Red Hand Day

I love wikipedia. I learn something everyday by browsing it. Check out the main page section titled "On This Day", there's always something interesting there! This is what I read today...

...today is RED HAND DAY. A day to bring awareness to the use of children in war. And it happens all too often, even today.

Read. Learn something. Be called into action.

Red Hand Day, held on February 12, is an annual commemoration day created to draw attention to the fate of children who are forced to serve as soldiers in wars and armed conflicts. The aim of Red Hand Day is to call for action against this practice, and support for children who suffer from this severe form of child abuse. Examples for massive use of children as soldiers in recent years include armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, Myanmar, Philippines, Colombia, and Palestine.
Red Hand Day was initiated in 2002 when the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict entered into force on February 12, 2002. This protocol was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in May 2000. It currently has signatures from 92 different states. A number of international organizations are active against the use of children as soldiers. These organizations include, for example, the United Nations Child Fund (UNICEF), Amnesty International, Terre des Hommes or the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
The work of these organizations can be summarized by the acronym DDR:
Disarmament
Demobilization
Reintegration
The military use of children is addressed by a number of international legal norms. These include International human rights law and International humanitarian law. According to the Additional Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions, adopted in 1977, children who have not attained the age of 15 years shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups, nor allowed to take part in hostilities. For persons older than 15 but younger than 18 years, the State Parties to the Geneva Conventions shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest. The "Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict", adopted in 2000, stipulates that its State Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities, and that they are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces. In addition to these legal norms, The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention of the International Labour Organization, adopted in 1999, includes forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict as one of the worst forms of child labour. In the context of this convention, the term "child" applies to all persons under the age of 18 years. The worldwide number of child soldiers is estimated to be between 250,000 and 300,000 (as of 2006), a third of whom are girls; however it is difficult to know the correct number, as most of them are deployed in armed rebel groups.

Buy Coffee...Feed an Orphan

It's as simple as that...we drink coffee, it tastes good; as a result an orphan is fed for an entire month.

Simple. Beautiful. Profound.

Go here and get some right now!

Sometimes...

...I get homesick for a place I've never been......but long to go.

Delivering Relief in Kenya

This BBC article is a diary from an aid worker in Kenya right now. It's pretty eye-opening what he is describing aout the happenings in that country after the unrest that has occured after the recent rigged Presidental elections. Check it out.

Sudanese troops fire on U.N. convoy in Darfur

U.N. officials say soldiers apparently mistook group for rebels

A Sudanese driver was critically injured in the shooting on the supply convoy, which destroyed a fuel tanker truck and damaged an armored personnel carrier, protected by South African peacekeepers, which occurred late Monday near Sudan’s volatile border with Chad, the U.N. mission, known as UNAMID, said in a statement.
A U.N. peacekeeper stationed near the site of the attack said a Sudanese army unit apparently mistook the South African peacekeepers for Darfur rebels who also operate in the area.

That saddens me too. It just goes to show you that we are all the same and who is to say there is any difference between me and my brother, whether black, white, poor or rich, Wouth African, Sudanese, or American. The tribal differences are so minute in that country that people are often mistaken for being in a different group than they are. This time it was some innocent people who were only there to offer aid, to help, to show love to the people in Darfur who are so deserving of it and need love more than you or me. I would continue to help; and that is just what they are going to do.

The Current Kenyan Crisis

Here, where I live, if somone's preferred candidate loses a political race of somekind, no matter how/why they lost, we get upset, we show dissapointment; but never this. Kenya recently had national elections for a new President. Nearly 300 people have been killed in a clash of ethnic violence in the country in only a week since the elections, which are claimed to be rigged. msnbc.com described the events as "violence that has killed 300 people and displaced 100,000 in what was once lauded as among the most stable democracies in Africa." That is sad, not only that it is such violence and so many people are being hurt, killed, and negatively effected, but also that Kenya, once considered to be a stable democracy in Africa (which in itself are few and far between) is now expierenceing the atraucities similar to it's fellow African counrties, the Sudan and Rwanda, for example. BBC is claiming that over 180,000 people have been displaced due to this violence and over 350 have been killed. The UN's World Food Programe is despertaly trying to provide food for the 100,000 displaced people in the Valley Rift Area alone.

The church needs to step in.

These people desperatly need to be shown some love.

I don't know what I can do.




Here is a video of the violence. It is devestating.

