Being Chased By The Flame

Happy International Women's Day

2011-03-08T10:05:00.000-06:00

On Saturday I went to see the AJWS Volunteer Summer 2010 group that went to Ramogi, Uganda a year after me. While I was excited to here about all the people I worked closely with and had lengthy conversations with, there is one woman that will always capture my imagination and inspire me.

Her name is Agnus. I honestly don't know if I ever learned her last name or her name in Dhipadola (the local language). I simply know her as Agnus. Agnus is not the leader of an NGO or a politician or even someone who is very outspoken. Agnus is a grandmother, she is probably 53 years old now and last I heard she is in Primary Five, or P5, as it is often referred. P5 is essentially 5th grade and the students are around 10 to 15 years old. Agnus is 53

When we met her she was 51 and in P3. She would stand in front of us with her green Makauri Primary School uniform and stoically announce "Agnus, P3, Makauri Primary School presents the Adola Anthem" and then proceeded to lead the call & response song that was the local kingdom's anthem.

After the first time, Apollo Jaramogi, the charismatic leader of Uganda Orphans Rural Development Programme told us her story. Agnus made sure, regardless of the cost, that her children would make it through primary and secondary school. Then, again, she made sure the same happened with her grandchildren.

In 1996 Uganda announced the end of primary school fees and promotion of "Universal Primary Education". A few years ago, Agnus realized that her child and grandchildren could read and write, but she couldn't. She decided that if school no longer had fees that she, too, would go to school. She says once she finishes secondary school she would like to become a teacher. She'll be in her 60s when this happens, but I don't doubt her at all. She will be a teacher.

I think we get wrapped up in celebrating iconic women. Secretaries of state, foreign ministers, presidents, prime ministers, writers, businesswomen and the like. They deserve all of that and more, but I want to say Happy International Women's Day from this feminist/ally man to all the quiet women heroes.

Happy International Women's Day to my mom. I doubt she'll ever be remembered in a history book or celebrating all around the world, but she is a hero. Despite being an immigrant, despite only having an associates degree and despite losing her husband she will has three children who are healthy, happy and successful: each college educated and soon all three with graduate degrees. Two with beautiful, healthy and happy children.

And of course a Happy International Women's Day to the Agnuses out there. Quietly setting the example that at any age education is important and despite challenges it can be and should be pursued. In a country where according to the World Bank, only 56.13% of students completed primary school she is inspiration not only to the girls at her school, but the boys as well. She may not be celebrating internationally or written about in a history book, but standing there proudly with her warm smile and green uniform she has changed many lives in Ramogi and will never be far from my mind or my heart.

Happy International Women's Day to everyone, but mainly to all the quiet women heroes and all my fellow male allies. May there be another 100 years of progress and celebration!

My Father, My Hero

2010-06-19T21:08:00.007-05:00

When I was eleven my father passed away and tomorrow marks the 12th Father's Day without him. In honor of the holiday I wanted to offer some words of thanks and love for him. To start I think y'all need to know the story of who Zvi Minc was.

My dad was born in Israel to a survivors of World War II. His father, a pain-in-the-neck man who despite his many flaws was a powerful figure who fled Poland when the Nazis approached, joined the Red Army and after the war fled Russia to settle in Israel. His mother, a woman I barely knew, a survivor of Auschwitz and crippled by bad health including diabetes that progressively ruined her ability to walk and made her blind. My dad was their oldest son and the 1st of 4 children. While they never were happy that he and his family lived in the US, their pride in my dad were beyond obvious. My grandmother died 7 months after my father. It might have been here health, but from the wailing during the entire week of the funeral, a broken heart would be a very valid diagnosis.

After growing up in the kibbutz, he went off to the military with hopes of flying in the Israeli Air Force. While his sight was good, it wasn't good enough and in the end he was assigned to be a mechanic for the Air Force rather than a pilot. While a turbulent time in Israel, his service ended before the Yom Kippur war and as young Israelis have been doing for decades, he traveled to the United States. While he and his current girlfriend went with a group to tour the Poconos Mountains, he met my mom a fellow kibbutznik, and their courtship began. After briefly dating, Israels neighbors surprised it by attacking on Yom Kippur and reservists all around the world, like my dad, headed back to Israel to do their part in defending their country. Corresponding while they were apart, ultimately they decided to get married.

While there is much more I can say I will fast forward at the kind of father he was. Eventually, after settling in Dallas, my dad decided to start his own business using his experience as a mechanic and a job he had as an appliance repairman. As the owner and sole employee of QuikService, my dad was very successful: he did quality work, at a low price and treated his clients with respect. They thanked him with numerous referrals and fierce loyalty. He went to work early, but routinely he would be done by three so he could go play tennis or racquetball with friends before coming home in time to spend the evening with his family.

I often wondered why he didn't work harder and really follow the "American Dream". With how much his clientèle loved him he could've easily gained more clients, charged a little more and found a way to earn more profits. The answer is very simple: he was happy with what he did and he found a better way to spend his time.

That's why, despite being gone these 12 years, my dad continues to teach me a valuable lesson and is a hero of mine. He knew the value of working hard and doing his job right to support his family. We were never lacking something we needed and even got some of things we wanted. We were able to travel to Israel often among other family vacations. He always had time to play games, help us with schoolwork and show us endless affection. He was compassionate, but always firm in one thing: we had to the best we could do to improve ourselves primarily through education. For a man who never took a course in college, he was extremely well read and self education and because of this knew how important it was for his children to do well in school.

If that's not a life lived well, I'm not sure what is. He was successful in his own way, while enjoying life and being an incredible father. I miss him every day and though he's gone still love him dearly.

Thank you Abba for everything.

My dad during one of our few trips to Israel together shortly before his death

My dad and my mom, very much in love, during that last visit

My dad and I, not sure when and where.

He was a cute kid... hope I got some of the genes!

Flawed Democracy? Dictatorship? Upcoming Civil War? All the Above?

2010-04-23T14:02:00.001-05:00

Seems Nikolas Kristof reads my blog--ok, ok I can dream can't I? I imagine he either read the many other blog posts like my last one or more than likely had a lot of the seems thoughts as the ones I expressed. Makes sense since I am a devoted reader to his column. Whatever the motivation for his most recent column, it seemed to be a good follow-up to the concerns I have over the US response to the recent Sudan elections and the upcoming referendum.

I wanted to pull out three quotes from the column, but since one of them is kind of long, I recommend just reading it. Oh wait, you're here persumably for my commentary so read this before/after... thanks!

“If the result of the referendum is independence, there is going to be war — complete war,” predicts Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, one of Sudan’s most outspoken human rights advocates. He cautions that America’s willingness to turn a blind eye to election-rigging here increases the risk that Mr. Bashir will feel that he can get away with war.

“They’re very naïve in Washington,” Mr. Mudawi said. “They don’t understand what is going on.”

As I fear, despite the relatively blood-less elections Bashir will feel emboldened by his new found *cough cough* "legitimacy" (excuse me while I cough up a lung) that he'll believe he has a mandate or the power to forcibly keep Sudan together regardless of next year's referendum for southern independence. Seeing that the referendum is likely to pass overwhelmingly any such action would lead to civil war as Mudawai suggests.

Although as Kristof says, "On the other hand, a senior Sudanese government official, Ghazi Salahuddin, told me unequivocally in Khartoum, the nation’s capital, that Sudan will honor the referendum results."

Perhaps American "diplomacy" is working and while the elections were not free or fair in the least, Bashir will be content to be the "legitimate" (here comes that coughing again) leader of Sudan without the oil rich south. From all the commentary out there that sounds unlikely, but I suppose let's keep our fingers crossed?

Kristof ends the article with a statement that may sound like the same old calls for action, but rings more true now: "My own hunch is that the north hasn’t entirely decided what to do, and that strong international pressure can reduce the risk of another savage war. If President Obama is ever going to find his voice on Sudan, it had better be soon."

Did we need Obama to act and appoint a special envoy a lot sooner in order to deal with ICC backlash in 2009? Yes. Have we done far too little to respond to recent violence in Darfur? Yes. But now more than ever do we need leadership by the United States along with other international actors to prevent a civil war? YES!

The adminstration plan to simultaneously be lukewarm regarding the election's legitimacy while continuing to defacto legitimize a genocidal dictator by engaging him as a negotiating partner may be a gamble that pays off. Even if that is the case, though, holding Bashir's feet to the fire (while we hold Obama's) will be necessary to keep him from another of his notorious 180s next year.

If the gamble doesn't work out, than alternative plans must be made to avoid civil war AND Sudan will at least for now will be stuck with Bashir and the NCP. But to end here's a bonus quote that made me vomit a little (see if you can keep down your lunch):

“Even America is becoming an N.C.P. member. No one is against our will.” -President Omar al-Bashir, indicted war criminal, suspected instigator of two genocides.

Legitmizing the Devil

2010-04-20T15:37:00.003-05:00

I know this sentiment isn't unique, but I still have to ponder "out loud" here. Our government has made the decision to continue working with Omar al-Bashir despite many concerns from the EU, AU and the Carter Center about the voter suppression and vote rigging. Even a State Department spokesperson said, "This was not a free and fair election. It did not, broadly speaking, meet international standards."

The key motivation seems to be that the US has decided that getting through the elections in order to maintain the CPA time line and be willing to accept an illegitimate president indicted of war crimes and quite possibly guilty of genocide continue to be a chief diplomatic partner in ending the genocides and conflicts he and his cronies are responsible for.

With tensions as high as it is, a delay or cancellation of the South Sudan referendum would surely crush already fragile relationships between Juba and Khartoum and likely create more violence if not a return to war. So our hope is to indirectly legitimate liar, murderer and rapist as president of Sudan in the hope he honors an agreement to lose control over a significant amount of land and oil next year.

While I sympathize with the State Deparmtent's desire to keep the CPA together in order to prevent things from getting worse and therefore not being more aggressive in refusing Bashir's illegitmate legitimization, who the hell believes we're going to be able to trust him or his NCP government next year anyway?

Though I'm still a huge Obama supporter, for Sudan we need far more than hope to get change.

The Big Graduate School Decison!

2010-04-20T12:25:00.003-05:00

As anyone who is connected me through Google, Facebook, Twitter or that novel realm of real life knows, I’ve been struggling with my decision on where to go for graduate school. Last Monday I attended the first of my two admitted graduate student visit days at American University. From my pre-application research and visits I had a strong feeling that American was my top choice and overall the visit day reaffirmed this.

After a long day of engaging in enthralling conversations with professors, current students and other potential incoming student I was sold. Throughout the day politely, but repeatedly various employees of the university reminded us if we pay or have paid our deposit we can get first priority in the registration process. Trying to be responsible I shunned their tantalizing offer and put off a commitment until visiting George Washington University on Friday.

I figured this second visit day would be primarily a formality and told myself unless GW really impressed me, I would drop my 400 dollars to American and begin to plan the next two years in the far northwest of Washington DC. Well surprise surprise, GW managed to do just that. While American still had my heart, GW enticed my brain with their emphasis on job skills and more robust career services.

Torn between these choices I did the only rational thing I could… ran to the Trader Joe’s near the GW campus, stocked up on snacks and proceeded to locked myself in my room with a quarter. With George’s head gracing one side of the coin and an eagle, American’s mascot on the other… it was easy to know which side indicated which school. I was tired on Friday and it was late by the time I got home so I only managed to flip the coin 37 times with 21 of those in favor of GW. Despite work on Saturday and Sunday I was able to squeeze in far more flips per day: 163 on Saturday with 90 for American and 147 on Sunday with 80 toward GW. After a short work day yesterday I ended up with a grand total of 562 with a spot on 281 for each school. I perhaps definitively proved the 50-50 probably of getting heads and tails with a quarter, but obviously some higher being was telling me I had to make up my mind in a less irrational way.

If you’re reading this the suspense might be killing you as it has me for the past few days, so I’ll get serious and let anyone who might impatiently want to know already: I have decided to go to the School of International Service at American University enrolling fall 2010 and probably graduating sometime in 2012 or 2013.

In the end how did I come to this decision? Well after consulting everyone I could and make an elaborate comparison chart ranging from curriculum to professors (including whether or not they’re foodies) to location to my thoughts on the mascots and girls of both schools. As mentioned above the choice came down to a program I liked far better, but didn’t give me overwhelming confidence about the job hunt versus a program that was acceptable, but did far more to reassure me my lovely degree in international development would produce some type of income. For my lovely chart, American was the clear winner and almost everyone who was kind enough to look at it knew I had made my decision already, but of course I continued to agonize for a few more days.

Finally after speaking to a few DC contacts who work in the fields I am interested in, I was comforted that there was no significant difference of job prospects and both programs are highly respected. After sleeping on it a few nights and all this input, I decided that regardless of the resources available the onus will be on me to find a job and if I’m going to be investing in a graduate program I want it to intellectually fulfill me as well as providing me important practical skills and contacts.

I’m going to follow-up with a post about all those people I want and have to thank for this process, but I wanted to express why I made my decision more for my own benefit, but also for those who were curious. There is definitely much more to, but I’ll spare you for now.

The new School of International Service building. This is where I will be living for the next two years

Recipe-Peanut Butter Apple Muffins

2010-04-14T12:11:00.009-05:00

After making my chocolate chip muffins I started to think what else I could make in muffin form. This morning having run out of bagels, cereal and all other breakfast foods and not wanting to go to the store on an empty stomach I decided to whip up muffins. Instead of repeating the chocolate chip ones I diced up some Granny Smith apples and peanut butter chips to make these yummy things. To be honest I prefer my chocolate chip ones so far, something about chocolate is hard to resist! Also in attempts to offset the moisture of the apples I think I may have used too much salt and I also didn't bake them quite long enough. Both easy things to fix though. The recipe below is with some 100% guaranteed changes I'm going to make.

The only other complaint I have about this experiment was that the taste of the peanut butter and the apples aren't as highlighted as I wish they would be. Of course I'm going to try again and I'll post any huge updates. I broke one of these open and added some honey to make for a sinful early afternoon snack... enjoy!

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoon cinnamon (split into 2-2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt (split into 2-1/4 teaspoons)
2 large egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup diced and peeled Granny Smith apples
2/3 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 400°F
Peel and dice apple (took me little over a half of a big apple)
Toss apples with 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt and oats
Toast apples and oats while preparing the rest of the muffin batter. If you time it right they should be ready when the batter is ready, but I would keep a watchful eye that they don't burn. If the oats are becoming golden, it's toasted enough.
In a bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and the remaining cinnamon and salt.
In another bowl whisk together the egg, the vanilla, the butter, and the milk, stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the mixtures are just combined, and stir in the oats and the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter among 12 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Unless your oven regularly burns things, opt for 20... my muffins seemed done at 15, that was a huge mistake for me this time
Just going in
5 minutes
10 minutes
15 minutes (looked done to me, this is where I made my mistake)

Transfer the muffins to a rack, let them cool slightly, and serve them warm.

Hypersenstivity Meets Kindergarten Pettiness

2010-03-10T11:26:00.001-06:00

Apparently conservatives are making Dan Rather their latest target for claiming comments he made on Chris Matthews show as racist. While I was never a big fan of Dan Rather and I absolutely disdain Chris Matthews I just have to take a moment to break from my usual commentary on international affairs to tell conservatives to shut up on this one.

Dan Rathers said President Obama ” … couldn’t sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic.”

OOOO he mentioned our black president in the same thought as watermelons! Guess what, Obama also likes basketball and I like money. So apparently I hate black people and I'm furthering the negative Jewish stereotype.

While perhaps it can be (and apparently is) argued this was a poor choice of words. I don't think so, I think this was just another of Dan Rather folksy (and silly) sayings. Being post-racial or trans-racial or whatever you want to call it is being aware of your place in a multi-racial society. its embattled history and work whenever possible to create connections and opportunities that celebrate both differences and similarities. Being a post- or trans-racial society does not mean policing ourselves not to say things that have vague random similarities to racist comments.

He didn't say Obama loves watermelons because he's black. But y'all are making stupid comments because you're petty conservative commentators. Oooo, I said it. Now shut the fuck up.

Am I Grown Up? 6 Months In DC Update

2010-02-28T12:30:00.002-06:00

Six months from today, on a sunny Friday afternoon at the end of August I arrived in Washington DC in an effort to practice my conviction and find work set in my activist passion. While it hasn't been an ideal ride, I've learned a lot, made a handful of good friends, a few I would even dare to say great, and in the end I have more or less begun to carve out an "adult life' for myself. Since I haven't done this in any substantial way since moving here, I figured I would give y'all an update. If you want to know why and how I decided to come here two weeks after returning from Uganda (and quitting a job) you can check out my slightly dramatic entry Here goes nothing....

The internship

Immediately as I landed in DC, I had a voice mail for an internship with a legislator's office on the Hill, so I quickly rushed to my friend Cassi's place, researched that representative and had my first interview since my renewed job search! First night in DC and one interview down, not bad right? I was exploring a few options aside from a straightforward job hunt including AmeriCorps, another GI-NET internship and the Hill. In the end that first interview amounted to nothing, but my first Monday in DC, I had another interview on the Hill yielding an internship starting the next day. Until December I answered phones, opened and inputted mail and provided tours at the Washington D.C. office for Congressman John Boccieri.

While in Uganda my continued struggled to decide whether I was better suited and more interested in advocating toward greater international development, promotion of human rights and an end to genocide or if I wanted to contribute through research on those goals. Quickly through my experience on the Hill, I realized my niche would ultimately be research. That being said, and while I may have offered my fair share of groans over opening mail and answering phones, it was definitely a wonderful experience being on the Hill for three months. If anyone at the Boccieri office reads this, thank you for that experience!

