Assisting HIV/AIDS-affected households in Zimbabwe
NYANGA, Zimbabwe, Aug 31, 2011. By Bertha Shoko, http://www.unicefusa.org.
Ambuya Sylvia Nyawera is an
elderly woman from Dombo village in the rural Nyanga area of Zimbabwe,
about 186 miles east of Harare. She sits cross-legged in her small
kitchen, palm on her cheek, looking miserable. For full story, click here.
Persistent
High Burden of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in South African
HIV-Infected Adults in the Era of an Antiretroviral Program
Nunes
MC, et al. 2011 From PLOS.
The aim of this study was to
evaluate trends in IPD hospitalizations in HIV-infected adults in
Soweto, South Africa, associated with up-scaling of the HAART program
from 2003 to 2008. For article abstract and link, click here.
Voluntary
Medical Male Circumcision: Modeling the Impact and Cost of Expanding
Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Eastern and Southern Africa
Njeuhmeli E et al. 2011, PLOS
Background. There is strong evidence showing that voluntary medical male circumcision
(VMMC) reduces HIV incidence in men. For links to full article and abstract, click here.
Patient dies as doctors' strike paralyses operations
Dec 5, 2011. From http://www.standardmedia.co.ke. By Standard Team
Medical services in Government hospitals countrywide were paralysed as doctors downed their tools to push for better pay.
At the Coast Provincial General Hospital a patient died after he was left unattended to following the strike. For full article click here.
Nurses Call
for Same Salaries As Doctors
28 Sep 2009. By
Francis Okeke in the Daily Trust, http://dailytrust.com.ng/
National Association of Nigerian Nurses
and Midwifery (NANNM) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter has called for
same salaries for workers of same level in the country's health sector. For full article, click here.
Disabled
commemorate International Day in ‘grief’
Dec 5, 2011. By Abibatu Kamara. From http://www.awoko.org.
Physically
challenged, visual and hearing impaired on Saturday 3rd December 2011
commemorated International Day of the Disabled in grief and issued an ultimatum
to government to either implement the Disability Act (which was passed into law
in March 2011) or they will boycott the 2012 elections. For full article, click here.
Resources for Victims of Domestic Violence
Nov 2011. New York City District Attorney's Office. What is Domestic Violence?
I want the abuse to stop. What should I do? Call 911 for immediate help. If unable, go
to the police station nearest to where the abuse occurred. If you
have suffered an injury, you should seek medical attention and have
photographs of your injuries taken. Remember, any evidence of the
abuse, such as broken furniture, punched holes in the wall, torn
clothing, damaged phone or cell phone and any types of messages: voice mail, text or email are helpful in the investigation and prosecution of your case. For full article, click here.
Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA)
Oct 2011. From www.cdc.gov. Purpose of the Program
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem in the United States. Research indicates that IPV
exists on a continuum from episodic violence—a single or occasional
occurrence—to battering (Johnson, 1995). Battering is more frequent and
intensive and involves one partner who develops and maintains control
over the other. See our web site for additional information about the magnitude and consequences of IPV. For full article, click here.
Cost of Violent Deaths in the United States, 2005
Oct 2011. From www.cdc.gov. In the United States, violence accounts for
approximately 51,000 deaths annually. Violent deaths are those that
result from the intentional use of physical force or power against
oneself, another person, or a group or community. They include suicide,
homicide, and legal intervention deaths. Violence adversely affects
all Americans not only through premature death, but also through
medical costs and lost productivity. Estimating the size of this
economic burden is helpful in understanding the resources that could be
saved if cost-effective violence prevention efforts were applied. For full article, click here.
From
the United States Federal Government's Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/transmission.htm. Nov
28, 2011.
Yes,
it is possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through
performing or receiving oral sex, though it is a less common mode of
transmission than other sexual behaviors (anal and vaginal sex). There
have been a few cases of
HIV transmission from performing oral sex on a person infected with
HIV. For full article, click here.
AIDS is the final stage of HIV Disease.
From
the United States of America Federal Government National Library of
Medicine, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000594.htm
Causes
Important facts about the spread of AIDS include:-AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among people ages 25 - 44 in the United States, down from number one in 1995. For full article, click here.
AIDS Guidelines: HIV/AIDS Treatment Goals
From
http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/ContentFiles/AdultandAdolescentGL.pdf.
Updated Jan 10, 2011. Eradication of HIV infection cannot be achieved
with available antiretroviral (ARV) regimens even when new, potent drugs
are added to a regimen already suppressing plasma viral load below the
limits of detection with commercially available assays [1]. This is
chiefly because the pool of latently infected CD4 T-cells is established
during the earliest stages of acute HIV infection [2] and persists with
a long half-life, despite prolonged suppression of plasma viremia
[3-7]. For full article, click here.
Insomnia with Short Sleep Duration and Mortality: The Penn State
Cohort
Sleep. 2010 Sep 1; 33(9): 1159-1164. Alexandros N. Vgontzas et al.
MANY STUDIES HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT INSOMNIA, THE MOST COMMON SLEEP DISORDER, IS HIGHLY COMORBID WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS AND IS a risk
factor for the development of depression, anxiety, and suicide. In contrast to
sleep disordered breathing (SDB), the second most common sleep disorder, chronic insomnia has not been associated with significant medical morbidity, e.g.,
cardiovascular disorders. For full article, click here.
FDA approves first insomnia drug for middle-of-the-night waking followed by difficulty returning to sleep
Nov. 23, 2011. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Intermezzo (zolpidem
tartrate sublingual tablets) for use as needed to treat insomnia
characterized by middle-of-the-night waking followed by difficulty
returning to sleep.
This
is the first time the FDA has approved a drug for this condition.
Intermezzo should only be used when a person has at least four hours of
bedtime remaining. It should not be taken if alcohol has been consumed
or with any other sleep aid. For full article, click here.
FDA Approves First Generic Versions of Ambien (Zolpidem Tartrate) for the
Treatment of Insomnia
April 23, 2007. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved
the first generic versions of Ambien (zolpidem tartrate) immediate-release tablets.
Zolpidem tartrate is a sedative-hypnotic drug indicated for the
short-term treatment of insomnia. Zolpidem tartrate tablets in formulations of 5mg and 10mg are
manufactured by multiple generic drug companies in the United States. For full article, click here.
The American Diabetes Association Encourages People to Take Control of Their Health on World Diabetes Day
Alexandria, VA, Nov. 11, 2011. During American Diabetes Month this November, the American Diabetes
Association will join the International Diabetes Federation to raise
awareness of diabetes on November 14 - World Diabetes Day. November 14 was the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting. Click here for full story.
4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life.
National
Diabetes Education Program (US Government). May 1, 2011. These four
steps help people with diabetes understand, monitor, and manage their
diabetes to help them stay healthy. This publication is excellent for
people newly diagnosed with diabetes or who just want to learn more
about controlling the disease. For complete article, click here.
Number of Americans with Diabetes Rises to Nearly 26 Million; More than a third of adults estimated to have prediabetes
CDC (Centers
for Disease Control & Prevention) (US Govt). Jan 2011. Nearly 26
million Americans have diabetes, according to new estimates from the CDC. An
estimated 79 million U.S. adults have prediabetes,
a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not
high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes raises a person's
risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Click here for full story.
From the National Institutes of Health, at NIH.gov. Reproduced on Nov 11, 2011.
Introduction
Not until the middle of the twentieth century was there a name for a
disorder that now appears to affect an estimated 3.4 every 1,000
children ages 3-10, a disorder that causes disruption in families and
unfulfilled lives for many children. Click here for full article.
New CMU Brain Imaging Research Reveals Why Autistic Individuals Confuse Pronouns
Aug 1, 2011. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Autism
is a mysterious developmental disease because it often leaves complex
abilities intact while impairing seemingly elementary ones. For example,
it is well documented that autistic children often have difficulty
correctly using pronouns, sometimes referring to themselves as "you"
instead of "I." Click here for full article.
Consumer Robot for Autism Therapy Wins Top Prize in Nation's First RoboBowl Competition
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Oct 19, 2011. A Pittsburgh startup, Interbots,
won a first prize of $25,000 for its plan to develop consumer robots
that could help boost the social skills of autistic children in the
inaugural RoboBowl venture competition.