Here is a article I read about the subject that got it on my mind, again. And here is another.

Making a Difference

Paul told Timothy to not allow his age to hold him back to make a difference in the world around him. I just read this blog of a few kids who don't let their age stop them either...

Santa Monica, California, is far from Tanzania. But a group of high schools there makes the distance seem closer. The Crossroads Teen AIDS Ambassadors are the youngest certified educator-activists in the country working toward the eradication of the disease.

The California students bring their mountainous mission to Africa. They travel to Tanzania and other countries to help tell their young counterparts about the history of the pandemic, the virology of HIV, and the importance of safe sex. But they also bring the "mountain" to them: Kids from Tanzania have come to California to go through the program to experience and see inspiration of a life minus the disease.

The hours are long, the information is daunting, and the trek is substantial. But from the AIDS Ambassadors' perspectives, even their small hands can help start move the mountain.

World AIDS Day 2007

People around the world, from Brazil, to Africa, to China, to Europe, to DC, came together today, to bring awareness to a disease that has hit so many lives, changed countless lives, and taken too many lives…AIDS. World AIDS Day is a campaign to bring the fight against AIDS to the forefront of people’s minds; awareness is half of the cure.

A large ribbon, the internationally-recognized symbol for the fight against AIDS, is placed in front of the “Christ the Redeemer” statue atop Corcovado Mountain, during a campaign for World AIDS Day in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Danish human rights activists adjust candles during a rally to mark World AIDS day in Copenhagen.
A huge red ribbon hangs from the North Portico of the White House to mark World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007. President Bush announced he will travel to Africa in 2008 to check on US efforts in combating the disease.
Members of civil society light candles to create awareness on the eve of World AIDS day in Multan, Pakistan.
AIDS activists wearing body paint participate in an awareness campaign during the World AIDS Day in Lome, Togo.
HIV/AIDS activists march in Abidjan, the largest city in the Ivory Cost, to mark World AIDS Day. Held each year on December 1, World AIDS Day is a time of grim stocktaking as AIDS campaigners worldwide sound the alarm over the disease’s rampage through Africa, the threat it poses to Asia and former Soviet Union republics, and the risks to vulnerable communities such as sex workers, drug users, and gay men.
Pedestrians walk past a giant poster made by undergraduates during an AIDS awareness promotion to mark World AIDS Day in Nanjing of Jiangsu Providence, China. According to official estimates, there are around 700,000 HIV/AIDS patients nationwide.
HIV affected people take part in an AIDS awareness campaign on World AIDS Day in the northwestern Indian city of Siliguri. India has been the world’s third biggest caseload of people living with the deadly virus. After originally estimating some 5.7 million were infected in India, the UN reduced that estimate to 2.5 million.

this church stepped up

I just read this article.

This is what it is all about.

This church of 1,900 people found something that was close to their hearts (the victims of Hurricane Katrina), found people in need and helped them out. They sacrificed to help their fellow man. That's what it is all about.

They said that each person gave an average of $833. That's not easy to do, but they did it. There were also a couple of people who gave greater amounts of money, but would rather remain anonymous. That's awesome.

They raised a million dollars to give away, to help people. They set a goal of collecting the money at 2 years, but it only took them a year and a half.



...may the LORD make your love overflow to each other and to everyone else...
(1 Thessalonians 3:12)

Updated AIDS Statistics

I read this post from the (RED) blog this morning on my Google Reader. It is refreshing.

UNAIDS updated its statistics on Worldwide AIDS for 2007, and the numbers are quite encouraging. There has been a 16% decrease in the number of AIDS victims worldwide from last year to this year.

. 68 % of the global total of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa
. 4,383 is the average number of deaths daily due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
. There are an estimated 11.4 million orphans due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
. Adult HIV prevalence rate in Swaziland is 26% vs 33% in 2006.

These numbers are encouraging. Keep it up, make that number larger in next years statistics. It can be done, AIDS victims, every single one of them, can receive the treatment and care they need. The children orphaned by this terrible tragedy can be saved, can be helped. I want to help.

World AIDS Day is December 1st...it's also payday, go spoil yourself and buy soemthing (red) that day. Help out someone who can't really help themselves. Start a conversation with a co-worker, bring up AIDS awareness. Be aware for yourself. Know what people around the world are facing, are living through, are dying of.

My Dreams.

I want to make a difference.

This is a good place to dream toward.

I can make a difference.

I will make a difference.