Housing

Rewind, so I stayed with my friend Cassi when I first arrived and for that she is someone I am hugely grateful for making this move possible. On that first Sunday, through a friend, I found a room in a house in north Silver Spring (along the DC metro red line for all those folks not familiar with the region) and while the house was a bit further out then I would have preferred, the roommates seemed nice and it was a brief walk to the rail. Before my first week was done, I had moved in and over the months have maybe myself a cozy room with extra furniture provided either by roommates or the landlord.

Job number 1

So that internship ended in December and since this is a full 6 months update you might be wondering what am I doing now, aside from living in my room in the big blue farmhouse with borrowed furniture. By the end of my first month here, I got hired to work part time at the National Abortion Federation hotline. So while I'm celebrating 6 months in DC, I am coming up soon on my first six months there. I might've never imagined I'd be working on a pro-choice hotline, but its been an incredible experience. I have always felt strongly about my pro-choice and feminist beliefs and aware that financial restraints continued to de facto make it impossible for women to exercise their full reproductive rights. Not to mention low income women who are unable to exercise these rights further feel the economic squeeze when they have an unplanned and perhaps sadly unwanted extra mouth to feed.

Can't say counseling is my strongest talent, but I've heard positive feedback from co-workers and patients. I hope its sincere because overall I love the job and really hope I am making at least a small difference for the women (and men) who call into the hotline. I can't go into too much detail for confidentiality reasons, but I've helped counsel dozens of people who have had been victims of domestic violence, been raped, conflicted morally about their decisions to have (or have had) an abortion and/or simply caught in an unexpected situation and overwhelmed by the fact they are pregnant. I have had to struggle with women to help them get funding for a procedure that irregardless to your or my feelings they believe is necessary for them to take care of their existing family, finish school or to cope with the difficult circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.

Throughout all this, I want to toss out a big thank you to the women (and men, I'm not alone!) at NAF for helping me survive and hopefully succeed at this job, but for also for becoming some of the great friends I mentioned before. Although we sometimes to cry from the horrendous situations we're confronted with or scream at the absurdity of the system we and these women are living in, y'all have some much passion for the work along with joy to the office. I have had many profound conversations associated with reproductive health, but also with my passions in international development with y'all along with many many laughs over absolutely ridiculous things. I have learned so much from everyone and from this and though I doubt I will be doing work directly connected to the work of NAF, long term, I will always proudly fight for women's rights particularly reproductive justice.

Job number 2

A few weeks ago you may have heard about (or shared in experiencing) the insane blizzards that hit Washington DC. Go figured, the life-long Texan who spent the bulk of his time outside of Texas in equally balmy Israel and recently Uganda comes to DC and experiences his first winter and it blizzards... a few times. Most people kept telling me DC winters are quite mild when I arrived. When it started to snow the first time in December, I was told this is rare for DC and that same weekend I got stuck in downtown while at the hotline and spent the night on my friend Danny's couch. (Danny, again: thank you, thank you, thank you!)

During the most recent blizzard I was at home and stayed at home so I didn't end up on a friend's couch, but we did lose power and with it our wonderful friend: heat. By the end of our snowy weekend I could see my breath almost everywhere in the house despite drinking gallons of hot tea (luckily our gas stove survived the outage) and wearing half my wardrobe.

Why am I talking about all this during the section called "Job number 2", well I wanted to add in the mention of my first real winter, but also during the fun indoors time I was beginning to hate, I got a phone from Clare at TrakServices. On a whim and out of necessity I sent my resume to a temp agency that kept advertising on a job list I subscribe to. She asked me to come interview that following Monday, the next day I was offered my first assignment and Wednesday I started. While temp work doing mainly data entry sucks (I tried to be articulate, but sucks really is the best word for it), the additional income is really fantastic.

So what now?

For a few reasons, when I arrived to DC, I started to work on my grad school search and application process. I guess a mix between job impatience, my total academic nerdiness and my renewed vigor for international affairs I wanted to get myself back in school! Starting tomorrow (March) until the end of April I should be finding out about grad schools. Meanwhile I am still seeking out and applying to various subsidized, free or paid programs overseas including a Peace Corps application I foolishly keep putting off. I keep considering directly volunteering with a local organization overseas and most seriously been thinking of returning to Uganda out of a slightly higher familiarity. I'll write more about that soon!

Of course the job search continues, though while I wait to hear from grad schools I have cooled the hunt greatly. Through more experience overseas and/or school I hope to be able to get work in international affairs for a few years and with that experience enter a PhD program to ultimately teach and research how development can be practiced in order to prevent conflict. You can read some more about that here, but I'm sure I'll be writing more about it soon.

Obviously a lot more I could write about and perhaps I will, but for now I should go to bed. Working two jobs requires me to sleep when I can! Ask me questions if you want to and I'd happily answer them and please visit DC. I may be busy with everything, but I'll make time to give you a personal tour of the Capitol among other things. There's always a couch/bed for any of you wherever I am.

Thanks for everyone who wished me well or who have helped me during my time here. I could write a whole long entry on who I need to thank and why... which I may very well do soon, but for now if you read this just assume yourself sincerely thanked!

Death of an American Icon: Hummer 1992-2010

2010-02-25T23:22:00.003-06:00

This morning as I rushed to work, enduring the harsh cold of this particularly dramatic DC winter, I learned of the sobering news: the beast of the streets, the tamer of the wild, the car of those who dare to dream the American dream, the Hummer brand will no longer bring forth new manifestations of the beloved H2 and H3 onto the roads. We may call you an American icon, but I would be so bold to say we have lost an American hero… one not of flesh and blood, but of steel and of quickly burnt mass quantities of gasoline.

You were many things to many people and I think it is only right someone offers a few words on your behalf. While we were never directly introduced, I, your secret admirer, will take the initiative and offer this farewell. You represented a way to obtain all we wanted and desired as Americans through extravagant consumerism.

When men all over this nation asked, how I can exert my dominance over other men, the road and Mother Earth herself, you answered the call. Businessmen who wanted all to believe that while they may don the suit and tie and enjoy sushi with you on the weekdays, on the weekends they shot at animals, chopped wood and climbed mountains all from the comfort of your luxury cabin blasting Toby Keith ballads. No one could doubt their burliness, craftiness or their manhood with you by their side. Keys to unlock and unleash you were like a passport to the exclusive club of the gods!

For the past decade, young boys mocked on the playground for playing too much with the girls, enjoying home economics or failing to keep pace in PE could look to you and your promise. As long as they one day bought, leased or rented you, no one could accuse them of being a sissy or a weakling. You represented immediate strength and southern charm. Even in pockets of liberalism where elites mocked you, a man driving you drew quiet contempt and admiration. Whispers of the mysterious man bold enough to guzzle gas in this economy invoked the jealousy of lesser men and the affection of the ladies.

In the end, that promise was what made you synonymous to the American dream and ultimately cemented your place as among the great American heroes. In an age of supposed global warming and petro dictators, you proved Americans or at least the patriots among us, had the balls to give the finger to reality and charge full force toward our dreams. Saddam bombed America and you showed us the path to triumph over terrorism. The path was expensive and the refueling stops constant, but with you as our co-pilot we knew the ride would be filled with ignorant bliss.

On behalf of all Americans who will now never know the joy of instant artificial status through owning a brand new you, I say farewell secret friend. I hope the harsh words of mocking I often uttered as I parked my Toyota Echo next to you were understood as a mask covering my true feelings. May you have your rightful place in Heaven together with Ronald Reagan running over small helpless creatures.

God bless America and may we find the courage to ride forward in history without you. Rest in peace, Hummer, rest in peace.

Apple pie only wishes it was as American as you, dear friend.

Recipe-Chocolate Chip Muffins

2010-02-10T22:34:00.003-06:00

Been thinking about adding a food element to my blog since along with everything else mentioned here cooking, baking and eating are big passions of mine. I'm going to share recipes I've created, adapted or tried and my general comments about them.

Original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Muffins-12765

* are changes to the recipe, described in detail below

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar *
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon **
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted***
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup rolled oats, toasted lightly
1/3 cup white chocolate chips ****
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (next time I hope to use unsweetened for better contrast)

Preheat oven to 400°F
In a bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon and the salt.
In another bowl whisk together the egg, the butter, and the milk, stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the mixtures are just combined, and stir in the oats and the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter among 6 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Transfer the muffins to a rack, let them cool slightly, and serve them warm.

Comments: Overall I loved this recipe. Chocolaty like I wanted, but not overpowering. Oats give it a heartier texture, but I thought the muffins were fairly moist. Most of the negative reviews on Epicurious complained of dryness, but I didn't have a problem. Perhaps the double amount of chocolate offset dryness.

Planned changes: Next time I plan to add some vanilla (many reviewers suggested this), unsweetened chocolate rather than semi-sweet and perhaps a bit more oats. I might also try whole wheat flour, though I am a bit worried that might suck a lot of the moisture. Maybe a little extra butter and the vanilla will offset the flour?

*I used brown sugar rather than white because I find it sweeter and more flavorful

**Whenever I bake cookies (or in this case muffins) I add cinnamon if it makes sense because I love that extra flavor

***Do NOT follow the Epicurious recipe to cool the butter. I did this and while it didn't ruin the recipe, I forgot butter congeals quickly and it was a mess. I've never had to do this for other recipes and I don't see why it is necessary for this one

****The original calls for walnuts and if you're a walnut fan by all means use them. I didn't have walnuts and I don't like nuts in general all that much so I decided to use the extra dose of chocolate and went with white to add contrast and a slightly different chocolate flavor.

Decade Goals

2010-01-01T17:47:00.001-06:00

Things I want to accomplish by 2020. If any of these are common goals and you want to team up... let me know!

1. Go back to Africa at least once

2. Go to Asia or Latin American

3. Survive a triathlon

4. Write a cookbook

5. Get something published

6. Receive a masters degree

7. Go on a road trip

8. Have a successful garden

9. Cook a 5 course gourmet quality meal

10. Volunteer/work in a refugee camp for at least a week

Mr. President... This Isn't Working

2009-09-29T00:23:00.000-05:00

I have been writing about the relationship between President Obama and the anti-genocide movement as a marriage. Perhaps this metaphor is a bit silly, but it stemmed from the honeymoon commentators use to describe the first few weeks/months of a presidency. When the administration failed to appoint a Sudan envoy before announcement of the ICC warrant back in March I announced the honeymoon over ("Obama's Anti-Genocide Honeymoon Is Over").

Responding the warrant, Bashir kicked out aid groups and under even strong pressure the administration finally appointed a special envoy in a move I had hoped with would save the "marriage" ("Will Obama Save The Marriage?").

Unfortunately the man who originally the movement celebrated, Special Envoy Scott Gration, did not signal a more robust pro-peace Sudan policy by the administration which would save the marriage, but rather signaled the end through confusing policies of appeasement to the ruthless dictator so strongly denounced by President Obama.

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama once again echoed his call for peace in Darfur (and all of Sudan) saying: "That is why we will strengthen our support for effective peacekeeping, while energising our efforts to prevent conflicts before they take hold. We will pursue a lasting peace in Sudan through support for the people of Darfur, and the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement, so that we secure the peace that the Sudanese people deserve."

In order to achieve this peace Gration told the Washington Post: "We've got to think about giving out cookies. Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement." Let's put aside how ridiculous it sounds to compare a country whose government has pursued genocide to solve disputes with kids and look at the absurdity of giving a genocidal government "cookies, gold stars and smiley faces."

I could repost comments by John Prendergast, but I think the most powerful refutation of Mr. Gration comes from his boss, the President, who immediately preceding his comments regarding Sudan during last week's speech said, "For the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is the hope of human beings - the belief that the future belongs to those who build, not destroy." According to the Chief Prosectuor of the ICC, Bashir is responsible for crimes against humanity estimated to have cost the lives of 300,000 Darfuris. Additionally Bashir may be responsible for similar crimes costing 2.5 MILLION lives during the conflict with South Sudan.

The question persisting on my mind to both the President and his Special Envoy... does this sound like a man we should be cuddling up to in hopes that out of good will to our new found friendship he'll stop massacring his own citizens? If I heard the President right, the future is NOT for the people like Omar Al-Bashir, but rather for peacemakers.

Sadly, in the six months of Gration's time as envoy, the message has consistently been engagement, normalization and friendship to Bashir at a time that the United States has the opportunity to bring new leadership backed by the ICC warrant to reinvigorate peace talks. Bashir was put in the corner and rather than using that advantage, we decided to bail him out and are now considering frolicking together in the park.

The marriage is over, Mr. President. I, one of your strongest supporters even until today, cannot stand by and allow my admiration of you prevent me from berating this confusing and highly disappointing stance on Darfur. The rhetoric has been incredible with the same or perhaps more force than your predecessor and certainly with more eloquence. Time for actions, we have had enough of words!

The long awaited Sudan policy review will supposedly be unfurred this week. I urge the President to order the State Department to use this opportunity to reverse the action of General Gration. Demand his resignation and start fresh with a new envoy focusing on bringing about new peace negotiations backed by multilateral support with tough consequences for any stalling by Bashir or his government.

Marriage is over, but time to decide whether this is amicable separation or not. Despite his rhetoric the movement turned on President Bush for this inaction. Your move Mr. President.

Getting Ready to Write About Uganda

2009-09-23T21:18:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure how many people actually read this, but I'm hoping to finally write all about my Uganda trip over the next few days. Many people have asked about the trip and I've responded to read my blog or wait until we chat in person. My apologies that for most, neither has happened. So in preparation I want to open things up...

What questions do you have about my trip to Uganda?

I want to try to answer as many as possible during my recap of the trip.

Thanks!

Conflict Prevention Development?

2009-09-23T19:56:00.003-05:00

Yes... time for another one of Leran's crazy ideas... but this one I believe has strong merit. As you'll either read in my previous post or you might hear from me soon, I think I've discovered a niche field I want to explore either working in the human rights, development and conflict resolution fields or through academic research.

This post is intended just to be a general introduction to my thoughts and as an open invite to any ideas you might want to contribute.

Overview: I want to look at how development could be designed or targeted to better promote human rights specifically among marginalized community with the end goal of conflict prevention. My concern is that in societies where violence breaks out the results of development are lost and many development projects have to start at square one if and when stability resumes.

If it would be possible to incorporate methods that promote cooperation among competing ethnic groups or leads into development then perhaps violence between such groups would be avoided or at least lessened in intensity. Furthermore if development could be successful in opening up government and/or increasing participation among marginalized groups the likelihood that conflict between said group and the government would likewise be avoided or mitigated.

Background: Over the last few years while I have been focusing on learning and reacting to the genocide in Darfur I have also followed the post-election violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Both nations before their respective crises began were viewed as success stories of Africa. Until a few years ago Kenya was touted as the only stable nation undergoing consistent growth in East Africa. Zimbabwe, until Mugabe began his radical land reforms in early to mid 1990s was a net exporter of food providing imports to much of the continent.

Kenya may have dodged the bullet, but no doubt the slums where the worst ethnic post-election violence are still struggling to return to the less than ideal circumstances of December 2007. Zimbabwe on the other hand continues to alternative between a slow and quick rot descending into violence between political parties and between the government and the few whites left in the nation. With runaway inflation, high HIV rate and crushed infrastructure nowhere sees much hope left for Zimbabwe.

Speaking to people in Uganda, I fear that similar problems may be in store after the national elections in 2011. Many individuals working alongside my volunteer group warned that if President Museveni does not step down and decides to rig another election in order to stay in office, the majority will rise up violently against the NRM party to remove Museveni. While Tororo in the far southeast of Uganda may be spared in a Kenyan style violent outcome, the HIV positive slum residents of Kampala we visited will most likely not be so fortunate.

If the international community is slow to react or not as successful in quelling the violence as in Kenya and things escalate toward Zimbabwe levels then Tororo. which is currently headed toward famine, will surely be thrown into a far more dire situation as will many districts all over the country including the war-torn north. In such a hopefully unlikely, but not impossible outcome the successful development happening all over the country will be most for not.

I hope I, and the Ugandans I spoke to, am wrong about 2011, but regardless post-election violence seems to be a constant phenomenon throughout the Global South. I have yet to find any literature or anyone with knowledge of literature arguing the role of development in preventing such crises and I believe it is a necessary step to take toward peace and development across Africa.

New Blog Title: Being Chased By The Flame

2009-09-23T18:37:00.004-05:00

I have sat down with the intention to write this post many times over the last month, but the normal procrastination kicked in. I've promised myself not to get up until its done tonight and unfortunately for the both of us the longer I have waited the more I have to share. I'll try to be brief.

As you heard or read (on this blog), I was supposed to start a job with US PIRG immediately upon my return from Uganda. During my time in Africa my strong interest in human rights, development, conflict resolution and many other things international were cemented even more firmly into my identity. Toward the middle of the seven week program I began having serious doubts about the job with PIRG. Eventually I tentatively decided I would head to Boston and give the job a chance.

The first few days of training in Boston seemed to drag on and the entire time the thoughts I had while in Ramogi grew louder and louder that while I agree with the issues PIRG worked on, I did not belong there. On Saturday morning, August 15th, three days after returning from Uganda and arriving in Boston those thoughts caught up to me. I had what most would call a break down and I suppose it was, but I'd like to call it a moment of realization.