GlaxoSmithKline reports results from ongoing Phase III trial show malaria vaccine
candidate, RTS,S* reduces the risk of malaria by half in African
children aged 5 to 17 months.
18 October 2011. Half
the world’s population is at risk of malaria which is responsible for
close to 800,000 deaths each year, most of whom are children under five
in sub-Saharan Africa
First results from a large-scale Phase III trial of RTS,S, for full article, click here.
Towards an African-Driven Malaria Vaccine Development Program: History and
Activities of the African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET)
Wen L. Kilama,* Roma Chilengi, and Charles L. Wanga.
African Malaria Network Trust, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET), whose mission is to promote capacity
strengthening of African malaria research institutions, was founded in 2002 and is
currently focusing on malaria vaccine development. For full article, click here.
The History of Malaria, an Ancient Disease, from CDC.gov
Feb 8, 2010. Malaria or a disease resembling malaria has been noted for more than
4,000 years. From the Italian for "bad air," mal'aria has probably
influenced to a great extent human populations and human history.
The symptoms of malaria were described in ancient Chinese medical
writings. In 2700 BC, several characteristic symptoms of what would
later be named malaria were described in the Nei Ching, The Canon of Medicine). For entire article, click here.
General Information About Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.
CDC. Aug 13, 2010. The risk of getting breast cancer increases with age. The table below
shows the percentage of women (how many out of 100) who will get breast
cancer over different time periods. The time periods are based on the
woman's current age.
The table shows 3.45% of women who
are now 60 years old will get breast cancer sometime during the next 10
years. For full article, click here.
Breast Cancer Rates by Race and Ethnicity
CDC. Sep 28, 2010. The rate of women getting breast cancer or dying from breast cancer varies by race and ethnicity.
Incidence Rates by Race/Ethnicity
"Incidence rate" means how many women out of a given number get the
disease each year. The graph below shows how many women out of 100,000
got breast cancer each year during the years 1999–2007. Full article, click here.
Hypertension defined by the US National Library of Medicine, click here
Listen to MJoTA publisher talk about hypertension, click for more.
Hypertension statistics from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, click here.
Dietary Approaches to Control Blood Pressure. Position Paper of American Society for Hypertension. MJoTA summary and full position paper, click here.
United States Food and Drug Association Regulates Food Safety: http://FDA.gov Sep 20, 2011 Click for more.
New
multi-year data show annual HIV infections in U.S. relatively stable.
Alarming increase among young, black gay and bisexual men requires
urgent action
August 3, 2011. From the CDC. The CDC’s first multi-year estimates from its national HIV incidence
surveillance find that overall, the annual number of new HIV infections
in the United States was relatively stable at approximately 50,000 new
infections each year between 2006 and 2009. However, HIV infections
increased among young men who have sex with men (MSM) between 2006 and
2009, Click for full story.
USC Scientist Develops Virus That Targets HIV: Using a Virus to Kill a Virus
August 8, 2011. From University of South California press office. In what represents an important step toward curing HIV, a USC scientist
has created a virus that hunts down HIV-infected cells.
Dr. Pin Wang's lentiviral vector latches onto HIV-infected cells,
flagging them with what is called "suicide gene therapy" - allowing
drugs to later target and destroy them. Click here for more.
Viramune(R) (nevirapine)
prolonged-release once-daily formulation for the treatment of HIV-1
infection receives CHMP recommendation for approval (not yet approved in USA)
Ingelheim, Germany, 27th July 2011 - Boehringer Ingelheim announced today that the Committee for Medicinal
Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)
has issued a Positive Opinion recommending the approval of once-daily
Viramune(R) (nevirapine) prolonged-release in all member states of the
European Union.
1 Click here to read full story.
TROVAN, Kano State Civil Case - Statement of Defense
In its
Statement of Defense, Pfizer denies each and every material allegation
contained in the plaintiff's Statement of Claim; and states its belief
that the Kano State civil lawsuit has no merit and is both frivolous and
a gross abuse of the legal process 11 years after the fact. Click for story.
Pfizer Responds to Divided Ruling by US Court of Appeals for 2nd Circuit in Cases Related to Trovan Study in Nigeria
January 30,
2009. NEW YORK - Pfizer released the following statement in reaction to
today's divided ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, remanding two cases (Abdullahi v. Pfizer Inc. and Adamu v.
Pfizer Inc.) brought by Nigerian residents For full story, click here.
Pfizer Statement Regarding Article In The Guardian
December 9, 2010. NEW
YORK, N.Y., December 9 - Pfizer Inc. issued the following statement
today in response to an article published in The Guardian regarding
purported cables from the U.S. embassy in Nigeria that discuss Pfizer. Click for more.
FDA approves the first specific treatment for scorpion stings
Aug 3, 2011. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Anascorp, the first
specific treatment for a scorpion sting by Centruroides scorpions in the
United States.
Venomous scorpions in the U.S. are mostly found in
Arizona. Click here for story.
South Africa
With the highest number of
infections in the world, South Africa is one of the countries most
severely affected by the AIDS epidemic. The country’s first HIV
infection was reported in 1982. Click here for story.
About DailyMed
DailyMed provides high quality information about marketed drugs. This
information includes FDA labels (package inserts). This Web site
provides health information providers and the public
with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download
resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication
package inserts. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides this as
a public service and does not accept advertisements. For story, click here.
Anti-Corruption Provisions are Key for Making Peace Agreements Sustainable
United States Institute of Peace, July 20, 2011.
(Washington) In a new study, Negotiating Peace and Confronting Corruption
from the United States Institute of Peace, author Bertram I. Spector
argues that peace and economic recovery in countries emerging from
violent conflict are more likely and more durable when good governance
reforms and corruption controls are included in negotiations ending the
conflict. Click for more.
National peace essay contest 2011-2012 topic and question
The impact of new media on peacebuilding and conflict management
Across
the globe, innovations in technology are changing the way people
consume information and communicate with those around them, and
consequently, are influencing peacebuilding and conflict management.
Traditional media, like television and radio, once dominated mass
communication and information flow. However, we are now witnessing a new media revolution: ...... Click for more.
World Food Program
Rome Emergency Meeting Rallies To Aid Horn Of Africa (FAO)
July 25, 2011
Rome - The international community rallied today to the aid of drought- and famine-affected populations in the Horn of Africa with an immediate, twin-track programme designed to avert an imminent humanitarian catastrophe and build long-term food security in the region. click for more
Joint
Report from Oakland Institute and SMNE Sounds Alarm on Foreign Agri-Investments
in Food Insecure Ethiopia
The Oakland Institute (OI) and the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia
(SMNE) announce the June 8, 2011 release of their joint report on Ethiopia; read more
Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to H.E. Mrs Genevieve D. Tsegah Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the Holy See
Clementine Hall, Thursday, 9 June
2011
Your Excellency,
In welcoming you to the Vatican and accepting the Letters of Credence read more
FDA approves new treatment for Type 2 diabetes
The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 2, 2011 approved Tradjenta
(linagliptin) tablets, used with diet and exercise, to improve blood
glucose control in adults with Type 2 diabetes. read more
Feb 13, 2011
I
was hanging out with a family from Port Harcourt when this news came
through. The institutions for law and order and education are in place
in Nigeria. Voting for Mr Jonathan is voting for continuing chaos and
bad leadership; voting for Mr Ribadu is voting for a non-pompous leader
whose compass is always to do the right thing for Nigeria.
PORT
HARCOURT, Nigeria — A stampede at a campaign rally on Saturday for
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in the oil-producing Niger Delta
region killed at least 11 people and injured 29 others, police said.
ALGIERS
— Thousands of Algerians defied a government ban on protests and a
massive deployment of riot police to rally in the capital yesterday,
demanding democratic reforms a day after similar protests toppled
Egypt’s authoritarian leader. ---------------------------------------------------------------
The
drum beat has started and the march against oppression has begun......
Praying for Algerians, that they may have the wisdom and courage of
their brothers and sisters in Tunisia and Egypt...
I
like leaders to be able to remember if they ate breakfast or bombed
something this.morning. None of these old men look capable of that.
Cleopatra was a great pharaoh caught in an impossible time. Great women
leaders are emerging in Africa in this new world, praying for one to
emerge in Egypt.
