Masai Mara National Reserve - Wildebeest Migration

I'll trade you that broken mirror for this paper crane.

We see a LOT of terrible things when we are researching in the slums. Like open sewage, everywhere. Flies, goats, pigs and small children eating the same stuff.

Most of the time we just walk through, keep moving toward wherever we are going.

But sometimes, I can't deal.

We see kids playing with all sorts of terrible things - like open sewage lines (like this picture below) or rusty nails, or knives (we saw a 2 year old sucking on the end of a knife the other day)... and so on. There are SO many kids there is no way to intervene with all of them, and even if you do, their parents don't seem to think it is a big deal, so as soon as you leave, they will probably go back to playing with the same things again.

Some of it is cultural. We are definitely paranoid to no end in America, it is true. We over protect, over sanitize, over medicate our kids. Buuuuuuuut - there is an extreme on the other end too, and I'm sorry but a 2 year old running around with a knife in its mouth is simply a disaster waiting to happen.

A few days ago when we were waiting to interview a family, we saw a little kid (probably just over 1 year old) sucking on a shard of broken mirror. I lost it. I just could not stand there. To make it worse, every once in a while he would pull it out of his mouth and wipe his face, running the sharp edge of the mirror only millimeters from his eye. I tried not to look at him, but we kept standing there... and I just could not deal anymore, so I squatted down, smiled and asked him if I could see the mirror. He (thank you Lord) handed it over to me, and I quickly popped it into my purse.

Crisis averted.

But then his lip started to quiver and his eyes got really big.

And my heart broke.

So I frantically started looking for a replacement toy in my purse.... toilet paper? bottle of purel? sunglasses?

Then I saw a scrap of paper and had and idea.

I quickly folded a paper crane (thank you to whoever taught me that trick), and handed it to him.

His eyes lit up and he scampered off to play with his new toy.

Good trade.

Making a doll from sewer scraps... or something to that effect.

So there's been a delay in posting.
I wish I could say that it is because I've been so busy implementing our project that I just haven't had time.

Truth is, I hit a low.

Like a LOW low - as in, looking at plane tickets home low.

I have been frustrated with projects I have worked on before, and I've seen projects really struggle. But this has been a whole new level for me, and truthfully, I am just exhausted and disillusioned by it. If you are one of my amazing friends who is wondering why I have fallen off the face of the earth, this is why (Estelly, I'm talking to you).

I won't go into the details for a couple of reasons - first of all, its too long of a story, and second of all, there is a part of me that really really really hopes that things are going to turn around, change for the better, some miracle is going to happen or... something... and I don't want to say anything to stop that from happening.

But this struggle is part of the story of this kind of career. Its written about in hundreds of books. Any development professional will tell you that its the norm rather than the exception. This work is the opposite of glamorous. People get cynical. 100s of projects fail for every one that succeeds, and even the ones that succeed can be twisted to show that they also fail in a way. Its a pessimist's dream come true.

But I'm not a pessimist.

So its kind of hard on me.

And I want to see the light.

And think that what I am doing is going to make a difference, even if its really really small.

So today, I am going to go to the Masai Market, and bargain with some sellers.
And eat fabulous Ethiopian food in celebration of my friend's first wedding anniversary.
Book tickets to the beach for a weekend away.
And get my optimism back.

Then I'm going to laugh at all of this. And set a new goal, and work towards it.
Because I think that's what you have to do to survive.

The girl in the picture above made her own doll out of scraps from the sewer in the slum. She sat on the ground while all of the other kids were clamoring to have their picture taking and patiently tied her doll together.

If she can make something fabulous out of scraps from the sewer, so can I. ;)

IRIN | In-depth | Running Dry: the humanitarian impact of the global water crisis | KENYA: Kibera, The Forgotten City

IRIN | In-depth | Running Dry: the humanitarian impact of the global water crisis | KENYA: Kibera, The Forgotten City

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Call us Nancy Drew

So, funny story (its actually not funny at all).

