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Poor Kids Can Figure Out Computers on Their Own

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Children in Remote Villages in India Teaching Themselves to use Computers Instinctively – with No Help from Adults

An IT engineer in India was gazing out his office window at the poverty-ridden shanty town located just outside the walls of his sleek hi-tech corporate compound. This irony led to inspiration. Computer skills offer a better chance at success for these poor kids.

The BBC reports, “He decided it was time to break a hole in the wall and give the children outside a chance to see what a computer was. He cut a hole and hooked one up. What happened next amazed him. They taught themselves how to use it.”

The article gives fascinating detail on how that occurred.

Innovative kid-only computer kiosks (built to keep large adult hands out) are now being installed in the village squares of other impoverished areas.

Since its inception in 1999, the Hole-in-the-Wall project has grown from a single computer at Kalkaji, New Delhi, to more than a hundred computers at various locations across India and abroad. For the children, it is an extension of their playground where they can play together, teach each other new things and, more importantly, just be themselves. World leaders, like the president of Afghanistan, have come to watch them play on the computers.

The really interesting twist is, no one teaches the kids how to use the technology. They teach themselves. “The driving force behind Hole-in-the-Wall is the the concept of Minimally Invasive Education which is truly path breaking,” reads their Web site. Observing the children at the kiosks for four years has shown “children could learn on their own, something not many people would have imagined.”

Editor’s note: Some families in the U.S. have “imagined” it and they called it Unschooling… a type of homeschooling that is gaining momentum. It is also called natural learning or child-led learning. Approximately 100,000 kids in the U.S. are in families that practice this philosophy… including my own! — Geri

Goldfinches making comeback in UK Thanks to Garden Feeders

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A survey revealed that better food in bird feeders and gardens contributed to a recovery in the UK goldfinch population by one third in the last 20 years.

The telegraph reports that "increases in population have been noted since the mid-1990s, but the survey is the first confirmation that the revival has been brought about by the bird food offered in Britain’s 15 million or so gardens."

Nyjer (or niger) seed is one of the preferred foods for finches and is readily available, along with the high-energy sunflower heart seeds. Feeding birds is a simple way we can all help to bring back species of beautiful songbirds.

(submitted by tif short, CA)

Six months after Katrina, Kitty Reunited with Owner

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A 7-pound black kitty named "Cupcake" proved to be tough and streetwise prowling the devastated New Orleans neighborhood for six months in search of food following the evacuation of her family. She never strayed far from her home until animal rescuers found her owner and reunited Cupcake with the teenager now living in Atlanta… AP reports and files a wonderful photo of the happy girls.

"Animal rescue groups have rescued more than 1,200 former pets living as strays in New Orleans and have been working to reunite them with their owners, according to Best Friends Animal Society, the group that arranged the reunion."

How to Get a Small Business Loan

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Neil Berdiev
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Neil Burdiev

Neil BurdievWhen I finished writing my Loan Financing Guide for Small Business Owners, I realized that the book is only a small step toward the achievement of my goal to develop training tools and resources that are easy to grasp and actually work.

My book tour has taken me to the streets of large cities like Boston and Miami and small towns like Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts. I’ve documented many questions from small business owners about loan financing for small businesses in Finland as well. In response, I’ve written articles and developed a seminar entitled, Preparing a Powerful Small Business Loan Request.

Here are three answers to frequently asked questions.

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Volvo Pledges Lifetime of New Cars for Heroes

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BevilhymerHope Bevilhymer from West Jordan, Utah, is “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” in the third annual Volvo for Life Awards. Her inspired work in developing countries around the world helping those in need to receive prosthetic limbs, won her a complimentary new Volvo car every three years for the rest of her life. The Limbs of Hope Foundation was born out of the difficulties in her own life raising money to buy a prosthetic limb when it was not covered by insurance.

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Australian Vintners Donate Grapes to Winery Torched in Brush Fires

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wine-GrampianEstates

wine-GrampianEstatesWineries in Australia rallied to support a fellow vintner whose crop had been destroyed by regional bushfires. Ten thousand dollars in grapes were donated to allow Grampians Estate to bottle a Shiraz that year.

They called it the ‘Friends Collection‘ and put images of the fires and the people who helped them return to their craft on the front and back labels of the 2006 vintage.

Don’t you just love Australian wines even more now?

(READ the full story from ABC.net)

Summer Vacations, Cheering Orphans, and Host Couples

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KidSave International
To California, North Carolina, and Virginia, the Summer Miracles program brings orphans from Russia, Kazakhstan and Columbia for summer vacation with host families. Through carnival rides, picnics, swimming, and horseback riding, these kids often experience the best moments of their lives.KidSave International

The adults who sign up for the program, through KidSave International, fall in love with children and often are inspired to adopt. More than 1,300 children have participated in the Summer Miracles program. Nearly all have found permanent homes.

American College Students Choosing to Teach Inner City Kids

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Teachers can learn something from Finland

Grad Students Teach America What Gen X is All About

In the spring of 2005, 12 percent of graduating seniors at Yale signed up to “Teach for America” in inner city schools. David Gergen of US News and World Report shared a compelling tale of young idealism.

