik, and Honolulu with additional hiking events in places like the Grand Canyon.

Hospice

45. National Hospice Foundation Run to Remember (US)

Run to Remember is a national training program that will help volunteers pick a race, decide on a pace, and train to support hospice care.

Leukemia and Lymphoma

46. Team in Training

The Team in Training program is a huge charity sports training program benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our own Abbie Mood has run two marathons with Team in Training.

47. Walt Disney World Marathon (US)

One of the biggest marathons in conjunction with the Team in Training program is the Walt Disney World Marathon. Yes, it’s corporate, but each year the marathon raises more than 7 million dollars for the foundation. Plus, you get to run your 26.2 miles through all four theme parks.

75 year old marathoner. Photo by- SpecialKRB

Liver Disease

48. Liver Life Challenge (US)

Liver Life Challenge is another training program. LLC coordinates with the American Liver Foundation to provide training and support for half-marathon and marathon runners. Race entry is guaranteed!

Stroke

49. Team to End Stroke (US)

The American Heart Association’s Team to End Stroke is a five month training program for marathon and half-marathon walkers and runners. They offer nutrition and training guidance, even paying for your trip to your chosen event if you meet the fundraising minimum.

Water

50. Run for Water (World)

Run for Water is a series of 6K runs and walks happening in 192 countries within a 24 hour period. (Date for 2010 is April 18.) The event, which includes concerts and other activities, hopes to raise awareness for the water crisis. For more information on the water crisis, visit Matt Scott’s piece detailing 40 Shocking Facts about Water. For a little perspective, read Julie Schwietert’s article on the Kilimanjaro cake walk for clean water.

—

More marathons…

Looking for more marathons? Check out marathonrookie.com’s extensive list, organized by month.

Community Connection

For cycling tips and articles visit Matador’s Cycling Focus Page. Into more unusual rides? Check out this list of quirky bike rides across the US.

Know of/participated in other walk/bike/run events? Share the link and any info below. Any advice for future walkers/bikers/runners?

And so, on January 9, 2010 we unplugged our fridge.

According to The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, refrigerators suck up an average of 1,383 kilowatt hours of energy each year.  This is a very wasteful use of energy, especially considering that many foods don’t require the level of refrigeration we’re led to believe they need.

Eggs are a classic example. Travel to most countries outside of North America and eggs are sold and stored at room temperature. Same goes for cheese. We now keep cheeses wrapped in waxed paper on the counter, and have been surprised at how much more flavorful they are when not kept cold.

Many fruits will keep for a week or more at room temperature, and vegetables will last for at least a few days if kept moist with water.

Milk however, will only keep for about 6 hours.  Seeing that the two of us manage to consume at least one gallon of milk every week, I think the footpath to the grocery store is about to get a lot more action.

European couchsurfers who come to stay with us never fail to comment on the Y2K stockpile mentality of our refrigerators. The “apartment-size” fridge (9-12 cubic feet) is the norm in Europe, compared to the 19-22 cubic foot norm in the US and Canada.

Cleaning out our fridge and moving its contents to the mudroom made me realize how much crap really was in there. Half-empty bottles of crusty sauces, soggy fruit, and hairy cheese confirmed my weakness for sales and subsequent habit of buying more than necessary. Just by downgrading to a smaller fridge could cut your energy use in half and if you’ are anything like me, probably slice a nice chunk off of your grocery bill too.

Most refrigerators are set to about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (1.8 degrees Celcius), but don’ t actually need to be so cold. By cranking the temperature up to 43 degrees your food will stay cool without over-expending your already very hard working refrigerator.

We’re managing to get by just fine without a refrigerator and while I’m slowly accepting that chilled white wine won’t be waiting for me after work this summer, I love the challenge of it. It is estimated that the average US home uses just shy of 1,000 kilowatts of electricity every month, and since we’ve ditched our fridge, we have watched our monthly consumption drop from 170 kWh to 90 kWh.

The challenge of living without refrigeration excites me, and a photo essay chronicling our “ditching the fridge” adventure can be found on Wandering Dona.

Community Connection:

To learn more about everyday ways to conserve energy and save money, be sure to read about Abbie Mood’s experience with the No Impact Week Challenge. Also, check out Matador’s focus page on Green Products for environmentally conscious product ideas!

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!

The author

I have committed myself to going to Haiti for Spring Break. Now others rely on me.

The Spark

January 12. I was in the kitchen with my mother and older brother. My mother sat facing the TV. I stood just to the side. My brother was rinsing his cup out in the sink. The news was on. My mother’s shocked face and her abrupt silence, caused me to turn my attention.

A few minutes had passed and realization of what had happened was sinking in. Sadly, it was only beginning. Commercials interrupted our silence. My brother said something along the lines of, “Well, looks like I’ll be in Haiti for Spring Break.” Perhaps it was only wishful thinking, but his sentence sparked the tinder in my heart and mind.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why not?” he answered.

The Compass

After searching various websites, including Matador, for ways I could volunteer, I concluded no opportunity existed for me to help.

I refused to accept that. I started asking how I could help. The consensus was to donate money. Let the experts do the work that needs to be done; there isn’t room for you.

“I can only sit around and give money I don’t have?”

I started scouring the comments of the articles here at Matador, looking for anything. Eventually I found Vladimir. He was in Haiti, he had a Facebook group, he had pictures and information up. I messaged him. I told him I wanted to help.

In the meantime, I was spreading the word around campus and the Internet. I received plenty of positive feedback, especially from Lindsay, a young woman in Texas. She now has her own trip going to Haiti for students at Texas State University. With her ideas, encouragement, and cheer, my own project started to build.

I received a message from Christy, a kind young woman who works with Vladimir and is a part of the Haiti Volunteer Project. They would be delighted to have me and whoever else can join us to volunteer in Haiti.

She was probably unaware of it, but she had just given me my bearing.

The Company

It’s the night of January 28th. I’m sitting behind a wooden table in one of the corners of the softly lit coffee house I frequent. I’m waiting for 8:30 and for all of the people who were interested in going to Haiti to show up. Expecting only five or six people to show up, I’m surprised to find nearly 15 people, each one interested and full of ideas.

Over the next week, I sent out emails with information, updates, and plans. We had our next meeting. I answered questions, not all of which were within my grasp, but I was honest with people and they accepted that.

I gave out orders, suggestions, and requests. I was leading us somewhere, I wasn’t sure exactly where yet.

The Agenda

Over the course of the next two nights, five of us from the group, which we had dubbed “Students Helping Haiti,” spent our nights out in the Iowa winter to raise money.

Salvation Army USA West

The University of Iowa has an active nightlife so we split into two groups and held up posters we had made the night before, after the meeting. I had used stick glue to adhere to poster board not even an hour before. We stood downtown amongst the drunks and soon-to-be drunks. We used five-gallon buckets procured from a local restaurant. They were tainted by the smell of pickles. We asked for money. It was a success, but we still had a long way to go.

We’re now pursuing as many avenues of fundraising as possible to be able to travel to Haiti. We will continue to go out on the weekends and ask businesses for help. However, we realized that we were ignoring the largest collective of potential sponsors. You. Individuals. Now, we are reaching out to everyone for help.

The Campaign

With the help of our local community, and the community that exists here, we will fly to Port-Au-Prince and drive south to Les Cayes. There, we will hire Haitians to cook our meals, putting money into the economy. We’ll help at the orphanage, the hospital, or the field hospital.

We will be there to simply lend our energy, our support, and our smiles. No task will be too small or too big for us to help with.

We want to represent you, the world, and the human race. We want to experience Haiti. We want to help.

The Helping Hand

I come to this network because it’s a community of people with common interests and a common mindset. We are all students of the world, or desire to be so. We all have open minds, hearts that care, and an awareness about the power of the individual.

We look to you for help. By supporting Students Helping Haiti, you have a direct impact on Haiti. After the trip, you will be able to see pictures, videos, and read stories and accounts of our trip. In us, you have faces to put to the cause.

We currently have 17 volunteers. With costs estimated to be approximately $1,000 per volunteer, we have to raise a lot of money. This is where you can lend the help we need to help Haiti.

The Support

If you would like to donate money to Students Helping Haiti, the easiest method is by PayPal. Donate by logging into PayPal. Click “Send Money”; enter the email address studentshelpinghaiti@gmail.com; select “Personal, Gift”; enter your amount; click “Continue.”

Any questions, comments, or concerns otherwise you can also email to studentshelpinghaiti@gmail.com.

Regardless of your contribution, we would like to thank you for the opportunity, for simply caring enough to read and for being an individual.

Community Connection:

To read about other ways you can help young people experience the world and, in doing so, positively impacting others, please read about Matador’s Brave New Travelers scholarship fund.

Lakota woman and her daughter. Photo: crabshack

Lakota Sioux in the Dakotas, which include the Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Rosebud reservations, are faced with the aftermath of fierce winter storms that have cut off water, heat, electricity, and food supplies.

Not yet recovered from debilitating storms in October and November, the tribes endured more storms last week, knocking out the tenuous infrastructure in some of the poorest communities of the nation.