Stand with Egypt
Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:24 PM
From: "Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org"
To: "publisher@mjota.org"
Dear friends,
Brave Egyptian protesters will determine in the coming hours whether tyranny or democracy prevails in Egypt and across the region. They’ve appealed for international solidarity – let’s send them a massive response, and hold our governments accountable to stand with themtoo:
Millions of brave Egyptians are right now facing a fateful choice.
Thousands have been jailed, injured or killed in the last few days. But
if they press on in peaceful protest, they could end decades of
tyranny.
The protesters have appealed for international solidarity, but
the dictatorship knows the power of unity at a time like this – they’ve
desperately tried to cut Egyptians off from the world and each other by
completely shutting down the internet and mobile networks.
Satellite and radio networks can still break through the regime blackout -- let’s flood those airwaves with a massive cry of solidarity showing Egyptians that we stand with them,
and that we’ll hold our governments accountable to stand with them too.
The situation is at a tipping point -- every hour counts -- click below to sign the solidarity message, and forward this email:
People power is sweeping the Middle East. In days,
peaceful protesters brought down Tunisia’s 30-year dictatorship. Now the
protests are spreading to Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and beyond. This could be the Arab world's Berlin Wall moment. If tyranny falls in Egypt, a tidal wave of democracy could sweep the entire region.
Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has tried to crush the rallies. But with
incredible bravery and determination, the protesters keep coming.
There are moments when history is written not by the powerful, but by people.
This is one of them. The actions of ordinary Egyptians in the coming
hours will have a massive effect on their country, the region, and our
world. Let’s cheer them on with our own pledge to stand with them in
their struggle:
Mubarak’s family has left the country, but last night he ordered the
military into the streets. He’s ominously promised 0 tolerance for what
he calls ‘chaos’. Either way, history will be made in the next few days.
Let’s make this the moment that shows every dictator on our planet that
they cannot stand long against the courage of people united.
With hope and admiration for the Egyptian people,
Ricken, Rewan, Ben, Graziela, Alice, Kien and the rest of the Avaaz team
Support the Avaaz community!
We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from
governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the
smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here
December 23, 2010 Washington, DC - On December 17, Science Magazine
recognized a promising HIV study as one of the top ten achievements of
2010. The groundbreaking research provided the first-ever proof of concept that a microbicide can effectively and safely reduce HIV transmission in women. Ninety percent of the study was funded by USAID as part of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
The HIV prevention trials were conducted by the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) with assistance from two USAID-funded implementing partners, Family Health International
(FHI) and CONRAD. Researchers of the study tested the use of a vaginal
gel containing 1% of the anti-HIV drug tenofovir. The drug was
administered over a 30-month period to 889 South African women and was proven to reduce HIV infections by 39 percent.
The
microbicide trial exemplifies USAID's commitment to supporting
game-changing breakthroughs in global health, and also to focus on women
and gender equality, both of which will expand under President Obama's Global Health Initiative.
Further, USAID is committed to building a solid foundation of robust
science and new technologies, enabling innovation to redefine and
strengthen U.S. development assistance globally.
Notably,
the microbicide study was one of two breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS
prevention recognized in the Top 10 list. Science Magazine also
recognized the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) study, which
confirmed that daily oral use of a combination antiretroviral (ARV),
Truvada reduced the risk of HIV infection by 44 percent among men who
have sex with men. This historic iPrEx trial provides the first proof of
concept that oral PrEP of an ARV can prevent HIV transmission.
USAID
is looking to complement the iPrEx results with a similar study for
women. The FemPrEP clinical trial-led by FHI with support from USAID-is
designed to test the safety and effectiveness of a daily dose of Truvada
for HIV prevention. Finding a woman-controlled method of prevention is
critical in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
For more information about USAID and the agency's HIV/AIDS work, visit .
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.
PRESS STATEMENT: PEACE AND SECURITY ACROSS WEST AFRICA
To: ECOWAS Commission, Member Governments and Citizens: Let
us work together toward peace and security across West Africa for
development and poverty reduction measures to take hold.
We of the United States-West Africa Group call on the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy a comprehensive
security umbrella over the entire sub-region as a matter of urgency and a
precondition for development to which citizens, entrepreneurs,
investors and governments aspire.
We note with great admiration and appreciation the role of ECOWAS
Commission and member governments through the valor of ECOWAS Monitoring
Group (ECOMOG), external forces and treasure, and other instruments in
bringing to an end the major civil conflicts that plagued the sub-region
in the past. The holding of national elections in Cote d’Ivoire is
further manifestation that West Africa has turned away from the acts
that branded the sub-region as one of the world’s hotspots for conflicts
and civil wars.
We join with others in expressing our hope for a sub-region that
meets the needs of its people and their yearning for human dignity
through economic security, good governance, social cohesion and
prosperity.
The ECOWAS region is poised for economic growth and bright future for
its people if its rich natural resources can be harnessed peacefully.
The recent discoveries of major oil and gas deposits in member states at
a time of global thirst for these resources must bode well.
We note with sadness, however, the savagery that has accompanied
exploitation of these and other natural resources with which the
sub-region is endowed to date, most recently the manifestation of a new
form of violence even as Nigeria marked its 50th anniversary
of independence (our condolences to the bereaved), and threats emanating
from other gangs even before Ghana had its first barrel of oil reach
its shores. These incidences should not become a new trend even as the
sub-region has shed its image of violence and associated deaths,
destruction, depravity, deprivation and displacement.
We also point to the increasing insecurity due to criminal gangs that
are causing panic among populations, whether on rural roads or in urban
homes, targeting poor and rich, weak and powerful.
These dangerous occurrences must be stopped through appropriate
security and intelligence instruments and within the framework of rule
of law and good governance. This is because citizens have made enough
sacrifices in the two decades or so when the region was branded as “one
of the hotspots for violent conflicts in the world, with civil wars in
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Niger and
Guinea” and various levels of insecurity in Togo, parts of Nigeria and
Ghana, among others.
We call for a new form of ECOWAS security framework that is based on
supra-national arrangements to dispense justice to the aggrieved,
whether real or perceived. In this regard, we call for strong
intelligence gathering, citizen education and consensus building,
mechanisms for conflict aversion and resolution and a rapid deployment
of elite forces to protect life, property and other assets that are
required to exude confidence in economic investments by citizens and
foreign capitalists.
As Africans, we are quick to emphasize home-grown democratic values.
In this regard, the indigenous African wisdom of dispute settlement must
be applied to conflicts between the state and citizen groups – that is,
using the clan head or supra-national mechanism of ECOWAS in dispensing
justice about grievances whether real or perceived. It is about time
issues such as the Niger Delta Crisis ceased to be left to national institutions alone to resolve as they have sub-regional implications.
We call for supra-national mechanisms under ECOWAS to be
institutionalized for citizen groups and communities to receive justice
in matters of genuine grievances while public information and education
campaigns build greater understanding on perceived injustices.
Citizens must be reassured of the promise of prosperity that ushered
in independence five decades ago. While governments and international
capital and investors pursue large private sector projects especially in
mining and the extractive sectors, tangible tools and means must be
made accessible at the community level in rural and poor urban areas;
these include education, skills development, micro-finance and market
opportunities for rural occupations and urban artisanal products and
services.
In building a formidable security intelligence and asset base, we
call on ECOWAS to engage citizens in discussions and deployment of the
necessary tools. We point to potential contributions of Africans abroad
in the form of information technology and intelligence analysis,
investments in the sector, training of security and intelligence
personnel on data mining, and so on, toward such an initiative
ECOWAS must also not hesitate in requesting assistance from friendly
forces, including AFRICOM, to build the necessary capacity for
addressing the expressed needs. Intelligence sharing is indeed now a
global partnership, and West African states must be integrated in that
security and intelligence apparatus for crime prevention.
Finally, we call on ECOWAS to accelerate the pace of real integration
across the sub-region, including on governance matters. National
governments must be accountable to a higher body, just as the European
Union has a role in garbage disposal issues in Naples, Italy or
expulsion of the Roma from France, apart from national fiscal policies.
Citizens must be engaged even at the community level in discussing
security and intelligence instruments, and regional integration because
these would involve some compromises: democratic values around the world
now recognize the need for citizens to endue limited degrees of
inconveniences for the greater good. Regional integration would also
entail redefining sovereignty of the nation-state as currently
constituted.
"When everyone else was singing "we Are The WOrld", Bed Stuy Vollies were on the ground in Haiti. Http://www.bsvac.org
Lakewood Ranch, FL April 10, 2010 -- Three months on from one of the worst disasters
ever witnessed, over 100,000 Haitian earthquake survivors are
rebuilding their lives in ShelterBox tents.