We came to Kenya to study the usage of 8 water and sanitation facilities in the Kibera slum, and then plan a hygiene education campaign based on our findings.

All sounds good.

Except...
The facilities don't work. At all, really.

As in, there are buildings, but some of the toilets aren't hooked to sewage, the ones that are have construction problems, and there is water rationing in Kenya right now, meaning that water is only available at the facilities once or twice a week.

All of this sounds like something that would be obvious to see, but it has taken us about 3 weeks to get to the bottom of it, because everyone we have talked to has a different story.

Every day we are discovering a little bit more of the picture, and right when we think we have an idea of what is going on... we find out there is a little bit more to it.

We are, once again today, back at the drawing board.

So we're going back to Kibera today, again, to do a little more detective work, talk to a few more people, try to figure out why the facilities aren't open.

We have renamed ourselves Team Nancy Drew.

I'm sure something interesting will come out of all of this.... I'm just not quite sure what that will be yet.

Meanwhile, did I mention that there is a water shortage in Kenya?
PROBLEM.
Read this article.

Carrying Water home - Mathare

One of the questions that we are examining is whether people contaminate their water in between the time they collect it to the time that they use it to drink or cook with. I think this video is a good illustration of the answer to that question.

FYI - the current community toilet facilities are dumping directly into this river, along with all other garbage/sewage from the community.

Mathare Day 2, continued

We weren't the only ones taking pictures - these guys filmed us for about 15 minutes straight. I can't blame them, we do look a bit strange wandering around there.

Children playing in sewage

A front door

Images from Mathare, Day 2

The images from Mathare are so striking to me. We spent the day yesterday once again talking to 'key informants' who live near the new Iko Toilet. We were also able to walk around the slum a bit more to get acquainted with the area and the people.

Notice the raw sewage/water running down the middle of the pathway...

Welcome to the slum: Mathare day 1

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go into one of the slums that we will be researching in to do an initial 'orientation' of the area and begin interviews. So we hopped on a bus, got off a bus, walked for a ways, stopped for a meal (masala chips - yum), got on another bus (I had a guy sitting on one of my legs and my shoulder squished behind another guy), got dropped of beside the highway, crossed the highway (near death experience pretty much every time), walked down a dirt road, crossed by a bunch of stalls and corrugated metal houses that look like this:


...rounded a corner........ and we were there - Mathare, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi:

Like most informal settlements or slums, there is no recognition from the municipality that they exist, meaning no services, like water, sanitation services, roads, or trash collection:



Since there is no sanitation/water service to the area, I bet you are wondering where everyone goes to the bathroom, aren't you? Well, that's what I am here to show you!!!

OLD TOILETS:

Behold, the toilets of Mathare. The right side of the bush is for men, the right for women.

No saniation services?!? No worries!!! There are pigs to help with waste removal!!

Want to know what is in many of those bags????? I'll leave it to your imagination.

Which is where my internship comes in, and the organization I am working with.......... EcoTact is building a Water and Saniation Facility, called the Iko Toilet, that is being officially opened TOMORROW!

NEW TOILET:

This is less than a 1 minute walk from the 'bush.'

It is under construction for the official launch on Wednesday.

The ladies' toilet.

The tap where people will be able to fill cans to take home to cook/clean/drink.

The Community Committee of Mathare that is aiding EcoTact with this project. They will be the ones collecting the fees and managing the facility. They were so gracious and have already been an incredible wealth of inforomation for us.

And here are some completely gratuitous pictures of adorable children we met near the Iko Toilet.

FYI - we have permission from the community to take and share all of these pictures.

I kissed a giraffe, and I liked it.

Putting it in perspective: Water

I live in a posh apartment in Nairobi.
I mean, we are talking - probably the nicest place I have lived in .... maybe ever.
I'm not really sure how this happened, but I appreciate it, none the less.

