In the first days following 9/11attack on our country a person representing the federal government was visiting a kindergarten class. She told the children “someone who did not really like us” had attacked our country, but the government is keeping everyone safe, and their families are keeping them safe as well. They were not to be afraid because many people were around them to protect them.
One little girl came up to the speaker and said “If they knew our names would they like us?”
This bit of wisdom from a small child has inspired the “I Know Your Name” medallion. In English in says “I work and pray for peace.” In Arabic it says “I pray and work for peace.” The group of stars in the center is a symbol for people of all races and religions under one God.
Each person who orders a medallion is asked to 1) list up to three children’s names on the order form – children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children of friends; 2) indicate if children’s names are Muslim or non-Muslim. These names will be inscribed on the back of the medallion.If they are Muslim names, that medallion will be mailed to a non-Muslim person to wear. If they are non-Muslim names, the medallion will go to a Muslim person to wear.
We will no longer be faceless, nameless people to each other. We will have begun to know each other’s names. It’s hoped that this medallion will move people to actions and to prayers that will help our children and grandchildren - be not enemy combatants – but friends and neighbors.
(Part of the proceeds of the sale of the medallion will go to groups that promote friendship and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.)
“I Know Your Name” Medallion
1534 North Moorpark Road #191
Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360
Monday, November 8, 2010
Giving African girls a chance to learn
Her mother explained that the girl was not intelligent and would probably fail. She stated that she would let her finish this school year, then keep her home to teach her how to be a good wife and mother. I could not accept that fate for a little girl who only wanted me to assist her. I asked her mother to allow me to work with her.
I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures and I discovered that many girls do not have books and school supplies, or the time or a place to study after school. I began haunting all the public and private development agencies, local and national government institutions, asking for assistance to support our little girls. I was refused. So we started teaching ourselves.
The girls wanted me to continue the program but I informed them that I hadn't been able to find the money. They said they could raise their own money. They raised enough to buy their school books and supplies. The little girls brought in older siblings and relatives who had already failed and been expelled from school. The older girls did the cooking and selling. They became our financial support and grew into our entrepreneurs. We export five blended hibiscus teas, dolls and household products to pay for the schooling. We have decided to become green, with an aggressive environmental education and agricultural development entrepreneurial program.
Eventually we got public and private financial and technical support to expand the number of girls that we teach each year. We now have 3,383 girls and want to increase our numbers to 5,000 this year.
To read the full story, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/21/vaughn.senegal.education/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures and I discovered that many girls do not have books and school supplies, or the time or a place to study after school. I began haunting all the public and private development agencies, local and national government institutions, asking for assistance to support our little girls. I was refused. So we started teaching ourselves.
The girls wanted me to continue the program but I informed them that I hadn't been able to find the money. They said they could raise their own money. They raised enough to buy their school books and supplies. The little girls brought in older siblings and relatives who had already failed and been expelled from school. The older girls did the cooking and selling. They became our financial support and grew into our entrepreneurs. We export five blended hibiscus teas, dolls and household products to pay for the schooling. We have decided to become green, with an aggressive environmental education and agricultural development entrepreneurial program.
Eventually we got public and private financial and technical support to expand the number of girls that we teach each year. We now have 3,383 girls and want to increase our numbers to 5,000 this year.
To read the full story, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/21/vaughn.senegal.education/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Rescuers save family adrift at sea for 6 days
Rescuers spotted a family of four who had been lost at sea for six days and helped them safely to shore in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, authorities said.
Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal New Zealand Air Force found the family Saturday.
They had gone missing October 31 after setting sail from Kiribati in a four-meter (13-foot) aluminum boat, Maritime New Zealand said in a statement.
To read the full story and to watch the video, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/08/kiribati.family.rescue/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal New Zealand Air Force found the family Saturday.
They had gone missing October 31 after setting sail from Kiribati in a four-meter (13-foot) aluminum boat, Maritime New Zealand said in a statement.
To read the full story and to watch the video, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/08/kiribati.family.rescue/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Why sharing is a beautiful thing
Jorge Munoz is a bus driver in New York City who started feeding the hungry in Queens five years ago, using food that would otherwise have been thrown away. And that's how he discovered a secret -- the power of sharing.
"People are telling me, 'Jorge, you have no money, you do all this and get nothing back.' And I say I have a checking account full of smiles."
Munoz has been recognized as a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2009 and received the U.S. Citizens Award from President Obama. His website is AnAngelinQueens.org.
Te readthe full story, please visit: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/28/munoz.sharing/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
"People are telling me, 'Jorge, you have no money, you do all this and get nothing back.' And I say I have a checking account full of smiles."
Munoz has been recognized as a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2009 and received the U.S. Citizens Award from President Obama. His website is AnAngelinQueens.org.
Te readthe full story, please visit: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/28/munoz.sharing/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
Friday, October 8, 2010
A True Mother
A mother in Louisville, Kentucky, has died after saving her three children and two nieces by pushing them out the second-story window of her burning townhome.
Bystanders who noticed the flames helped catch the children as Tomarra Finley guided them out on Thursday morning. After the five children were rescued, Finley, 31, was found unconscious by firefighters. They gave her oxygen and CPR, but she died later of smoke inhalation.