The international disaster relief charity has now delivered over 13,000
ShelterBoxes to families who lost everything in the 7.3-magnitude
quake. Each box contains a disaster relief tent to house a family of up
to 10, water purification, a cook stove, blankets, a tool set among
other items.
As the world marks the three-month anniversary of the disaster that
struck on January 12, ShelterBox is sending another 5,000 boxes of aid
this month -- enough for an additional 50,000 people -- with thousands
more ShelterBoxes due to arrive in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince,
during the coming months.
ShelterBox
began its response to the Haiti earthquake just 12 minutes after the
quake struck on January 12, by mobilizing a ShelterBox Response Team to
Port au Prince. The next day, the first ShelterBoxes left the charitys
HQ in the UK bound for Haiti.
The first boxes arrived five days after the earthquake and were used to
set up emergency field hospitals, immediately saving lives by providing
vital shelter to patients who had nowhere to go. Hundreds more boxes
followed and ShelterBox camps were set up in suburbs of Port au Prince
including Delmas, where families with newborn babies and pregnant women
were prioritized for emergency shelter.
A total of 13,000 ShelterBoxes have now been distributed in Haiti with
thousands more to come, making it ShelterBoxs largest deployment since
the Indian Ocean Tsunami. All aid has been delivered by volunteer
ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members from across the globe who have
carried out extensive training with ShelterBox. More than 30 SRT
members, including 12 US SRT, have now been deployed in Haiti as well
as Santo Domingo and Miami coordinating logistics for Haitian aid.
Having just returned from Haiti, Philadelphia Businessman and
Response Team Member Bill Decker, is proud of the ongoing efforts and
successes of ShelterBox to provide shelter for Haiti.
Im proud of the efforts of all of the dedicated people in Haiti,"
said Decker, especially my ShelterBox colleagues who have provided
enough shelter and warmth for over 130,000 of those displaced. Thats
about 13% of the total displaced by the quake."
Partnerships forged with organizations on the ground in Haiti such
as French aid agency ACTED, the French Red Cross, the IOM, local
Rotarians, the Dutch military and the US military allowed SRT members
to distribute boxes effectively and securely, ensuring aid has been
delivered to people most in need.
While there are still mountains of rubble and ongoing medical crises,"
said Decker, were seeing aggressive efforts by NGOs and the Haitian
people to clear away debris and actually begin to rebuild. Our
ShelterBox tents will continue to be a key part of that rebuilding
effort."
Across the globe, people have been supporting ShelterBox on
unprecedented levels and volunteers at ShelterBox HQ have been packing
more boxes, in the shortest space of time, than they ever have before.
The President and Royal Patron of ShelterBox, Her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Cornwall Camila, visited the charitys HQ in Cornwall,
England last month to thank staff and volunteers for their relief
efforts in Haiti.
ShelterBox Founder and CEO Tom Henderson said, With tens of thousands
of families still living without adequate shelter in heavy rains and
the hurricane season soon approaching, the need for emergency shelter
is still great and we wont rest until this need is met."
Since its inception in 2000, ShelterBox (www.shelterboxusa.org)
has provided shelter and dignity following over 100 disasters in more
than 70 countries, bringing the organization to the forefront of
international disaster relief. ShelterBox instantly responds to
earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by
delivering boxes of aid. In many cases ShelterBoxes have made the
difference between life and death.
Each ShelterBox supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a
tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or
homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and
location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to
ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value. Highly trained
ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working
closely with local organizations, international aid agencies and Rotary
clubs worldwide.
April 1st, 2010
From the UK National Archives: "After more than 50 years of searching, the only known printed
copy of Haiti's Declaration of Independence has been discovered at The
National Archives in Kew.
Julia Gaffield, from America's Duke University, found the eight page
pamphlet dated 1 January 1804 within The National Archives' colonial
correspondence relating to Jamaica. The graduate student said: 'I was
hoping that the original [Declaration] would be in London, but I wasn't
certain that it would be. It wasn't a surprise, but it was very
exciting!'
The Declaration was attached to a letter sent on 20 January 1804 by
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, first ruler and Governor-General of the
Republic of Haiti, to Sir George Nugent, Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica.
This document is only the second declaration of its kind in the
world, the first being the US Declaration of Independence, printed on 4
July 1776.
Although a number of reprints of this declaration exist, researchers
have long looked for the original printed copy issued by the government,
making this discovery even more significant.
Commenting on the find, Oliver Morley, Acting Chief Executive at The
National Archives, said: 'It's incredible that the long search for this
important document should finally end at The National Archives. This
declaration, sent to the British Government by Haiti's first independent
leader, is of great historical importance to both Haiti and the British
people, and provides unique insight into the first successful slave
rebellion of modern times.'
NEW YORK (March 30, 2010) — On the eve of an international donor’s
conference for Haiti at the United Nations, Save the Children, SOS
Children’s Villages International, Plan International, World Vision
International, Oxfam and UNICEF have stressed the importance of ensuring
children, young people and their families are at the center of all
rebuilding efforts.
A March 30 panel discussion hosted by UNICEF and featuring
representatives from all these organizations, as well as the U.N.
Ambassadors from Mexico and Haiti, will look at challenges for
development and ways to build back better with children at the
forefront.
Children and adolescents under 15 make up nearly 40 percent of the
population in Haiti and young people from 15 to 24 account for another
20 percent. Even before the earthquake the needs of many Haitian
children were not met. Nearly one in every fourteen children did not
live to see their fifth birthday and children who survived were
afflicted by high rates of malnutrition. About 50 percent of all Haitian
children did not attend primary school and only 18 percent of boys and
21 percent of girls attended secondary school.
Humanitarian organizations working on children’s issues maintain that
providing Haiti’s youngest citizens with a strong voice in the
discussion around the future of their country and enabling them to
actively participate in all aspects of it will be crucial for a
successful transformation of Haiti.
In a recent post disaster risk assessment study with more than 1,000
children, many said that their priority was to return to school and
continue their education as soon as possible. “I want the rights of
children to be respected and all children to know what their rights are.
I also want everyone to have access to education,” says quake survivor
Daphmika, 15, in Port-au-Prince.
The government of Haiti has indicated its commitment to prioritizing
the needs of children and youth, but the earthquake has dramatically
complicated the difficult task of assuring the well-being of Haiti’s
youngest citizens. Many of the more than one million children in the
earthquake zone were already in vulnerable circumstances and now face
increased risks due to loss, separation from, or displacement of their
families, malnutrition, illness, psychological trauma and abuse.
Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Plan
International, World Vision International, Oxfam and UNICEF stress that
Haiti is a children’s emergency and have been providing children and
families with emergency relief supplies including shelter, food, medical
supplies, water and sanitation supplies, and child protection services.
The establishment of tent schools has given children the opportunity to
continue their education and experience a sense of safety and normalcy.
If Haiti is to emerge from disaster as a place where children and
families can survive and thrive, a holistic and sustained
internationally-funded response that creates a strong child protection
system and provides access to quality health care and education will be
needed. Children and young people must be acknowledged as resourceful,
as agents of change and as protagonists in their own development.
Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, Plan
International, World Vision International, Oxfam and UNICEF are closely
collaborating on the ground and internationally to provide consistent
and coordinated support to Haiti’s children and its future.
March 22, 2010
Saturday I was doing "New York Managing Editor" duty by tagging along first to a Staten Island Muslim wedding, then to a party in Queens, before driving home a woman who introduced me to herself as the Prophetess, and her husband and daughter.
I am always delighted when Nigerians I have met in Manhattan, in Washington, in Baltimore, in Philadelphia come up to me and greet me by name and wish me well. It helps overcome the unveiled hostility I get from the fringes, from Africans (some are Nigerian) who are under-employed, heavily in debt, deeply envious of my path in life, whose main goal seems to be to humiliate me and my attempts to understand and report successes.
Today I am feeling sorry for myself because tomorrow I have to go to court because a Nigerian attorney and nurse for no reason I can understand has decided that my entire reason for existence is to come up with $20 million for her. The case is Fashakin vs Dodgson 09-04291. This is public record.
I have never
been interested in gossip, it bores me, I can feel my brain dissolving
when I am told what she did and how dare she and do you know what a
jerk he is? Stories I love, but chatter I detest.