However, there have been a couple of problems... first, our electricity stopped working (its now fixed), then our internet wasn't installed (like they promised - fixed now), then hot water stopped working (as in, no water at all would come out of the hot faucets), and then, two nights ago, we lost water all together. As in - we couldn't wash dishes, no showers, and... no flushing toilets. And it was just us - the rest of the building had working water.

So we didn't shower, started rationing drinking water, and ate off of paper towels. And we complained, a lot. And we called James, the go to fix it man, who promised to send over a plumber "some time." So we felt sorry for ourselves for a bit, hauled water in containers up 5 floors of stairs, and continued to complain.

Then one of my flatmates said something to the effect of "you know, all of these people in Kibera do this everyday, only they aren't able to walk downstairs to fill up cans of water."

And I looked around at our uber posh apartment, and then out the window at the people squatting by the side of the road looking for discarded food.

And felt like the most spoiled, ugly brat I have ever known.

P.S. They fixed the water.

Some introductions and explanations.

Here's what's up this summer:

This is the organization that I am working with this summer.
This article by the Daily Nation explains how the Iko Toilet is changing the whole concept of sanitation in Nairobi.

This is my internship coordinator.
This article by Ashoka gives the low down on his visions for a new form of sanitation in Nairobi.
He just won African Entrepreneur of the Year from the World Economic Forum.
Read about it here.

What I am 'doing' this summer (subject to change, of course) includes, but is not limited to:

• What I'm doing: Helping create a needs-based assessment for areas of two slums where the Iko Toilet has been introduced.
• What that means: The three other interns and I are interviewing key community members, writing and administering a survey-type questionnaire and forming focus groups in order to learn about how, why, when, who, etc. uses the toilets in the slums, and what their current hygiene practices are. The data that we will collect from these surveys will tell us about people's knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding water, sanitation and a little bit about health.

• What I'm doing: Laying the groundwork for a hygiene social marketing campaign.
• What that means: We are going to take the information from the surveys and begin to create an education campaign about hygiene. In other words, if we learn that hand-washing is a huge problem, we will come up with creative ways to educate and promote hand-washing within the cultural context of the areas we are working. An idea currently being worked on is a radio reality show. Watch out.

• What I am doing: Helping create a global movement for clean water and against cholera.
• What this means: In conjunction with other graduate students around the world, I am working to start an awareness initiative (read: blog) regarding cholera and how it can be wiped out. Think Rotary and Polio. This excites me GREATLY.

Apartment = Found

Walking distance to the office - check.
Safe neighborhood - check.
Walking distance to the grocery store - check.
Internet - check.
Fully furnished (even a washing machine - what?!?!?) - check.
Off and on hot water - check.
In price range - check.
Didn't have to deal with creepo fake realtor - check.

Hallelujah.

CORRECTION:
Uncheck the internet. I thought it was a little optimistic.

P.S.

For anyone who thought the last post was the opposite of funny -
We were with two members of the Ecotact staff who smelled this guy out from a mile away (as did I - every red flag in the book was going off in my head), and there was no way we would ever have done business with him.
I don't want to worry anyone.

More apartment hunting will ensue today, surely with more stories.

I'm still jet lagging - spent the better part of the night last night staring at the ceiling scheming and planning about who knows what.

On a side note, I FINALLY started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I love love love it (thanks Pearsy!!!!).

You know you might be getting scammed when...

1. You show up at the building that the “realtor” says his office is in, but no one in the entire building has ever heard of him

2. The “realtor” shows up after you call to ask again where his office is, laughs off the fact no one has ever heard of him (including the people in the offices directly next door), and shows you into an office with a different company’s logo on the door.

3. The office that you are shown into is approximately 2 feet by 2 feet large, so he has you and your 4 companions stand, one outside the door, while he talks to you.

4. He asks you what price he quoted you on the apartment, then tells you he charges 10% commission, then asks you what 10% of what he quoted you is.

5. He takes you to an apartment building, but doesn’t have keys to get in, so you just stand outside.

6. He adamently insists at least three different times that you just need to trust him.

7. He then tells you that there is another apartment for triple the price just down the block and he can surely get you in to that one.

