A solution to tsunami

Miguel Serrano, the local inventor and developer of the STATIM tsunami and flood shelter project, announced Thursday the launching of a global  campaign to raise the $100,000 in financing he needs to expedite plans to build and commercialize his novel disaster preparedness technology. The STATIM (Storm, Tornado and Tsunami Interconnected Modules) Shelter System is basically a capsule comprised of a series of precast concrete modules, similar to large concrete pipes. The basic vessel is 75 feet long and 12 feet in diameter and can fit as many as 50 people at a time. Once assembled, the pod provides a watertight environment that is capable of floating and remaining upright, in case of massive flooding. Inside, the shelters are equipped with ventilation and various options of survival supplies capable of sustaining the occupants during and after an event, and until rescue personnel can assist. Puerto Rico is one of thousands of islands and coastal communities around the world where topography, proximity to seismic faults, remoteness, or lack of vertical evacuation alternatives make them extremely vulnerable to the devastation of events such as tsunami-triggering earthquakes and other natural threats. Serrano said that his campaign  provides a great opportunity for citizens of the world to participate in such an important, life-saving project, even with a contribution of as little as $5 and that this is the perfect example of how small actions, multiplied by thousands of people, can change the world . So far, companies in Japan, Holland and the U.S. mainland, specifically in Louisiana, have shown interest in ordering pods that will be integrated into emergency preparation strategies.

                                        STATIM inventor Miguel Serrano, left showing his project.

                               An undersea earthquake caused the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

                                                                 The STATIM

Greenpeace works with indigenous communities at the frontline of forest destruction, in Indonesia, the Amazon and the Congo basin. As many as 150 million indigenous people live in forests worldwide, relying on them for their food, shelter, medicines and cultural survival. When logging companies and agri-businesses move in, these communities are usually the first to suffer. Around the world, they find cases in which industries have taken land from forest communities by whatever means necessary - through empty promises, abuse or force. As their homes, livelihoods and traditional land rights are destroyed, subsistence living can turn into abject poverty overnight. Greenpeace believes that these communities hold the future of the world's forests in their hands. If indigenous communities are able to keep the right to control of their own forests, they believe that they will continue to act as guardians of the forest and protect their resources for the future, as many have done for millennia. Greenpeace works with indigenous communities, supporting the demarcation of traditional boundaries and eco-forestry initiatives, and offers a global platform through which these communities can address the rest of the world. Boundary marking is both a social process (involving negotiations) and a physical process (identifying and marking territorial borders). Because it prevents governments from handing over traditionally indigenous territories to loggers and industries, boundary marking is a key tool in helping communities to take back control of their lands, their lives and their futures. Greenpeace has worked with indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea and Brazil to demarcate their territories. In Brazil, they made contact with the Amazonian Deni in 1999 to tell them that some of their lands had been sold to a logging company that would come to cut down trees. They has been working with customary landowners and local non-government organisations in South East Asia (including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands) for over a decade, helping to close down corrupt forestry activities and set up community-operated alternatives, including eco-forestry. With their help the Indians will have the possibility to recover their lands.

 

Money Left Around German City by Anonymous Donor

In the small city of Braunschweig, Germany, someone is giving away money in packets of €10,000 ($13,128), leaving the recipients happy and the citizens intrigued by the mysterious donor. The anonymous donor — affectionately called Germany's Robin Hood by the media — is leaving envelopes filled with euro notes to local good causes. Envelopes have been discovered behind hymn books in a church, under a doormat on a well-lit porch and at the reception desk of the local newspaper. Envelopes have been discovered behind hymn books in a church, under a doormat on a well-lit porch and at the reception desk of the local newspaper. The money is often accompanied with a newspaper clipping. In one case, an article about a boy paralyzed in a swimming accident was paired with the cash, the boy's name underlined. The donor has yet to be spotted. "All the people of the town know is that he or she (or perhaps even they) are very generous, having left 190,000 euros (£158,480) so far. The mystery donor may have given even more. They gave:
€10,000 for a day-care center
€10,000 for four local churches
€10,000 for a choir
€10,000 for a group providing meals to the homeless
€10,000 for a soup kitchen
and on and on.
Braunschweig, Germany

big cats

From lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalaya, the big cats of the world need help. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and other top felines are quickly disappearing, all victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.
To address this critical situation, the National Geographic Society and Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert, have launched the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports on-the-ground conservation projects, education, and economic  efforts and a global public-awareness campaign.
First Step: Halting Decline of Lions and Cheetahs.
Lions are dying off rapidly across Africa. These cats once ranged across the continent and into Syria, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, and even northwest India; 2,000 years ago more than a million lions roamed the Earth. Since the 1940s, when lions numbered an estimated 400,000, lion populations have blinked out across the continent. Now they may total as few as 20,000 animals. Scientists connect the drastic decreases in many cases to burgeoning human populations. The Big Cats Initiative aims to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels.

SAVE THE CHILDREN

Their programs in health and nutrition, education, protection and livelihoods make a difference for each child we reach. The following success stories illustrate the ways in which Save the Children ensures that:

1. Children are protected from harm through physical and psychosocial assistance: They believe children have the right to act like children. Therefore, Save the Children provides child-friendly spaces and safe play kits to children in emergencies and conflict-affected areas. But they also train social workers and teachers to care for vulnerable children.

2. Children learn and develop with age-appropriate care and education: Save the Children is committed to raising literacy rates by providing basic education and helping to equip schools and teachers in the communities they serve. They support early childhood development programs and believe that children must also be well-nourished and healthy in order to learn.

3. Children are healthy and well-nourished: Each year millions of children die or suffer poor health because of preventable conditions. Save the Children provides programs that, among other things, address the health and nutrition needs of mothers and newborns, vaccinate children against common diseases and prevent childhood obesity.

4. Children thrive in food-secure and economically viable households: Children are more likely to be safe, educated and healthy when families have secure livelihoods. Save the Children works with vulnerable families to help them pay for basic needs and services for their children and provide them with access to sufficient, nutritious food all year round.