Utilities aren’t expected to be up and running for weeks, or even months, and temperatures are already in the sub-zeros. Adding to this grim situation is another cold front projected to hit the area soon.

Unfortunately, little is mentioned in mainstream media about recent events. While Haiti is still, understandably, a headline story, a dire situation is worsening with few people giving it notice.

And dire isn’t exaggerating. Statistics for the reservations are dismal, commonly obscured from daily–or even occasional– exposure.

Pine Ridge, in Shannon County, South Dakota, is the poorest county in the U.S. The average population is 40,000 people, the homelessness rate is 80% – of which 50% are under 18. Unemployment ranges between 80-90% and 1/3 of homes do not have electricity or water. Infant mortality rate is 20 times higher than the national average. Teen suicide is so high that a state of emergency was declared in November, and about 60% of teens eventually drop out of high school.

The Rosebud Reservation lies within Todd County, the fourth poorest county in the U.S. 93% of Lakota children live below the poverty line and fewer than 50% have access to transportation. A majority of the households are single-parent homes, and unemployment hovers around 94%.

All tribal emergency funds are exhausted, and though a trickle of coverage is flowing through social media outlets, only $450 was raised on the first day for medical costs and emergency services.

Tens of thousands of residents are spread over 2.8 million acres on the reservations, making it difficult for scarce resources to arrive quickly. In the October blizzard, residents were found burning clothes for heat while waiting for wood.

Nobody, least of all in the U.S., should have to burn clothes for heat.

Shelters are presently in place to provide immediate assistance for the elderly, sick, and children, but with just a handful of generators, 11 tribal police, and much of the fuel and groceries provisions depleted, much more aid is needed.

What You Can Do to Help

This is a list of supplies in demand:

Non-perishable food
Cots
Heat sources (heaters & fuel)
Camp stoves & fuel
Lithium 1, 2 and 3 batteries for law enforcement
Lamps/Batteries/Lamp Oil
Toilet paper
Paper products for the shelters
Pampers/formula
Hand/baby wipes/Hand sanitizer

Ship in-kind donations to:


Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman’s Office

Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Supplies

PO Box 590
2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)

Eagle Butte, SD 57625

Mail monetary donations to:


Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe/2010 Disaster Account

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman’s Office

Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Fund

PO Box 590
2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)

Eagle Butte, SD 57625

Or to make an online donation, you can donate through One Spirit, a non-profit organization working on Pine Ridge with several projects. This is a great group of volunteers that I have personally been involved with for the last several years and through which I sponsor three children.

And, of course, please spread the word! I saw miracles unfold in the Haiti aftermath, and there is no doubt in my mind the same could be achieved here.

Community Connection:

Learn more about the Dakotas in Top 10 Spots in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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.

Many national non-profits make their homes in Washington, D.C. and are looking for volunteers. For those of us who have a spare moment to volunteer while visiting the nation’s capital ( it’s a great place to experience, but you’ll have some free time once all those monuments start to look the same), volunteering with local organizations can make all the difference in the lives of your fellow American.

SHORT TERM

WPFW 89.3 FM

D.C.’s only jazz and blues station is looking for volunteers to help with fundraisers, answer phones, and record incoming pledges to help this listener-supported radio stay on the air. During call-in fundraisers, pledge-drive shifts are 4 hours long and are available throughout the day. For other info about on-going opportunities, contact WPFW’s Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@wpfw.org or at (202)588-0999 ex. 360. Groups of 4 or more will be recognized on the air!

SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry providing skills for tomorrow’s work force. This organization allows participants to learn about industries that interest them. Short term events such as judging skills preparedness at national conventions or conducting leadership and communication programs are available.

If you are interested in passing on technical knowledge you have learned, and connecting with tomorrow’s work force, contact SkillsUSA.

Community for Creative Non-Violence

Located just a few blocks from the Capitol Building, CCNV houses 1,350 homeless men and women. This organization offers drug and alcohol rehabilitation, medical, mental health and dental care, and cultural activities. Volunteers are needed at all times to assist in providing services to the residents of the nation’s largest transitional homeless shelter. Call (202) 393-1909 for more information.

LONG TERM

Howard University

For people putting down roots in D.C., the Community Services program at Howard University’s medical center offers healthy individuals 19 and up the opportunity to work in the areas of physical therapy, occupational therapy, community relations and child care, among others. This program gives people interested in the health care field the chance to get hands-on experience working with patients before going into rigorous studies or switching tracks. After an orientation session (see the website for dates and details) and a health and background check, participants are asked to contribute a minimum of 100 hours a year with this program. Email CLivingston@huhosp.org or call (202) 865-4238 with any questions.

The Nature Conservancy in Maryland/District of Columbia

The people working here to save the planet, to share wild spaces with city dwellers, and to educate others know that volunteers aren’t just “free labor.” Whether you want to get your hands dirty or work inside with maps and database systems, the Nature Conservancy is a great place to put your love for nature to work. To learn more, contact Paula Becker at (410) 260-8568 or PBECKER@dnr.state.md.us.

Jubilee Youth Services (JYS)

JYS of Jubilee Housing, Inc, a non-profit organization founded in 1973 to provide affordable housing and supportive services to economically disadvantaged residents of the neighborhood.

JYS is an after-school enrichment program located in the Adams Morgan area that needs people interested in mentoring or tutoring the youth it serves. As a volunteer, you have the option of working with the age group of your choice (K-2nd, 3rd-6th or 7th-12th) in an interest area that falls in line with your personal strengths and talents. All volunteers must attend an orientation as well as agree to a background check. Spanish language skills are helpful, but not required. More info can be found on the Jubilee Housing website.

BOTH

Healthy Babies Project Inc.

For almost 20 years, this drop-in facility has worked with other agencies to provide education and training to at-risk moms in the D.C. metro area. In an effort to reduce infant illness and mortality, the Healthy Babies Project offers substance abuse counseling and intervention as well as immunization programs to the public. Volunteers work with children, media outreach, or prepare food. For more information, contact Kristol Parker at (202) 396-2809 or fill out the online application.

Bread for the City

This non-profit organization provides at-risk residents of Washington, D.C. with food, clothing, medical care, legal and social services. Volunteers who wish to work in the kitchen must commit to one shift a week, and are asked to work for at least four months to establish continuity in the lives of the people they work with. Short term opportunities are available, so visit the organization’s website for more information.

Covenant House Washington

Covenant House has been combating the widespread problems of homelessness and poverty among teenagers and young adults since 1995. You can help street kids become successful adults by working as an educational tutor or Life Skills Assistant. Visit the website to see the list of upcoming and annual events put on by the largest privately funded homelessness agency in the Americas.  

Complete the Volunteer Interest Form, or call (202) 610-9600 to speak to the volunteer coordinator and get started.

Community Connection:

Check out the other cities in our urban volunteering series – Buenos Aires, Chicago, and London.

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

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.

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.

Stiv Wilson, a surfer and environmentalist from Portland, Oregon, was invited to participate in the mission by Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation as a Surfrider Foundation Ambassador.  

Wilson is currently the chair of the Portland, Oregon Surfrider Chapter, working on plastics issues and advising Surfrider’s national Rise Above Plastics campaign.

Why does he want to go?

“I’m a surfer and an environmentalist.  I see plastic floating in the ocean every time I surf. Within the past year, media coverage of The North Pacific Gyre has become prolific, but what the greater public doesn’t know yet is that four other gyres exist in our world’s oceans.  This debris collects because of the way in which ocean currents swirl.  We need to study them all.”

What is he going to do out there?

While onboard, Wilson will be shooting a ton of video and photographs, as well as conducting interviews with researchers and scientists.

During and after the voyage, Wilson will publish articles about his findings on the Huffington Post, Wendmag.com, and on the Surfrider Blog.

Wilson will also be creating “media deliverables” for Surfrider to help spread awareness about the plastic pollution in our oceans, including a curriculum for teachers, short videos, and photos for outreach materials (in addition to the press coverage on Huffington Post and Wendmag.com.

How can you help?

Participation in the voyage will cost $5,000 plus an additional $1,000 for a plane ticket.  The fee will also help fund plastic in sediment analysis, fish tissue sampling (checking for toxins), and marine debris density testing in the Atlantic gyre.  The budget also includes carbon offsets.

Surfrider National has agreed to pay $2,500, leaving Wilson to raise the remaining $3,500.

That’s where you come in.

He has set up a website for donations on Kickstarter.com, where more information can also be found.

Community Connection:

Read more about trash, including the Great Pacific Trash Gyre, in Carlo Alcos’ article, The World’s Most Offensive Landfills.

Photo: imgur

In his New York Times Op-Ed column championing sweatshops in third world countries, Kristof admits he is “just about the only person in America who favors sweatshops.”

Despite suffering the common criticisms of unhealthy conditions, abuses, low wages, etc., sweatshops, Kristof maintains, “are only a symptom of poverty, not a cause, and banning them closes off one route out of poverty.”

For many citizens in poverty stricken nations, a factory job is a “cherished dream, an escalator out of poverty,” says Kristof. To take that away is more harmful than helpful. To be a garment worker is far from the worst thing out there.