8. He tells you he doesn’t ‘trek’ so you have to take a cab to the apartment down the block.

9. When people in your group have had enough and argue with him, he disappears under the pretense of looking for a cab, never to be seen again.


Ah, apartment hunting in Nairobi.

Safe and Sound in Nairobi!

I made it!!

We arrived last night at around 7:30, were picked up at the airport and taken to a student hostel.

Today we are getting oriented and figuring out more permanent housing, because even the brave "I will sleep anywhere" Haley thinks the hostel is a bit sketch.
We will most likely rent an apartment close to the Ecotact office we will be working at (which is in a lovely neighborhood - the office is actually a small gated compound surrounded by flowering trees and grass - very charming).

The plane trip was very long but smooth. My luck apparently turned for the better (after having my phone stolen AND losing my car keys in the last week) as I was able to get on a standby flight, so I got into Amsterdam earlier and didn't have to sprint to make my next flight. We arrived pretty disheveled but upbeat.

Most exciting/traumatizing event so far was almost running over a dead body last night on the way from the airport- apparently someone had been expelled from a truck a few minutes before we drove by and he was still laying in the middle of the road. We were so exhausted that we actually started laughing, and then were horrified at ourselves. Welcome to Kenya.

Everything here is pretty familiar - it wasn't so long ago I was here last time (December) so I'm not having a huge shock. Still its a bit of an adjustment to realize that once again I'll be living in a state of semi-discomfort for a while, at least until we are more permanently settled. This morning I had an audience of 5 workers (3 men and 2 women) stare at me while I brushed my teeth in the communal bathroom. I'm sure they were just concerned about my dental hygiene.

The girls I am with are so great - we have found ways to laugh through a lot already, which makes a HUGE difference to quality of life while travelling out of one's comfort zone.

I love you all and will check in again soon.
Malaria pill is digesting, sunblock is on, and generally, I am happy and healthy!
Here's to the next adventure!
haley

23 months,

1 thesis,
2 computer batteries,
2 internships,
2 very generous Rotary scholarships,
3 continents,
5 meltdowns,
15 roommates,
16 countries,
19 classes,
109 changes in life plans,
600 pages written (estimate),


and

700+ packets of gum, bottles of fizzy water and mild panic attacks later,

i
am
finished
with
graduate
school.

amen.

bring it on, real world.




*graduation is actually August 17 , but I just submitted my last paper. ever. maybe.

tomorrow = Nairobi

i just got back from an amazing weekend in Charleston, South Carolina with amazing friends.

I rolled back into Denver last night at 1am.
and my head is spinning a little because of the fact that tomorrow i'll be back in Africa.

today is stress day, since i have the inability to transition in a normal manner.

indulge me for a minute - - - - -

taking advantage of all of these amazing opportunities..

sometimes makes me a little tired.

and i just want things like:

• a plant
• a comfortable couch
• my own plates and forks
  
• consistent electricity and internet
• an income where i do more than break even
• to be able to call/see/snuggle with my fam/friends when i want
• a car
• to be in one place for more than a few months
• not to have to worry about catching malaria or bilharzia
• a porch
• and a fireplace
  
• stability
• flushing toilets with toilet paper that isn't dyed green
  
• to be with my fiance for more than a couple of days..
• or at least in the same time zone..
• or even same continent
  
• to not live out of a suitcase
• to throw dinner parties
  
• to be able to take yoga classes
  
• to speak the same first language as the people around me
  
• to not be stared at for looking or dressing differently
• to be able to plan my wedding
• to be able to attend my friend's weddings and birthday parties
• to be able to eat food that i like..
• like fresh leafy veggies..
• and berries..
• and not worry that they will make me super sick
• to not have to think about malaria pills

but then i think about it a little harder

and my heart starts pumping

and i remember that i actually really, really love this

and i pack my bags again.




see you in September.

