Being the Change I Wish to See

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As most of you have heard by now, a 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti and has devastated the city. Presently, 140,000 are estimated to be dead. That number may increase over the weekend, as of Friday night at just before 5 p.m. 72 hours had passed. While there is still hope for those trapped, 72 hours is the critical point where people need to be rescued and the rest need to get food, water, medical care and temporary shelter to stay alive.

Many supplies have reached the airport. Now that transport and helicopters are on scene, wide distribution of supplies will be possible as early as overnight tonight. People should begin to see some major relief first thing this morning.

Dead bodies that litter the streets need to be removed much more rapidly, even though that may mean burial in mass graves. Those picking up bodies are now photographing them for later identification and mass graves are beginning to be used. Haiti is a tropical island nation and it is around 80 degrees there. We are at the point where those decaying bodies will begin to cause disease in those who are still alive. Many are dehydrated, hungry and injured. Their immune systems are not strong enough to fight off any illness. We have gotten this far, and we don’t want to begin losing more people to widespread outbreaks of disease.

How can you help?

• Don’t go to Haiti unless you’re a trained worker with one of the response organizations
• Send money to reputable relief organizations
• You can text your donations to these organizations You can text multiple times to as many as you want. The charges will be added to your mobile phone bill.
• Volunteer locally at your Red Cross office, Salvation Army office or other relief organization that is sending trained volunteers and staff. Trained people are needed for ground operations. You may be able to free them up to go by helping here at home.
• Help the families of our deployed military personnel whether they are working in Haiti or deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. These families need your hands and your hearts. Check with local military stations and churches to find families to help. They need help with kids, babysitters, a home-cooked meal delivered to their house, someone to get something in the house fixed, help with kids’ homework, etc.

I sent my donation Tuesday night by text message. It’s fast and easy. Please give what you can. Thank you.

People carry an injured person after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area rocked Haiti on Tuesday. The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince. (AP Photo/Radio Tele Ginen)
8:54 p.m. ET, 1/12/10

Technorati Tags: Earthquake 2010, Haiti, Port-au-Prince

written by joubess \\ tags: Earthquake 2010, Haiti, Port-au-Prince

I am an occasional listener of NPR’s Fresh Air, and I happened to catch the “Puppies Behind Bars (For A Good Cause)” segment during animal week.

Samba with Paul at the U.S. Capital

Gloria Gilbert Stoga is the founder of Puppies Behind Bars, Nora Moran is a former inmate who participated in the program while in prison and went to work for the organization after serving her sentence. Paul Bang-Knudsen is a former Marine Corps corporal who was wounded in Iraq. The dog in the story is Samba, a small black lab and Bang-Knudsen’s service dog trained through the program. Dave Davies recorded this story for Fresh Air.

Here is the podcast of the 20 minute story. You’ll laugh and cry:

The United States incarcerates about twice as many people as other countries in the developed world. Many argue we send too many people to prison for the wrong reasons, our sentencing laws often do not fit the crimes, and we do little to nothing to truly rehabilitate inmates so they can be productive citizens when they finish their prison sentences. Recidivism is higher in the U.S. than in other developed nations.

We are the last developed nation in the world to use the death penalty, even though we have clear statistics that it does not deter violent crime. Capital punishment cases cost the justice system far more money to prosecute and carry out than life sentences with no possibility of parole.

We need more programs such as Puppies Behind Bars that truly help change an inmate’s mindset and life. By helping inmates to see raising a service dog as giving back to society in a much bigger way than serving time, it teaches them to think of others and their needs. Being aware of the needs of others, that even in prison you can do something to give back to society, and in the process learn responsibility for the care of another life is tantamount to becoming a productive citizen, perhaps for the first time.

I hope to see this program grow to other cities and prisons across the country. I hope to see more effective programs introduced and implemented in every prison in the country.

Technorati Tags: Fresh Air, inmate rehabilitation, NPR, prison inmates, service dogs, Veterans, WHYY radio

written by joubess \\ tags: Fresh Air, inmate rehabilitation, NPR, prison inmates, service dogs, Veterans, WHYY radio