Nearly from that first day I was already contemplating whether to stay at PIRG or find a way home to Texas and on the previous day, August 14th, my phone died. Regardless of the outcome of this internal debate... I need my phone. Believing I had lost my phone charging, I left the hotel toward a nearby Radio Shack. The charger I needed was not there, I headed toward the AT&T located between Radio Shack and the hotel, being a Saturday though the store was opening later and I had to wait.

Not being able to resist the charm of a book store, I decided to kill time at the Border's a few doors down. As I almost always do, I headed up to the history, politics and contemporary issues section of the store to find my familiar home among books about Africa, ethnic conflict, development and genocide history. Rather than finding exciting ideas to turn about in my head, all the books I saw from the new to those I owned all seemed to reinforce the same idea firmly implanted in my thoughts... "What am I doing here? I shouldn't be here."

Despite being short on cash and contemplating quitting a job I had barely begun... I decided I needed a book. One that might help bring clarity to the situation and perhaps guide me to the right choice. Struggling between a few titles, inspiration struck. I needed to buy Samantha Power's newest book: Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World. After nearly 20 minutes of searching both with and without help, I almost gave up on finding the book until I rechecked the biography section and found it under P for Power.

Riding the escalator down to the first floor with my book-in-hand I mused to myself... Sergio Vieria de Mello might have been chasing the flame in his career, it seems in my life the flame is chasing me.

The next few things I did might have been irrational and partially motivated by a combination of jet lag and reverse culture shock, but I am happy with the choices made. On autopilot I went to the AT&T store, got rerouted to the mall located adjacent to the hotel, finally found a charger and immediately sat down next to an outlet. Once the phone was had some charge I called my mom and told her I was coming home. Walking back to the hotel I made phone calls to my brother, my sister and to my friend who helped me with arrange a flex ticket I had bought through her to get back to Dallas. Back at the hotel I quit the job and began sorting out the next few steps.

For the first time all summer I looked forward to returning home... I needed familiar surroundings, family and a week worth of sleep. That being true I also couldn't put my mind at ease returning to a hibernation state in Dallas. As Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man puts it: "Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action" and I was hungry to pursue more overt action.

With Texas not an option and resources to low to get back to Africa, I had only one place to go to satisfy the possibility of working on international issues: Washington DC. August 28th, 12 days after quitting my job and leaving Boston, I arrived in DC.

A few days later I began an internship on Capitol Hill and moved into a house in Silver Spring, Maryland. I'm looking for work while applying to professional graduate degrees among other opportunities such as Peace Corps.

Things aren't ideal, but they're an idealist paradise. Options and opportunity are everywhere. The flame is certainly chasing me and I'm happy to be running!

Update email to Family and Friends 7

2009-08-09T07:30:00.004-05:00

VS Uganda - August 7th

In our final week in Ramogi, we learned how UORDP helps the larger community outside of the village proper. Last Friday, we attended a session hosted by UORDP to teach the basics of business management to care givers of child-headed households. This program, like the lend-a-goat program, sets up sustainable projects that can provide the participants with future income to pay for school fees, uniforms and supplies. That afternoon, we continued our work on the church, and during the break, Phillip had the opportunity to literally become a "Fiddler on the Roof". Our work continued into this week as we finished putting metal sheets on the roof and painted the Early Childhood Development Center with murals, shapes, letters and numbers.

Last Saturday afternoon, we continued our friendly competition of the "Uganda Olympics" with a balancing contest which provided a good visual reminder for that morning's session where we discussed the importance of balancing work and rest. The contest was a draw; the white team eked out a narrow victory over the blue team in the following game of charades. That night, the group was able to experience a little more of local culture, as we were invited to a memorial party for a local doctor's mother. While the final funeral rites seem to us an unexpected reason to throw a ruckus party, we enjoyed dancing to both Ugandan hip-hop and Spanish reggae-ton.

On Sunday afternoon we traveled to the neighboring village of Petah to explore and climb some well-known rock formations. The area was a gorgeous vantage point to watch the sunset, and was also the home of a family helped by UORDP. Over a hundred years ago, European explorers posted plaques on one of the rocks, leaving their mark on the land. As we began our final week in Ramogi, we began thinking about what sort of mark we have left on the community, and how we also have changed.

As much as we try to live our last few days in Uganda by living in the moment, we each began thinking about what will happen when we return home. We had many sessions to help us think about this journey. Amy Klein, the visiting journalist, ran a short informational session on how to publish articles as students or recent graduates. On Monday, different participants led programs that prepared us to continue our work when we go home. Natalie facilitated some writing exercises to put us in the memoir- writing mood. Even if the product never makes it to print, the act of writing is an excellent way to organize our thoughts. Leran and Ilana H-S also discussed their previous volunteer experiences. Leran's extensive work as an anti-genocide advocate taught him the most effective ways to work for a cause. Ilana shared her experience with Invisible Children, and international organization that is working to stop the Lord's Resistance Army, a group plaguing the north of Uganda for many decades.

Our education session this week reinforced the idea of continuing service once we return home. We have started to prepare for our departure which also includes exchanging contact information with many of our new friends. We really feel like we have become a part of this community, and in our audience with the Adhola King on Wednesday he told us that we have truly become part of the Adhola people.

Sarah wants to send a shout out to her dad who recommended that the updates say one thing about everyone, and a shout out to her whole family, and happy b-day Laura!

Julian says "I love not having to shower everyday!"

Ilana requests a Subway sandwich with her arrival at the airport.

Eli says "I am muzungu."

Hannah L put polio vaccine droplets in baby's mouths, helping out at the clinic this week.

Natalie misses her family terribly but does not want to leave Uganda .

Judith has been teaching the geography of East Africa to Ugandan school children.

Rachel can't wait to share all she has learned of Ugandan culture with her family and friends.

Philippa has conquered the latrine.

Reva finally knows why the chicken crossed the road.

Shani wishes all her siblings who had birthdays - happy birthday!

Leran invented the Ramogi sandwich!

Hannah K-C has useless powers.

Faigy is looking forward to going to Kampala

Jamie is savoring her last week here but is also looking forward to the adventures to come.

Aaron's mind is blown

Adam has loved being with the group in Ramogi and looks forward to travels in Europe and then coming home in a month.

Philip doesn't like how this is turning into a Facebook status update

Wally likes Philips status update.

See you all soon! VS Uganda

Update email to Family and Friends 6

2009-08-09T07:28:00.002-05:00

Dear friends and family,

Our fifth week in Uganda has brought us as many new experiences as our first week. On Wednesday, we started a new work project at the Ramogi Church of Uganda. Building a roof has given us the opportunity to learn new carpentry skills from the community members. The physical labor has been both demanding and rewarding.

We had our third community exchange during which we shared pictures and stories of our families and home. The next day, the female participants hosted their second woman’s meeting. The group visited the homes of two community members and continued to learn what it is like to be a woman in Ramogi. Meanwhile, the men also bonded by exchanging cultural values over Michael Jackson DVD’s (which the whole community seemed to love).

For Shabbat, we were very lucky to visit a local Jewish community, the Abuyadaya, who refer to themselves as a "lost Jewish tribe". After converting in 1919, the community faced oppression under the regime of Idi Amin who tried to wipe out the Jewish population in Uganda. Today, the Abuyadaya are thriving, with a population of 1,300. The community was very welcoming as we celebrated Shabbat services in different tunes and in different languages.

On our way back to Ramogi, we visited an early childhood education teaching college established by Seth Owino, who has been living and working with us on the compound. He has become one of our closest friends.

This week we began working individually on our mini projects. Some of us are working to cultivate land, others are teaching in the classroom at primary schools, while the rest continue to visit health centers. The mini projects allow us to explore personal interest while still giving back to the community.

Although we have been here for five weeks, we find that we are still learning about our partner NGO. Just yesterday we were able to visit two child-led households that are being sponsored by the “Give a Goat Program.” The goats are valuable to the households both as a reproductive source and as a long-term investment in the children’s future.

Today we are observing Tisha B’av through discussion and mediation. Some group members are fasting while all of us are reflecting on suffering in the spirit of the holiday. Today we were also visited by Amy Klein, a journalist who will be staying with us through Monday. We’ll have more to report on Amy’s visit next week.

Our last two weeks are promising and full of excitement and we look forward to further immersing ourselves in the culture of Ramogi before we return home.

See you soon,

VS Uganda 2009

Update email to Family and Friends 5

2009-07-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

Dear friends and family of VS Uganda,

It was another fantastic week for our volunteers in the field.

You may have seen in the news over the past few days, articles talking about violence in Kenya from Somali insurgents. Please know that this is taking place on the southeastern border of Kenya next to Somalia . Our group in Uganda is very close to the northwest border with Kenya , over 600 miles away from the border of Somalia .

At present, the political situation has not filtered into Uganda . American Jewish World Service is committed to maintaining safe and meaningful programs for all of our volunteer program participants. At this time, we feel confident that the Uganda group is safe and secure in their community. We will continue to monitor the situation and consult with a number of sources including International SOS, the US State Department, and AJWS’s in-country staff. If it’s determined that the security situation in Uganda has changed as a result of the political situation in Kenya , we will notify you immediately.

Please email or call me if you have any questions.

Shabbat shalom,

Alexis

VS Uganda – July 22^nd

Dearest friends and family,

Our summer in Uganda has just passed the half way point, and we can only marvel at how fast the time is flying. We’ve had enlightening education session- towards the end of last week, one of our very own participants, Leran, and Kenneth, and UORDP employee and compound resident, both taught the group about the ongoing turmoil in Sudan . Then Opio (another UORDP employee) spoke about the conflict in Northern Uganda with regards to the Lord’s Resistance Army and the use of child soldiers.

This past Shabbat was spent in Ramogi, with our Friday night services, singing kabbalat Shabbat and a Saturday morning session contemplating our approaches to time and work. On Sunday, we went to the Kenyan boarder, we took a quick drive from the town of Tororo to walk aside the “no-man’s land” and take pictures with the Kenyan flag. We then hiked Tororo Rock, a very steep climb with a rewarding view of the expanses of Uganda and Kenya .

Week day education sessions and speakers have turned more outwardly, covering action and downstream issues in development, the cost and benefits of short term service trips, and even micro-finance groups and institutions. We have even had the opportunity of meeting a women’s micro-finance circle and a savings and credit officer from a local Uganda bank.

Gender inequality is an apparent issue in these rural parts, but the women of Volunteer Summer ‘09 and of Ramogi Village had an enlightening heart to heart talk one quiet afternoon. We discussed topics ranging from marriage and relationships, age of marriage, childbirth and education: topics they felt they couldn’t speak freely about in front of men. We’ve noticed when we go to community meetings it is mostly only the men who speak. Tomorrow we are going to have our women’s circle again and will go and visit with our new friends in their homes. While the VS women are discussing gender topics, the men in our group have various alternative programming.

And finally, we were visited by a local medicine man (who is an MD as well), who brought along with him samples of local herbal remedies.

In work project news, this past Tuesday, we finished the Makaur Primary School walls for three classrooms we’ve been working on. The teacher, students, community leaders and government officials arranged for an elaborate thank you celebration, complete with original songs and coca-cola, which lasted 5 hours!

We are now looking forward to our upcoming work project, which is building a church roof and painting an Early Childhood Development Center . We are looking forward to our new work, but will miss the students and teachers we’ve become friends with over the past few weeks.

It has been an amazing and fulfilling week and we look forward to sharing with you all our new escapades in a week’s time. (Spoiler alert: it will include details of spending Shabbat with the Abuyudaya, Uganda ’s Jewish community.)

Missing you,

VS Uganda

Written by: Faigy Abdelhak

Update email to Family & Friends 4

2009-07-17T16:45:00.001-05:00

I may have missed posting one, sorry Leran...
------------------

Enjoy this week’s update from our group in Uganda!

Shabbat shalom,

Alexis

--

VS Uganda – July 16th 2009

Yoga!

As we further settle into our life here in Ramogi, we are beginning to know Uganda in new and exciting ways. As we walk through the community each day, more and more of the children refer to us by name, further solidifying our closeness with the people here. At the work site, our progress at the school is evident as there becomes less and less work for us to do on this project. We were recently told that before we arrived, the construction for this building had been halted for 15 years, which makes the work we have done in completing the school during the past two weeks all the more meaningful.

Our sweat filled work days are not all work and no play, though – our daily break coincides with the students’ morning recess which means a lot of Dhopadhoan singing, drumming and dancing circles (some of us are starting to get the Uganda moves) and many, many games. We further interact with the school community through guest lectures run by the participants of Volunteer Summer each day. Though we have loved our time at the Makaur Primary School and we are excited to move to the Ramogi campus next week to work on the church roof.

While we have truly made a home for ourselves in Ramogi, this weekend we had a chance to see some of Uganda’s breathtaking natural beauty – Sipi Falls. When we first arrived we took showers (warm ones!), ate new food (avocado salad) in the company of the first Muzungus (white people) we’ve encountered since we came to Uganda. They were Canadians and students from the US. All of this, though, pales in comparison to the highlight of our weekend: the hike on Saturday morning. We saw stunning views and splashed around at the bottom of two waterfalls (one of which was over 300 feet high).

We finished our weekend get-a-way with an afternoon in Mbale, the largest city in south eastern Uganda. We went to Nurali’s Café for a delicious Indian lunch. Though our trip was wonderful, one of the most special moments we had was when we returned to the Ramogi Center where we are staying, where we were warmly welcomed by our friends from UORDP. As the bus pulled in, we sang Wanika (we are here) as we hugged our Uganda family.

It took an expedition away from Ramogi to help us focus on the true connection that we have made with the people and this land. We look forward to our remaining four weeks here, which are sure to be filled with more laughter, intensity, change, exploration and growth.

Till next week!

VS Uganda

Written by: Rachel Greenspan

P.S. Rachel celebrated her birthday this week and Philippa got great news about her exams.

Week 3 Update

2009-07-12T07:39:00.002-05:00

This week I wrote some great things in my journal, but forgot it on the bus... so I'll try to give y'all a quick update before it is time to head back. This week has been jammed pack so of course I'll go into more detail later.

Tororo: In my last post I mentioned I want in Tororo. While the village has been eye opening, Tororo materialized all that I had read about an African city. Banks were housed in pristine first world style buildings while other shops were jammed into tiny rooms with overflowing items. To get to the marketplace we had to walk down narrow alley ways lined with small outdoor shops. Every smaller alleyway intersecting with the main one revealed shanty town style huts with women washing dishes or laundry. Rural poverty has affected our thoughts on development greatly, but is masked by the land... in the city poverty is right smack in your face.

Birthday: As most of you might know, especially all my facebooking friends... Wednesday was my birthday and while I missed being near many of you, I had one of the most spectacular birthdays ever. I was woken up by two of the group members banging on my door singing happy birthday. From that point until yesterday I was constantly barraged by happy birthday wishes by the 18 members of the group along with many of the NGO staff. The director of the NGO even told me that if it wasn't for dietary restrictions of kashrut (kosher) they would have slaughted a chicken, a turkey AND a goat to prepare for a feast in my honor.

Thursday we had an extremely beautiful celebration of the four group member's birthdays that have happened or will happen during our trip in addition to one birthday from the NGO staff... Seth, one of the most compassionate men I've ever met. It was moving to celebrate my birthday with such fantastic people. Two years in a row with such company over two continents!

Sipi Falls: My time is almost out and I promise I will be sharing more about Sipi Falls soon, but google about it and find some images. I have seen some amazing places in Israel and the States, but this was beyond breathtaking.

I have to go, but looking forward to seeing and talking to you all soon. Although I love this place!

Week 2 Update

2009-07-05T07:03:00.002-05:00

My fear has come true and I have failed at keeping up with my journal about 8 or 9 days ago. I will continue to push myself, but there is so much to do and so little time. When I get some downtime when we still have light I have ended up reading or talking with people. Don't worry, I will absolutely continue to share the best highlights on here when I get a chance to update. I'll make this one quick though:

Our first project: We have started helping to build a four classroom building at Makaur Primary School, a highly connected village adjacent to Ramogi. Well, emphasis on helping since we mostly have just carried bricks from a pile about 500 yards away or from one side of the site to another while the Ugandans do the real construction work. We're glad to be assisting while experiencing their culture.

My Ugandan name: After a few days of work we were promised to be given Ugandan names, or more accurately, Dipadola names. Dipadola being the dialect spoken in Ramogi and Makaur. My name is Jaweri which means a boy born during a song, the closest possible name to Leran which means "my song"

My city trip buddy is waiting patiently so I will wrap up now. I'm safe and very happy although I definitely miss some luxuries such as reliable light and certain foods. Surprisingly it has been very easy to go without internet. My friends are taking many pictures so I will fill in the huge gaps for all of you when I return.

Afoyo! (Dipadola for thank you)

Ramogi Resource Center

2009-07-05T06:55:00.003-05:00

Written 6/27

The center is a gorgeous facilty focused around a main house where Apollo lives wit his family which inlcudes rambunctious boy named Isaac who has quickly become our unofficial masoct. The quest rooms are located in four wings: Toronto (where the men sleep), New York (where the women sleep), Milan and an almost complete one named after Apollo's mother. He warmly described her as a strong and compassionate woman.

The rooms are much nicer than we expected: we share with only two other people, have beds with sheets, blankets and bathrooms with FLUSH toilets. We even (on most days) have lights after sundown. On our first night the door handle snapped so the bathroom door won't stay shut on its down, nothing to complain about overall.

The center also includes a beatiful gathering spot built more traditionally with a thatched roof, an outdoor kitchen, farm land and various animals including a cute dog named Tiger. Much of the food we eat is grown here and despite our fears the food is wonderful.