March 14, 2010
Witnessed
the birth on March 13, 2010, in Queens, New York, of the Nigerian People's
Parliament. Wow. Nigerian Democratic Liberty Forum is on a roll.
At the new Nigerian People's Parliament I enjoyed the discussions of
good Nigerians who want to fix the fallout of centuries of European
corruption in Nigeria that continues to this day. They want to fix it
by holding Nigerians to a higher standard, by anchoring Nigeria to the
Siamese twins of business success: trust and accountability. SaharaReporters.com faithfully posted during the proceedings.
The day after, on March 14 2010, I witnessed a second meetings of concerned,
educated, brilliant Nigerians who are doing their best to raise up
Nigeria. Nigeria is heading in the right direction from changes
internally and externally. I see it. Nigerians in the upcoming
generation will reclaim Nigeria. Which is what I gushed on Facebook.
What was missing from my gushings were my reporting that the Nigerian People's Parliament was certainly reported by the ever sharp Sahara Reporters Publisher. I was there representing the New York Echo Publisher, and I recognized the Publisher of Africans Abroad. During the proceedings a vote was taken for the constitution of the body, what was it. Motions voted on were whether it would be a lobby group, a parliament (that one passed), or a Nigerian Government in exile. The last motion, offered by the Publisher of Africans Abroad, made me gasp. That sounds like sedition to me, treason, an offence in several countries punishable by firing squad. Constituting a government in exile, gosh, the French did that when their country was occupied by Germany in the Second World War. Nigeria is occupied by Nigerians and governed by Nigeria.
February 28, 2010
Bed-Stuy
Vollies Sending Ambulance and First Responders to Haiti
On
February 27, 2010 a catastrophic earthquake shook Chile.
At its epicenter the strength of the shaking was measured at 8.8, which is
about 900 times more shaking than the earthquake that had at its epicenter Haiti’s capital
city, Port au Prince, on January 12, 2010. The Bed-Stuy Vollies already had
made plans to send one of its 3 ambulances to Port au Prince, and these plans
are going ahead.
What is
different about the Chilean earthquake? Why are they not sending an ambulance
to Chile?
The first reason is that although the earthquake was stronger, no population
center was decimated. The first images we had of Haiti after the earthquake included
a dramatic picture of the Haitian Presidential Palace collapsing. Haitian
government, Haitian universities, Haitian schools, were buried underneath a
pile of rubble. The first pictures we had of the Chilean earthquake were of an
ambulance treating the injured, and of the Chilean President riding in a
helicopter as she looked over the damage.
Chile has ambulances. Haiti does not,
did not.
When I was
in Haiti with the Bed-Stuy
Vollies as part of the massive international relief effort during the first
month, I saw 3 Red Cross ambulances from Norway
in the grounds of the GeneralHospital.
These were lined up across the path from the nurses’ building that collapsed,
killing 521 persons. I was told that 521 persons died in the collapse by a Médecins Sans Frontières physician.
He took my notebook and wrote down the number to make absolutely sure I
understood him.
Will Norway take
back its ambulances at some time in the future? I do not know, but I did see a
pair of middle-aged men wearing caps embossed with Concern happily drive up to
the tent hospital, move small babies out of a tent, load their truck with fans,
dismantle the tent and drive away. I came back 2 hours later with the Medicin
Sans Frontiere physicians to show them, the babies were still sitting in cribs
outside where the tent had been.
However
helpful the Norwegian
Red Cross ambulances, more are needed immediately. The
most usual way for an injured or diseased person to get to the hospital is for
friends and family to escort his or her. One night I was standing by the front
gate to the GeneralHospital and saw 2 ways
injured persons were transported. The first was by motorbike, a comatose young
girl was jammed behind the rider and 2 young ladies behind her on the seat.
When the rider stopped 82nd Airborne medics carried her into the Emergency Room
tent. Shortly afterwards, a police truck roared up, with a stretcher in the
back on which was strapped a blood-stained sheet. The medics unloaded this
young man, and he was was treated immediately in Emergency.
I did see
a rusted Ambulance in the GeneralHospital. It had
Ambulance written on it, but it did not look like it had been recently
functional.
I asked Mr
Guy La Roche, the Administrator of the GeneralHospital
about an emergency medical service. He told me
that they did not have one, and did not have a functional ambulance. He said
that before the earthquake, 95% of the funds allocated by the government for
the hospital went for salaries, and no money was available for sheets, food,
medicines, and certainly not for an ambulance.
Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps was founded in 1988 by a man with
not a lot of cash, but with a huge vision and a huge heart, Commander Rocky
Robinson. He watched video of the devastation of Haiti right after it happened,
and called everyone he knew until he found a plane (belonging to actor John
Travolta) to take his Bed-Stuy Vollies to Haiti to bit
give first response to the injured, and pull survivors out of the buildings.
The
Commander is not a man to donate a tent for a month, then fold it up and walk
away. He is in Haiti
forever, he has started a Bed-Stuy Vollies Haitian division, and his ambulance
is on its way. He is doing it whether anyone approves or not, whether anyone
donates or not, but he would really appreciate donations, and the Bed-Stuy
Vollies Vice-President, lawyer and Harvard graduate Tamsin Wolfe, will write
all donors a frameable thank you letter. She did when Fox viewers sent money to
build a new operations center.
February 18, 2010
I heard about the Haiti earthquake when I was working on my computer in the common room of the New York Echo newspaper in 1307 Loring Avenue. I ran into the New York Echo production office, where the Publisher was working on the first 2010 issue, and told him that this huge, he had to rearrange the paper to put in stories about the earthquake.
Al that night and through the next day, we were getting news of the devastating effects of the earthquake in Port au Prince.
February 16, 2010
We arrived back from Haiti via Dominican Republic yesterday.
Haiti has broken my heart: so many
hopes and dreams destroyed. Haiti has lifted my spirit: so many good
professionals from everywhere working together.
My
fear is that the cars, the houses, the healthy people are all like cut
flowers blooming; without the resources they will vanish and the roads
will be rutted. I believe I am seeing Nigeria before the Naira
collapsed in 1986. We need collective will and intelligence... to prevent the destruction of the middle class of Haiti.
February 7, 2010
MJOTA
Publisher is on her way to Haiti as part of the third team from the
Bed-Stuy Vollies! Bed-Stuy Vollies plans to continue sending medical
professionals to Haiti as long as the donations come in. Everyone in
the Bed-Stuy Vollies is a vollie, a volunteer. Do please donate, every
dollar goes to either the Haiti Relief fund or to general operations,
depending on what you write on the check. Link to Bed Stuy Vollies through our page.
February 1st, 2010
Commander Rocky Robinson of Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps (BSVAC.org),
Dr Roy A Hastick of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (CACCI), Dr Fritz Fils-Aime of the Haitian American Veterans
Association and Haitian-American NYC Councilmember Mathieu Eugene MD
have all been working night and day with their teams to alleviate the
suffering of our Haitian brothers and sisters. The Bed-Stuy Vollies
were on the ground in Haiti as soon as they could, the Scientologists found seats on a plane for 44 on 17 January, and 20 on 24 January, made arrangements for them in Haiti and John Travolta flew them in.
January 25, 2010
MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND HEALTH COMMISSIONER FARLEY ANNOUNCE LIFE EXPECTANCY
FOR NEW YORKERS HAS INCREASED TO 79.4 YEARS - AN ALL-TIME HIGH
Latest life expectancies are 82 years for women, 76.3 for men - exceeding national averages
Deaths from many leading causes fell in 2008; alcohol deaths remain high; teen pregnancy still too common
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Health Commissioner
Dr. Thomas A. Farley today announced that life expectancy for New
Yorkers born in 2007 has increased to an average of 79.4 years – a gain
of nearly 5 months since 2006, and the longest average life expectancy
ever recorded in New York City. Life expectancy has shot up by a year
and 7 months since 2001, exceeding national gains, and has now reached
82 years for women and 76.3 years for men. The Mayor and Commissioner
made the announcement as the Health Department published new findings
in its Annual Summary of Vital Statistics. Besides charting an
increase in life expectancy for 2007, the report provides detailed
statistics on births and deaths in 2008. The overall death rate
remained at an historic low – and deaths from many preventable causes
declined.
