Weather and Wildlife
Do you ever read a news item that makes you go “hhmmm”? Recently, several news items from the world of wildlife had that effect on me.
The first was from CNN online, about Kenyan wildlife officials rounding up and moving thousands of zebras and wildebeest from a northern park to Amboseli National Park to feed starving lions and hyenas. The lions and hyenas have started going after local livestock, because the drought that Kenya recently suffered from has killed many of their prey animals in the park. This also impacts tourism – Amboseli is one of Kenya’s top parks, and most tourists go there to see the animals.
Then, halfway around the world, another item that has been in the news caught my attention. Partly because it’s important, and partly because when combined with the above story all I could think at first was “hhmmm”.
As various news outlets have recently covered, animals and plants have been dying in Florida due to a bout of unusually cold weather. Animals such as the endangered manatee was featured for several nights on evening broadcasts as they huddled in springs trying to stay warm. The New York Times In Transit Blog mentions that thousands of “cold-stunned” sea turtles were rescued. Sadly, animals died from the cold, including manatees, sea turtles and crocodiles.
What struck me is that both of these stories exist due to drastic weather changes, and yet stories appeared around the same time in other media outlets announcing that the number of people who “believe” in climate change has gone down since Copenhagen. How can people not believe in climate change, or be concerned about what is happening in our world, when they learn stories like the above?
The other thing that struck me about the stories is what a strange world we’re living in now, and it’s likely to become even stranger.
What did the two news stories make you think? Other than simply, “hhmmm”?
Tags: Amboseli National Park, Climate Change, Conservation, Copenhagen, Endangered Species, Florida, Kenya, lions, Manatees, sea turtles, Wildlife, zebras
A Child’s Wish List
’Tis the season of children’s wish lists, and one in particular has caught my attention this year. Save the Children Canada has a section on their website called “Wishlist 2009”. It’s a list of ten gifts that make a difference. Seven of the ten gifts cost between $20 and $100, with the other three stretching upwards in the budget to reach $1,000.
Starting on the lowest rung of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, for just $20 you can help feed two children lunch at school for a whole month in Burkina Faso (once known as Upper Volta) in western Africa. You can help buy lunch every day for a year for $200. If you’ve ever been hungry after missing a meal, you’ll know how distracting hunger can be. As well, children need food so they develop properly and stay healthy.
We’re so lucky to be able to turn on our taps and get clean water. Access to clean water is vitally important, and for $50 you can contribute towards providing a water filter for a school to help children avoid illness. You can also buy six ceramic water filters for rural schools for $300, and help keep Nicaraguan children healthy.
For $500, you can support the purchase of ten doses of Pentaxine, a vaccine that fights hepatitis, which can be fatal for children.
Consider sponsoring basic school supplies including notebooks, pens, pencils, and a geometry set for children in Latin America for $35. Or for $80, help Save the Children purchase a locally-made desk for two students, in Burkina Faso or Kenya.
You can also assist a teacher with transportation so they can get to school, visit parents, and even transport a sick child to a medical clinic, all for $100.
Accessing health services, education, and other state services in Nicaragua requires having a birth registration. For $25, you can help ensure that two Nicaraguan children have their births registered and can access the services that they need.
Remote communities in places such as Nicaragua often lack health facilities. For $120, you can assist in equipping a health services birthing team, including a midwife, and even emergency obstetric care if needed.
Feeling truly philanthropic? $1,000 provides 90 tables and benches for 180 students in Burkina Faso.
So as you rush around completing your shopping and trying to fulfill wish lists, please remember that the children of our world also have wish lists. Let’s help them smile and feel the joy of this season and of having basic life needs met for the coming months.
Tags: Africa, Burkina Faso, Humanitarian, Kenya, Nicaragua, philanthropic, remote communities, rural schools, Save the Children, school lunch, school supplies, wish list