The center is located near the heart of the village and right next to the Ramogi Primary School, Ramogi Early Childhood Development center and the Protestant Church. Almost immediately we're swarmed by children who want to play with us, learn English and teach us Dipadola (the local language). Kenya is less than 20 minutes walk which provides for an extra excitement when gazing at the already breathtaking view.

On the Bus in Uganda

2009-07-05T06:42:00.002-05:00

Written 6/25

Currently sitting outside the very comfy Sohpie's Motel, the place we spent our first night in Uganda. The staff was extremely friendly, breakfast delicious and the rooms equivalent to US 3 star standards. Overall a great welcome.
<:AtomicElement>
This morning we met some of the staff from the Uganda Orphans Rural Development Program, the NGO we are working with in Uganda. These few staffers are riding with us from Entebbe to Ramgoi and immedaitely their dedication and passion shines through along with their warm smiles.

We first stop in Kampala in order for the group leaders to buy snacks from the ride and for us to exchange money. The city is very similar to what I imagined in a developing country. Simultaneously signsof growth and moderity along with sings of subsistence. Goats, chickens and cows are seen all over, but so are vehicles (mostly motorbikes carrying 2 or 3 riders) are also abundant. Many Ugandans are on foot while others zoom by alll the stores and billboards. Coca-Cola, unsurprisingly, is as popular here as it is everywhere else in the world.

These signs extend well out of the city. The road we're on is lined with stores, resturants and gathering spaces. It seems every few minutes another building is brightly with colored with ads for Coke, paint, cell phones, cooking oil and even investment banking! Billboards are a constant sight as evident by the GIANT Bell Beer (a local brand) ad in what we could only describe as the middle of nowhere even in Ugandan standards.

About halfway through the drive we pass over the Nile in Jina, not from where it originates from Lake Victoria. After passing a police check and slowing down by some men who try to sell us corn via the windows, the stores slowly become fewer and structures more characteristic of developing communities. We even spot a few baboons in a heavily wooded area along the road!

Finally we turn off in Tooro, the roads degrade into semi-passable conditions and we're definitely no longer on a highway, Entebbe or Kampla. We're clearly in a bustling city nestled in a rural district nonetheless. Apollo, the executive director of UORDP, boards our bus . He is a strong looking man wearing a large glowing smile and a suite. After a quick hello we depart for Ramogi.

Update email to Family & Friends 2

2009-07-02T19:18:00.001-05:00

Dear family and friends of VS Uganda,

I hope this e-mail finds you well.

I received an update from our volunteers in Ramogi Village . They are eager to tell you about their incredibly exciting week, full of new experiences, hands-on work and discussions about the community, the politics of the region and the Jewish motivation for doing social justice work.

I hope you have a wonderful July 4^th weekend. The AJWS office will be closed on Friday, July 3^rd, so if you need to reach me for any reason, please call the 24-hour emergency line at 212.736.XXXX (does not need to be posted in a blog), and ask to speak with me.

Best,

Alexis

VS Uganda – July 1^st

Yoga!

That is hello in Dopadollah, the local language here in Ramogi. We are all doing quite well, bonding with our fellow participants and group leaders, working hard at the work site, doing our daily chores, taking bucket baths, and interacting with our host community.

Our group has only spent 5 days in this village and we’ve already come face-to-face with many of the challenges and joys of being “the visitor”. The community has gone to great lengths to welcome us, especially through their singing and dancing. We have been greeted by dozens of children, who have offered their hands as we walk by the local primary school and in a formal ceremony with representatives from the local community.

Everyone from our group has acknowledged our privilege to be able to travel and live in Uganda for 7 weeks. We know that this cultural exchange experience is unique. This trip provides us with many glimpses into an extremely different life style that we could not fully appreciate from a university lecture or newspaper article. In spite of how remarkable the beginning of our journey has been, the group continues to grapple with many difficult questions:

How do we best express our gratitude toward our hosts who constantly tell us to feel at home? How do we strike the delicate balance between integrating our selves into the surrounding community, while still respecting others’ culture and space? And finally, what do the local inhabitants think of us, as Americans, as Jews and as representatives of the “developed world”? While these complex questions can sometimes lead to moments of frustration and discomfort, they also provide us with innumerable opportunities for personal growth and newly gained perspectives.

As we took our first bucket baths and take turns pumping water from the local well, we are forced to reconsider water conservation. As we walk past Ugandan natives working in their fields without shoes, we are faced with people’s struggles for basic resources. And when we take our malaria pills, we realize that we are extremely fortunate to have access to medicines that many of the local Ugandans must live without.

While some of the images of poverty that we see every day in Ramogi are heartbreaking, we are also experiencing a plethora of warmth and joy. The connection we experience when we play “London Bridges Falling down” with dozens of Uganda children is undeniable.

Another powerful moment for us occurred at our welcome ceremony when the director of our partner NGO (non-government organization), Apollo Jaramogi, asked each of the AJW participants to explain our chosen majors in school, in hopes of inspiring the adolescent girls to continue their own schooling.

While we have begun to experience the lifestyle of the residence here, learned some of the local language, and received our native names, we have so many issues we still have to explore. We are eager to learn more about the community, through both formal and informal conversations.

The coming weeks will require much physical, mental and emotional stamina. The benefits we will gain are intangible.

Love from VS Uganda

Update email to family & Friends 1

2009-06-24T17:59:00.003-05:00

This is from the official email from the AJWS for Volunteer Summer (VS) Uganda:

Dear family and friends of VS Uganda,

I am very happy to tell you that the AJWS Volunteer Summer Uganda group has landed in Entebbe , and everyone has made their way to a hotel close to the airport. First thing in the morning, the group will make the drive to Ramogi Village , in south-east Uganda , which will take roughly 5-6 hours.

I am also excited to share the first of many updates, written by the group. The Uganda volunteers wrote this particular update yesterday, just prior to their departure.

Beginning next week and for the duration of the trip, you will receive a weekly update from me, prior to Shabbat.

All the best,

Alexis

VS Uganda – June 23, 2009

Friends and Family,

We are at the end of Orientation, and are leaving for Uganda today! Over the past few days we’ve learned the importance of drinking water, making smart choices, building community, drinking water, creating cross-cultural exchanges and drinking water. Different speakers and sessions taught us how to act during our visit to our host country. We prepared ourselves by reading articles on how we perceive culture in general and how different cultures perceive us. We have already had a taste of cross-cultural exchange through conversations with one participant from London , Philippa. We can’t avoid learning more about our own culture with participants from London , Colorado , Florida , New York , Georgia , California , New Jersey , Pennsylvania , Washington and Texas .

While we have only spent two days together, we already feel ourselves becoming a close-knit community. We have discussed our community expectations in sessions and have found ourselves becoming friends outside of the programming. We explored a bit of New York City , visiting Time’s Square, eating frozen yogurt and even ordering-in sushi. We will only get to know each other better during our 16 hour plane ride.

The first evening of Orientation, Ruth Messinger, the president of AJWS, whose poise and insight inspired us all, spoke to us about the importance of social justice and activism. She moved us through her story of how President Obama recognized AJWS as a leader in the movement to end the genocide in Darfur .

As we prepare to leave with our newly bonded community, we are excited, anxious, and ready to finally get to Uganda w here we will meet the people of Ramogi Village and begin our work with UORDP (Uganda Orphans Rural Development Programme). Each week, several participants will write updates to tell you more about our experiences on the ground. We are about to embark on new adventure and we thank you for your support.

Mweraba,

VS Uganda

Arriving In Uganda--First Impressions

2009-06-24T15:35:00.002-05:00

Smooth, uneventful landing in Uganda tonight after 8p.m. local time. The airport at Entebbe reminds me of a small regional airport in the states. Few stores, no thrills, but a clean and fairly modern terminal. Immediately though, one indicator we were in a developing country appeared: we were greeted by entry agents wearing medical masks and World Health Organization posters warning not of malaria or swine flu, but influenza. The flu can be a serious concern in the US, but is typically just a drain on productivity... in Uganda it seems to be a much more worrisome concern.

After an hour of filling out forms and waiting in line we quickly got our bags and loaded up two motel vans. Heading down the road, again I felt as if I was riding somewhere that crossed between Israel and a developing area in the states. Overall Entebbe looks like a poor area in the US, but with retail, pavement and overall signs of modernity. Of course, though, signs of otherwise were evident. Many more people were walking along side the main road after 10 p.m. at night than I had ever seen before in the US.

Eventually the road degraded to the sterotype of Africa and was quite bumpy the last few mintues to the hotel. I am quickly finishing up here, need to go take my first shower (and possibly last that doesn't come from a bucket) in Uganda. I'll try to update soon, but it might be a while seeing we're heading to our village in the morning.

Flying Over Africa

2009-06-24T15:31:00.002-05:00

At the moment I am 365 km above the border of Sudan and Uganda, about 20 minutes from our landing in Entebbe. It's a very unique experience flying in a plane with people en route to East Africa. While there are a few Ugandans on the plane and perhaps a few tourists, the overwhelming majority of passengers are volunteers, aide workers, NGO staff and a few researchers.

Next to me, for example, is a woman from a teaching delegation from a church in Connecticut en route to South Sudan. Traveling in itself is an incredible endeavor in my opinion, but I can't think of another destination other than Africa where the plans of so many are focused on the host community and not themselves.

En Route to NYC

2009-06-24T15:24:00.002-05:00

Originally written 6/18

I decided to go to New York a few days early to see friends and family and it seems I picked the "perfect" day. The day started yesterday since I only briefly napped last night. Aside from expensive, hard to find malaria pills and my mom's car battery dying, Tuesday the 17th was a good day. The problem though was that packing for Uganda was even more time intensive than I had anticipated. I barely had time to finish my post-Uganda packing.

In typical Minc fashion, my mom and I arrived at DFW five minutes too late for me to check in my bag so my 8:40 flight turned into a 10:30 flight w/connection and many delays. Happy to say I am writing this on the tarmac in Philly at 5:30 EST and will be in NYC shortly.

A Thank You Reflection

2009-06-19T13:56:00.001-05:00

I wrote the following as my Thank You Letter to people who donated to my trip. I thought I would post it on here for all of you since it is also a reflection on my trip and even though you may have not donated monetarily if you're reading this you deserve a thank you for being my friend.

I have been thinking lately about what the opportunity to go to Uganda means to me in order to better understand exactly why all the generosity of my friends has struck such a powerful emotional chord with me. A few weeks ago when discussing my trip with my mom she commented about how fortunate I have been as a child of a widow graduating from college with fairly low debt. She was making the point that perhaps going to Uganda should be seen as financially out of reach for me. While she certainly has a valid point, I know I am beyond privileged to have had many of the great experiences and opportunities I have managed to have thus far in life.

The more I think about it, the more I can see that a quiet determination has led me to the right choices to accumulate the past experience that may ordinarily not be available to a single mother average yearly earnings only slightly above the poverty level. Being in Plano as a stubborn teen probably contributed to this determination, I tried to explain to my mom that because I was in an unfortunate situation that shouldn’t ruin the chance to do things that would benefit me personally and professionally.

In the past I used this stubbornness or determination, whatever it may be called, to go to conferences, summer camps and even college without driving my mom or myself into heavy debt. I was fortunate enough to receive financial aid and scholarships to most of these activities. I even chose to intern in DC last summer ignoring the fact that I would deplete a good chunk of my savings doing so. It is horribly unfortunate that even great students have to sacrifice interning or traveling abroad because of financial constraints.

In the end, I also sacrificed traveling abroad so that I could spend a summer in DC. I do not regret it, last summer was an invaluable experience filled with great work and great people. Thanks to the AJWS Volunteer Summer, I may end up having the chance to have some version of the student travel abroad experience in Africa doing work that, as mentioned before, will be benefitting me personally and professionally.

I try to live my life by one of my favorite quotations from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison: "It's winner take nothing that is the great truth of our country or of any country. Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by playing in the face of certain defeat." We are all trying to make the world better in our own ways and I truly believe by playing in the face of certain defeat and by supporting one another we experience Uganda, build a school for HIV/AIDS effected orphans, end genocide, and all the other ambitions we each have as individuals and as a group.

I Have A Future!

2009-04-24T00:00:00.003-05:00

I've been holding off on this post for a few weeks since I wanted to make sure things were solid before making all the details public, but after four months of applying to many hundreds of jobs and going on about half a dozen interviews, I finally have a tentative plan for now until August 2011 and figured some of the more curious people out there might be interested.

Now until mid-June: I'm working to save for Uganda and beyond (more below) at a CD store called CD Source in Dallas (Lovers and Greenville for those who live or visit here). I highly recommend visiting and shopping there even if I'm not working there. It is by far one of the best places I could imagine to work retail. Great people, huge selection and fun atmosphere. They buy used CDs and DVDs so if you need cash or would like to exchange CDs or DVDs you no longer use for ones you might, stop by! www.myspace.com/cdsource.

I need to make the decision ASAP, but I may cram for the GRE and take it briefly before leaving. Speaking of leaving...

Mid-June (perhaps June 18th-23rd, for sure 21st-23rd): I'll be in New York City. The 21st-23rd I will be with AJWS for orientation before departing for Uganda. I'm hoping to go a few days early to see friends, maybe audition for Who Wants To Be a Millioniare (I'm a loser, yes) and who knows what else....let me know if you'll be up there!

June 23rd to August 12th: Uganda!!! (well plus travel) If you notice that not just 1 or 2, but 3 exclamation points worth of excitement. I think I'll post a separate entry on Uganda and more details, but here are the basics:

I'm going with college students and perhaps other recent grads and we will be working in a rural village in eastern Uganda close to the city of Tororo in a village called Ramogi. We will be building a school for orphans served by Uganda Orphans Rural Development Programme. These orphans have been effected in some way by the HIV/AIDS crisis.

I'm sure I will go into length about this in my more detailed post, but I still need a bit more help to ensure this plan is a reality. If you can spare anything please visit https://donate.ajws.org/03/service. Please make sure to include my name, Uganda and Volunteer Summer. I estimate if I can raise another 1,000 dollars I should have no problem at all going. At this moment I'm fairly determined to go either way, but your help would be incredibly appreciated.

August 12th-August 20th? (Unsure exact dates): As soon as I return to NYC from Uganda, I will be rushing up to Boston to join with the US Public Interest Research Group training for new fellowship associates. For more information on the job visit this site. Essentially I will be either a field associate helping to run an office and working on many issues or an issue associate, still at a field office, working on one specific issue. I hope to see some of my Boston friends while up there and get to see Boston since I've never been. Perhaps a visit to Tufts Fletcher School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government!

August 20th-August 31st 2011: When I leave Boston I may have some time off, but very soon after I will be starting at a PIRG office somewhere in the US. Of course I will blog about it when I get there as well as I reach out to any of you who might be living there. I'd love to add more details, but I don't know any at the moment!

______________________________________

That's the next 2+ years in a nutshell. As mentioned, I will try to do better with the blog about both Uganda and my job with PIRG as well as life in general. After August 2011, I will try to work in human rights advocacy, do some traveling or get some Hill experience. If no opportunities appeal to me or I strongly desire to, I will being grad school. I may also stay with PIRG. Of course more on that stuff 18+ months.

I want to thank you all for the love and support in the past, in sorting out this stuff in the present and for the well wishes for the future. I will continue to do my best to keep in touch regardless if I'm in Uganda, Boston or Texas and I hope you do the same.

Weebale (Lugandan for thank you),
Leran

Will Obama Save The Marriage?

2009-03-17T22:13:00.001-05:00

When I came home this evening (from a planning meeting for a Darfur-related event: Art for Darfur), I received the exciting news that President Obama is finally appointing a Special Envoy for Sudan, retired Air Force General Scott Gration.

As one of many thousands who have been demanding since Janurary 20th that Obama appoint a special envoy, I am very pleased that we at least have a name. With the escalated crisis brought upon the expulsion of humanitarian aide groups by President Bashir, the envoy is needed more than ever to hopefully bring the long nightmare to an end.

As quoted in the New York Times, Jerry Fowler of Save Darfur Coalition said, “Why is there a disconnect? We need presidential engagement and we need it now.”

As you saw in my last blog post, I argued that both pro-Obamas and otherwise in the anti-genocide movement should take off the gloves and put the squeeze on our officials like we had attempted to when President Bush was in office. I believe the increases outcry of Sudan activists over the last two weeks (since the ICC indictment) helped bringing about this long awaited appointment.

The question remains though, Will Obama Save the "Marriage?" If the honeymoon is already over due to the lateness and weakness of the adminstration's response, does this appointment mark the beginning of our government salvaging itself from months of relative neglect on Sudan or is this simply a token measure in response of increasing pressure by activists?

Regardless of the answer, I echo my previous thoughts. We must continue to mount pressure on our officials including President Obama to ensure an appropriately robust policy on Sudan that goes beyond managing the situation and toward finally sustainable solutions for peace in Darfur and all of Sudan. This includes insuring that General Gration does not suffer from the same defecits as previous envoys Rich Williamson and Andrew Natsios. Gration NEEDS to have adequate staff and the ear of the President and Secretary Clinton in order to succede in his mission.

We must continue keeping Obama accountable so that he can keep his promises regarding Darfur. You can find a complete lists of asks for the Administration and Congress created by STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition here: http://standnow.org/campaigns/dfd1/inform/asking

Let's keep up the calls, letters, op-eds and events. This news is worth celebrating, but we cannot get complacent until there is peace.