“Helping people live longer, better lives is the core
responsibility of government, which is why nearly every initiative we
take on is focused on that goal,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The steady,
continued increase in life expectancy demonstrates the remarkable
progress we have made and the need to continue to press forward with
bold health policies. The report shows too many New Yorkers still die
from preventable causes and reveals persistent inequalities that show
we must maintain our commitment to improving the health of all New Yorkers.”
The Annual Summary of Vital Statistics, available online at nyc.gov/health,
also highlights gains in key health goals outlined in the City’s Take
Care New York (TCNY) health policy. New Yorkers made progress in six of
the seven TCNY priority areas where vital statistics can reflect
progress. These include HIV, cancer, depression, drug abuse and risky
alcohol use. Additionally, the infant mortality rate remained close to
its historical low in 2008, and the teen pregnancy rate declined by 3.4
percent.
“New Yorkers can combat the leading causes of premature death by
quitting smoking, being more active, maintaining heart-healthy diets,
controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol, using condoms to
prevent the spread of HIV, and living free of alcohol and drug
dependence,” said Commissioner Farley. “We will continue to work with
communities and health care providers to make New York the healthiest
city we can.”
Deaths in New York City, 2008
The citywide death rate was 6.5 deaths per 1,000 people in 2008 –
nearly 20 percent lower than the national death rate of 8.1 per 1,000
in 2006, the most recent year on record. Between 2007 and 2008, deaths
due to HIV fell by 4 percent in New York City, drug-related deaths
plunged by 13 percent, and cardiovascular disease claimed 284 fewer
lives. Heart disease and cancer remained the city’s biggest killers,
claiming 21,192 lives and 13,047 lives, respectively, in 2008. The
leading killers with significant increases were chronic lower
respiratory disease (mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),
which rose by 12 percent, and deaths due to high blood pressure and
hypertensive kidney disease, also up by 12 percent.
Leading Causes of Death
All Ages – 54,193 Deaths
Under 65 –16,331 Deaths
Rank
Cause
Deaths
Cause
Deaths
1
Heart Disease
21,192
Cancer
4,552
2
Cancer
13,047
Heart Disease
3,406
3
Influenza/Pneumonia
2,300
HIV
996
4
Diabetes
1,643
Psychoactive Substances
707
5
Chronic Lower
Respiratory Diseases
1,605
Accidents
618
The report shows a continuing decline in smoking-attributable
deaths, which have fallen by 11 percent since 2003 (from 8,520 to 7,569
deaths among adults 35 and older). Smoking-induced cardiovascular
diseases, including heart attacks and strokes, claimed 591 fewer lives
in 2008 than in 2003. Recent declines in the City’s smoking rate should
yield even greater benefits in future years. To estimate
smoking-related deaths, the Health Department uses methods published by
the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the estimates
do not include deaths from exposure to second-hand smoke.
The deadliest cancers for New Yorkers younger than age 65 were due
to lung cancer (894 deaths); breast cancer (493 deaths), and colorectal
cancer (450 deaths). And while overall cancer deaths fell in 2008, the
toll from colorectal cancer rose by 12 percent. Colorectal cancer is
one of the most prevalent – and most preventable – cancers affecting
New Yorkers. Colonoscopy screening can help prevent colon cancer deaths
by identifying the condition at its earliest, most treatable stages.
The number of drug-related deaths fell from 849 to 736 in 2008, but
accidental drug overdose remains one of the leading causes of premature
death for adult New Yorkers. Unintentional overdose deaths occur across
many racial and ethnic groups and at all income levels, and rates are
higher in the City’s low-income neighborhoods. Alcohol, another leading
cause of premature mortality, remained as troublesome in 2008 as it was
in 2003, claiming an estimated 1,700 lives among New Yorkers 20 and
older. Excessive drinking increases the risk of liver disease, high
blood pressure, depression and a range of cancers, as well as violence
and unintentional injuries.
The 4 percent decline in deaths from HIV probably reflects several
factors, including a lower infection rate among injecting drug users
(thanks in part to syringe exchange programs, expanded HIV testing, and
more effective medical treatment for the infection). While HIV remains
a leading cause of premature death in New York City, no HIV deaths have
occurred in infants during the past five years. This year, for the
first time since the beginning of the epidemic, no New Yorker under 15
died from HIV disease.
Influenza and pneumonia remained leading causes of death in 2008,
but vaccination can help prevent both. The Health Department reminded
New Yorkers that this year’s flu season is not over. Influenza vaccine
is available through pharmacies and local clinics, as well as doctors’
offices. For information on how to get vaccinated, New Yorkers should
call 311 or visit nyc.gov/flu.
Births and Teen Pregnancies in New York City, 2008
In 2008, 127,680 babies were born in New York City, a decrease of
nearly 1,300 births from 2007, but teen pregnancy remained prevalent in
some communities. The citywide rate was 85.6 pregnancies for every
1,000 women 15 to 19 years old – down from 88.5 per 1,000 in 2007 – but
disparities persisted by poverty level and among racial and ethnic
groups. Teens living in poor neighborhoods are nearly three times
(2.76) more likely to become pregnant than teens living in more
affluent neighborhoods. The rates among black teens (126.8 per 1,000)
and Hispanic teens (114.2 per 1,000) were roughly five times the rate
among white teens (22.9 per 1,000). All three groups experienced
decreases from 2007 to 2008.
In the State of the City address last week, the Mayor pledged to improve access to contraceptives in school and community-based clinics – and city agencies are
moving forward on both fronts. The School-Based Health Center
Reproductive Health Project is working with 33 of the city’s 41 high
school clinics to increase access to a full range of contraceptives.
The program has established four regional referral sites for female
students who choose long-acting reversible contraceptives, such as
Implanon and intrauterine devices (IUDs). The agency hopes to expand
the school-clinic effort this year. Meanwhile, in high schools that do
not have their own health centers, the Health Department is actively
linking sexually active students to nearby sites where they can receive
birth control and other health services. Studies show that since 1995,
improved contraceptive use has accounted for most of the national
decline in teen pregnancy.
The new report shows that the infant mortality rate – the proportion
of children who die before their first birthday each year – stayed near
its historical low, at 5.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The
citywide rate has fallen by 20 percent in the past 10 years, but that
figure masks sharp racial and economic disparities. The rate of infant
deaths among blacks remained high with 10.2 deaths per 1,000 live
births, almost twice the citywide rate.
The Annual Summary of Vital Statistics, the Health
Department’s yearly report of births and deaths in New York City, is
compiled by the agency’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. Its tables, graphs
and figures present health statistics according to ethnic group,
gender, age, health district, community district and borough of
residence. Death rates are age-adjusted when the adjustment facilitates
comparisons over time and among geographic areas. Vital Statistics
Annual Summaries as far back as 1961 are available online at www.nyc.gov/vitalstats. To learn how to obtain a birth or death certificate, visit www.nyc.gov/vitalrecords or call 311.
Subject: Scholarships from $4000 to $10,000 per year for female African American students.
Dr. Jason Black is the Principal Investigator of a recently awarded $552,000 NSF Grant entitled African-American Women in Computer Science. The grant provides scholarships from $4000 to $10,000 per year for female African American students.
We
need your help to g et the word out about this great opportunity to
build back up the enrollment of women in the CIS Department. Pass this
information along to high school or community college students, their parents, and to guidance counselors you may know. The full text of the press release can be found at:
The AAWCS program begins operation on July 1 and will run until June 30, 2012. For more information about the program and applications for the program can be requested by contacting Dr. Black: jblack@cis.famu.edu <mailto:jblack@cis.famu.edu> or (850) 412-7354
The
Caribbean American Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (CACCI) in New York, its board of directors and
partners wish to express our deepest condolences to the people of Haiti, to all
Haitian Americans and Haitians in the Caribbean Community and in the Diaspora on
the devastation, deaths and destruction which occurred yesterday in Haiti.
Preliminary reports from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief
Agency (CDERA) indicate that there has been significant damage. Two hospitals in Port-au-Prince have suffered
major damage. Water, electricity and
telephone services have been disrupted.CDERA has advised that discussions are on-going with Jamaica as the
Focal Point for Sub-Region on coordination options. Countries in the Sub-region and other States in
the Caribbean have already expressed their desire to provide support for Haiti.