In order for poor countries to pull themselves out of poverty, they must develop their manufacturing businesses. And if this means constructing sweatshops in third world countries, well, as “bad as sweatshops are, the alternatives are worse.”

Kristof makes strong points about looking at sweatshops through the lens of impoverished third world residents and being realistic about what factory jobs, no matter how low the wages in comparison to US standards, can provide.

Though, as Matador member Kelsey Timmerman points out in his comment on the post, “[Kristof's] argument ’sweatshops are good’ is too simple, just as is the one ’sweatshops are bad.’ ”

While Timmerman agrees that such factory jobs are incredibly important to the workers, he worries that Kristof’s column “encourages apathy” among consumers through it’s bottom line.

Rather than taking a black or white, good or bad side on the sweatshop debate, Timmerman feels that what people should be doing is becoming engaged consumers, asking brands where they manufacture their products and whether or not they have codes of social conduct for their factories.

“In my eyes, if an engaged consumer discovers something they don’t like about a brand they are wearing, they shouldn’t just write off the brand, they should pick up the phone and give them a call or drop them an e-mail. They should express what their concern is and see what, if any, action or response the brand is taking to correct it.”

It’s hard to say whether or not such phone calls or emails would have significant impacts on the way companies do business, but what is for sure, what both Kristof and Timmerman can agree upon, is that a general boycott of companies whose products are made in sweatshops is not the answer as it damages the lives of very workers its trying to help by putting them out of work.

What’s your take on sweatshops? Share your comments with us below.

Photo: exfordy

Yesterday, INTERPOL announced the impressive crime bust victory, codenamed Operation Costa, was a result of incredible coordination between police, national wildlife, customs, and national intelligence agency officers from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

In addition to seizing over two tons of elephant ivory, officers in all six countries conducted inspections and raids that resulted in the confiscation of other wildlife products, such as leopard skins, as well as weapons, ammunition, and vehicles.

“The success of Operation Costa is notable not only for the sheer volume of illegal ivory which has been recovered, which is among the biggest ever hauls recorded, but because it also clearly shows the ability and will of law enforcement to effectively tackle wildlife crime,” said Peter Younger, manager of INTERPOL’s OASIS (Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support) Africa wildlife crime program.

Operation Costa is the second in a series of such operations and INTERPOL is confident ‘Costa’ will provide a strong foundation for information and intelligence gathering for future actions.

While this report is undoubtedly great news, it’s simultaneously sobering to think of the animals from which these seized products were sourced. Even more disturbing is hunting for the vicarious experience of murder.

Comments? Share your thoughts below.

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: 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.

Matador’s managing editor, Julie Schwietert, and her Afro-Cuban husband.

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 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.

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: 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.

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.

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.”

Photo: The author at her NGO in Indonesia.

I recently started an NGO, 4th World Love, that focuses on community development in distant lands and I’ve learned a few lessons on the front lines of grassroots NGO’dom.

Here are a few bullet points to consider after you’ve already got your cause, your website, and your plan.

Start by remembering this one – don’t forget to laugh – because in the end, if there is no laughing-til-you-cry, it’s just not worth it.

1. Communication Is Primo.

Once you’ve got your organization’s base set up, there will come a time when you must get back home to raise money, make money, and ponder new ideas. Once you’re gone, things can quickly go downhill unless you set up a chain of command, with loads of communication.

We appointed a local Field Director and Field Coordinator before we left with very specific instructions (we need a cash flow report once a month, make sure the volunteers sign this waiver before they start the program, always text back confirmation when you get information).

Things like this keep the program from bursting at the seams. It’s hard when the village has no internet, but with texting at the fingertips of most third world’ers, we’ve had no problem staying in touch… even though there are multiple black outs per day.

REMEMBER: You have to set the parameters in order for them to be followed. Period.

2. And, Then There’s The Exact Opposite – Miscommunication.

Everyone from the village becomes a friend; therefore, they want to text and e-mail all the time. This is fantastic because updates and passing information along is crucial to NGO success. What isn’t great is when everyone starts ignoring the chain of command and breaks free of the system to share their trivial issues.

Better to set up a precise method of relaying information before you leave. Better yet, create a job description document so everyone knows who is responsible for sharing what. You wanna tell me that a baby who had cleft palate surgery is doing well– that rocks. But, if you wanna tell me all about the late petty cash report… well, that gets the smack-down.

REMEMBER: Set up proper channels and make sure your appointed directors are clear with everyone involved about the rules and their specifics. If you don’t, expect chaos.

3. Fundraising – The Ultimate Challenge.

This little diddy is the hardest part of NGO’dom. Where do funds come from? You can’t expect people to keep giving cash, especially in an economy like this.

Therefore, one must get incredibly creative.

We came up with an idea for a contest – Donate $100 to win a free trip to Indonesia was the one we ran last year; this year we’re doing the same thing, but in Baja. People really respond to this idea because there’s a chance for them to win something crazy-cool…not just donate a bit of cash.

But just because they did it once doesn’t mean they’ll do it twice.

Again, thinking cap goes on. We started producing Pilates/volunteering retreats in Mexico where all profits go to fund 4WL – and the cost of the trip is a write-off. Pretty brilliant.

We also scour local villages for things we can sell (handmade scarves, cool bamboo bags and boxes, and organic soap). But we’re gonna have to amp it up a level and get more than just individual sales – we’ll have to go gangbusters, and try to sell mass quantities from the samples we currently have. Get the order and then worry about getting them made. All profits fund local projects.

REMEMBER: Most people who say they will donate DO NOT. It’s the random folks who really kick in the dinero. Bless them all.

4. Bring in Volunteers…or Not?

The intrepid souls who traipse the world working for free are the backbone of any NGO. They storm in with good ideas, piles of energy, and the will to get things done.

However, they can be a full time job for those running things back on the home front.

Dozens of e-mails have to be answered from online volunteer shout-outs, money has to be wired, transportation has to be coordinated, home stays have to be arranged, and thousands of questions have to be answered. The key is to develop a system for managing it all.

Let’s say someone e-mails, curious about 4WL. Instead of getting really detailed at the top, I just send them a Volunteer 101 sheet, an article I wrote about the village, a volunteer form for them to fill out, and the permanent volunteer schedule.

If they plow through all that information, as well as the highly detailed website, and then blast back specific questions, then I know they are legit and might actually make the trek to Indonesia. If they just ask evasive generic questions and haven’t taken the time to really get deep with our materials, then they aren’t worth the effort.

They probably just sent out a blanket email to 50 orgs and still have no idea what they want to do. I’m not saying don’t be nice, I’m just saying read between the lines.

REMEMBER: Hold their hand, but only if they hold yours back.

5. Establish Your NGO’s EXACT Cause.

Folks ask all the time, “What is your cause, exactly?” Until my last scouting excursion, I wasn’t able to pinpoint it. But, now I can – we focus on community development. Pure and simple.

Whether it’s through organic farming initiatives, carpentry workshops, cleft palate surgeries, English lessons, a new t-shirt business, opening a small café, or teaching photography and video skills – it doesn’t matter. We do it if the village requests it.

I can’t imagine rolling into a township and hearing all of the various ideas and dreams and then shutting someone down ’cause we just do “healthcare” or “AIDS prevention.” Though both noble causes, we’re about more than one thing. And, getting to that determination took some hard digging on the soul front. Even though we lived it, wrote it, and hatched the very idea, crafting the exact statement that surrounds the sentiment took some time.

REMEMBER: Think hard about your cause before you start promoting, because you will be fronted and you most definitely need an answer. A good, telling, inspiring one.

6. Boil Down New Ideas.

Phase 1 is complete. Now it’s time to take it all to the next level and take stock in your recent progress. What is the next level, especially since everything is running so well? Maybe you want to expand your efforts into another village; perhaps you need more volunteers and on-site facilitators; you might even want to start another fund raising scheme.

At this point, it’s time to take it all to paper because a wing and a prayer might have worked for the first round of goodness, but now, things bear a little more investigating. We just put together our first 4WL newsletter and it was incredible to have all our happenings laid out in one super-fly PDF. Not only did it help all our supporters get the inside tip to all that were doing, it helped us hone in on where we’re headed in the near future…and what might be missing in the right now.

Bottom line, you must share the intel. Take loads of pictures when you are on site. Follow up with volunteers and get them to send you testimonials that you can post on your website and share. Plot, plan, scheme, dream, share– it’s the only way to ratchet up the vibe you’re trying to create.

REMEMBER: Make people proud to be a part of your organization and they will go to war for you…as you would for them.

7. Don’t Forget About Personal Sanity.

All of this work is draining and can be heavy on the soul. Am I doing enough? Where do I get new ideas? Will I ever be able to pull it all off? All these questions keep me and my partner-in-crime awake at night, but the more balance we try to create in our own personal lives, the better off we are.

If I work out every day, my energy soars and I’m off-the-charts productive. If I go out til the wee hours drinking and do a midnight slam down of pizza with ranch dressing, well the next AM ain’t so great.