Obama's Anti-Genocide Honeymoon Is Over

2009-03-06T01:18:00.000-06:00

While anti-genocide work has been a very bi-partisan and non-partisan endeavor essentially from day one and all anti-genocide advocacy organizations are by design non-partisan, there was and continues to be overwhelming support for President Obama from anti-genocide activists nearly from early on in his campaign. As a senator, President Obama used his assignment in the Foreign Service committee to sponsor and support a number of pieces of legislation aimed at bringing the crisis in Darfur to an end. His commitment to peace in Sudan earned him a consistent A+ Darfur Score by the Genocide Intervention Network and a shared prologue to the New York Times Bestseller, Not On Our Watch with Senator Sam Brownback.

During his time as senator into his campaign and now into his administration, Obama reinforced his anti-genocide credentials by receiving advice from and hiring many friends of the anti-genocide movement. John Prendergast, co-author of the previously mentioned book and chair of the ENOUGH Project, served as a foreign policy advisor to candidate Obama. US Ambassador to the United Nations during her confirmation and for years before has passionately spoken about her regrets over Rwanda and her determination to not repeat mistakes. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke passionately regarding Darfur on the campaign trail and was a consistent champion of Darfur along with Obama in the Senate. Finally, Samantha Power, has been officially brought back into the Obama camp after resigning from his campaign for her gaffe by calling Clinton a “monster”. Power wrote American and the Problem Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which has been utilized as a critical resource with countless insights for the current anti-genocide movement.

I, for one, have been one of the most passionate Barack Obama supporters since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I felt he would one day run for president and win and that he was a truly genuine politician with an incredible worldview which I felt was in sync with mine. Despite all that, it pains me to say that I believe Obama’s honeymoon period with the anti-genocide movement is over. I’ll give two reasons:

1. Where’s our envoy?

Last Tuesday, February 23rd, one of the best known advocates for peace in Darfur actor George Clooney met with President Obama after returning from a trip to the Chad/Darfur border. After the meeting Clooney spoke to the press with overall positive remarks including that reassurances were made that a US Special Envoy for Sudan would be appointed soon.

A week and a half later, neither the White House or the State Department have definitively confirmed that this promise will be kept in a timely manner. I, nor anyone in the anti-genocide movement, can deny the importance of the large scale policy reviews going on at the State Department. Additionally it is hard to argue that special envoys for the middle east, Afghanistan and elsewhere were/are of critical importance. But an ongoing genocide that has cost the lives of 400,000+ and has captured the outrage of many tens of thousands US citizens should be a priority of the administration and specifically the State Department. I am shocked that a sympathetic president who like his predecessor clearly wants to end the genocide has let his administration act so slowly to appoint someone for such a critical post.

2. What does “exercising restraint” mean?

The need for a US Special Envoy for Sudan was critical before the news out of the International Criminal Court this week. With the release of a warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his retaliation of revoking humanitarian organizations’ licenses, a high level diplomat with sufficient resources to push for peace in Sudan is an even more urgent need than ever before. Despite this we still have no mention of when such an envoy might be appointed or who the envoy might be.

What troubles me more, though, is the continued weak responses coming out of the White House and State Department in light of developments such as the ones this week. The State Department responded to the ICC announcement by urging restraint from all sides. While I would hope the Sudanese Government would show restraint in their campaign of genocide, I cannot shake the question, how does a government who commits genocide really show restraint?

The boldest action or statement yet was that a meeting at the White House with State Department officials and aid groups concerned with the humanitarian organizations being expelled from Sudan. While I commend the Administration and State for participating in the conversation, where is the action? At the very least where is the strong condemnation of the Sudanese government’s horrendous action?
-----

The sticking point is that while the United States faces many unprecedented challenges and the Obama Administration has to deal with practically all of them, a few million Sudanese civilians will be neglected by their government, targeted for genocide and now will go without humanitarian aide out of a corrupt regime’s unwillingness to negotiate peace or respect justice. And our government’s response is a whisper. Not action, not even a shout, but a whisper.

To President Obama, we expected more.

To my anti-genocide advocates both pro-Obama and others, we should not hesitate to hold this President’s feet to the fire like we attempted to do for President Bush.

Sympathetic thoughts and feelings will not end genocide, Obama must do more and we must demand more.

Thoughts and Actions RE: ICC Warrant for Bashir 2

2009-03-04T14:45:00.001-06:00

I wanted to finish the previous blog before starting this one. As I was thinking up what I wanted to say, a very troubling development came to my attention. As reported by Reuters:

“Sudan revoked the licences of Oxfam and at least five other aid groups on Wednesday after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, aid officials said.

The move -- which effectively freezes the agencies' work -- was the first concrete sign of repercussions against international groups after the global court indicted Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudanese government officials have in the past threatened to take action against Darfur-based aid groups they say are passing evidence on to the global court's prosecutor -- accusations the agencies deny.

Oxfam said Sudanese authorities had revoked its license to operate in north Sudan, although it had not been given a reason for the order and it was not clear whether staff would be expelled.

"This is going to have a devastating effect on hundreds of thousand of people," said Oxfam spokesman Alun McDonald. "We work with 600,000 people in north Sudan, 400,000 of them in Darfur. It is of the utmost importance the government agrees to let us continue that work."

I’m sure my outrage from these developments spilled over to my previous entry. The ICC stopped short of covering the crime of genocide in their warrant for Bashir’s arrest. After this development, I find it hard that skeptics can believe this is simply a civil war and that genocide is an exaggeration. In response to a virtually unenforceable warrant for his arrest, Bashir has put hundreds of thousands, if not a millions more lives in jeopardy for a risky gamble to save his own hide.

The international community must NOT blink now. Bashir is betting in order to reestablish humanitarian aid, we will defer the warrant against him. In the lead up to today’s announcement many Darfuris expressed they knew the dangers of ICC action against Bashir, but still urged for justice to be served. They knew the consequences and as I started below, this case against Bashir gives us an opportunity to bring about peace AND justice in Sudan. This is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the only one that can lead to long term peace and stability in Darfur and all of Sudan.

What the international community SHOULD do is call this bloody bluff. We must continue pushing for justice and only support deferring the warrant for true signs of peace as articulated in Article 16 of the Rome Statute. Anything less is unacceptable. If we blink now, we will return to the status quo of genocide and displacement in Darfur.

Stronger words and actions including condemnations of Bashir’s latest move, a renewed effort to fully deploy UNAMID and an invigorated peace process are the only ways forward and as I stated before, should be the only possible saving grace for Bashir.

I am still hoping to replace or add onto my list of possible actions, but again I urge that we push for the following:

1. A strong statement from one or all President Obama, US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and/or Secretary of State Clinton repeating in unequivocal terms our support of the ICC investigation, the peace process and UNAMID’s peacekeeping operation.

2. Along with this statement or immediately following it the US must being the process of appointing a special envoy to Sudan with the appropriate support and staff necessary to manage the current situation and bring about the peace process to end the genocide.

3. A statement by Secretary Gates or the Defense Department either publicly or to congress about the status of the Missing Assets Taskforce, a taskforce within the DOD to work with allies on finding helicopters for UNAMID. These efforts must reinvigorated as soon as possible.

4. Congress should pass resolutions echoing the above efforts. Members of congress, especially those on the appropriate committees, should urge Secretaries Clinton and Gates to take the prescribed actions. Once an envoy is appointed, confirmation should happen as quickly as possible.

5. Any additional sanctions that can be made on members of the National Congress Party, especially those with ICC warrants must be issued until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

6. Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice should immediately push for additional multilateral sanctions until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

Call your representative, senators, the White House and/or State Department immediately. You can reach all theseoffices by calling 1-800-GENOCIDE ( 800-436-6243). You can also find mailing addresses for your elected officials at www.congress.org.

Thoughts and Actions RE: ICC Warrant for Bashir

2009-03-04T14:10:00.003-06:00

As I writing this, developments keep breaking so if the tone shifts constantly, I apologize, but I am constantly going between outrage and concern over this situation. As many of you have read or seen this morning, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity. My first reaction is of joy that international justice is finally being served that Bashir will be further made a pariah for the crimes he has committed against the people of Darfur. Furthermore as many experts, including the ENOUGH Project’s John Prendergast and Omer Ismail, point out that justice while important on its own can also be used as leverage to force Bashir’s National Congress Party to seriously engage in peace talks to bring an end to the violence.

Immediately, though, I feel concerned that we will again miss our opportunity to change the tide in Sudan. In July of last year, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced he had submitted a request to the ICC judges for a warrant against Mr. Bashir, the international community and specifically the US issued weak statements of support for justice while the African Union spearheaded an effort to block justice exploiting article 16 of the Rome Statute expressing that the Security Council could defer an investigation for the cause of peace. While no such deferral occurred, the counter-response again was weak and slow.

Sudan expert Alex de Waal told the BBC the indictment is "pretty toothless" as the ICC does not have a police force. I fear that de Waal will be proven right if we continue to be slow to act as an international community. He is correct in saying that the ICC is toothless because a lack of a police force, but I would argue that we can give the ICC teeth by following its actions with strong words and actions of our own. Mr. Bashir in the past has seemed primarily concerned with two goals, bringing greater legitimacy to his regime through normalization with the United States and development through oil primarily through trade with China among other partners. Bold statements and actions by the United States would encourage other nations to follow suit and to further brand the National Congress Party government a rogue government that should be made into an international pariah.

Now is the time to renew our commitment to peace, protection and justice in Sudan. We must push for greater efforts to ensure full deployment of the United Nations African Union hybrid peacekeeping force (UNAMID) including needed tactical helicopters. In addition we must put whatever pressure possible, economic, political and perhaps even military on the President Bashir to keep humanitarian operations in Darfur to ensure the survival of millions of Darfuris. Finally, the US needs to play a more robust role through a special envoy to reinvigorating a peace process that will eventually bring the genocide to an end and should be Mr. Bashir’s only possible saving grace.

Therefore I suggest the following actions should be taken as soon possible: (I have not yet seen any action alerts by the US-based advocacy organizations. As soon as they are, I will either add them to the list or replace my list with theirs.)

1. A strong statement from one or all President Obama, US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and/or Secretary of State Clinton repeating in unequivocal terms our support of the ICC investigation, the peace process and UNAMID’s peacekeeping operation.

2. Along with this statement or immediately following it the US must being the process of appointing a special envoy to Sudan with the appropriate support and staff necessary to manage the current situation and bring about the peace process to end the genocide.

3. A statement by Secretary Gates or the Defense Department either publicly or to congress about the status of the Missing Assets Taskforce, a taskforce within the DOD to work with allies on finding helicopters for UNAMID. These efforts must reinvigorated as soon as possible.

4. Congress should pass resolutions echoing the above efforts. Members of congress, especially those on the appropriate committees, should urge Secretaries Clinton and Gates to take the prescribed actions. Once an envoy is appointed, confirmation should happen as quickly as possible.

5. Any additional sanctions that can be made on members of the National Congress Party, especially those with ICC warrants must be issued until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

6. Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice should immediately push for additional multilateral sanctions until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

I hope someone more qualified steps up soon to replace or improve this list, but until I urge you to help lay the ground work and call your representative, senators, the White House and/or State Department immediately. You can reach all these offices by calling 1-800-GENOCIDE (800-436-6243). You can also find mailing addresses for your elected officials at www.congress.org.

Our officials must be overwhelmed by our response and join in our outrage over this genocide. Please act now.

To GOP Governors: Don't Give Your Constituents a Raw Deal

2009-02-23T10:17:00.002-06:00

As part of the New Deal, under the Works Progress Administration, a controversial program known as the Federal Writers Project was created. At its height the Federal Writers Project employed 6,686 writers. Many considered this to be a waste of federal funds desperately needed in other areas of the economy. Out of this project, though, a great wealth of American folklore was captured in writing for the first time and many great writers of the twentieth century found their own voice. More importantly, the WPA and its programs such as the Federal Writers Project kept hundreds of thousands of Americans employed during a time where steady employment was a desperate need for many Americans.

Over the weekend at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, a handful of GOP governors continued to assert their intention to fight over stimulus spending slated to be given to their state and are claiming they will not accept many provisions of the bill. I cannot help, but think about the WPA and Federal Writers Project when I hear such claims. For I believe you can put much of thinking over the stimulus plan into two schools of thought. The first supported mostly by Democrats, progressives and some moderate Republicans such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger believe the stimulus plan will work by giving relief to many Americans, build infrastructure and jump start our economy. The other camps comprised mostly of conservative Republicans represented by the rising star Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana believe that the stimulus plan will not work, is wasteful and places too cumbersome of a burden on state and local governments to comply with federal law.

The most optimistic estimates put us on the path of recovery early next year. Whether it is the stimulus, monetary policy or economic self-correction it appears more than likely things will continue to get worse over the next few months or year before they get better. During this coming year state budgets will continue to plummet into the red like we have seen recently in California and Kansas in order to keep up with raising unemployment and Americans even in the most insulated states will continue to lose their jobs. Suppose the second camp is right and the stimulus will not fix the economy. The stimulus though will certainly put hundreds of thousand people, if not more, to work almost immediately in order to build infrastructure and research green technology. In addition bill provisions will keep unemployment and other federally mandated, state funded services going.

Regardless of which camp you or your governor fall under, the need for relief and at least interim employment measures is clear. New Deal projects such as the WPA are believed by many to have helped pull the United States out of the Great Depression. Others believe these programs had no real effect on our economy as a whole and World War II alone was responsible for pulling us out of the Depression. Either way it is indisputable that New Deal programs provided relief to many who needed it and allowed countless families to survive the Depression.

GOP governors need to learn the lessons of the New Deal. The stimulus package may have flaws and perhaps the view that it will not work is correct. As the economy worsens and states hemorrhage money, political ideology must be couched and action must be taken. Regardless if GOP governors take issue with the bill, they have the responsibility to accept the funds on behalf of all the recently unemployed and struggling citizens of their state. Let your political and ideological concerns lead you to ensure this money is spent effectively in your states, but do not let politics stand between economic relief (and perhaps recovery) and your constituents.

My Message to the STAND Leadership Team

2009-02-23T00:27:00.002-06:00

I made this for the STAND Leadership Team, but everyone is more than welcome to see it. While I made it with that collective group in mind, I feel this way about practically all my friends in the anti-genocide movement and even many of those outside of it. I included my "transcript" but I didn't follow it strictly.

I just got an e-mail from Charlotte and it almost brought me to tears. I think it was notes from our the last o-team call I was on, it was o-team answers to what they like about me. I have been meaning to make a video for all my STAND friends and like many things I have put it off over the last 2 months. After reading this e-mail, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer.

I love you all more than you will ever know. I mentioned this at the NSC, but after my father passed away when I was 11, it always felt like I was searching for a home and this search for a second family was always behind my decision to join an organization. In college I began to join causes and do things purely out of passion for the objective.

Even though I came to STAND out of my desire to grow as a member of this movement and to have biggest impact I could in order to help end genocide, I was greeted by the warmest, most intelligent and most passionate group of my peers I think I could ever have met outside of my home chapter. You truly have become that second family I have always consciously or subconsciously looked for.

I have been blessed with the insanity of activism and because of it I have had the opportunity to organize people, plan events, raise money and advocate for causes in the past. While I had a lot left to learn and still do, when I joined STAND I had already gained a lot of invaluable experiences. STAND provided me with so much more than how to plan a successful event or lobby legislators, it provided me with a cause that I can own and that owns me. The work I did in high school and freshman year was important and I still feel a lot of passion for those causes, fighting genocide has made me feel far more empowered and fulfilled than I could ever imagine being. I know I don’t have to explain too much that fighting genocide isn’t just something I feel is important in my heart or rationalize as necessary in my mind, but a synthesis of those two urges.

I think for that reason, no matter how awkward I can be and how short of time I’ve known most of you, that I feel so strongly connected to all of you. STAND might be where we come to help end suffering in Darfur, but I believe with all of myself that STAND is where many end up finding their home. I was and would be a committed activist, but STAND has allowed me to grow up and focus my activism.

I’m rambling and eventhough I typed this out, I’m having trouble expressing what I want to express. All I can do is say thank you to all of you for becoming my friend and working together on this cause we all care deeply about. Many of you came before me and laid the groundwork, welcomed me warmly and helped retool me for this cause. Others of you joined at about the same time or after me. Thank you for being my support, my family and colleagues in this struggle. We all get frustrated, but I know together we can keep it up and that our efforts are helping, will help and will ultimately be successful.

I’ve kept in contact with most of you, but please please please do not let us venture too far away from one another. I will do my best to keep on pestering you guys from my g-chat addiction. We’ve done some amazing things together and regardless of where all end up, I’m sure our connection will continue to be one that brings about joy to one another and ideas that will change the world.

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-01T13:54:00.002-06:00

It seems a lot of people are posting their resolutions online. I decided I'll jump on the bandwagon in hopes that putting these out publicly will help me keep them longer. If anyone wants to team up on any of these let me know:

Get a job. This one isn't really a resolution, more like a necessity.
Call 1-800-GENOCIDE more. I always want to do more to help end genocide and I also hate not practicing what I preach. I want to call 1-800-GENOCIDE at least once a week. I really hope some people join me on this one. It's quick, easy and really helpful.
Exercise. I thought I should include a classic, but hopefully moving back to Plano will help me with this one. For almost 6 months I've been claiming I would do this "Couch to 5k" program that takes 9 weeks. So I think I'll aim to run a 5k by the end of April.
Update my blog more. I enjoy writing and I think it is a good creative outlet for me. I'm going to be cautious with this resolution though, I think I'll aim for one post a month.
Read 100 pages a week. I love reading, but now that I don't have to read 50-100+ pages a night for school it has been hard getting motivated. So much to read, so little time. I should easily be able to do 100 pages a week.
Study for the GRE. Grad school is definitely in my future and I might start as early as Spring 2010. Therefore I'm going to aim to study for the GRE at least two hours a week until I take it.
Learn to cook 5 Indian dishes. I wanted a fun one that I would feel fairly confident in accomplishing. Although it was 2008, I tried one last night so that already brings me down to 4 left.