Haiti's Ambassador to the U.S. Raymond Alcide Joseph has
called for “all friends of Haiti and people who are listening to me to please
come to our aid."He also told the
media: "Today as Haiti is going through the worst day in its history I am
calling for all others who got help from us in the beginning to help in support,"
Joseph said.
Here in the United States, The Obama administration is
spearheading a “swift, coordinated and aggressive” effort of emergency
assistance for Haiti.In addition, New York
State, New York City and Borough elected officials are already assessing the
damage and the emergency assistance that is needed.In partnership with its members, corporate
partners in academic, medical, religious institutions, and many Haitian American
and other Caribbean American organizations, the Caribbean missions and
consulates, CACCI will continue to respond swiftly and work together for a
coordinated emergency relief and a rapid response.
In the meantime, CACCI has identified the Flatbush Caton Market to
serve as a drop off point for bottled water, emergency medical supplies
and non perishablefoods.The Market is located at 814 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY. (Corner of Caton Avenue).
For further information on CACCI’s emergency relief effort for
Haiti contact:
And for information on CACCI’s Annual MLK Power Breakfast Meeting this
Friday at 9:00 a.m., contact CACCI:Tel.:
(718) 834-4544.www.CaribbeanTradeCenter.com
January 11, 2010
– The National Salt Reduction Initiative, a New York City-led
partnership of cities, states and national health organizations, today
unveiled its proposed targets to guide a voluntary reduction of salt
levels in packaged and restaurant foods. Americans consume roughly
twice the recommended limit of salt each day – causing widespread high
blood pressure and placing millions at risk of heart attack and stroke
– in ways that they cannot control on their own. Only 11% of the sodium
in Americans’ diets comes from their own saltshakers; nearly 80% is
added to foods before they are sold. Through a year of technical
consultation with food industry leaders, the National Salt Reduction
Initiative has developed specific targets to help companies reduce the
salt levels in 61 categories of packaged food and 25 classes of
restaurant food. Some popular products already meet these targets – a
clear indication that food companies can substantially lower sodium
levels while still offering foods that consumers enjoy.
The Health Department will solicit additional comments on the
targets this month, and the initiative will adopt final targets this
spring.
The goal of the initiative is to cut the salt in packaged and
restaurant foods by 25% over five years – an achievement that would
reduce the nation’s salt intake by 20% and prevent many thousands of
premature deaths. The sodium in salt is a major contributor to high
blood pressure, which in turn causes heart attack and stroke, the
nation’s leading causes of preventable death. These conditions cause
23,000 deaths in New York City alone each year – more than 800,000
nationwide – and cost Americans billions in healthcare expenses.
“Consumers can always add salt to food, but they can’t take it out,”
said Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Health Commissioner. “At current
levels, the salt in our diets poses health risks for people with normal
blood pressure, and it’s even riskier for the 1.5 million New Yorkers
with high blood pressure. If we can reduce the sodium levels in
packaged and restaurant foods, we will give consumers more choice about
the amount of salt they eat, and reduce their risk of heart disease and
stroke in the process.”
Once finalized, the targets will provide a comprehensive framework
for reducing sodium in the nation’s food supply – and a way to monitor
progress. The initiative includes two-year and four-year targets for
each category of food, and it leaves ample room for variety within each
category. If a company commits to the sodium target in a particular
food category, the target will apply to its overall portfolio in that
category – not to each individual product. A company selling three
equally popular lines of crackers could keep one type extra salty as
long as its overall cracker portfolio met the target for crackers,
measured in milligrams of sodium per 100 grams of cracker. The proposed
targets are posted at nyc.gov/health/salt.
Until February 1, the Health Department will solicit additional
comments from the food industry, especially from those companies that
have not yet participated in the target-setting process, as well as
consumer organizations and other interested parties.
The recommended daily limit for sodium intake is 1,500 mg for most
adults (including anyone who is black or over 40) and 2,300 mg for
others. Some food products, such as deli-meat sandwiches, pack that
much sodium in one serving. But much of the salt in Americans’ diets
comes from breads, muffins and other foods that don’t taste salty. Salt
levels can vary dramatically among popular products in the same
category, such as breakfast cereals, indicating that lower levels are
both technically feasible and commercially viable.
Other countries are already reducing salt in packaged and restaurant
foods. In the United Kingdom, a similar collaboration between the food
industry and government has already resulted in salt reductions of 40%
or more in some food products, with the overall goal of reducing the
salt in processed and restaurant foods by one third by 2010. Canada,
too, is actively addressing the issue, and Australia, Finland, Ireland,
and New Zealand have all launched large scale, countrywide initiatives
to help reduce the salt in their foods.
National and international health organizations have reviewed the
proposed targets and are now voicing support for the initiative. “The
American Heart Association applauds the efforts of the National Salt
Reduction Initiative to proceed with this very carefully focused effort
to reduce sodium in prepared foods,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, the
association’s president. “The American Heart Association recognizes the
potential benefit to many Americans of reducing sodium intake.
Consuming too much sodium is associated with high blood pressure, a
risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Reducing sodium in processed
foods, which account for the majority of sodium consumption in the
United States, could significantly decrease risks for cardiovascular
disease, which remains the nation’s leading cause of death.”
“Excess sodium greatly increases the chance of developing
hypertension, heart disease and stroke,” said Dr. J. James Rohack,
president of the American Medical Association. “The AMA has long
supported a reduction of sodium in processed foods, fast food products
and restaurant meals as a means to lower sodium intake and reduce the
risk for cardiovascular disease among Americans.”
The National Salt Reduction Initiative has received a great deal of
support from philanthropists and donors, including the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation. Funding for the evaluation of population salt intake was
provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New York State
Health Foundation, the National Association of County & City Health
Officials and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Sent: Tue, January 5, 2010 11:16:40 AM Subject: Fellowships for minority journalists
Dart Center for
Journalism and Trauma Invites Entries for Dart Awards
Up to four $5,000 prizes will be given to teams of reporters that have
produced journalism demonstrating the impact of violence, crime, disaster,
and other traumatic events on individuals, families, and communities.... Deadline: January 29, 2010 Posted: January 1, 2010
NIGERIA DEMOCRATIC LIBERTY FORUM (NDLF)
Press release;
A SAD DAY FOR NIGERIA.
December 26th 2009; New York, NY; It
is another sad day for Nigeria to have one of her citizens involve in a
terrorist activity. This is an uncharted territory for us not minding
the fact that we have been mentioned in shameful deeds like fraud and
corruption but the NDLF can say that Nigerians
across the globe are truly saddened. We strongly condemn in unequivocal
terms the attempt by this individual to blow up a passenger airliner
carrying almost 300 passengers! This act should be thoroughly
investigated and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is
indefensible to attempt such a heinous and vicious act under any
religious, political ideology or justification.
This incident is also symptomatic of an ignored problem in Nigeria
where some religious bigots have over the years embarked on killing
spree with the government unable to tackle the issue. Going by
available reports, the identified 23 years old terrorism suspect is a
UK graduate and a son of a wealthy Nigerian who apparently had been
brainwashed by religious extremists. One can imagine the danger posed
by millions of neglected, unemployed, impressionable Nigerians that
the Nigerian system has failed and could be target for terrorism
recruits. We hope that this unfortunate incident would be a wake up
call for the Nigerian government
to appreciate the grave consequences and the ramification of this
reprehensible act. A nation whose leader has been in a foreign hospital
for about 5 weeks with no word on his state of health, possible date of
return and unwillingness to resign or handover to his deputy thus
creating a vacuum in leadership might just be unable to approach this
issue with all seriousness and finesse that it requires so that all her
citizens are not branded as terrorists.
The NDLF hereby call on President Umaru Yar'Adua
to either resign immediately or formally handover to his deputy so that
someone can provide direction and leadership to a nation that is
clearly on a precipice and brought to ridicule by the act of a son
of an elite in Nigeria. Apparently, destroying the educational system
in Nigeria, depriving the youths and the citizenry of a quality life
while the Nigerian elites have their children in western countries far
from adequate parental control is a frankenstein monster that has
brought shame to every Nigerian.
Members of the political class, civil society, labor and
professional organizations should put pressure on President Yar'Adua to
act patriotically to end the current siege in Nigeria. To millions of
Nigerians in the Diaspora, who are hard working and law abiding we
implore them to continue to be good ambassadors of Nigeria and ensure
that we charge those who are poised to continue to drag our
reputation in the mud to desist from such acts that bring disrepute and
opprobrium to us all.