June 12 is Loving Day

"Loving Day is an annual celebration held on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 United Stated Supreme Court decision which struck down all anti-miscegnation laws remaining in 16 states citing "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause." - taken from Wikipedia.

Thank you Loving Day.

Loving Day fights racial prejudice through education and builds multicultural community. | Loving Day

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On a lighter note...

My dad said my blog was in the running for the most depressing blog ever...
SO, here's a nice little happy video.
It will make you smile, I promise.
:)

The LAUREN Project

This project was set up in memory of Lauren Johnson, a member of my Jerusalem Program team who died of carbon monoxide poisoning just 5 days before we left for Jerusalem.

It turned out that I took her internship placement at Rabbis for Human Rights when my original placement fell through.

Her legacy of integrity and passion for human rights is something that had a large impact on me during my time in Jerusalem, and is something I still think of often.

Her family and supporters are creating a fund to assist people who want to volunteer overseas. They also are working hard to educate about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and are pushing for everyone to have a detector (my roommate just put one in our house last week!).

Check out the link:
http://laurensproject.org/

tragedy

today I received news that a great and godly man, and friend of mine from Malawi, died of malaria this month.

malaria claimed his wife only months ago.

they left four young children, who are now numbered among the countless orphans in malawi.

suddenly i understand the questions people ask of God.

why HIM? why did this man, whose life was dedicated to orphans and the downtrodden, have to die of a treatable disease?

all of those statistics, are people.

its all real.

my heart
is broken.

............

i don't know how to reconcile the fact that i went to the health clinic the other day on campus and was given free malaria medication by the doctor - they just had it 'on hand' as a sample.

and the fact that a man i worked with, painted with, sweated with, laughed with is now dead.
and his daughter, who i played with, is an orphan.

i don't know how to reconcile that.

...............

a huge realization with this work and these opportunities has been how much I have been given.

but the gut wrenching part is understanding what responsibility comes with that.

if you knew you could save a man by paying $10, would you?

A malaria net costs $10.

Today I spent more than $10 on dinner out when I had food in the fridge.

and George is dead.

.........

i am devastated.

i feel like its important to write about this, because its real.

Luke 12:48

I swear you can't make this stuff up.

Swazi MP apologizes for HIV branding proposal:

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE54R3UV20090528

Tonight I find myself choked with emotion.

I have been greatly and mightily blessed,
beyond what I can even comprehend.

My dreams are being lived.
My family is my rock.
I am going to marry the best man I have ever met.
My friends, all over the world, show me more love than any one person deserves.

My life is beyond full.



i have no words.

my cup runneth over.

My grown up little brother

My brother moved to Chicago yesterday to start his first job.

I got to go to his graduation a few weeks ago - it was so wonderful to get to see where he's been the last few years and meet his friends. He completely rocked college - he was honored as the top Finance student of the university.

I am SO excited for his new adventures and ridiculously proud of him.
I also am excited to visit him and explore Chicago!!

I am watching him and my parents on T.V. (ESPN internet) RIGHT NOW!!
For a graduation gift, my parents got tickets for them to go to the Cubs game - and got seats RIGHT behind the catcher. Every time the camera shows the batter, you can see them.

Super fun - I almost feel like I am there with them!

Go get 'em Bri!!!!

Parkinson's Law

Work expands
so as to fill

the time available for its completion.

Hence, I just finished a paper I should have finished two weeks ago.

Hence, I am still studying for my exam tomorrow.

Hence, I will be ready for my exam tomorrow.

Amen.

