Today, elanposted my take on Beyonce’s condemnation by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood prior to her concert in Egypt and a reader sent me this cute comic strip:
What do you think? The artist is Tarek Shahin and you can check out more of his work here.
And speaking of artists, Muslimah Media Watch recently profiled Hana Hajjar, one of the few female cartoonists in Saudi Arabia. Her cartoons are really funny and she covers a lot of interesting topics. I encourage you to read the post (and basically every post at MMW). You can also read more about her on CNN.
See Change is an initiative of Students of the World, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit created and led by college students. Starting as a student organization at Duke University in 1999, Students of the World now has chapters at seven college campuses. Our students document global issues in local communities and return home to share and inspire others toward global understanding and activism.
With See Change, our objective is not only to shine a light on positive change, but also to use these stories to directly support the nongovernmental organizations with which we work.
See Change works with several teams comprised of students from college campuses across the nation. Each team works with specific non-profit organization to raise awareness about their cause.
If you would like to get involved, you can apply to be on a 2010 See Change team. So far, UNC and UT have posted their applications online. You can also, make a donation.
When you donate to a See Change project, 100% of the donation goes toward achieving the organization’s goal. You can track the progress of each project through the images, stories and fund-raising updates on our site as the goal is realized.
Women for Women International is a non-profit organization that “mobilizes women to change their lives through a holistic approach that addresses the unique needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments.” Women who have lost a great deal in conflict participate in a one-year program that aims to help them heal and become active citizens of their society. Founded by activist and social entrepreneur, Zainab Salbi, and represented by Global Ambassador, Queen Rania of Jordan, Women for Women aims to help an often forgotten segment of the world’s populations. Furthermore, this amazing organization gives women hope and helps them rebuild their lives. Just check out this video:
The Women for Women International model has several steps:
1. The Sponsorship Program: “Direct financial aid from a sponsor helps [women] deal with the immediate effects of war and conflict such as lack of food, water, medicine and other necessities. Exchanging letters with sponsors provides women with an emotional lifeline and a chance to tell their stories —maybe for the first time.”
2. Renewing Women’s Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program: “Provides [women] with rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training. Women build upon existing skills and learn new ones in order to regain their strength, stability and stature on the path to becoming active citizens.”
3. Job Skills Training: “[Offers] women market-based skills training so they can find employment or start their own businesses.”
Women for Women currently works in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sudan. They also invests in adolescent girls in developing countries as part of The Girl Effect initiative, which was featured in the first-ever “Do Good Monday” post!
You can help by becoming a sponsor for a woman dealing with conflict or donating to Women for Women International. There are also many other ways to get involved like hosting an event, volunteering, shopping for products in the Women to Women online store, or sending an e-card.
And don’t forget to check out their blog to learn about their field work!
World Challenge 09 is a competition organized by BBC World News Limited that aims to find projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. From February 16th to May 22nd, many organizations and small businesses were nominated, after which a BBC World News representative and the producers choose 12 finalists that were profiled in a 30 minute program and in Newsweek magazine. From September 28th to November 13th, you can vote for your favorite project online. The winner will receive a $20,000 grant from World Challenge.
Among the finalists this year was Afghan Hands, a company that helps widows in Afghanistan earn a living and an education. Please vote for them and help them win the chance to help even more women. Remember, the voting is over on November 13th.
Afghan Hands
How the American high-end fashion business is creating a design for a better life for the widows of the decades of conflict in Afghanistan.
“The first time I bought them in they were shocked by the sheerness of these things… and they were shaking their heads, saying ‘These Americans – I don’t know what they want!’”
The conflicts in Afghanistan over the last 30 years have caused up to 2 million deaths – creating a generation of widows and orphans in the country. But Matin Maulawizada, whose own family escaped to the USA during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, has returned to the country of his birth to help some of these widows. Arriving from the US bearing designs commissioned by a niche-market fashion house, his company, Afghan Hands, capitalizes on the skill of these women with a needle and thread and is now not only earning them an income, but teaching them literacy and numeracy as well.
Today is the first annual World Pneumonia Day and nearly 100 organizations have joined forces to urge governments to combat a disease that is the world’s leading killer of children. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) released a comprehensive Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP). The plan aims to reduce mortality in children in children under the age of 5 by 65% in the next 6 years. An estimated $39 billion will need to be invested to improve health systems in the countries most affected.
GAPP has a three-step strategy:
1. protects children by promoting exclusive breastfeeding and ensuring adequate nutrition and good hygiene
2. prevents the disease by vaccinating them against common causes of pneumonia
3. treats children at the community level and in clinics and hospitals through effective case management and with an appropriate course of antibiotics.
1. Increasing access to community health care for children and their families in countries where access to clinics is limited.
2. Supporting advocacy efforts to ensure governments in donor and developing countries prioritize spending on maternal and child health programs.
3. Mobilizing citizens and leaders to take action on behalf of children, with efforts such as World Pneumonia Day.
To help you can sign a petition to urge members of Congress to pass the Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009 in the House of Representatives and the Global Children Survival Act of 2009 in the Senate. The acts aim to improve the health of children and their mothers by developing and implementing an integrated, comprehensive strategy. In addition, they will expand funding for antibiotics and immunizations.
You can also make a donation to “Survive by 5.” Expecting mothers can get involved by hosting a baby shower for Save the Children and babysitters can join the Sit for Survival program, for which they donate the money they earned babysitting.
I don’t know why I like it so much. My friend Jon pointed out that it kind of resembles something out of a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip and it’s so true! I forgot how much I used to love Calvin and Hobbes.
There are more awesome pumpkins that you can check out here. Warning: Some of them are slightly inappropriate.
And they are so easy to do when you’re sick (I have the flu) so here it goes.
-*- The Daily Show is getting some heat for last night’s show featuring Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer. (The article contains a video of the interview). (Thanks Nashwa!)
-*- Malalai Joya says the U.S. is occupying Afghanistan and upsets Heidi Collins. It’s hilarious to watch because Joya just keeps going until Collins cuts her off.
-*- Jonathan Demme (“Silence of the Lambs” and “Rachel Getting Married”) acquired the rights to turn Dave Egger’s best-selling book, “Zeitoun,” into an animated film. (Thanks @hsmoghul!) Great book. I hope the animated film does it justice.
-*- Malaysia is pushing the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to agree on a world halal standard. They say the move would boost the $2 trillion industry.
-*- CNN profiles Hana Hajjar, a Saudi cartoonist. (Thanks @mmwtweets!)
Also, in case you missed them, here are my posts for elan this week.
e-mail me at sahrahbash@gmail.com