Teach for America teachers score higher in classroom math scores than regular teachers. “This spring on many college campuses, something absolutely remarkable happened: Talented young people lined up by the scores to teach lower-income kids in urban and rural public schools. In years past, investment banks like Goldman Sachs were the recruiting powerhouses at top campuses; this year, they were joined by Teach for America, a program that expresses the fresh idealism and social values of this new generation.”

Small World Stories

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photo of elderly couple, by Geri

This is an inspiring letter I received from Michael in Canada. He calls it his small-world story. It should remind you that striking up conversation with people whom you don’t know is usually quite worthwhile, even though it takes some courage.

A recent study shows how being extroverted can make you happy. Talking to strangers requires us to be extroverted, but it pays handsomely, as the following tale reveals. Notice how Michael is aware that passing time talking with others enriches his happiness:

I was waiting in our local Emergency Room to see about my sprained wrist. I struck up a conversation with an elderly gentleman to pass the time a bit more enjoyably. He told how he was once helping out his local church rummage sale when a client asked to buy a large piece of furniture. While waiting for the delivery truck to return, he started talking to the man.

 

The man was an Iranian immigrant, fleeing from Khomeini’s strict regime. His family had fled to Turkey to escape.

 

My new elderly friend said, “My nephew worked in Istanbul during that time.”

 

The immigrant replied, “Istanbul is where we ended up! Tell me, your nephew, his name was David?”

 

“Yes, he worked at the Canadian Consulate.”

 

The immigrant grabs the old man in a huge hug and started crying, “Your David approved us to come to Canada! Your David saved the life of my family!”
Michael Kannon
Winnipeg, Canada
Do you have any Small World Stories (SWS’s) to share? Post a comment below.

20,000 Muslims Gather for Peace

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Dec. 5, 2005 — We need to be reminded again and again that mainstream Muslims are not like their fanatical brothers in terror. In Britain, families traveled to London to be counted as the peaceful majority of Islam, able to stand against terrorism yet speak out in the face of unfairness. Let’s collect here on the Religions page of the GN Network as many stories as we can about Muslims as equals. Equality and Oneness shine as values in all the world’s religions.

Optimism is Healthy

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optimistic oldster

optimistic oldster Park FallsA 2006 Dutch study of elderly men found a lower risk for cardiovascular death for those identified as optimistic.

The research found optimism to be associated with a 50 percent lower risk of death from heart attack in men studied over 15 years. Higher optimism scores were associated with younger age, higher education, less often living alone, better health, and increased physical activity.

Studies suggest that a person’s optimism can predict their well-being and physical health, according to background information in the article. Being optimistic has been associated with better health outcomes in patients with ischemic heart disease (caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries), and with a lower risk for all-cause death and cardiovascular disease and death. The study authors focused on dispositional optimism, defined as having generally positive life engagement and expectancies for one’s future.

Erik J. Giltay, Ph.D., M.D., of GGZ Delfland, Institute of Mental Health, Deft, the Netherlands, and colleagues studied elderly men living in the Netherlands to determine optimism’s effect on cardiovascular death. The study included 545 men aged 64 to 84 years who did not have pre-existing cardiovascular disease or cancer. Optimism was assessed in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 in a questionnaire given to study participants, who were asked to rate their agreement with the following items: “I still expect much from life,” “I do not look forward to what lies ahead for me in the years to come,” “My days seem to be passing by slowly” and “I am still full of plans.” The men were given scores and divided into groups based on their levels of optimism.

The researchers found optimism to be associated with an approximately 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death in the men over 15 years of follow-up. Higher optimism scores were associated with younger age, higher education, less often living alone, better health, a higher physical activity score and a lower depression score in 1990. On a scale from zero to three, with three being the most optimistic, the average scores decreased from 1.50 in 1985 to 1.27 in 2000. Current and past study results indicate that an individual’s optimism changes only moderately over time, though it does tend to decrease with age. “Optimism can be estimated easily and is stable over long periods,” the authors write. “It is yet to be established whether interventions aimed at improving an older individual’s level of optimism may reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality.”

(Article in the February 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals)

 

Blue Butterfly Back From the Brink

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The Smithsonian published a feature article in 2005 called Back From the Brink that asserted: “Not every endangered species is doomed. Thanks to tough laws, dedicated researchers, and plenty of money and effort, success stories abound.”

The Hawaiian green sea turtle is one such success featured in the magazine, along with the bald eagle, palila songbird, and southern sea otter, the whooping crane, red-cockaded woodpecker, and California chinook salmon, the Chiricahua leopard frog, grizzly bear and the karner blue butterfly.

“The vexing question of what to do with endangered species on private land is answered by the inspiring cooperative agreements forged on these animals’ behalf.”

For instance, the article points to Wisconsin:

“38 different partners participate to conserve habitat for the karner blue butterfly. The Wisconsin Gas Company agreed to mow grass along its power lines later in the summer than usual, the state highway department … also mows late, and they leave the grass long at the end of the season to help butterfly eggs survive the winter. Forestry companies delay spraying pesticides on their lands until the fall, after lupine have died.”