Hence, I have to hope this will NOT make me go grey prematurely.

in sheep's clothing.

a few months ago i visited an orphanage in rwanda, traveling mainly by motorcycle taxi.
rwanda is perhaps one of the most beautiful countries i have ever visited, though i am surprised that i even noticed since every time we traveled anywhere my 'helmet' would fall over my eyes, and i was usually too busy gripping the motorcycle driver's tee-shirts with a death grip to push it back so i could see.
on a particularly bumpy trek down from the mountains one day, my driver was particularly chatty. he would lean back as he drove to ask me questions or comment on this or that.

fyi - this did not make me particularly happy as i thought he should be doing less leaning and chatting and more worrying about staying upright on the road.

none the less, he was a very pleasant fellow, and shared all sorts of anecdotes about his love for his family, his love for Jesus, how glad he was to have a job driving motorcycle, his plans to marry soon, and so on.

at one point he leaned back and asked 'i heard that even poor people in america have cars - is this true?'

i paused.

in rwanda, the only cars i ever saw outside of the capital were owned by aid workers, mainly the UN.

i didn't know how to answer his question other than honestly.

'yes,' i said carefully, 'many poor people have cars there.'

he sighed. 'it is my dream to go move to america where all the poor people are rich.'

i tried to explain to him that even though poor people in america might have cars, they still don't think of themselves as rich. i tried to explain the idea of relative poverty, where even the posession of the luxury of a car wouldn't be enough to give someone status in society.

he wasn't buying it.

the first image that popped to my mind was this man, who in rwanda rode his motorcycle through beautiful green hills preaching about his love for Jesus, who had perhaps never had to wear shoes in his life, whose family all lived together, who had hope to bring a final peace to his nation - and i imagined him immigrating to america, living in a cramped apartment, struggling to pay bills, surrounded by advertisements for credit cards, a language he didn't understand, hip hop music, people who would stare at his deep black skin with suspicion and treat his hard to understand accent with impatience.

that's a negative image, and i don't mean to only portray a negative side of the immigrant experience to america, as has been an will continue to be a land of opportunity for millions.

however, at that moment, i secretly prayed that he wouldn't have to go through that. i prayed that he would go home to his family in the village, that they would laugh and eat, and talk about the crazy foreigners they had driven around that day. and that he would go to bed in peace.

i'm in development.
my goal is to help people live a better life.
but sometimes i don't know what that better life is. and wonder if i am being arrogant to think that i would ever know better than they would.

is helping people make more money so that someday their children could be wealthy enough to have a car, or to immigrate to america truly the point?

to acquire things, bigger houses, more food than they can eat?

to acquire degrees to nail to their walls?

poverty, especially extreme poverty, can be a curse. it can drive desperation, crime, corruption, family violence, and so on.

but can't wealth also be such a curse? greed, sloth, gluttony, and perhaps the worst, apathy - all stem from a misuse of wealth.

so i don't know, sometimes.


its easy for this kind of work to become almost a religion - but sometimes, i wonder if the message we preach, of improving your life, of empowerment and education.. is not just a sly wolf in sheep's clothing.

This is the last week of classes.

Meaning I am almost no longer a student. And I'm leaving for Kenya in just a couple of weeks. Here's what I need to figure out how do to ASAP:


1. Publish chapter from thesis (I have no idea where to start and it makes me kind of sweaty).

2. Learn some conversational Swahili (asante sana!).

3. Write up a business plan for NGO idea.

4. Find something to do that actually sends paychecks for once I get back from Kenya (income is always a perk, right Dad?).

5. End up in the same city as this guy.

OK. Ready go.

Why Victor Wants me to Have His Babies

I 'morphed' my face with Victors.... and this was the result. Very. Weird. I saw this on a friend's blog and decided it was clearly what I should do instead of write a paper.

Go morph your face with your significant other's and you too could see what your first child will look like: http://www.morphthing.com

PS - Let's hope for less of a comb over with the real thing. And maybe less curved teeth. And if its a girl, maybe less five o'clock shadow.

PPS - This is what Morphthing says our child will look like as a baby:
Tell me that is not at least a little cute.

Ok, I am REALLY going to write my paper now.

Something I learned from Rhodes University

Every other year, students at Rhodes University (where I spent my Rotary Ambassadorial year in 2008) get together and decide on a major philanthopic project they want to take on. Students nominate ideas, they vote, and then they spend two years organizing, working with the community, fundraising, and making it happen. The year I was there, the project was 'Galela Amanzi', or Pour the Water. Essentially, the students at Rhodes are fundraising to build water tanks at schools and community centers in the townships surrounding Grahamstown, where most of the schools don't have reliable water sources.