Fire Capt. Salvador Melendez said Finley braved tremendous heat and smoke in saving the children.
"It was even extreme for us, and we wear all this gear," he told CNN affiliate WDRB-TV of Louisville. "We can only imagine what she went through. She did a brave thing. She made a sacrifice, but she did indeed save those children."
Karey Hudson said he saw a child hanging out the window and ran to help. He said a man delivering newspapers came running up and told the child to jump.
"'One of us will catch you," Hudson said the paper man told the child.
Firefighters said that smoke alarms alerted Finley to the fire.
To watch the video, please go to: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/08/heroes.louisville.fire/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
Bystanders who noticed the flames helped catch the children as Tomarra Finley guided them out on Thursday morning. After the five children were rescued, Finley, 31, was found unconscious by firefighters. They gave her oxygen and CPR, but she died later of smoke inhalation.
Fire Capt. Salvador Melendez said Finley braved tremendous heat and smoke in saving the children.
"It was even extreme for us, and we wear all this gear," he told CNN affiliate WDRB-TV of Louisville. "We can only imagine what she went through. She did a brave thing. She made a sacrifice, but she did indeed save those children."
Karey Hudson said he saw a child hanging out the window and ran to help. He said a man delivering newspapers came running up and told the child to jump.
"'One of us will catch you," Hudson said the paper man told the child.
Firefighters said that smoke alarms alerted Finley to the fire.
To watch the video, please go to: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/08/heroes.louisville.fire/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Good Samaritan describes chase that led to girl's freedom
A construction carpenter by trade until work slowed down, Perez has been recently cutting wine grapes, earning minimum wage. Perez,tuned in to television news coverage of the abduction of an 8 year old girl, paying attention to the description and video of the suspect's pickup truck. At about 6:45 a.m., Perez was outside his house talking with his cousin about the abduction when they saw a vehicle matching that description: an older-model, reddish-brown Chevrolet with a white stripe on the side.
"I thought, that could be the truck," said Perez, a father of two boys. That's when he sprang into action. He jumped into his 1988 white Ford pickup and followed the vehicle. Perez tried to cut off the vehicle several times to question the driver. One time, the driver told him, "I don't have no time [to talk]. My battery is dying."
The second time Perez pulled up to the Chevy, he saw the little girl, her head popping up from below view, and knew something was wrong.
"I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl,'" said Perez. "We argued. We exchanged words."
Perez -- who admitted he did wonder at some point whether the motorist had a gun -- pulled up to the truck a third, and then a fourth time, when he blocked the pickup truck.
Immediately after the truck stopped, the girl was out. Perez said he believes the driver pushed her out.
To read the full story and to watch the interview, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/california.child.samaritan/index.html?hpt=Sbin
"I thought, that could be the truck," said Perez, a father of two boys. That's when he sprang into action. He jumped into his 1988 white Ford pickup and followed the vehicle. Perez tried to cut off the vehicle several times to question the driver. One time, the driver told him, "I don't have no time [to talk]. My battery is dying."
The second time Perez pulled up to the Chevy, he saw the little girl, her head popping up from below view, and knew something was wrong.
"I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl,'" said Perez. "We argued. We exchanged words."
Perez -- who admitted he did wonder at some point whether the motorist had a gun -- pulled up to the truck a third, and then a fourth time, when he blocked the pickup truck.
Immediately after the truck stopped, the girl was out. Perez said he believes the driver pushed her out.
To read the full story and to watch the interview, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/california.child.samaritan/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Monday, October 4, 2010
Three Dying Israelis Saved With Organs Donated From A Palestinian Boy
4-year-old Abdul Hayy Salhout who fell from the balcony in his house in Jabal al-Mukabbir village in occupied East Jerusalem, became source of life for three dying Israeli patients when his parents decided to donate his organs.
According to the Ma'an news Agency, doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center spent eight hours trying to revive Salhout in the ICU, where he died six days later.
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, the boy's liver has since been successfully transplanted to a critically ill 7-year-old Israeli boy. A kidney was given to an 8-year-old Israeli girl, whose body has accepted it. The other kidney went to a 55-year-old Israeli man, and he is in good condition too despite concerns of rejection due to the age difference.
"My son arrived at the hospital in very serious condition, and it was impossible to save his life. But we're so happy to see him alive inside other people," Abdul-Hayy's father told Ynet. "It makes no difference to us whether the recipients speak Arabic or Hebrew, because saving a human life is the same."
Source: http://www.imemc.org/article/59370
According to the Ma'an news Agency, doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center spent eight hours trying to revive Salhout in the ICU, where he died six days later.
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, the boy's liver has since been successfully transplanted to a critically ill 7-year-old Israeli boy. A kidney was given to an 8-year-old Israeli girl, whose body has accepted it. The other kidney went to a 55-year-old Israeli man, and he is in good condition too despite concerns of rejection due to the age difference.
"My son arrived at the hospital in very serious condition, and it was impossible to save his life. But we're so happy to see him alive inside other people," Abdul-Hayy's father told Ynet. "It makes no difference to us whether the recipients speak Arabic or Hebrew, because saving a human life is the same."
Source: http://www.imemc.org/article/59370
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