Amy Grant, of Germantown, Wisconsin, wrote to the Good News Network describing how she cooperated in this coalition for conservation:

Back in 1996 I worked for an organization in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, called the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association. It is composed of private landowners in the state with 100 or more acres and at the time served 1000 members. The plight of the Karner Blue butterfly was brought to the attention of association members, whose land was prime habitat for the karner blue. They were asked to plant large fields of lupine, the wildflower on which the karner blue lays eggs in spring and summer. The plant provides food and shelter once the eggs hatch.

 

Now, almost ten years later, I was so touched by an article in Smithsonian magazine, about this endangered butterful, and how, through the help of state and local agencies like WWOA, this incredibly beautiful butterfly is making a comeback in Wisconsin.
(photo courtesy of Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife)

Decrease of American Women Smoking

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For the first time in 40 years, less than 20 percent of women smoke (one third of women smoked in 1965). Wanna quit? Free help line (800) 784-8669.

U.S. Forests Expanding

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Since 2000, U.S. forests have expanded by an area larger than Delaware.  — Jan. 2006, Smithsonian magazine

(Read All Good Bites)

Sudan and Chad Agree to Peace Plan

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sudan votes

sudan-vote-yeswecan-unknownSudan and Chad have agreed to end a crisis that began last year when fighting broke out on their border, reports BBC News.

“After months of dispute, the Tripoli accord, chaired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, commits the two countries to restore diplomatic relations and cease any attempts of cross-border conflict,” said the February 9 report.

“I was blind for 25 years. Had a heart attack, woke up and could see.”

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Elderly Croatia looking up-KatinkaBille-FlickrCC
Never too old to enjoy the sunshine –Katinka Bille, CC

Elderly Croatia looking up-KatinkaBille-FlickrCCFrom the Telegraph newspaper in the UK, comes this story of a woman who had been blind for 25 years and awoke in the hospital after suffering a heart attack with her sight fully restored! The first thing she said to her husband — after, “I can see, I can see” — was, “You’ve gotten older haven’t you?”

Lower Lead Levels in U.S. Kids

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Levels of lead have dropped dramatically. In 1976, 88.2 percent of U.S. children had elevated blood lead levels compared to 1.6 percent today. (Feb. 25, 2006)

Water for Life

By
Bill Asenjo
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He remembers how the people reacted when he came to drill a well for them. “People just mobbed me and cried.”

Willis Miller believes in fate. Near death with a heart attack at age 50, he vowed to spend the rest of his life doing good in the world if he survived.

Now 81, Miller can take satisfaction in the decades of good created through his nonprofit organization, Water for Life. Miller spent all the money he saved as a successful water well driller to provide and maintain hundreds of water wells for the poor in Haiti, many of whom walked over 5 miles for a bucket of dirty water. “If you don’t have clean water,” Miller said, “you don’t have anything.”

Water for Life provides clean water for over 200,000 people a day in Haiti. Clean water not only improves health, but crop production and living conditions as well.

While recovering from his heart attack, Miller met a man one day who asked him what he did for a living. “I told him I was a water well driller, “ Miller said. “This man started telling me about how bad it was in Haiti, how a Haitian mission had a water well that no one could fix.”

For the next seven years Miller gave his time and expertise to large organizations such as World Vision and Compassion International. He remembers how the people reacted when he came to drill a well for them, “People just mobbed me and cried.”

The large organizations didn’t service the wells once they were drilled. “It just didn’t work out,” Miller said. “I drilled over 40 wells for them, but today none of them are working.”

Miller became so frustrated he was ready to return to his home in rural Iowa. But a friend decided he would rent out his farmland and give Miller the money so that he could continue his good works in Haiti. “We started with nothing,” Miller said, “but today Water for Life has a budget of over $600,000 and has more than 300 working wells in Haiti.” Water for Life trains Haitians to service the wells. A single well provides clean water for about 750 people and 250 livestock.

Water for Life also built two irrigation systems, a church and a primary school in Haiti. Before the irrigations systems were put in, Miller said, crops baked in the sun and yielded little edible food. “They used to get a bushel of corn. Now they get a roomful of corn,” Miller said.

Although he retired about 5 years ago, Miller remains involved in the operation of Water for Life from his home in Kalona, Iowa. His son, Leon, now president of Water for Life, spends much of his time in Haiti conducting most of the work, Miller said. “I feel I’ve accomplished what I set out to do,” he said. Seeing the living conditions in Haiti change dramatically has been one of Miller’s greatest rewards.

Miller said, “Mothers would tell me their babies once had worms up to three feet long, but not any more.” Then he smiled, “That just thrilled my soul.”

www.waterforlife.org

Mayors Combat Greenhouse Gases in US

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More than 160 mayors have pledged to curb greenhouse gases in their cities according to the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol. (2005)

States Set Renewable Energy Goals

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Eighteen states, including power hogs California and Texas, have set requirements or goals for renewable energy. New York, for one, aims to generate 25 percent of the state’s energy from renewables by 2013, up from 19 percent today. (Jan. 2006)

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