The thing that gets me is that the project is the student-initiated, student-led, student-run. Its a way for students to change their community for the better RIGHT NOW. And it is the collective energy of the entire university, in conjunction with the community, that makes it happen.

At this moment, I wish I was going to be at University of Denver just a LITTLE BIT longer so I could have time to get something like this geared up.

Or that I was a teacher again and could get some students in gear. How cool would that be to see a high school take ownership of a project like this.

Or what about a middle school?

I'm envisioning: kids forming a team to lead the project, talking to community members to see what is needed (or identifying needs right inside their own neighborhoods), learning about the processes that have to happen to implement, creating a budget, presenting at a city council meeting, utilizing the skills they are learning in class to MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Community benefits +

Kids empowered =

Bam.

Powerful.

Camera suggestions?

I am seriously considering investing in a higher quality camera before my next round of travels. Pictures are my journal and the most powerful way I have of sharing my experiences with my family, friends and anyone else I coerce into watching. In particular, I think the next project I will be working on in Kibera will be very powerfully conveyed through images.

So I think I'm going to take the plunge.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• A serious zoom (at a minimum 10x, but ideally a 15-20x)
• Compact size (I'm not sure I'm ready for something that requires its own suitcase - I want it to be able to fit in my handbag).
• Something that is good in low light situations, macro and portraits
  
• Has video capabilities
• Under $500
• I use my camera most to capture 'life' situations, so I need something that can capture an image very quickly if needed (in other words, a long start-up time would not be the best)
• I am no camera expert, but am pretty good with the basic customizing that you can do with a point and shoot - I'm looking for an 'advanced' point and shoot, something with more options than a basic, but not quite a dslr.
  

These are three that I've been looking at, in my initial order of preference, but I have no idea if I am on the right track or not:

• Olympus SP-570 UZ

• Canon Powershot SX10 IS

• Fujifilm Finepix S8100FD

I would appreciate ANY suggestions! Leave a comment or shoot me an email if you have any opinions. Thank you SO much!

I just got a typhoid vaccination

and I feel like someone just took a sledgehammer to my arm.
ouch.

There has to be a better way.

I have to write this down so that it can stop spinning in my head.

I have been so frustrated lately with the non-profit sector.
Not that the non-profit sector has done anything wrong, at all. On the contrary, almost every job, internship, potential job, volunteer opportunity, travel experience, etc. has been directly involved with a non-profit. I am the type where I can LIVE the vision of an organization if I believe in it. In fact, I truly believe to be good at a job, that is the number one key. I have to believe in what I am working for, all the way down to my bones. That's just how I'm wired.

As are most non-profits. So I have nothing against you, non-profits.

Its just... you're not sustainable.

Let me think through this a little better.

There are three sectors, right?

• You have companies - the profit sector. You know, banks, grocery stores, small business, big business, tycoons, ma and pa shops - all of that. Their goal is to make a profit. Otherwise they shut down. That's how it rolls. They are driven by the fundamentals of capitalism, of supply and demand... etc. This sector benefits some people greatly, but it also demands things like cheap labor and cheap supplies in order to make more profits. This means that it relies on the fact that some people, somewhere will work for cheap, and that supplies can be procured cheaply, sometimes at the peril of the environment.
• Then you have the public sector - the government. We give the public sector taxes and authority, and it gives us things like roads, public schools, and stimulus packages. It is directed at the common good. We all benefit from having roads. We all benefit from having our population educated, etc. But public sector, you are inefficient. You are big and bureaucratic and its really hard to change you.
• And then you have the non-profits. Aka nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or not-for-profits. These guys are around the fill the gaps left by the other sectors. The for profit sector can be ruthless and drives inequality - the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. And the public sector just doesn't cut it all of the way either. They are inefficient and bound to political campaigns, special interest and politics in general. So the non-profit sector treats fills in - they provide soup kitchens and education programs and even basic things like access to water in some places. They treat symptoms of poverty, and try to undo the damage done by the other sectors. They often challenge the other sectors to step it up and do their job. But non-profits, you are not sustainable. You have to rely on people to give you money, and sometimes, like right now, the economy doesn't allow people to have a lot of money to give. And you are treating symptoms, not the problem. You are feeding people but not necessarily addressing the reasons why people are hungry.

