Sarah Tenney's Blog (33)

Although they are not truly indigenous, I choose to keep a Gullah secret for my project. The Gullah are not native to the United States. Rather, they are a distinctive group of African-Americans that were brought to the southeastern United States as slaves. Today, the Gullah live mainly in small farming and fishing communities along the southeastern Atlantic coast and on a chain of Sea Islands that runs parallel to the coast. Although many Gullah families have moved to cities, like New York…

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I could not get the Google free website program to work, so I made it in another program.

What are the goals of the network? How does it work?

The EVOKE network brings together Agents from around the world to work together to solve pressing problems that affect large numbers of people. Its goal is to help create a world that is safe for all, not only in terms of preventing conflict and crime, but also in terms of living standards. EVOKE defines security in holistic terms that include food, water, shelter, healthcare, education and human rights as well as physical…

EPISODE 1

IRAQ

"The only thing necessary for the persistence of evil is for enough good people to do nothing." -Amnesty saying, unknown origin

PAGE 1

PANEL A

A politician sits at his desk in front of a window. Through the window is the Baghdad skyline at sunset. The politician is meeting with his advisors, who are seated on a plush sofa and chairs. They surround a small table with a silver coffee service on it.

TEXT BOX 1

Baghdad, March 14,…

Season 2 of EVOKE will likely place more emphasis on human rights and governance issues, as many global challenges related to food security, water security, education and poverty are achieved.

It would be good to have more participation from "agents" in Africa and Southeast Asia, since those areas remain the "least developed" and thus tend to suffer most from the current Millennium Development Goals. Those are also the areas where the least progress has been made to date. Agents who…

I would create an interactive web site for emergency management specialists. A lot of the response to emergencies - including pandemics - is similar. Sometimes people may have to be isolated or sheltered in place. More important, all crises involve important communication aspects. Emergency management specialists could provide helpful advice on how to address all the details that need to be considered in any crisis.

The point I found most surprising is the lack of correlation between "outrage" and "hazard." It seems people can over-react and even panic in the face of perceived threats that are harmless and not respond at all - i.e., denial - about real threats that could be fatal. Based on this surprising fact, I like the steps used to in the last section to "use" fear in ways that are helpful - i.e., get people to take precautions - and the steps used to help people to manage their fear - i.e., keeping…

The year is 2060. It is Thanksgiving. I am sitting at the family reunion with lots of children running around and making a ton of noise. Somebody just brought me a little glass of red wine. Thank goodness! My knees are killing me, but I dare not try to walk around too much for fear I’ll trip over some creeping, crawling babe.

Above all the hubbub and what-the-heck, I hear someone mention the “War Between the States.” The conversation seems to focus on the evils of slavery and how fat,…

I read the case study on “Incentives and institutional arrangements for participatory watershed management: The case of Arenal, Costa Rica” on the The Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network website.

This article recounted a long and intense argument between environmentalists and local ranchers about an initiative to reforest the area around the Arenal Conservation Area and the Rio Chiquito region. While environmentalists insisted that reforestation was necessary to restore…

Ever since I began this mission, I have been thinking about the FEMA trailers that were used during Hurricane Katrina. I was living in Mississippi when Katrina hit. In a conversation with the former head of emergency medicine for the state of Mississippi, I put forward a proposal to get trailers rather than putting people in shelters. This approach avoids all the hazards related to sheltering large numbers of people for extended periods. Large shelters are useful for only a very limited time…

Charleston County has an Emergency Management Department (EMD) that:

provides leadership and assistance in an effort to reduce the loss of life and property in Charleston County from a variety of man-made and natural hazards through an effective emergency management program based on the Four Phases of Emergency Management:

• Mitigation - efforts to reduce hazards or their impacts

• Preparedness - efforts to prepare for a likely hazard

• Response - actions taken to respond…

The most significant threats facing the Charleston, SC community are hurricanes and the possibility of an earth quake.

Ushahidi could serve as a literally life-saving tool in such events. During and immediately after the disaster, it could be used to help track people who need immediate rescue, such as those trapped in buildings either because of earth-quake damage or flooding. It could also be used throughout the disaster response and recovery period to identify roads and bridges…

Bogged Down By the Holidays? Join the TalentSwamp!

TalentSwamp, a community-based skills bank that launched operations in Charleston, SC in September, is taking Chuck town by storm. Starting with only 20 members, the group now includes more than 280 individuals and 48 businesses and organizations. And, these folks have been busy. As of December 1, 1766…

I already use ebay and paypal as my first-stop shop for absolutely everything that is not perishable, and I don't have a "smart phone" that does transactions. Also, I don't "tweet." So, I signed up for meetup group that will let me know when and if a skills bank opens in my area.

The biggest change in how we use money is likely to come through the adoption of bancor as a global currency. As Reza Moghadan notes in “Reserve Acc**ulation and International Monetary Stability” (IMF, 2010), this change is likely to occur as the countries holding the world’s major reserve currencies become unable to maintain fiscal and financial stability. In particular, if the value of the US dollar comes under extreme pressure as a result of unsustainable external debt, the membership of…

My story begins with the tale of Bibi Aisha, the 18 year-old Afghan girl depicted in the 2010 World Press Photo of the year (taken by Jodi Bieber of South Africa). When she was 12 years old, Bibi’s family gave her as a bride to a man her family had wronged. Her husband abused her terribly until she escaped and fled back to her family home. The details of the story get a little blurred in conflicting statements from there. It may have been at the Taliban’s command, but Bibi’s family members…

I picked the project to empower Afghan women with job training skills from the Global Giving project. I made a personal donation and posted the request for donations to my Facebook page. I will not have a way to track how many other people give money, because that will be up to my them personally. My donation was made in honor of my mom who passed away several years ago.…

From WomenWatch, I chose the November 21 article, “Gaza Health Authorities Struggling as War Casualties Swell,” (http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/11/gaza-health-authorities-struggling-as-war-casualties-swell/) because I am currently teaching a course on Middle Eastern Affairs. This story reminds us that the tragedies of war often affect not only soldiers,…

Like food, the global supply of water is poorly distributed. While there is an abundant supply of water in some parts of the world, there is barely any water in other parts. Also, there are many contentious issues related to "sharing" water resources in some regions, such as the Middle East.

For World Water Day 2020, I would call for a global conference to discuss the water distribution problem. This conference would be along the lines of United Nations Conference on Environment and…

I am a supporter of Water Missions International, a Charleston based, global NGO engaged in bringing clean water and solar energy to impoverished, rural areas and disaster-stricken communities around the world. As I also serve as faculty advisor to student groups engaged in global issues, I will propose that those groups become official "Water Missions International Ambassadors" to become more involved with the work of that NGO.