Finding my own personal level of balance is crucial in making all these great things happen.

You also have to have a level of self-promotion that would make most cringe. I’m certain people get sick to death of my weekly e-mails about new far-flung contests, retreats, and excursions. But, you never know, I might just hit them at the moment they are fed up with their own existence and are looking to make a change.

Be it within you, your network, your village, or your organization’s plans for the future, that’s what it’s all about – making a difference in the world and feeling really, really good about it.

REMEMBER: To a person who makes $20 bones a month, every single penny counts, and if you put your energy in the right place, in the most positive spot, then you will reap rewards like no other. Might not be a penny, but it will shine like one.

Community Connection:

Wondering how to start an NGO? Ryan Libre gives you a primer in How to Start a Successful NGO in 10 Steps.

Photo: MastaBaba

This coming Saturday, Nelson Mandela will celebrate his 91st birthday.

On the same day, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the organization 46664 are inviting people everywhere to honor Mandela’s legacy of social struggle and change by participating in Mandela Day, a global call to service and celebration.

The sponsors of Mandela Day ask how you can spend 67 minutes (representative of the number of years Mandela has been engaged in social justice work) giving back to your community. Their website provides ideas about volunteer opportunities, or invites you to share your own by making your commitment to volunteer public.

New York City is the hub of this year’s celebrations, and if you’re in town, you can stop by Grand Central to take in a powerful art installation or attend a massive concert at Radio City that will feature Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Josh Groban, Angelique Kidjo, and the Soweto Gospel Choir, among many other artists.

Community Connection:

To read about Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration, check out this article from our archives. And to learn more about Mandela’s work–and nine other inspiring people–check out “10 Revolutionary Acts of Courage by Ordinary People.”

One of the many groups in New York seeking your charity dollars. Photo: bk.ninja

We chatted for 15 minutes. For $22 a month, he told me, I could change a child’s life if I would just jot down my bank account information right there on the street. (He even had a clipboard—how convenient!). I respectfully declined, promising him that I would check out the website. If I liked what I saw, I’d make a donation.

That night, as I donated a dollar a drink to several bartenders over many hours, I thought about what makes one charity better than another, and whether I should fork over a small percentage of my hard-earned salary to a “good cause,” never really knowing if that money reaches the people who need it, or if it would even be enough to make a dent.

After a lot of thought and a little research, I identified four factors to consider before making a charitable donation:

1. Will your donation make a big splash or a drop in the bucket?

You won’t do any harm by donating to more well-known charities like the American Cancer Society or Feed the Children, both nearly billion-dollar organizations.

But for a local organization like the Children’s Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, which raised $1.3 million in 2007, annual donations from community members seem to have a bigger impact.

“In our community, we’re well known,” says Shannon Oliviero, the organization’s director of community relations. Oliviero explains that their no-pressure approach has helped “ten-fold” to bring in money to support children with cancer. Much of their funding comes from repeat contributors in the Tampa community, and local events are arranged for donors to meet the families they’re helping to support.

The Baltimore Community Foundation, which encompasses over 500 charitable funds, raised nearly $40 million in 2007. “People want to see results,” says director of communications Gigi Wirtz, who points out that community funds like BCF are more interactive than some of the larger, national charities. “They want access to the expertise of our program staff to find out [which charities] are doing the best work in Baltimore.” And for a first-time donor, the opportunity to have more control over their donation might be an appealing feature.

2. Which good cause is right for you?

Photo: Ed Yourdon

Whether I’ve heard of a charity or not, I want to know a little more about whom or what they’re fighting to cure, save, or protect. How long have they been around? How much of my money would go directly to those in need, and how much would pay for crappy blue vests or orange cardboard change boxes?

The American Cancer Society spends 30% of its charitable donations on administrative and fundraising purposes, while Save the Children only uses 10% of its donations for similar such expenses. However, in 2007 the American Cancer Society raised $685 million for its cause, compared to Save the Children’s $324 million.

Doing an hour of online research on a site like Charity Navigator, a website dedicated to “intelligent giving,” will help you get a sense of which charities will spend your money most efficiently, and perhaps more importantly, which ones won’t.

3. How generous can you afford to be?

Any would-be givers should figure out roughly how much they’re willing to spend on their cause. There’s no right answer. For example, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill reported $995 in charitable donations on their 2007 tax return—about 0.3% of their $319,853 annual income.

Charity Navigator suggests that would-be donators think about their contributions as long-term rather than a one-time spend:

“Ask yourself if your charity is the type of organization to which you’re willing to make a long-term commitment. When you do this, you agree to support them through good times and bad, and provide the funding it needs to weather economic downturns …. Only then will long-term sustainable change take place.”

Keep in mind that your donation doesn’t have to be money. Would you be willing to give blood every 56 days? How about volunteering your time handing out meals to the hungry? Of course, not everyone is comfortable with a needle in their arm, and charity work doesn’t necessarily suit everyone’s personality type, so donating money to a good cause is a nice alternative.

4. What’s the Feel Good Factor?

Charity is meant to benefit its recipients; the donor’s satisfaction is just a byproduct. But in the big picture, if you feel good about your contribution, you’re probably more likely to give again, and to recommend that others do the same.

Photo: Wootang1

My feel good moment happened accidentally. I entered a 5-mile race to measure my progress as a nascent runner. The entry fee was $17, which I handed over without a second thought. Sure, my money was going to a good cause—lung cancer research—but at the time I was more interested in competition than charity.

But on race day, I realized that while my “contribution” of $17 may not have been much, it meant a lot more when pooled with the entry fees from each of the other 7,588 runners who signed up, along with the big-name sponsors of the event that had donated more than $150,000 to the cause. That kind of money might be able to make a dent when put towards a cause like lung cancer research. And that made me feel, well, good.

Needless to say, I’ll be running in the event next year.

Community Connection:

Don’t have the money to make a donation? There are lots of other ways you can make a difference. Consider volunteering your time with one of Matador’s member organizations, which you can learn about here.

Feature photo: www.worldon2wheels.com; Photo: emma.maria

In response to my question about how many hours a day the WWOOFers worked, the host replied, “We expect the WWOFers to enjoy the work enough not to mind how many hours they work.”

A red flag should have begun waving itself madly, but all I could see was the cheese factory on site, the fact they made their own pasta, and the assortment of animals on the farm. I ended up working about 12 hours a day on that farm, but never with the cheese or the pasta.

After having good and bad experiences WWOOFing in four different countries, these are the questions I’ve learned to ask:

1. How many hours do I work each day?

The purpose of this question is to be prepared for the expectations of the farm. The answer also gives you a reference point for addressing concerns if you find a significant discrepancy once you’re at the farm.

Asking about days off is also a good idea. One guy arrived at a farm and thought he had every weekend off. He was unpleasantly surprised to learn this was not the case.

2. What kind of work will I be doing?

Photo: strikeael

I always like to know there is a variety of work to be done. At one farm I never did the same thing twice; I faced new challenges like milking goats and making a basket out of willow.

At another farm I only did two things: herd goats and cut grass. Which one do you think I enjoyed most? This question is important because you can find out if the work will suit you physically and if the tasks offer the experiences and challenges what you want.

3. I only speak English. Does that matter?

In France, I WWOOFed at a host who had moved from England, so language was not a problem. In Italy, however, I encountered a few problems at two farms. The first host did not like speaking in English. Instead, the host spoke to the other WWOOFers who spoke Italian, never directing anything to me.

Photo: strikeael

Their listing had indicated English was spoken, but it was a quiet and unsocial two weeks. At the second farm there was frequent miscommunication because the host spoke little English and was impatient with misunderstandings. Better to be clear from the start!

4. Do you allow WWOOFers to use the internet?

WWOOFers are often travelers who want to stay in touch with family and be able to make further travel arrangements. Yet I was surprised by the number of farms that were unhappy to let me send a quick email or look up a train schedule.

Some people are simply of an earlier generation, don’t use the internet themselves, and don’t see why you should. Others have had bad experiences of WWOOFers using their computers. Either way, if you plan to stay connected, it’s wise to ask about the host’s policy.

Make sure you leave for a host prepared; otherwise, unpleasant surprises might take away from what could be a rewarding experience.

Community Connection:

Read some other practical tips in our First-Timer’s Guide to WWOOFing.

A protest against the death penalty in Paris. Photo: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

In the United States, capital punishment–or, put more bluntly, the death penalty– remains a deeply divisive issue.

In other countries, however, Amnesty International reports the death penalty abolition movement is gaining support, and they signal Togo legislators’ unanimous repeal of capital punishment earlier this week as the most recent proof of this trend.

Togo is the 15th African Union member nation to abolish the death penalty for all types of crimes, though it’s not likely to be the last: Mali is considering a similar move.

To see a full list of the countries that reject the death penalty as a form of punishment for all crimes, click here.

To learn more about the death penalty abolition movement in the United States, visit the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, which offers 10 ways you can take action to help abolish the death penalty. To read up on the death penalty abolition movement in other parts of the world, visit the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Photo: .faramarz

Photo: .faramarz

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raised the stakes on Friday when he defended President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the rightful winner in the country’s June 12th elections.