I think that's it for now. Since updating my blog is one of those, I may provide some update about these. Maybe not. We'll see. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Leran's Post-Graduation Update

2008-12-18T18:28:00.001-06:00

First of a few videos. Quality sucks, but I hope it works.

An Update to Gray: Life in Technicolor

2008-12-10T00:09:00.002-06:00

Lately I’ve been thinking about a blog entry I wrote over a year ago simply called Gray. While I still very much identify the powerful emotions attributed to that piece, I wanted to offer a new interpretation to the vivid colors of life.

I began thinking about this idea when I was in Washington, D.C. over the summer. As I was leaving for DC I had pre-ordered Coldplay’s new album, Viva La Vida, and the soundtrack of my summer was dominated by that album. "Life in Technicolor", the album’s first song, seemed to be my song for the summer. The original, which is featured on the album, was an instrumental piece that has a very positive beat to it with troubled yet optimistic tone to it. It felt to me as the perfect way to both prepare for my day in a big often lonely city and wind down or reflect on the work of combating genocide.

As I’ve reflect more on this song and the ideas of my previous writings, I’ve come to the conclusion: life is the pursuit of color. When we’re born we are overloaded with color. Everything is new to us, nothing contains our curiosity and the world is filled with new things to explore. As we grow gray begins to enter our lives.

For me gray was the fact that my family history contains that great gray of human, the gray of genocide. The gray of the Holocaust mixed with its bastardized red of the Nazi flag and yellow of the Stars of David used to mark the soon to be dehumanized Jewish masses in occupied Europe. Or the deep dark grays left in my heart after my dad was taken away from me at the age eleven by an early and unexpected death. Or the grayness of modern day genocide mixed with the green of our hopes and the multicolored vibrant garb of many of its unnecessary victims.

In a more general sense gray is the day to day hardships we all endure. From as simple as home or fitting in at school or work to as difficult as making ends meet or watching a loved one slowly deteriorate because of a terminal illness. Gray fills our lives and we do our best to add color.

We all know and lament many of the unhealthy ways many take to adding color to their lives. Consumerism, drugs, alcohol and abuses of power are all ways to fight off gray or to add some type of color to our otherwise dark lives.

Fortunately we all also experience the rich color of life in all its positive and natural forms. While there are some nearly universal examples, I think the reason for color is a very personal and unique thing for all of us.

My blessing and my curse is that while I continue to pursue color like everyone else, I constantly see the gray of life. I believe we all should see some gray though for that is the blessing and curse of all those who consider themselves socially conscious. As we gain color in our lives we must remember that many live lives of gray and we have an immense power to bring color to the lives of others. Maya Angelou when she spoke at UT said, “We are all and can be rainbows in the clouds of others.”

For me I see the gray that drives me to activism, but those surrounding me: my friends, my family and that rich network of fellow activists all contribute to the wonderful color of my life. Perhaps this is true for many people, but I feel that my life has slowly gained its color from the gray of my adolescence. As I have gained more insight into my chosen path in life and I have surrounded myself with those supportive of that path, they have colored my life.

This summer when I first was exposed to “Life in Technicolor” my life was rich in color, but optimistically yet somberly my life was only filled with Technicolor type richness. About five months later with the friends I gained this summer, the reflection that comes with graduation, I see that the intensity and vibrancy of my life has increased. This is thanks again to my friends and to the work I have dedicated myself too.

I also credit this to a recent friend, someone who has quickly captured my heart in the short time I’ve known her. You see when Coldplay first released “Life in Technicolor” they shortened it and left out words they had written to accompany the instrumental. Just a few weeks ago they release a new EP: Prospekt’s March with the song “Life in Technicolor II” including the omitted lyrics with an extended instrumental. Around the same time, a wave of color entered my life by name of Allison. As cheesy as it is, she is the lyrics missing from the song.

When I used to listen to “Life in Technicolor” this summer it gave me a sense that my life was colorful and things were on their way to where I want them, but perhaps it was the city of DC or perhaps it was just my past of grayness: something felt missing. Now it truly feels as if both the song and the color of my life are nearly complete. As Chris Martin sings:

Oh love don't let me go
Won't you take me where the streetlights glow
I could hear it coming
I could hear the sirens sound
Now my feet won't touch the ground

I can still see the gray and I still very much live it, but color is very much part of my life. To everyone who may be reading this: “Oh love don’t let me go”

To my family: Thank you for helping me survive the gray. I know the loss of Abba was not easy for any of us and we all were filled with grayness. Somehow we all made it through and as the youngest, I hope I helped bring color to your lives, but I will forever be indebted for all of your attempts at preserving what color this angst ridden, scared, lost pre-teen had when his father passed away.

To my friends: Thank you for bringing color into my life and giving me the Technicolor life needed to survive. I have gained strength from knowing all of you from those who helped me make it through the awful years of middle school to those that road with me in the rollercoaster of high school and finally to the ones who joined me in journey of college and especially to the ones I met while on that journey.

To Allison: We both acknowledge how crazy we are to feel so connected so quickly, but thank you so much of being someone who understands grayness both from personal pain and by identifying the darkness in the world. I know I’ve said this often, but I really hope that what we have continues to blossom and help us see the true color of life. We both come from different shades of gray, both unsettling in their way and independently we had begun to gain color in our individual lives. Together it feels as the color that people with happier histories and more ideal lives can only dream of having, we have obtained. I cannot thank you enough for this gift of color and for adding rich lyrics to the music I had been listening to for quite some time.

"Nothing could be better
And nothing ever was"
-Coldplay's "Glass of Water"

From Hope To Action

2008-11-05T15:06:00.001-06:00

On Friday hundreds of anti-genocide activists will be gathering at the national mall in Washington, D.C. to lobby Barack Obama’s presidential transition team. While many among this crowd supported Obama in Tuesday’s election, they all have recognized one important truth: politics happens every day. They will be lobbying his team less than 72 hours after his victory in order to turn the slogan “Yes We Can” into “Yes We Will” and “Yes We Have”.

Regardless of whom you supported and what issues are most important to you now is the time to put the election behind us and move forward together in improving the country. Supporters of Obama believe that the hope of Obama’s campaign can translate into a stronger economy, a more peaceful foreign policy and an overall healthier society. Although opponents of Obama may have different tactics, their goals are roughly the same. Our votes have been cast and whether our candidate won or lost, we can continue to fight the good fight in strengthening America.

For thousands of activists including myself, bringing about an end to genocide is a critical goal that the new administration must commit itself to. For others it may be healthcare, the economy, college education and many other important causes of our time. Whatever it may be we have a new congress and a new president and we must make our voice heard. We must transform the hope the majority of Americans hold out for the next four years into tangible action and results.

In his victory speech, Obama said that, ”above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.” I would echo and change this as now we must advocate letter by letter, call by call and tough debate by tough debate.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama spoke passionately about the need to end genocide in Darfur and beyond. The President-Elect cannot make this a priority alone. We must raise our voices and do the political groundwork so that his feet are held to the fire and his actions have strength. Without our persistent voices on the issues we each care about, our elected officials including our president are easily led into false direction. I agree with many in believing that Barack Obama will be able to accomplish many of his goals as president, but he needs OUR help.

Democrat or Republican, it is time to take our message to our officials at all levels. Both those officials who we supported and those we did not. Whether you join with me to fight genocide or push for a greener world or for whatever you may be compelled to support, I urge you to unite, organize and advocate. The results are in, the election has ended and there is a lot to do.

In the words of President Josiah Bartlett, my favorite fictional president from The West Wing: “break's over”.

Idealism is a mix of pragmatism, optimism and hope

2008-07-16T15:55:00.003-05:00

Perhaps I have been watching too much West Wing lately. I know I’ve always been classified as an idealist and the fictional world of the television series has done little to change this perspective. For those who are rusty on this show or never caught onto the craze, let me explain what I’m talking about. President Bartlett and his staff are confronted with serious world issues such as preventing war between China and Taiwan or dealing with U.S. agent captured by Columbian rebels.

The reason this has been on my mind is that on Monday the chief prosecutor of International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced that he would be asking the judges at the Hague to issue an indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for ten counts including three counts of genocide.

In response two major things have happened:

1) The National Congress Party has threatened an increase of violence if the pursuit for an indictment of Bashir continues.

For a government that claims to no longer be directly connected to the operations of the Janjaweed militia directly responsible for the acts of murder and to rhetorically claim to be committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the Darfur crisis, this seems to be an awfully contradictory statement. Roughly translated the National Congress Party stated, “We are innocent, but if efforts to indict our leader continue, we will increase the violence. Did we say increase… well we’re innocent!”

This tacit admission of guilt is not what shocks me the most, but that such a statement is responded to with vague, weak calls for “sides to remain calm in the wake of this decision” (White Press Secretary Dana Perino).

2) The United Nations African United Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has decided to relocate non-essential personnel temporarily in response to the greater security risk in Darfur.

I cannot express the respect I have for the individuals who have volunteered to join this unprecedented peace keeping force. Risking your life to serve your country is admirable, but risking your life to protect civilians in another country for the cause of peace, transcending national allegiance, is beyond heroic.

Therefore after some thought I respect the decision of the United Nations to relocate non-essentials in the aftermath of last week’s attack on UNAMID forces resulting in the death of seven peacekeepers, but I still have to disagree with it. Regarding the current situation, more must be done to protect and equip the current peacekeepers while boosting the overall number of peacekeepers.

The danger these brave soldiers are in is alarming, but in the face of security risks and threats after Monday’s ICC announcement now is not the time to weaken the already undermanned and underequipped force with the withdrawal of personnel. A strong presence needs to be maintained to attempt to ward office further violence against the civilians of Darfur and the peacekeepers themselves. The relocation may be seen as a sign that when the big bad NCP wolf blows, the United Nations house is built of sticks not bricks.

My mention of the West Wing is not to argue that things can be wrapped neatly as they would be in a 45 minute episode of a fictional work, but to express the disappointment that when a clear victory for both peace AND justice is accomplished world leaders cannot even muster the conviction to do what is needed in stark contrast of a fictional character. In the West Wing, episodes often ended with President Bartlett or a member of his staff making a strong statement eloquently and passionately expressing both morality and pragmatism.

I believe idealism can be a mix of pragmatism, optimism and hope.

Thus far the only world leader to make a statement in support of Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s work was the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner along the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The lack of accompanying strong statements by other world leaders has been due to the argument of a handful of experts who believe they have a monopoly on pragmatism. These critics argue that Bashir and the NCP will become increasingly uncooperative if the call for an indictment continues which may in turn jeopardize peacekeeping, humanitarian and diplomatic operations in Darfur.

I agree with John Norris of the ENOUGH Project who said, “with more than 300,000 dead and millions displaced in Darfur, it is shocking that these charges are even remotely controversial. President Bashir has orchestrated the Darfur tragedy from day one, and any efforts to sweep his actions under the rug are both shameful and counterproductive.”

The international community is quickly losing an opportunity to turn the tide and earnestly work toward peace in Darfur AND justice for the crime of genocide. The idealistic pursuit of justice can and must work hand in hand with the pragmatic pursuit of negotiated peace. For justice to mean anything the international community must support the work of the chief prosecutor. Despite the fact that the United States has not signed onto or ratified the ICC, President Bush must show his support for justice in Sudan in order to preserve the work his administration has done on Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the effort to achieve Darfur peace.

By stepping up in support of justice, the pressure will be placed squarely on where pressure is deserved, President Bashir. He will then have the choice to cooperate with peace or suffer further isolation both internationally and domestically as his direct involvement in the genocide is further revealed. If obstructionism continues, Sudan will become even more of a pariah state leaving the people of Sudan to decide: violence and isolation with Bashir or peace and international acceptance without him.

If the international community continues to send mixed messages, back peddle and appease the work of Moreno-Ocampo will mean nothing, Bashir will go on orchestrating mass murder with impunity. The situation may not be quite as ideal as what may be seen in an episode of the West Wing, but we’ve been presented with a turning point and must seize the opportunity.

If we want peace, we need justice.

Reflection

2008-04-03T00:32:00.001-05:00

Tonight I was part of something truly and profoundly remarkable. While I engaged in this same activity roughly a year ago, it took my second trip through this experience to come to the realization I would like to share with you now.

Tonight I joined 150 of my fellow University of Texas students in the tedious, unglamorous and occasionally painful experience of preparing ten thousand white roses to be distributed tomorrow across the University campus. On face value there is a certain level of incredibility to this evening. 150 students coming together on Wednesday night in a town and a campus with near infinite choices of how to spend one’s night ranging from a studious night in the library to a wild night downtown to prepare roses for of all things: Holocaust remembrance.

While I might shrug this unbelievable event and chalk this success up to the advertised free t-shirt, free pizza and for those who desired: volunteer credit, this I believe would not do this phenomenon justice. Tonight, these peers of mine decided to spend an hour, two hours or for many the entire four hours to preparing roses. Many of these individuals have excitedly committed either before or after this evening that they will join many others to assist in passing out these prepared roses to go above and beyond their free t-shirt, free pizza or their required volunteer credit.

Why? Why have my closest friends at this school organize people I have known for years and people I have never met and may never really get to know decide to spend anywhere from one hour to twelve hours to months on a relatively thankless, tedious, unglamorous and occasionally painful experience in preparing roses for an oft depressing topic of genocide?

My answer: hope.

I am a leader of the White Rose Society, the group who has spent months planning tonight’s event, and last year’s event and the two years before that. We are an ever growing yet continually small group of students dedicated to eradicating genocide by working on promoting awareness, advocacy and aide on and around our campus. We work tireless with varying levels of success alongside tens of thousands activist around the world who are directly, indirectly and in most cases not at all affected by the crime they work to end.

Again I wonder why? Why do I, my friends and all these other people, many of which have no direct connection to the horrors of genocide decide to lose sleep, forget to eat and face challenges continue to fight strongly against genocide? Why do we activist continue to fight on even though the current genocide in Darfur rages onto it’s sixth with minimal progress made and prospects for Darfur as grim as ever?

My answer, again, is hope… and a certain degree of stubborn tenacity that endears me all the more to the activist mentality.

We tend to get wrapped up in the numbers. 6,000,000 Jews perished in the Holocaust among 3,000,000 other victims. Anywhere between 200,000 and 450,000 Darfuris have been murdered in the last five years. UNAMID is supposed to have 26,000 troops, but only has 9,000. We have pulled out 500,000,000 dollars from Texas pension fund money that used to fund the genocide. We have 200 members, we have 1,000 petition signatures, we have raises 200 dollars this week.

When we want we chose to focus elsewhere, we ask about politics. Did you hear what Barack Obama said? How about Hillary Clinton? Did your representative vote for the Sudan Accountability Divestment Act? Is the UT System ever going to divest? Will President Bush stick to his promises? Can we do more to pressure China?

Sometimes we decided to point the finger. The United States should do more. China is evading the issue. Omar Al-Bashir is playing his games. The rebel groups are bad guys too. The United Nations is ineffective. The African Union is too new and too inexperienced.

We can and many times we should use numbers to help understand the situation and to gauge progress. We can and many times we should discuss politics in order to search for solution and bring these solutions to fruition. We can and many times we should look to where the breakdown is and who is responsible for delaying progress.

What we lose in this process is the two simple and stark realities. The first: people are dying. The second: an unprecedented amount of people have chosen to care and do something about it. Numbers matter, politics matter and people are to blame. We have divested, recruited and counted the dead. We have politicked and lobbied. We have as academically, as journalist and as activist pointed the finger and have discussed in both overly simple and overly complex terms: who is the “bad-guy” we should all blame.

These are all significant and much needed elements of advocacy and discourse, but we need time to time remember about the people: the people who have died; the people who may die and the people who have thought to stop crimes against humanity. People like the original White Rose who for their efforts to speak out against Nazi crimes, were beheaded. And for their efforts our contemporary anti-genocide group has chosen to become living memorials of these brave activists.

The ten thousand roses are about those have died and those who may died, but also about those who live to commemorate: those who live to continue the fight against inhumanity; those who refuse to give up hope!

In the span of a day, my peers: friends, acquaintances and strangers alike contribute our time and our energy in remember that in a similar amount of time, ten thousand people could be murdered because of a racist ideology combined with a horrendous bureaucracy deemed them to be subhuman all because of a group these individuals may have chosen or not chosen to be part. We do this because we want to remember and we want others to remember. That is our task in name that is how we have chosen to describe such a task.

What we do not say is that this task is not solely about history or the now cliché sentiment of “never again,” but that this task is our attempt to proudly display our hope that one day we will pass out roses to remember and remember alone. That one day genocide will be a thing of the past and the past alone. That we will not have to promote a week of education and action with these roses, but that we will only commemorate those victims of an earlier era.

Until then we pass out our roses for hope.