I love you non-profits, but I hope someday you go away. I hope someday we don't need you any more.

I honestly believe that people want to do good. But it takes time and energy, sometimes, and people are busy and tired. And sometimes poor.

But in the system we live in, we all have to buy things. Like socks, we all need socks. And food. And other things like alarm clocks, light bulbs, shoes, garbage sacks, dental floss, and the other million things we consume every year. What if the companies we bought these things from were responsible? What if they treated their employees as valuable, whole human beings? What if they were benefitting our planet instead of simply extracting from it? What if my sock purchase helped my community, in more ways that just keeping my feet from smelling? What if the sock company was using some of their brilliant sock-making knowledge to find ways to be innovative and make their profits in such a way that was good for me, as a sock buyer, but also good for society? What if my sock purchase meant that a family in Bangladesh ate a nutritious meal tonight, instead of going hungry?

WHAT IF ME BUYING SOCKS HELPED THE WORLD BE A BETTER PLACE?

Other smarter people already figured out how to do this.
I want to be like them.
Like Mohummad Yunus.
And David Kuria, who I will be working with this summer.
Some people call what they do the fourth sector.
I like where it is going.
And I want to be a part of it.

The for profit sector can change. They are driven by demand. And I certainly demand things. So really, its up to me. Its up to me to demand that the products I buy are socially responsible. It is up to me to research where my dollars are going, and to look for ways that I can bring creative energy to solving social problems. Not just treating them, but solving them. If you have any good ideas, pass them this way, I'm all fired up.

Ok... ready go.

From TED: Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals

After a long day of AIDS writing, this got me all pumped up:

P.S.

I have a plane ticket.
I'm going to Kenya.

i am a graduate student.

I woke up at 5am.
I worked on a paper.
I ate some cereal.
I worked on a paper.
I went to class for two hours.
I learned some stuff about statistics.
I think.
I'll find out in my lab on Thursday.

I went downstairs to meet my group.
I signed a petition to bring a PhD's student's family here.
He is from Gaza.
The Israeli government won't let his family out.
Or him in.
He has a daughter that he has never met.
I spent 7 straight hours
finishing and formatting
our final project for my project management class.

Our project was to build a girls' school
in Afghanistan.
In an earthquake zone.
With the threat of an attack from the Taliban.
And the stigma against women's education.
With a budget of $500,000.

I ate some sushi.
The pre-packaged kind.
And a rice krispy treat.
I finished.
I took a five minute breather to write this blog,
and now am about to write that paper
Its due tomorrow.

Eek.

Its a case study about crisis management.
I am using the crisis of HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
And showing
how not
to handle a crisis.

It was 86 degrees outside today.
I love love love
love love
warm weather.

But I was inside,
eating stale sushi,
hypothetically building a school
and thinking,
once again,
about AIDS.

In the midst of my misery,
I secretly loved every minute.

And am so grateful
that I can learn
about what I love.

Things that Make Me Ridiculously Happy

1. grand schemes.
2. unexpected hugs.
   
3. strawberry margaritas.
4. talking to my little brother on the phone.
5. mocha babies.
6. spanish.
7. morning.
8. harmonized voices.
9. riding in the passenger seat on roadtrips.
10. the world atlas.

My Official New Life Plan,

at least until August,


involves the largest slum in Africa,


flying toilets,


a Rotary 3H Grant,


an Ashoka Fellow,


and being a teacher again.


Details to come.

Happy Mothers Day

To all the mamas out there.

Especially mine. :)