The supreme leader threatened “bloodshed and chaos” to Iranian citizens who defy his ban and take to the streets for Saturday’s anticipated protests.

Despite the threats, Iranians who want a better future are planning to rally on Saturday in the face of serious risk.

The stern warning has echoed fear of a massacre resembling the one that left 2,500 dead and 10,000 wounded in the Beijing’s Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Here are five reasons we should support and applaud Iranian protesters on Saturday:

1) The protesters have the momentum.

Iranian activists have already accomplished much with the massive protests over the past week. They have captured the attention of the world, and posed a formidable challenge to their leadership and the rigged election. They have sent a message to Iranian leaders that they will not follow a government they did not choose.

Photo: mrarasmus

Friday’s harsh threats from the supreme leader are a last resort to quell the unrest and now the ball is in the people’s court.

If they have the courage to call his bluff, risking physical harm to themselves, it will represent a tipping point for the country.

2) The Iranians want our support.

You may have noticed in some of the most prolific photos of the protests this week, many of the signs are in English.

Iranian protesters know that the rest of the world is watching and with English signs, like “Where is my vote?”, they are sending us a message that they are not violent people, they want democracy to succeed and they want the improvements that it will bring to their lives.

3) It’s not about the opposition leaders anymore; it’s about the people.

The supreme leader’s threats are directed at all Iranians, but he specifically said that the responsibility for the chaos and bloodshed come Saturday would be on the hands of opposition leaders.

In other words, he’s ordering the opposition leaders to call off the rallies. Problem is, the time when that was possible has already passed.

Mr. Hossein Moussavi. Photo: Hamed Saber

On Tuesday, Mr. Hossein Moussavi, one of the main opposition leaders, urged his own supporters to cancel their plans to rally and it had no effect.

Hundreds of thousands showed up against his intentions and when the numbers neared a million, he joined them.

This shows that it’s ordinary citizens, not high-powered politicians fueling this unrest. It is the people–and a large section of the Iranian establishment– demanding a fair election.

4) Regime change can only come from within.

As much as Western governments would like to replace the totalitarian regime in Iran, real revolution must come from within. Outside governments like the US will never be able to successfully change a sovereign government like Iran through embargoes and political pressure.

More importantly, in Iran, the single biggest subject that unifies the most radical sects of the government is “outside power”, i.e. America vying for influence. In other words, the more western governments attempt to influence politics from the outside, the more we are emboldening politicians like Ahmadinejad and fueling hatred of America at the political level.

Photo: .faramarz

If successful regime change comes to Iran, it will arrive in the hands of Iranians.

5) There is so much future to fight for.

70% of Iranians are under the age of 30. A change in government now could have dramatically positive results for the lives of all young Iranians. Now is their chance.

The people of Iran have been entangled by the oppression of their government and the prejudice of the West for too long.

Just as many Americans cringed at the thought of foreigners perceiving our people by the measures of our government and foreign policy during the W. Bush years, Iranians too are frustrated by the fact that their people are judged by the decisions made by their government. This is an opportunity to change all that.

Just as we in the United States changed our leadership and elected Obama to open people’s minds back up to what we stand for, Iranians could do the same thing if they succeed in bringing new leadership to Iran.

The time is now.

So I urge you, regardless of where you are in the world, or what country you’re from, support the people of Iran on this fateful day. Make sure everyone you care about knows what’s happening and understands how high the stakes are for these people, who so desperately want a real democracy. To begin, here are six ways you can help.

Photo: .faramarz

When something significant is going down in another country and you’re halfway around the world, it’s hard to feel that you can take any action that will make a tangible difference in the lives of people who could benefit from your support. Here are six things you can do right now to help people in Iran who feel that the presidential election in their country was not carried out fairly.

1. Get the facts.

Before you take any action, make sure your facts are straight. With news coming out of Iran at head-spinning speed and from multiple sources–not all of which are reliable–it’s critical that you inform yourself about what’s been occurring in the country over the past week.

Read widely. Opinions, perspectives, and first-hand accounts from the country vary dramatically depending on the source. Some places to start? Al Jazeera, Andrew Sullivan’s “The Daily Dish” blog on The Atlantic’s website, Der Spiegel, the BBC, and National Public Radio.

2. Become part of a critical mass.

Don’t reinvent the wheel: there are already dozens of non-profits, NGOs, and activist groups that have mobilized organized actions that will only be effective if they achieve a critical mass of participants.

Avaaz is currently organizing an exit poll to phone Iranians, ask for whom they voted, and publicize the collected data to the international media. The organization has set a goal of raising $119,000 USD to conduct the poll, and is aiming to collect donations from more than 10,000 participants in the next 24 hours.

3. Take to the streets.

Protest in Tehran; Photo: .faramarz

Street protests CAN make a difference. You don’t have to be in Tehran to take to the streets, though. Marches, protests, and demonstrations of solidarity are being held all over the world, including Washington, D.C. and Portland. Google your city, “Iran” and “solidarity” to learn whether an event is planned for your area.

4. “Green” your online profiles.

It may seem silly, but changing the background color of your avatar is an outward sign of solidarity that’s visible to Iranians with Internet access. Imagine how you’d feel if you knew millions of people were thinking of you while you were struggling for your political rights, even if they couldn’t do much that would make a tangible difference in your circumstances.

The color that has been chosen to support Iranian activists is green. To “green” your profile, follow these instructions:

1. Go to http://www.picnik.com
2. Upload your photo.
3. Click “create.”
4. Click “effects.”
5. Click “night vision.”
6. Save and add to Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

Alternately, you can download this icon, courtesy of dlayphoto.com, and use it as your temporary avatar.

5. Be a smart follower on Twitter and Facebook.

Just as Twitter and Facebook are being used by Iranian activists to organize action and disseminate information, the same platforms are being used by the opposition. Evaluate accounts related to Iran and the elections carefully.

One legitimate Twitter feed to follow is @IranSolidarity, who’s collecting and retweeting information and updates from multiple sources.

6. Start thinking about the bigger picture and the back story.

Photo: .faramarz

Don’t let your activism become a form of neo-imperialism.

As one American blogger noted, it’s easy to get riled up about injustice abroad, but easy to overlook more subtle forms of oppression in our own backyards.

Iran is more than the cause du jour.

Let Iran be your impetus to commit to action everywhere, especially at home. Make your activism part of your daily life.

Community Connection:

If you missed Ryan Van Lenning’s article about citizen diplomacy in Iran, be sure to take a few minutes to access it here.

Photo: Greenpeace India

You already know that you shouldn’t just send that old laptop or printer to the landfill once you’ve upgraded and moved on, right?

E-waste– the electronics we discard when they no longer serve us–is the environmental bane of the technology age, responsible for at least 2% of solid waste in municipal landfills.

Despite the expansion of electronics donation and recycling programs, 157 million computer products and 126 million cell phones were sent to the trash heap in 2007.

Environmental advocates agree that thoughtless disposal of electronics is a bad move: hazardous chemicals leach into the ground soil and water table, causing eventual health problems for humans and animals.

But lately, environmentalists have also been concerned about where donated electronics are ending up, and they’re raising questions about the more immediate health threats the recycling and reuse of electronics are causing.

Eighty percent of the e-waste that is sent for recycling ends up in countries outside the West, where it’s typically cheaper–often, as much as 10 times cheaper–to reprocess our used goods. Much of our e-waste ends up in Asia and Africa, where workers strip the electronics of their components, such as copper wire and other metals that can be resold.

The price, though, may be higher than the payoff: workers expose themselves to dangerous chemicals that can create long-term health problems, as the video below documents:

So what can you do to get rid of e-waste responsibly? Greenpeace offers some advice here.

Community Connection:

Do you have other electronics you’d like to donate safely? Learn more about donating old cameras here. And for some ideas about other odd items you can recycle safely, please read our article, Random Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle.

Photos courtesy of Amazon Watch

[Editor's Note: This article contains extremely graphic images that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Please use your discretion.]

For people around the world who have limited access to traditional forms of power, the peaceful demonstration is often an effective means of bringing local and international attention to life and death issues that would otherwise go unnoticed.

This was true during the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., when African Americans dressed in their Sunday finest and sat at lunch counters, waiting to be served but knowing they wouldn’t be.

It was true two weeks ago in California, when supporters of gay rights gathered together to stage a sit-in in front of San Francisco’s City Hall.

And it was true on Friday morning, June 6, when several thousand Awajun and Wambis, indigenous Peruvians, continued their 56 day road block in the remote area of Bagua to protest free trade agreements that have opened ancestral lands to private companies for resource extraction without their input or agreement.

But traditional authority has little tolerance for these patient, often silent, forms of protest.

And so, around 2 AM on Friday morning, Peruvian Special Forces surrounded demonstrators set up along a roadway with steep embankments on either side. While the demonstrators were sleeping, police came in from both sides and even from above–by helicopter–trapping the indigenous groups and demanding they cede the land they were holding.

When the demonstrators refused, police fired tear gas, grenades, and bullets into the group, killing at least 25 civilians and wounding more than 150.