The Update Part 1 of 3

2007-12-20T19:31:00.000-06:00

As part of the end of year reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I want to do a few things:

1) Keep in contact with people better
2) Reflect on my life in a more written and significant form

So to do these two things I have decided I will push myself to post an entry on this blog of my month in review once a month. Only the highlights, significant observations or major decisions since I remain determined to not drone on about myself in this blog.

This entry though will be rather lengthy because I plan to launch this greater reflexive effort by sharing with you a recap of the last year. To do this properly I'll actually have to start last August when I first made the move to Austin to start attending the University of Texas at Austin. Bear with me over the next "17 months."

Fall 2006- I moved to Austin and into an apartment with my good friend Kyle. As many of you might know, I hit the ground running! With my idealistic tendencies, practically the first week there I prepared to register the Human Dignity Society as an organization.

I am surprised that I've only been living in Austin for less than 14 months because the Human Dignity Society already feels like a relic in my past. For those who may not have heard, HDS was one of my efforts at creating an organization. The mission for this one was to help bring people out of homelessness and poverty by extending assistance BUT by ALSO building a community around them, providing a support network, motivation and friendship. I wanted the group to film a documentary featuring the stories of the homeless and adding to the film their progress as we continued through our efforts.

The honeymoon period of organizing building attempts and being lazy around the apartment with Kyle ended and school started. Classes were significantly harder than anything at community college. Luckily I was a busy community college student and had some background in AP classes or otherwise UT might have eaten me alive!

Despite them being hard, two of them that first semester were two of the best classes I had ever taken. I had arrived in the intellectual heaven I been dreaming of. Finally I picked courses in topics I loved and two of the three lived up to every expectation and more. Twice a week I went from learning about Europe in the twentieth century with one of the most dynamic, passionate, engaging professors I've ever met to struggling through Spanish to finally being rewarded with my African American Social and Political Thought course with another incredibly engaging professors who seemed to create the most insightful thoughts about the African American struggle and literary work.

Diving more deeply into the psyche of Nazi Germany and discussing how viewing the crime of rape as a significant metaphor to the domination of slavery. I won't ramble on about the interesting bits of knowledge I learned, but just take away that I had found what I was looking for in my academic pursuits.

As I mentioned before I had started HDS and while it was not successful, (I will share more later) the effort allowed me to meet many incredible people and get involved with my current organization and my greatest passion yet. Through my lengthy pursuits on Facebook to find like-minded people I came across Anna Tabor. Anna was one of my closest friends last year at UT and when we met through Facebook we hit it off as friends. She liked my idea for HDS and I became interested in her work with the White Rose Society.

I have to admit partially because I had a small crush on her, but still mostly because I was strongly sympathetic with the anti-genocide efforts, I went to a meeting of WRS. After that first meeting I was hooked. The anti-genocide cause draws upon my passion to make the world better, my interest in human rights, has a connection to my filial past and provides me the excitement of the challenge to organize people around a cause that has become the hallmark of things I have been involved in since the end of high school.

Additionally my becoming an active member of the White Rose Society also helped me take the plunge into another organization that has been paramount to my life in Austin: Texas Hillel. My siblings, including my sister-in-law, strongly suggested over and over for me to try Hillel, at least for some free food sometime. As soon as I walked into the building for that first WRS meeting, I knew I had to come back. After a few episodes in that building I knew the people and the atmosphere were both things I wanted to be a part of. If you are another student reading this or if you are visiting UT, I recommend checking it out. A lot of my non-Jewish friends love it and it is a really open and welcoming environment regardless of who you are.

Not much else significant I can recall from the fall of 2006. I do remember that there was a point where I felt very overwhelmed despite overall feeling very well adjusted to my new life in Austin. As things became the most difficult I wrote the blog entry, Homeless that is on my old blog. Things started to improve after that, but I guess I cannot hide that the transition to a new place both geographically and in my life was not without it's turmoil.

I finished my first semester at UT doing well in my grades, meeting a lot of great new friends and finding two organizations that I could consider my home while in Austin. During the break I visited my sister and her family including my adorable niece, Maya.

I will take a break from writing so that I can hopefully be more coherent in my musings. When I come back though I will tell you about spring 2007, when my activism reached levels I only dreamed about when I was stuck at community college in Plano.

Demons of my Sleep

2007-11-11T02:21:00.001-06:00

Tonight I cannot sleep. Funny to say tonight, sleeplessness is a regular occurrence. Ever since I was young I would toss and turn sometimes for hours until sleep would come. I could never wrap my child like brain around why this would happen. I just knew that 8 hours of sleep was really 6 or 7 hours of sleep and that was that.

I am not so sure anymore.

I used to talk in my sleep. Once in Israel my mom told me that the night before I had my head turned in her direction as I was looking at her, told her that it was difficult for me to fall asleep and proceeded to act like I was playing with the dog. The whole time I was asleep and the dog was not in our room. I also did this all in perfect Hebrew.

While I have no idea if I still do this, it is on my mind tonight. There is no way of knowing, I sleep alone in my room and my entire apartment most nights. I guess it is on my mind because of something else from my childhood. I remember distinctly that on at least one occasion my family informed me that I was screaming in my sleep. I suppose nothing of the blood curdling variety because no one seemed to worry.

I always remembered that, but I also have never quite worried about it. Now that I am an overworked college student I am thinking about it because I am also thinking about another pesky sleep problem of mine. Regardless of the amount or variety of sleep I am able to get, I constantly feel like I am in a state of sleep deprivation. I do not want to attribute false meaning to an event, but I can not shake the feeling that this has been the case since I was 11, since the passing of my father.

So tonight I cannot sleep and my mind is wandering.

Yesterday I rented a few movies, a suggestion by my now ex-girlfriend. I selected what I believed were both comedies; I was in the mood to take a break from my busy week and my endeavors which on the whole are not of the humorous varieties. One of my selections was The World According to Garp since I have heard a few good things and I am a Robin Williams fan.

Currently I have made it through half the movie before attempting sleep. Shortly before I attempted to call it a night, there was a scene where they spoke of a rape of an eleven year old girl whose tongue was cut out so that she couldn’t speak of what happened to her. I was hoping for comedy, but I have never allowed myself to escape reality for too long and subconsciously I suppose my movie selection reflected my typical choice.

As an activist, as a feminist, as a human rights advocate and most importantly as a human being I do not think I need to explain why this story (although fictitious) saddened me greatly.

I have chosen this life of activism and advocacy and I typically see this choice as a blessing. It is not an easy life and I do not fool myself into think it will become easier or that victories will be plentiful. I do though cherish the fact that I consider myself to not only be enlightened on topics such as genocide, but that I do not tolerate apathy or complacency.

Tonight though, I feel like I am being consumed by demons (an odd description since I am not religious at all, but it feels appropriate). I have never been able to remember my dreams or nightmares, but tonight I feel certain I have been plagued by nightmares.

I have never seen or experienced genocide, rape or death up close. I was present in the house when my father died, but I have not seen death with my own eyes. Yet tonight, I cannot shake the thoughts of a rape of a fictional eleven year old girl regardless that the mention of such an episode was but a brief line in a half watched film. Often I cannot shake the thoughts of the concentration camps or killing fields even though I cannot even conjure up a concrete image of these places in my mind.

Tonight, as I write this, I am fighting the thoughts in my mind that make me want to scream out, “THIS IS NOT A BLESSING, THIS IS A CURSE!” But I know I do not feel this way.

I must ask of you, though, my demons:

Why do you visit me night after night when I chose to visit you day after day? I do not feel intimidated from visiting you. But I ask: do I not deserve peace if even for a few hours a night?

Weekend in Austin (Witty Title Pending)

2007-08-06T18:51:00.000-05:00

This last weekend, Katie and I ventured down to Austin because most of all I missed that city and also my friend Ezra and his band the Harpoons have been touring and came through Texas. They played in Dallas Thursday night and Austin on Saturday. So she left work early, we ran a few errands and drove to Austin for the weekend. For those interested I'll share the basic details and highlights of our shenanigans. (The word shenanigans popped into my head and I was going to dismiss it, but Katie is a descendant of the Irish, so I thought I'd use it).

Friday

Friday was probably the most entertaining day and probably why Katie has been egging me on all day to write this blog. After leaving early and running some errands together we went to go drop off her car at her folk's house. Meeting the parents didn't produce any memorable stories, but I do have to say they are very charming people. She paints a better picture of him than I am about to, but her dad has the very classic look and sound of southern good ol' boy. The politeness that comes with that stereotype definitely applies and I look forward to meeting them again.

After picking up some snacks we hit the road at about 5:30 in Dallas. If you haven't had the joy of driving on 75 and/or 35 in Dallas during Friday rush hour than you can hit your head many times in the head and than sit in a small uncomfortable chair without moving for about an hour and you'll have had the same experience. Luckily I had a funny co-pilot who is both nice to look at and talk to.

Finally we broke through the chains of Dallas traffic and sped down Interstate Highway 35. After a short stop in Hillsboro we continued our trip. Early on I warned Katie that because of a lot of miles, my car makes some weird noises at high speeds, but I've never had a problem. Shortly after leaving Waco these she kept asking me about some of these noises.

At first I brushed them off saying we'll take a look in Austin, but I'm sure they're just the typical noises. Nothing I would worry too much about. You might say I was doing the typical macho man routine, but I seriously thought there was nothing to worry about until the noises became much worse, loud and persistent than ever before.

A quick note about my car: I bought it used at a car auction. While being relatively newer, a 2000 Toyota Echo, it had a lot of miles and some bumper damage. Every time I've asked a mechanic if this was just cosmetic or something to worry about they answered it was cosmetic. Through the last two years I've made scraped my bumped against something as I'm sure most imperfect drivers do. A few friends have commented that it looks worse than before, they may have been right but I continued on driving. Last week it started falling off, but I was able to push it back and shrug the problem off. Keep reading to find out why this wasn't so good of an idea.

With the car sounding quite awful, I relented and agreed with Katie and pulled over ASAP at the next exit gas station. As we pulled in the noises got worse and as I pulled into a parking spot we heard louder, crunching, scraping noises. The only way to describe what happened was to say the bumper mostly fell off but was attached enough to stay on and be dragged near and under the tires. Needless to say, not a safe or efficient way to drive.

I can check fluids, change a tire and I generally know the basics about a car. If anyone asked me to help fix a car, I would take a look but I would probably be more helpful on a pro-football team. Ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, how about a college football team? One of those that never make it to the playoffs, but still play fairly well. I'd be about that helpful.

So together we tried to think of possible solutions while calling for help. We thought about purchasing rope to tie the bumper on until we got to Austin or finding a way to pull it off. After consulting Papa O'Rear we decided to remove the bumper. Again uncertain of how to go about this we too a closer look and used the tired jack equipped me and a knife a fellow car troubled man lent us to hack and pull at the bumper. Before we inflicted any real damage, we were saved by a really nice guy on his way from northern Iowa to south central Mexico to visit his family.

He asked if we needed help and quickly went to grab his tools. After about half an hour of teamwork (mostly keeping him company and constantly repeating our gratitude) the bumper was pulled off and some flap-like parts were tied up so not to harm my tires. Closer to Austin and hoping for the best we continued the trip.

I have to repeat my gratitude for Katie for being very helpful, positive and comforting during the whole experience. Needless to say I was sad, annoyed and worried that I had made a mess of our trip. FYI: It goes uphill from here.

In little more than an hour later we made it safely into Austin and had a bite to eat with our friend Hannah at Kerby Lane. Both exhausted we headed toward our lodging. We were staying with Austin and Lisa in far Northwest Austin. Before any of you ask yourself if you know Austin or Lisa either independently or through me, I'm going to say probably not. We met them through CouchSurfing.com a very cool website that allows people to create a profile about themselves and than look for or offer "couch" space. In our case we looked for an actual bedroom and among many apologetic negative responses was a welcoming invitation from Austin.

I was careful to make sure everyone knew that it goes uphill at this point. No need to worry, neither Austin, Lisa or their dog Artemis stole our kidneys or anything of that nature. Though we did get a little lost finding their house in the first place. With their neighborhood being further from the campus or downtown areas of the city, many of the streets were not labeled well or at all. For that fact and somewhat misleading Google Maps directions we turned down some wrong streets in attempt to find the right one.

During this fiasco, we came across a few yellow signs with a picture of deer on it. Jokingly, I think it was Katie who said it would just make our night complete to see a deer. Well while turn around in one of these wrong streets we spotted three deer in the grass! We were quite humored, but continued on and finally found the house, made our way to the bedroom and slept.

Saturday

Not quite as exciting as a blog so I'll keep it shorter.

After being lazy for a significant part of the morning, we finally introduced ourselves to our warm hosts and their cute dog. Not only where they friendly enough to let us stay there and not kill us, they also told us to feel welcome to exploit their kitchen. When asked Austin even allowed me to use his laptop to find a mechanic.

We stopped into the mechanic and after finding out I needed an entirely new bumper but was probably safe driving around, we put the car troubles behind us. (Truly, the car troubles were behind us as the bumper occupied the backseat of my car.)

We proceeded to go to Whole Foods, Zilker Park and Bookwomen. Three places I have had the intention to go to most of my time in Austin, but up until this weekend had never visited. All wonderful spots to visit and enjoy.

At night we went to the Ezra show. I have to stop and say how much this guy amazes me. On Thursday he began to play for an empty house filled with only one audience member there for his show: me. Even though the other three guys that did not work at the bar were there for another bad, Ezra played his heart out. Again on Saturday he repeated this, but now with an excited Austin crowd that appreciate his childlike speech patterns (childlike as a complement, he has this poetic innocence) and his eloquent lyrics.

After the show we headed back to bed. Party poopers, I know, but we were tired.

Sunday

Nothing too exciting here, we were lazy again, got up, bought some snacks and food at Wheatsville Co-op and headed back to Dallas.

When we were almost to Dallas we made a stop in Red Oak or as Katie affectionately calls it, "Dead Oak." Red Oak is a community just south of Dallas, just outside DeSoto and Lancaster. We drove past her first home and had a stroll down memory lane.

Just like the witty title is pending, the quirky conclusion is also missing. All I can say is I had the most incredible weekend ever with an amazing woman even with some of the typical craziness that seems to follow my life.

Past Blogs

2007-08-06T17:13:00.000-05:00

So I wanted to be able to add the noteworthy posts from old blogs I've had to this one. I thought there was a way to put their date so that they'd fall in the right sequence, but I was mistaken. Instead I'll just post the links and either I'll go delete the blogs I'm not 100% happy with or you can chose ignore them.

From the end of senior year through most of my year at Collin County and the first part of my UT experiences: http://rememberthatjew.blogspot.com/

I particularly like the most recent two from that page.

For a period of the summer between Collin County and my first semester at UT I attempted to blog more frequently as part of this contest for a scholarship. The link is on the previous blog but I can recreate it here for ease: http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/human-dignity-activist

Tonight, I'm hoping to write another blog or two about some current happenings in my life. For now... send me an e-mail or something if we haven't spoken for awhile. With the summer ending it would be nice to reconnect (if that applies to any of you reading).

Gray

2007-08-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

I’m tired of seeing gray. Ever since I’ve been small it has been gray. Never simple black and white, never the simple happy or unhappy or the simple optimism or pessimism. I suppose I should be glad that I have ability to search for and usually find the reason for hope in most situations. After all I am a human rights advocate and there is always source for despair, I am comforted by the few pockets of progress that are sources for joy.

After all I am also a survivor of a deceased father a reason for nearly any eleven year old child to see much dark shades of bleak gray and even the starkest blinding blacks that life has to offer. Such consuming dark hues that one begins to feel he may be stuck in tar and must crawl and fight to even have the hope to see the bright sunshine above.

And after all I am a product of middle class America with the gift of education and comfort of modernization. I have the ability, nay, the ability to even complain about color, its presence or absence.

One cannot forget that after all I am a descendent of a Holocaust survivor. While I weigh these feels of grayness, I must remember that my grandmother lived in a time that seems to be perfect for images of black and white. Perfect for black and white film. Not only perfect but less tangible, less scary in the absence of color, denoted at a distant then, not a recent now or not so far then, but a distant then. A time before color, a time where darkness denoted evil and lightness denoted good and the two were pitted in a battle for everything.

But I see the gray from that time, I even see the red. The red for the blood, pain, screaming, torture, senseless destruction and seemingly endless murder. The red of my distant relatives, the red of the Nazi flag, the red painting the map of Eastern Europe.

Red can also symbolize love and I’ve been told of this red too. The red blood flowing from the biggest hearts of their time, the warm red blood of individuals like the original White Rose who had big enough hearts to stand up against true evil. The warm red blood flowing in the veins and from the giant hearts of resistors risking their lives in save those with the mark of death: a yellow star.

But after all I started off talking about how I see gray, not red, yellow, black or white. Gray. I do perceive other colors, but I do not live them like I live gray. Since I was young I was consumed by books written about subjects that would not be a happy blue, a bright yellow or pure white. From the age of eleven while I was consumed by the dark tar-like black of the death of my father, I strived to see as much color and light as possible and as such I clawed my way out of this bog. Or so it would seem.

The darkness of all this continues to consume me. While I wear the green of the Save Darfur campaigns I feel gray. While I enjoy the yellow sun, brown chocolate, the tan skin of niece, the hazel eyes of a beautiful girl or many of the splendid colors of flowers, salads and the entire world, I feel grayness permeating my soul.

While I shift from poetry to prose, I still feel like I play the part of the poet. As the poet I have this impetus to shout my feelings and wear my heart on my sleeve. Yet how many of you taken the time to see the color my heart and really take note of its overcast tones and dreary appearance. Who among you will take the time to bring true color to my heart and more importantly true color to the world?