Gregor MacLennan of the environmental advocacy group Amazon Watch arrived in Bagua shortly after the attacks to begin collecting the testimonies of eyewitnesses. Based on the reports he collected, MacLennan reported:

“All eyewitness testimonies say that Special Forces opened fire on peaceful and unarmed demonstrators…. This was not a clash, but a coordinated police raid with police firing on protesters from both sides of their blockade…. Some have reported seeing the police throwing liquid on the cadavers and burning them.

“Also local residents have given accounts of having seen police throwing bodies of dead civilians into the river in an apparent attempt to underreport the number of dead. We’ve also received accounts that some of those injured were being detained by security forces and denied medical attention leading to additional deaths. There are many people still reported missing and access to medical attention in the region is horribly inadequate.”

Amazon Watch is currently monitoring events in the region and has established several opportunities for you to take action:

1. Send a direct message to Peruvian President Alan Garcia and the government to support the four-point agenda presented by the indigenous groups: (a) immediately suspend violent repression of indigenous protests and the State of Emergency; (b) repeal the Free Trade Laws that allow oil, logging, and agricultural corporations easy entry into indigenous territories; (c) respect indigenous peoples’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to self-determination, to their ancestral territories, and to prior consultation; and (d) enter into good faith process of dialogue with indigenous peoples to resolve this conflict.

2. Make a donation of any amount to a fund that has been established to provide emergency medical care and legal services to those directly affected by the violent raid.

Photo: irene.

When I was watching Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s address to the California legislature last week, I wasn’t sure I could believe my eyes or ears: The Terminator, er, Governator, almost sounded emotional as he talked about “seeing the faces behind those [budget] cuts,” which he’d made with his executive power.

“It’s an awful feeling,” Governor Schwarzenegger said, describing the sound of protesters outside the Capitol building and recounting the tales of civil servants, Alzheimer’s patients, and children who will be affected directly by cuts to the state’s three largest areas of spending: education, health care, and the prison system.

In addition to critical services, the governor announced that he plans to shut down 220 state parks as a cash-saving measure to help correct the $24 billion budget deficit.

Acknowledging that legislators’ decisions about the budget will likely be the most difficult choices they’ve ever faced, Schwarzenegger said that the state will run out of money if they don’t make those tough calls by June 15.

He’s right, of course– the only way the budget can be reined in is by making hard choices. But closing state parks doesn’t just affect people’s ability to enjoy California’s abundant natural resources; it will also affect their health and quality of life. As The Gaia Conservancy noted, state parks may actually help bail out the foundering economy. When local tourism is promoted, money goes directly to the state.

You can view the full speech in the video below:

Community Connection:

Want to take action? The Gaia Conservancy is sponsoring an online petition, which you can sign here. You can also view other resources and calls to action on the California State Parks Foundation’s Facebook account, which is here.

And if all your efforts don’t prevent California’s state parks from being closed, check out Matador contributor William Moss Wilson’s article about California’s best treks… some of the urban options may surprise you!

Photo: striatic

As we mentioned earlier this week on MatadorPulse, the micro-blogging website Twitter offers users just 140 characters to communicate what they’re thinking about and what they’re doing… yet they’re finding incredibly creative ways to maximize these bursts of communication.

Matador’s own Honor Dargan (@tokyotopia on Twitter) launched Twitter’s first live travel chat this week along with fellow expat Shane Sakata.

Young people in Moldova used Twitter to send the world real-time updates about a growing political protest.

And now, folks are using Twitter to raise money for a social cause.

Earlier this week, TechCrunch’s MG Siegler reported that web developer and Twitter user Drew Olanoff , who recently learned that he has cancer, has devised a genius way to use Twitter to generate money for cancer research.

Olanoff isn’t the first Twitter user to raise money for a good cause via Twitter, but he may be the most innovative. Olanoff invites people to complain about things that are bothering them on Twitter, using the hash tag– #BlameDrewsCancer– to blame their troubles on… his cancer.

A related website, www.blamedrewscancer.com, aggregates all the “tweets” with the #BlameDrewsCancer tag; for each #BlameDrewsCancer tweet, Olanoff looks for sponsors to donate $1.00 to cancer research.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to #BlameDrewsCancer for the fact that I’m out of coffee.

Community Connection

Are you on Twitter? If so, be sure to add @MatadorNetwork to your list! Our Twitter ninjas, Andy and Nick, not only let you know about new content on Matador, they tweet about some of the best travel content online.

I love The New York Times. I grew up reading The New Yorker magazine. I always digg the Harpers index. I think National Geographic is pretty much the coolest club on the planet.

But I won’t be reading any of these fine publications until they stop taking money from lobbyists and PR firms that are determined to thwart necessary reforms of American energy policy.

The sad truth is that the finest American newspapers and magazines are serving as disinformation platforms for a massive social media campaign being launched by an energy industry that is refusing to change its destructive ways.

This onslaught of cutting-edge, highly funded fossil-fuel propaganda campaigns are more dangerous to our health than tobacco ads, and have no place masquerading as well-intentioned information on the websites of our magazines and newspapers.

The Evil of Greenwashing

When I saw greenwashing ads for Chevron in The New Yorker I smelled hypocrisy.

How could the magazine that publishes Elizabeth Kolbert’s devastating reports on climate change allow itself to be sponsored by one of the most heinous and destructive energy companies in the world today?

When I saw banners for “Clean Coal: America’s Power” on The New York Times website I was sickened. Coal is not clean.

Coal smoke is choking us. Wrapping filth in the American flag is an insult to every citizen who loves this country.

The claim that coal is “cheap” power becomes very false very fast as soon as health care costs are taken into account.

Explore sustainability with Shell and Harpers?

As a friend put it, that’s like saying “learn more about diversity! Contribute to the KKK!”.

But the final straw came today, when I visited The New York Times opinion page and saw a banner ad promising “The Truth” about the Canadian tar sands.

Let’s get one thing clear: the massive tar sand projects in Canada are fueling climate change and causing vast ecological destruction.

Thanks to wonderful journalism from sources like the Times, we know just how much we stand to lose if climate change is left unchecked.

Opposing the expansion of the tar sand projects is a life or death issue, not just for the cancer victims of Alberta, but for all Creation.

Editorial Separation

Apologists will argue that big media companies maintain a wall between editorial and advertising. That is no excuse. In the age of new media, common sense morals are more important than a self-righteous blind-eye.

How can anyone trust an institution that purports to give us the truth about important world issues, but is sponsored by harmful propagandists?

The big energy companies are mounting a sophisticated propaganda and disinformation campaign.

They are pouring money into online media projects. We need to fight back.

Boycotts and Counter Attacks

Sorry, Nick Kristof. Sorry, Gail Collins.

Tom Friedman – how big is YOUR carbon foodprint?

As much as I love the Times, I’m going to get my news elsewhere for a while. I encourage you to do likewise.

Here are some good alternatives:

Global Voices Online

The Pulitzer Center

IPS News

Google News

Additionally, in the face of the massive energy lobbyist PR campaign, it’s imperative that all of us work overtime to counter the faux-patriotic green-washing of the energy industry.

The energy reform challenge is as imperative as the civil rights struggle was in the days of Martin Luther King.

Call them out.

Expose the false arguments. Look beyond the carefully market-tested messages.

If you know someone who buys into the fossil fuel lobby’s misleading claims, sit them down for a serious talk. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Ask why the places where fossil fuel is central to the economy – like West Virginia – are the poorest and unhealthiest places in America.

Ask why places where the fossil fuel lobby is effectively countered by informed citizens – like Vermont – boast healthy populations and strong local economies.

Our future depends on our willingness to reform our energy policy. Big oil companies and their big media collaborators are standing in the way with billions of dollars on their side, but the truth needs no ally.

Further Reading

Yes, we have an energy crisis. But the problem isn’t what you think. Read “The Crisis Of Too Much Energy”.

Wondering who to trust? Read “How To Evaluate Claims About Big Oil”.

Interested in social responsibility? Read “Manifesto of a Young American”.

Image courtesy of truecostofchevron.com

It won’t be a fun week for oil company bigwigs.

As Matador reported previously, Wiwa v. Shell–a case almost 15 years in the making–will open this week in a New York City courtroom. The case brings Royal Dutch Shell to court and holds the oil company accountable for the deaths of Ken Saro-Wiwa and fellow activists in 1995, as well as other environmental and human rights violations.

Jury selection begins on Wednesday, May 27, and opening statements are expected to be delivered the following day, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights. If you’re in the New York City area and are interested in attending the trial, it will be open to the public. The Center for Constitutional Rights is also seeking NYC-area volunteers to provide logistical support to Nigerian plaintiffs; more information about that can be found here.

If you’re not in New York City, but wish to support the case against Shell, the Center for Constitutional Rights offers opportunities to host screenings of the documentary “Delta Force” or to help publicize the case via the Internet. Read more about those opportunities here.

Over on the West Coast, another oil company will be on the hot seat.

Chevron’s annual shareholders’ meeting is also scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, and will be held at Chevron’s headquarters in San Ramon, California.