I am stuck in gray; I feel both the positive and the negative. I feel hope and despair. I try to enjoy life, but I am constantly reminded of death. Gray is not even a true color; it is a mix of both the absence of color and the mix of all colors. Gray is a mix of both everything and nothing all at once.

As a poet, I will let you onto a little secret of mine. I AM TIRED OF BEING GRAY. I do not want to enjoy colors as a passing hobby or as if they were part of a vacation. I do not want to live with the knowledge of black and the hope of white without the brilliance of color to embolden my hopes and make the promise of progress more vibrant. Most of all I do not want to be stuck in this tarry, gooey, cesspool of loneliness anymore.

I am a survivor of both a father and of Holocaust survivors, I am an activist of things most people do not even want to introduce into their nice white life and I am a poet. These things dance in the black, tucked away where many people do not allow themselves to go.

I am an uncle, brother, son and privileged member of the western world… all reasons to live in the white and perhaps the reasons the black is made gray. Yet WHY DO I FEEL CONSUMED BY DARK GRAY?

Why can I not color it? Why do these markers, crayons and panaceas do nothing? I use different techniques, patterns, combinations, but when I finish my Technicolor masterpieces… they all return to gray. Do I need ruby slippers to escape or does that only work when you can feel a particular variety of red? Show me the door, the paint brush, the way out!

Hold on… what’s this I see? What’s this I feel? Could that be color? Could it be vibrant greens, royal purples, soothing blues, loving reds and the gorgeous mix of hazel? Could you be here to rescue me from the gray and let me live among the colors? Or is this just a visitation? Is this just a dream? Will the bell ring and the warden shuffle me back to my dreary colorless cell? Will I wake up in my nightmare of world?

Please warden, let me sleep for a little while longer.

Living Where The Streets Have No Name

2007-05-30T10:41:00.000-05:00

No the title of today's blog is not an attempt of a humorous poke at the rural area of North Carolina where I am currently residing. If any of my fellow U2 fans are reading this, you may have noticed the famous song title included with in the title.

"Where The Streets Have No Name" is one of most famous U2 songs, one of their many hits and the first songs of what many critics and fans call their best albums, The Joshua Tree. I have a hard time picking out a favorite album much less a favorite song, but this last Sunday I had an intellectual, philosophical and perhaps even spiritual revelation thanks to the always great U2.

While driving to Chapel Hill for my day off I was again surrounded by gorgeous deep green trees on all sides and above me was a clear blue sky. Every so often their was a pond or some small watering hole and all I couldn't stop thinking that while I doubt I could make North Carolina my home, another visit to these beautiful landscape would not be protested.

Surrounded by this beauty the car was filled with its own beauty, the man-made art of music. About a year ago my brother gave me a CD called Strung Out on U2, a CD I highly recommend. As you can tell from the introduction, I love U2 and think very highly of both the members and the music. Strung Out on U2 is an a CD of two different string quartets performing a large handful of U2's hits.

Although I do not consider myself a classical music fan, through exposure by my mom during my childhood and my experience in the Plano I.S.D. humanities program, I can say that I appreciate and enjoy some classical music even if overall I prefer to listen to something else. In the string compositions of these songs, everything in a U2 song was performed by string instruments. Even the vocals were replaced by a violin.

With my love of U2 I eagerly embraced this collection of string music and have fallen completely in love with this version of my favorite songs. The many times I have listened to the originals and my knowledge of their lyrics probably helps, but the string versions really help me to travel to that world of ideas and lose myself in the meaning of the songs.

Back to my drive on Sunday. So as I was driving through this natural beauty the song "Where The Streets Have No Name" in the its string quartet form was being played loudly enough to fill the car and take my attention hostage. From something my brother once told me and my own interpretation of the lyrics, "Where The Streets Have No Name" is at the same time about places so poor and isolated that their streets have no name, but also for the hope for a world free of divisions such as those that lead to war, a world with no name streets.

Let's just look at one stanza:

I wanna feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name.

Here we have a very positive image of sunlight which is almost universally identified as positive in artwork. Then the hopeful image of a dust cloud disappearing. In my opinion a dust cloud seems to be an image that brings about feelings like uncomfortable and inconvenience. So a dust cloud disappearing without a trace is hopeful within itself, but also enables the sunlight to seen and felt.

So far the lyrics refer to a positive image and a negative image disappearing and becoming positive. Then Bono writes/sings "I wanna take shelter from the poison rain." While the idea of shelter is positive, poison rain at its face value can represent a world messed up by pollution or more symbolically war, famine, illness and the many other reasons for sadness in the world.

So we start off with hope, a negative image quickly turning into hope and then the search for hope in the midst of despair. I decided to reproduce the lyrics, but to make it easier for those who just want me to get to the point I will wait until the end of the entry.

Back to my story... as I was listening to the string version of this song and driving through nature, I couldn't help but close my eyes for a brief second. I would've enjoyed to absorb all this longer, but it is hard to enjoy the beauty of the lush green around me with my eyes closed and more importantly it is much harder to drive!

What finally came to me during this drive was the answer to questions I have been asked and have asked myself repeatedly in the last few years. Why do I put such a premium on a social consciousness? Why am I so dedicated to living a social justice lifestyle? Why am I so passionate on pursuing a career focused on social justice?

Thanks to the influence of my brother and his music collection, the first real song I really embraced was "Mysterious Ways" on the Achtung Baby album of U2. I used to play it over and over whenever he was not home. It was fun, got me going and had a quality to it that made me think about things more deeply than I ever had. I think I was 8 or 9.

The first album/cd I ever bought or really had someone in my family buy for me was U2's Pop (which many fans and critics think is the weakest of all U2 albums. They have a point, but still fantastic music with some incredible melodies and lyrics).

What occurred to me was that I had been growing up with social justice in my ears, brain and my heart since that first day I started to listen to "Mysterious Ways" over and over.

Of course I still factor in my parents' insistence on watching the news and some excellent guidance of teachers, I think I have finally figured out the answer to those questions.

We are the the products of our childhood and the latter part of the childhood was filled with beautiful music that seduced me into thinking about the world around me.

Sound like a good explanation or am I just trying to hard to be artsy about my life?

Who is there to do in a small town?

2007-05-29T16:56:00.000-05:00

No the title is not a typo, I meant to write who not what. Let me explain:

After a typical long day at work yesterday I came back to my hotel room to watch some mindless television and eat some left over pizza. While I settling into this most exciting of routines I heard a knock at my door. I thought it was my co-workers Megan, but was puzzled since up until this point she has only been to my room three times and each time she called first.

Being the lazy bum that I am, I groaned and got off my bed and walked toward the door. Not being certain who it was I went ahead and used the peep hole and didn't see anyone. Cautiously I opened the door and a small built black woman was standing out there. She asked if someone was there, I believe the name was Jack. Luckily I get a cozy hotel room all to myself and so of course there was no Jack in my room.

She then added a little bit of sadness to her tone and said she was just dropped off from Asheboro to visit an old friend who was staying at the hotel. She claimed he was part of a construction crew that was staying there. I told her the only construction crew that I knew had already left a few days ago.

Claiming that this man, Jack, was staying at the room next door to me, she asked if I could use my phone. While I know it wasn't a good idea, I probably have too kind of a heart sometimes and let her in. She used the phone and talked to the confused guy next door, thanked me and left.

At this point I was still trying to nice and believe the story, as of that moment it sounded odd. But there was no reason for me to question her and so I accepted it, and went back to watching the ending of the Daily Show. Just as the Colbert Report was in full swing and I was getting excited to watch the pending showdown between Stephen Colbert and Tom DeLay, there was another knock on my door.

Hoping that is really was a coworker this time, I crept back to the door and opened it up. Again with the almost genuine sounding of disappointment in her voice she said that it wasn't her friend Jack and asked if she could use the phone again. She didn't steal my kidney the first time, so I sighed and let her back in.

She went on talking about how she was dropped off and had no idea what to do. She asked if I was driving. Just as I started writing this I looked up the distance from Siler City to Asheboro and it turns out it is only about half an hour away. Last night I thought Asheboro was a good two hours away. Either way I was tired and my kindness has limits, there was no way I was driving this stranger to Asheboro in the middle of the night.

She asked if she could leave her purse in exchange for some money to get a cab back home. This seemed a little bit more agreeable to me, even though I didn't much like the idea. The problem for her was that I had been reliable on my debit card and had no physical cash on me except for the change on one of the hotel room tables.

I reminded her that she was welcome to use the phone, she thought about it, ask me again about the change on the table. After finding out that I had less than a single dollar in change she commented about not having anyone to call. I again apologized for not being to help more, gave her a frown to indicate my sincerity and wished her luck.

She left and I really started questioning the origins of the woman traveling over 20 miles to visit a friend who is a construction worker staying at a hotel in a city of roughly 8,000 people. Not much I could do to help her so I went back to my night time ritual except now it was my turn to be disappointed. I missed the showdown between Colbert and DeLay!

This morning at the office, my coworker Rene I was talking about a visit from a woman last night. I only picked up the conversation midway through and chimed in that I was visited by the same woman.

Turns out the woman used the old friend/telephone ploy to enter rooms and solicit sex to men who were alone. Obviously she did not discover that Rene was as physically broke as I was, but being a married man with four children and probably a myriad of other reasons he said no to her solicitation.

So I had an encounter with a prostitute and for one reason or another she either believed that I was sincere about being broke or she did not approach me with the same offer.

Either way she'd be walking away disappointed, I wasn't interested nor do I have that kind of disposable income! Not much to philosophize here... only one question left to ponder: Do I feel pity for her, tickled by the random course of events, honored that she chose to leave me alone or disappointed she so easily left me alone? I think I'm going to feel pity, a little bit of tickled and mostly indifferent about this strange evening.

All I can be certain of... it was the most interesting evening I've had in Siler City in the near two weeks I've been here!

Where in the World is Leran?

2007-05-23T14:58:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone got the allusion in my title. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is one of my favorite games from my childhood as I know from talking to people my age, it was among their favorites too.

Tough competition from Oregon Trail, but a few weeks ago while avoiding studying for exams and packing up my apartment I downloaded and played one of the older Carmen Sandiego games. Really this is becoming a long rambling justification for why I titled my blog entry the way I did, I thought it'd be interest in witty, but I'll just cut to the chase:

Where in the world am I? North Carolina. Yes, you heard (read is more like it) that right. I'm smack in the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina... otherwise called Siler City, North Carolina.

As the school year started, I had the dreams and goals of traveling abroad OR being in Washington D.C. this summer and sadly neither of those plans worked out. First, I decided to hold off on going to London for a Maymester in social justice issues through the lens of social work. Part of my decision was financial and the other part was the uncertainty of doing such a program through the point of view of social work majors.

I know many social work majors and they are great people that do amazing work. I just wasn't positive that the point of view they have on social justice was one that would be truly beneficial to my future career plans. The experience would have still been positive and very beneficial, but I thought it would be best to save money and do either the Normandy Scholar's program or another travel abroad opportunity in 2008.

So then I began to explore the Washington D.C. option. I thought early in the Spring semester was too late for paying gigs in D.C., but the Liberal Arts Career Center at UT told me I still had time. Between my internship at the Texas Capitol, White Rose Society, school work and my typical disorganization, the time ran out and I did not hear back from anyone and did not make much of an effort to get a paying D.C. gig.

So that left me with one final option... going to Israel. While this was a "final" option, it was certainly not that way in my heart. With only two grandparents left (the two grandfathers) and one of them having just recently turned 94, I really wanted to visit him. Additionally as my last entry pointed out, my brother and my sister-in-law are there for about another six months. All in all a great time for me to go back to a country I love.

Being a poor college student I looked for some of the trips directed at students and found a really cheap, but also extremely excited opportunity. Livnot is an Israeli organization that does the typical Israel tour coupled with a handful of work days helping rebuild the country's most devastated areas after the war last summer. Having completed an alternative spring break in New Orleans in March, I was really excited for this opportunity to help and visit all my relatives. This time I did not make the personal decision to not go as I did with London, but I simply was rejected from the program on the basis of giving other people an opportunity to revisit Israel for a 2nd time rather than a 10th or 11th time.

I was sad, but not much I could do. The question lingering in my mind was: what am I going to do this summer?! With it already being May and none of the exciting plans coming to fruition I was preparing to suck it up and just work at whatever well-paying desk job I could receive in Dallas for the summer. The only comfort was being able to spend time with my mom, having relaxing weekends, catching up on reading and being able to help the Dallas community with their Darfur advocacy efforts.

I'm as far as you can be from religious as they come and I don't believe in fate...but something seriously just fell in my lap. I guess I do believe in friendship and I have come to be a believer in the beauty of networking. My friend Hannah, an incredible person in her one right, forwarded me an e-mail from her professor about a job in North Carolina.

Here we are... the point of this long entry. I gave all that background to prove one point, I never imagined myself working in North Carolina. I'm careful not to say visit because I truly believe everywhere has its beauty and I would love to visit every state and many of the nations/regions across the world. North Carolina definitely qualifies as beautiful in the nature department. Hills, green trees and ponds EVERYWHERE. I've been told there is so some good rock climbing around and if you travel to the east, there's the Atlantic Ocean!

Yet, I never imagined spending my summer here. Disbelief aside, I was finally convinced to board a plane on May 17th (2 days after my last exam) at 6:10 a.m. (5 minutes before take-off!) and make my way to North Carolina to take a job that was still mostly unclear at that time.

So a bit about the job. What I've told people who have asked: I'm doing data management (data entry) for union organizers who are trying help immigrant workers at poultry plants to unionize in order to improve their working conditions. That's a mouthful, but it only gives you a general idea of what I'm doing.

What I do: I input data and help locate data within a database for the organizers I'm helping. In the next few days I will also be running reports and producing new house call sheets for the organizers. Glamorous data entry, but at least it is for a good cause and the pay is good. I'm missing being lazy in Dallas (never thought I'd say that), but I'm exploring the unknown... or at least the southern part of the east coast.

Why the organizers are here: My brother stumbled across a good article about the situation here. The basic rundown is that the plant here is run by mostly immigrant workers. I don't know the breakdown, but yes some are illegal, while others have legal status. Regardless of their legal status these workers have been exposed to a number of unfair conditions including:

Low pay-the pay is actually pretty good considering it is above minimum wage, but the employer has been proven to tamper with time clocks in order to extend hours and decrease the amount of pay. Additionally simple safety supplies that are necessary for workers to do their job safely are not being provided to workers, but instead are subtracted from their paycheck. Not surprising that the employer has also found any excuse to nickel and dime employee pay so that while the work stays the same or increases, pay stays the same or decreases.
Unsafe conditions-While the company continues to claim otherwise the people I work with have collected many accounts and autopsies of death and serious injuries due to the work at the plant. Additionally things like line speed are increased with the bottom dollar sign line in mind while ignoring the increased workers at the line.
Lack of medical care-When injuries happen at the plant only confirmed legal employees receive assistance from the company due to the fear of lawsuit. Illegal workers and legal workers with unconfirmed status on the other hand are left injured, without medical care and the plant either fires them or puts them back on similar or worse job than before.
Lack of bathroom breaks-Through my studies of international development I could imagine such scenarios in many places across the world not receiving bathroom breaks. I could even imagine a work place with purely illegal workers within the United States being deprived of this simple right. In any situation (legal, illegal or third world) the simple allowance of a person to urinate during the work day should be accepted as an obvious right that a worker should receive. It is a gross abuse of a person's dignity to be forced to work to the point of urinated and even defecate on themselves. Here in Siler City, North Carolina and the neighboring poultry plants in Sanford and Pittsboro this basic abuse of dignity is occurring on a regular basis.

Spending my summer in North Carolina is not what I dreamed of doing. Data entry is as far as what I would like to be doing as possible. I didn't even consider the option of union organizing despite my interest in social justice. Yet all these unexpected factors combined have lead me to Siler City to meet an amazing group of organizers and to an opportunity to do my part in ending injustice.

I've been here about a week and we'll see if the work continues to be something I can manage. I am given a few days off about every 2 weeks and I also receive a plane ticket back so those days off can be spent in Dallas with my mom and my friends. The first break is May 31st to about June 3rd. Look forward to seeing you then!

The Birth of A Blog

2007-05-23T13:58:00.000-05:00

My brother is one of my best advisers, friends and overall influences. If you don't know him, his name is Oren and he is currently in Jerusalem with his wife Suzanne, an almost equally valuable friend of mine.

The two of them have started an interesting blog about the adventures in Israel. I recommend it, it is an interesting read and most recently has featured picture of their cute dog, Choomy.

The two of them have also told me over and over that I should start a blog and continue blogging. If that wasn't enough, my sister, Karen in California has also stumbled across my old blog and given me some exaggerated compliments on my writing and expressed interest in seeing me continue in this endeavor of blogging. Sadly she doesn't have a blog for me to share, but don't fear, I will put up a picture of her cute daughter, my niece, Maya!

Ok, I guess I will wrap up this Minc family tree lesson and sum this up: the public has spoken and I thought it could be fun to rekindle the writing fires. So here goes nothing, the new blog is born!

As I have in past blogging attempts, I will avoid recapping any mundane details of my life, but will fill everyone in on anything interesting, funny or what I think my pass as though provoking. This is a practice in thinking, expression, columnist-style writing and broadcast blogging journalism. As such, I hope to occasionally receive feedback, comments and I invite disagreement, discussion and your own thought provoking responses to my ideas.

Here goes nothing... let the blogging commence!