The meeting promises to be dramatic: the company is currently embroiled in its own lawsuit, which was filed in New York in 1993 and was later moved to Ecuador at Chevron’s request. The class action suit is believed to be the largest environmental case in history, representing 30,000 plaintiffs in Ecuador, who charge Chevron of gross environmental and human rights abuses.

Shareholders may be happy with the company’s profits, but many have expressed concern about Chevron’s handling of the court case. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently opened a probe of Chevron to determine if it is misleading shareholders, so passions are likely to be high at Wednesday’s meeting.

Environmental and human rights advocates are expected to stage a protest outside Chevron’s headquarters the day of the meeting, and members of indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador’s Amazon will be present to address Chevron’s management directly.

You can read background on the case and follow what unfolds this week here. And if you’d like to send Chevron your own message, visit this site.

Community Connection:

Keep coming back this week to learn more about the developments in both cases, and to read first-hand accounts of people affected directly by Chevron’s actions in Ecuador’s Amazon.

Photo: Half Chinese

Whether you’re talking with someone in person or online, having a conversation with a friend or a complete stranger, or whether you’re talking about changing the world or what you’re going to have for dinner, try out these tips for improving communication with others.

1. Don’t assume you know the other person’s story.

A few years ago, I sat in a Boston courtroom to observe a day’s worth of drug cases. In the course of several hours, a couple dozen men–mostly young, mostly Black or Hispanic–took their turns before the judge to explain why each had drugs and what was at stake if the judge decided to send him to prison.

And every single time, the judge, exasperated, cut the man off midstream with a variation on the same dismissive theme: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know your story.” He’d bang his gavel and pronounce a sentence. Each man shuffled off, head down, looking years older in a span of seconds.

Granted, these men weren’t there to have a conversation with the judge. But the anecdote bears an important lesson: Never assume you know the other person’s story.

We’re all complex beings, shaped by numerous people, places, and life experiences. Our stories are similar, but there’s always some difference that distinguishes us. And often, that difference means everything.

When talking with someone, I like to keep these lines from an Adrienne Rich poem in mind:

“if you think you can grasp me, think again;
my story flows in more than one direction.”

2. Don’t put your conversational partner into a category.

We pigeonhole each other all the time. Classification is a convenient way for us to manage and understand the world and to try to engage with each other: Liberal/Conservative. Traveler/Tourist. Activist/Apathetic.

Photo: NancyCoop

But when we think about each other in these dualistic categories, we’re setting up our conversations in a way that’s sure to be unproductive. If I think about you as an ultra-conservative, I’m already building up the defensive arguments I’m going to use to persuade you to adopt my views. And that means I’m not at all prepared to listen to what you have to say. I’ve already scripted your words for you.

3. Stop trying to fill the space.

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn as a psychotherapist was how to become comfortable with silence. If a patient was talking and seemed to be struggling for words or fell silent, it made me uncomfortable and my first impulse was to fill the quiet space. I’d fill in the blanks with words I thought the person would want to say, or chatter on about nothing in particular until the patient picked up the conversation again.

As I learned more about the art of conversation, I saw how I tended to fill the space in all of my conversations– at work and in my personal life.

Conversations aren’t always about words. In fact, the most important part of a conversation is often what’s going on in the pauses between what we say. Don’t rush to fill that space–and whatever you do, don’t try to fill in someone else’s words. Practice becoming more comfortable with silence, and let your conversational partner experience discovering what he or she really wants to say.

4. Don’t pretend or assume you understand what the other person is saying.

If you’re not following the conversation, say so. This skill is called reflective listening, and it’s as useful in everyday life as it is in therapy. When your partner has finished saying something, and you’re not sure you understand or you want to confirm your interpretation of what’s just been said, say something like, “So, what I think you mean is….” This gives the other person the opportunity to confirm that you interpreted the message correctly or to clarify the message so you understand it.

5. Get rid of distractions.

Photo: billibala

I was recently at a restaurant and noticed that the couple at the next table kept their cell phones on the table for the entire meal. Every few minutes, one or the other would pick up the phone–while the other was talking–and start messaging.

If you don’t have time for a conversation, say so politely and let the other person know when you have time to talk. But when you do, put the cell phone away. Really.

6. Ask yourself: Am I advancing the conversation?

What this means is simple: Are you contributing to the conversation in a meaningful way? Are you engaging the other person? Are you leaving them intact? This is a particularly relevant tip for online communication, where we’re prone to fire off messages that make us feel good, but which hurt the receiver.

7. Ask questions. Let your conversational partner shine.

Two tips rolled into one. Most people love to talk about themselves. And most people want to be recognized. There’s nothing that improves your conversational skills more than cultivating a genuine interest in other people and providing every opportunity you can for them to talk about themselves. And don’t worry– if they’re good conversationalists, they’ll give you the opportunity to talk about yourself, too.

Community Connection:

Travel provides some incredible opportunities for conversation. Traveling alone and want to start a conversation? Check out Eva Holland’s advice for “gutsy girls” who are on the road solo. Or if you need some advice about how to deliver difficult messages to people you care about, check out “How to Tell Your Partner You Want to Travel…Alone” and “How to Tell Your Family You’re Leaving for a Year to Go Travel.”

Feature photo: mark sebastian

Photo: willrad

The excuse of waiting until you’re old and rich before making a contribution to the collective betterment of society is a naive and harmful mindset.

Reading stories about the Bill Gates and Warren Buffets of the world persuade us that only after supreme wealth can we afford to give back. However, doing good does not have to involve multi-billion dollar endowments, just like independent travel and seeing the world do not require multi-million dollar trust funds.

I don’t condone embarking on a charitable campaign ill-prepared and halfheartedly. You will cause more harm than good. But, if you’re waiting for riches and career success before starting a non-profit, you are missing the boat and may be waiting until it is too late.

Here are five reasons to give back and start a non-profit TODAY:

1. Social change is an interest earning investment. Start contributing early.

Anyone with a savings account understands the importance of compounded interest and saving sooner rather than later.

Social activism is no different.

The ripple effect of positive change grows exponentially over time. $250 today can fund a reading program in a rural school in northern Laos (see the Big Brother Mouse Program, for example) and teach hundreds of children how to read – doing far more for the education of those children and their future generations than $250,000 will do 50 years from now.

2. Getting started costs $0.

In the world of Web 2.0, the tools of successful start-up companies are free. Web content publishing platforms like WordPress, social networking/media sites like Facebook, and micro-blogging tools like Twitter are part of any successful company’s arsenal.

Photo: Iain Farrell

Non-profits should act no differently. Building a website using Wordpress and marketing it via Facebook and Twitter is simple and a surefire way to start building a successful non-profit. Philanthropic and charitable causes were made to be marketed virally (a message that propagates itself by encouraging others to pass it along, versus paying for advertising) because campaigns that tug at human emotion are easy to sell!

Whether raising money for your own cause or for another charity, online fund raising tools are available and free. When campaigning for your own cause, Firstgiving and PayPal are two excellent fund raising tools depending on your purpose and your non-profit’s status (Firstgiving requires IRS 501(c)(3) status and recognition by GuideStar). Placing a PayPal “Donate Now” button on your website takes you from blogger to social entrepreneur in less than 10 minutes.

Raising money for other campaigns is even easier. Organizations like Room to Read offer users the ability to build their own fund raising pages through Firstgiving to raise money to build schools, in effect, taking away all fiscal responsibility and letting users focus on marketing and rallying support.

3. Start lean and mean, the motto of all successful businesses.

Everyone hates bloated charities that siphon 50% of donations off the top to fund operations and executive salaries.

Starting a non-profit with zero funding alleviates this problem, forcing you to implement effective and efficient processes early on. As your organization grows, these processes translate into a higher percentage of donations making it to the root cause, thus ensuring greater success for the lifetime of your non-profit.

4. Prevention costs less than correction.

Loaning a man $500 through a Kiva microloan to start a successful business today costs far less than supporting his entire family for decades on end, not to mention the cost of social degradation due to collective poverty. Success is contagious; it’s better to start early and let social change compound itself.

5. Life is an uncertainty. Leave this world with no regrets.

Any traveler knows the importance of living without regrets. It is the core of his or her desire to see and experience the world. There are rarely any guarantees in life, except this. You may never become rich, but you will most definitely become old. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world," as Gandhi said . . . before it's too late.

Community Connection:

For more tangible tips about starting your own non-profit or NGO, check out Roll Your Own Peace Corps and How to Start a Successful NGO in 10 Steps. If you’re not quite ready to tackle your own NGO-building project, check out Five Ways to Raise Money at Home for Your Causes Abroad.

Photo: Luxerta

I was listening to the radio as I was driving home from work. When I parked in front of my apartment building, I couldn’t get out of the car. The host was describing Saro Wiwa, a writer and an intellectual who had devoted his life to activism when oil giant Royal Dutch Shell began impinging upon environmental and human rights in Nigeria’s Ogoniland. His vision was to engage RDS through a peaceful, non-violent movement.

That movement attracted enough support and international attention to make RDS and the Nigerian government uncomfortable. In 1995, after having been arrested with eight other activists on unfounded allegations of murder, Saro Wiwa was brought to trial and sentenced to death by hanging. As if the execution was not enough, Saro Wiwa’s body was burned with acid and dumped in an unmarked grave.

No individual or group ever took responsibility for the torture and execution of Saro Wiwa and the other activists, as well as the exile of Wiwa family members that occurred after the murder.

Royal Dutch Shell, of course, carried on with business as usual.

The story of Saro Wiwa’s life and death was compelling, and I made a note to stop by the library the following day so I could read some of his work and learn more about him.

And then, September 11 happened.
*
I thought about that broadcast this weekend, when I attended PEN World Voices Festival’s panel discussion between Ken Saro Wiwa’s son, the journalist and government adviser Ken Wiwa, and the American novelist Richard North Patterson, whose most recent novel is based loosely on Saro Wiwa’s life and death. The two men convened, along with moderator Okey Ndibe, a Nigerian novelist, to talk about Saro Wiwa’s legacy.

Ndibe started the conversation by sharing his own recollections of Saro Wiwa. He was “ebullient” Ndibe said of Saro Wiwa, and he “always carried a book” and his signature smoking pipe. Ndibe recalled a man full of life and passion, even in the midst of struggle.

Photo of Ken Wiwa by Francisco Collazo

Wiwa acknowledged Ndibe’s vision of Saro Wiwa, but added that he believed his father also carried a weight of sadness, which came from the sense that he hadn’t achieved enough in the struggle, or that the efforts of the movement were not making progress quickly enough.

Over the course of the conversation, the three men agreed that the ambitious agenda of social, environmental, and economic justice advocated by Saro Wiwa was, if seemingly solitary for Saro Wiwa himself, also profoundly visionary. Today, climate change, desertification, land rights, and the effects of corporatocracies on communities might well be considered the core issues of our time. Saro Wiwa was largely responsible for putting them on the world’s radar screen.

In his final statement before the military tribunal, Saro Wiwa said:

I have no doubt at all about the ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey.

The legacy Saro Wiwa left for us all, agreed Ndibe, Wiwa, and Patterson, was to always keep trying, to stay true to one’s ideals and goals even when no progress or support seems imminent, to stay engaged in the struggle.

It’s a message that’s a meaningful reminder for anyone engaged in social justice work, and one that had particular resonance on the day of the panel discussion. After more than 12 years, the Center for Constitutional Rights recently announced that Wiwa v. Shell will open in a federal court in Manhattan on May 26, 2009. After jury selection, the trial is expected to take 4 to 6 weeks.

To stay current with developments in the case, visit the CCR’s Wiwa v. Shell website.

And to learn more about the background of the case, take a few minutes to watch this video:

But mainstream media outlets are finally starting to take big oil to task, exposing its corporate social responsibility mantras as little more than hot air.

Chevron, according to a “60 Minutes” report that aired last night, is the third largest company in the United States, with oil interests all over the world. Drilling far from home, the company has responded to the U.S.’s unquenchable thirst for oil. While reaping a tidy profit–despite the economic downturn, Chevron managed to increase revenues by 25% (to $263 billion USD) in 2008 — Chevron has consistently engaged in business and environmental practices that have had very real and devastating consequences for communities and ecosystems in South America, Africa, and on other continents.

Photo: Kayana Szymczak, via chevrontoxico.com

Chevron’s dirty work has been especially damaging in Ecuador, where the world’s largest environmental lawsuit in history–with more than 30,000 litigants–is getting underway. Chevron, which started oil prospecting in Ecuador in the 1960s, took the money and ran, leaving a trail of environmental hazards–including leaching waste wells–in its wake.

To learn more about the situation, check out “60 Minutes’” full report in this video:

Watch CBS Videos Online

And to learn more about what you can do to hold big oil accountable for its environmental and human atrocities, check out Amazon Watch’s action alerts.

1. “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” -Audre Lorde

2. “We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu

3. “When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Photo: Sepperer Markus

4. “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”- Paulo Freire

5. “People must take a modicum of public responsibility for each other even if they have no ties to each other.” -Jane Jacobs

6. “We have a world to conquer…one person at a time…starting with ourselves.” -Nikki Giovanni

7. “We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo: meanestindian

8. “It is not enough to be compassionate – you must act.”- His Holiness The Dalai Lama

9. “The people are the only ones capable of transforming society.”- Rigoberta Menchu

10. “Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good; try to use ordinary situations.”- Jean Paul Richter

11. “There will be no Homeland Security until we realize that the entire planet is our homeland. Every sentient being in the world must feel secure.” -John Perkins

12. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” -Helen Keller

13. “Take your easy tears somewhere else. Tell yourself none of this ever had to happen. And then go make it stop. With whatever breath you have left. Grief is a sword or it is nothing.” -Paul Monette

14. “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.” -Reinhold Neibuhr

15. “During times of universal deceit telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” -George Orwell

16. “To be human, at the most profound level, is to encounter honestly the inescapable circumstances that constrain us, yet muster the courage to struggle compassionately for our own unique individualities and for more democratic and free societies.” -Cornel West

Photo: Amor Ministries

17.”If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.” -Adrienne Rich

18. “Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.” -Octavio Paz

19. “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” -Elie Wiesel

20. “The more you move, the stronger you’ll grow….” -Ha Jin

h.koppdelaney

Feature photo: eneas

Photo: sarihuella

If you’ve been following the swine flu news this week–and really, who hasn’t?– you probably know that you don’t need to worry that your taste for bacon puts you at risk of contracting the virus.

Health officials in the U.S. and abroad have repeatedly stated that people cannot contract swine flu from eating pork or pork products.

But that doesn’t mean that the world’s meat supply is safe.

In the U.S. alone, over 70% of all antibiotics used are administered not to people, but to cattle, pigs, and poultry eventually destined for the dinner table.

The antibiotics, which include tetracycline, penicillin, and erythromycin, among others, are routinely given to livestock not to treat existing illnesses, but to prevent illness, thus allowing livestock producers to raise greater numbers of animals in conditions that are not always safe.

Photo: sporkist

The overuse of antibiotics in the food supply has serious implications for human health, as the exposure to antibiotics through the pork, chicken, and beef we eat increases our bodies’ familiarity with infection-fighting drugs, thus making it less likely antibiotics will work when we need them for therapeutic purposes.

The problem is particularly common and pervasive among American hog farmers, according to New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, who wrote about the issue last month.

While public health officials around the world focus on managing the acute problem of swine flu, government officials need to get to work on the antibiotics issue, which may pose far more serious problems over the long run.

One U.S. Representative, Louise Slaughter, is doing just that– last month, she proposed PAMTA, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, which will “will phase out the feeding of massive quantities of antibiotics important in human medicine to food animals within two years of enactment.”

Photo: Andrew Stawarz

The bill is currently before Congress. If you live in the US and want to encourage your Representative or Senator to support PAMTA, you can take action here.

Photo: humblecitizen

On the one hand, nothing had changed. But because we finally had a leader who seemed to see what was wrong, call it out, and start doing something about it—someone who actually gave a damn—I felt the right (the civic duty, too) to be empowered and engaged.

So today’s news that AIG has decided to divert some of its bailout bucks–American taxpayers’ money—for executive bonuses didn’t just leave me wringing my hands or shaking my head. Instead, I decided to take some action.

First, I did a bit of research: AIG’s CEO, Edward Liddy, had agreed to a dramatic cut in his own salary back in late November, 2008 (There might not have been much money left at the company after the preceding CEO took his $47 million severance package earlier that year, laughing all the way to the bank).

At the same time, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo pressured Liddy to agree to a deal in which AIG would freeze salaries and bonuses for the seven highest ranking execs beneath Liddy. Furthermore, Liddy indicated that the 50 highest-ranked executives at the company would not receive salary increases through 2009 and that none of the bail-out money would be earmarked for bonuses and cash awards for executives… who, by the way, haven’t exactly been running the company efficiently or effectively.

It seems that Liddy’s gentlemen’s agreement with Cuomo wasn’t received well by petulant executives. Not even two weeks later, Bloomberg was reporting that the company was offering “retention” fees to angry executives who were threatening to quit.

In some cases, the retention fees were 200% of the executives’ current salaries.

Clearly, there’s a pattern of flagrant mismanagement and some serious hubris in the upper ranks at AIG.

Photo: jakerome

Once I’d mapped out just some of AIG’s tomfoolery, I decided to contact AIG to express my outrage at their misuse of bailout money. And if you’re angry as hell about AIG, you don’t have to take it, either. Here’s what you can do:

1. Contact AIG via e-mail to express your opinion.

2. Call AIG and express your opinion: 1-877-638-4244 from the US; 1-908-679-3150 from elsewhere in the world.

3. Add the White House’s blog to your reader. or subscribe via RSS. President Obama has taken a strong stance against AIG’s shenanigans, and you can stay up to date with his actions by reading blog updates.

4. E-mail or call President Obama to let him know that you support his pursuit of legal measures to prevent AIG from using taxpayer dollars to line executives’ pockets.