Signed
Bukola Oreofe
Executive Director
Dr. Willie Nwiido
Director, International relations
26 December 2009
I spent Christmas working on pictures to be posted in the MJoTA-NY Echo photo-albums. At about 4pm my Muslim brothers had worked enough, and we piled into my car and drove to places dropping off goods one of them is making, and visiting friends. Our first set of friends gave us wonderful pounded yam and pepper soup with all kinds of fishes and snails, and non-alcoholic champagne. All the time playing wonderful Nigerian music on a superb sound system. I was dancing, because I always dance, and then sat on a sofa, and then slid to the floor, and then lay down on the floor, happily listening to music while my friends were speaking in their Nigerian languages. The big screen television had on a basketball game, and when that ended, the channel was turned to news and then the night changed dramatically. We heard a Nigerian man had tried to blow up a plane.
I remember right after 9/11 been in a line through security. I was in
the line about 2 hours, and by the time we got through, everyone was
everyone else's best friend. After I got through, the man who had been
in front of me shook his head, and said, "I forgot to tell them.." and
pulled out this foot-long menacing-looking pair of scissors. I am
convinced security checks are just for show, to intimidate people not
to bring things.
Get
this clear, one lunatic engineering student does not represent Nigeria.
Nigerians, and Nigerian Muslims, are among the most decent,
hard-working, law-abiding persons I know. Getting through security in
Lagos is not easy, my bags are always checked thoroughly by 2 sets of
officers. Flying to and from Lagos is safe, God bless Nigeria.
MJoTA
has discovered that the father of the would-be suicide bomber, a
retired, well-respected senior banker, called the US Embassy and
pleaded with them to revoke his son's visa to the US. The father did
not like his son's extremist views and tried to prevent harm. The
question: why did the US Embassy not take his pleas seriously?
MJoTA
has discovered that the would-be suicide bomber went through security
in Lagos when he flew to Yemen. He did not threaten that plane,
security was not breached. He went through security in Yemen; Yemeni
security was breached.
25 December 2009
Posted on Facebook:
"Merry
Christmas every person! I am hanging out with Moslims, my Christmas
gift is cleaning and talking with them. My Christmas wish: be kind to
each other."
"So
many calls and emails from hard-working, decent African professionals
in Africa and all over the world. So blessed. Wonderful bean stew.
Currently sucking on ginger candy."
December 24, 2009
Merry
Christmas Australia! Eat a mango or 2 on the beach before you swim. My
Irish mother Dr Patience Uprichard Dodgson cheerfully adapted to Christmas in summer by bringing hot Christmas dinners in flasks to
the beach. After a few years of that she gave up and bought boxes of
mangos. We always had Christmas fruit cake and plum pudding and mince
pies. I dont miss any of those, but I do miss my mother, and early Christmas
service singing Australian Christmas carols such as "Out on the plains, the brolgas are dancing.."
December 19, 2009
When Yoruba Nigerians gather to celebrate, or mourn, or worship God in the pentecostal churches in the Amercias, the congregation sparkles. Men and women dress in big patterns that are woven into the fabric, usually including holes, often in white lace but also in every other color, including gold.
My own clothes were mostly made by Igbo, Esan and Ghanaian dressmakers, these clothes don't have holes or sparkle, but are made to make the wearer show off exuberance and prosperity, which is the hallmark of Nigeria - exuberant optimism even when circumstances are dire - and bring the wearer a taste of prosperity that surely brings prosperity closer.
The Christ Apostolic Church in Brooklyn, the 1st in the Americas, took over an abandoned Episcopal church when all hope was gone from that congregation. Maybe the congregation fled because they were bored. No-one ever leaves a Nigerian pentecostal church because of boredom.
Occasionally someone stops coming to the Christ Apostolic Church because the number of hours needed for services and events leave little time for anything else on Saturdays and Sundays. This was the main reason I stopped regularly attending the Christ Apostolic Church on 58th and Baltimore Avenues in Philadelphia. But I was never bored, not ever, not during the first half hour of dancing and singing praise, not during the loud prayers, not during teh Bible readings, not during the Thanksgiving for miracles that week, not even when I was telling the Sunday School class about Genesis and being asked to teach them Christian songs in Yoruba. The first time I walked into a Nigerian church was the first time I walked into a Christ Apostolic Church, in August 2006 with my firstborn son. He sat with the men on the left, I sat with the women, a much larger group on the right. My son was delighted by a small boy asking him, "Why are you white?"
My first visit resulted in many more visits, me being prostrate on the floor during a service in Washington on New Years Eve, and three trips to Nigeria, and a conviction that the stork bringing me to my Irish mother and English father in England must have been an old, tired stork, who just was not strong enough to make the journey to Nigeria where I really should have been born.
This love of Nigeria I have is not unique, it is shared by conservatively 10 million outside Nigeria who are all in one way or another tring to improve the lives of Nigerians toiling daily inside Nigeria.
And indeed, many good, decent Nigerian professionals are toiling in Nigeria, running hospitals, tendingteh sick, running the government.
December 18, 2009
Today my middle son, the robotics engineer, Miles is 27. Miles has the distinction of being my only son whose name does not start with A, and being my only son who is on the same continent with me this Christmas. Hopefully he will for at least a few minutes be in the same room as me and his sister, Patience, who is the only other of my children to have a name derived from a Latin word. Miles is Latin for soldier, odd name for a Quaker. I named after my father Michael and my brother Charles, and their names contracted nicely to Miles. But I also liked the idea of my son fighting not to the death or causing death, but never giving up, always striving. Miles does that. And so does Patience, who was named after Dr Patience, my late mother, and their name is derived from pax, Latin for peace. So Miles and Patience: war and peace. Happy birthday my battler, my computer nerd, my only blue-eyed boy.
December 16, 2009
MJoTA
continues to show up with shining faces and professional cameras, and
has finally figured out a way of getting photographs to you. MJoTA
pictures are being posted on mjota.org, click on left menu on "MJoTA was there."
More
events are being uploaded, check back to see if an event that interests
you is there, I intend to upload all the events. If you click on the
images in the pages, you will be taken to Picasa where you can download
and print the thumbnails. If these are all you need, that is great, but
if you want bigger pictures or framed portraits, follow the links on the pages and we will deliver them to you.
So where have we been? We witnessed protests of the murders of 158 people and rapes of dozens during a peaceful rally in Guinea on September 28;
we witnessed a Meetup group get up early on a Saturday to pack medical
supplies to send to Africa; we witnessed the quiet husband of a
Nigerian diplomat make clothes; we marched and danced with the Haitian
American Veterans' Association and sobbed with the mother of a Haitian American whose son was killed in Afghanistan. We applauded Mayor Bloomberg during his victory celebration in Manhattan, and we talked with young Liberians who want to feed Liberia with home-grown food and are one-by-one educating former child soldiers who are going back to school.
And we celebrated the direct flight from NYC to Lagos with the management of Arik Airlines. And Monica Sanchez was there! Monica does a lot of things, and yes, on Veterans' Day, I did enjoy riding around Manhattan in her white stretch limousine she uses for her Miss Caricom beauty pageant. Monica does a lot of good things for Africans and anyone she can find in need.
And always we show up at events hosted by Dr Roy Hastick, who 24 years ago decided that what New York
needed was a Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce (CACCI). CACCI was
needed then, and is needed now, and MJoTA salutes CACCI in its 25th
year, and is a devoted fan of Dr Hastick. Who understands that nothing
brings Africans out of poverty faster than good connections and good
business plans.
In the publications associated with MJoTA, you
will see pictures chronicling events and and you will read stories of
good people whose pictures you see.
Meanwhile, MJoTA Africa
Foundation is working with career changers who have a life science PhD
or PharmD or equivalent. We give formal online classes by GoToWebinar,
we work on building portfolios and we work with you to get contracts
and build up your medical communications business. More on the Medical
Journal of Therapeutics Africa website, mjota.org.
Keep visiting
mjota.org, something is added every day. MJoTA is changing but our
mission is constant: we celebrate African professionals. God bless you
all.
07 December 2009
MJoTA has been going through a lot lately. In the New Year we are going back to our original format: continuing roll-out through the month of articles with frequent updates in the press-release section.
Arik
Air, Nigeria’s largest commercial airline, today announced the
expansion of its international services with the launch of non-stop
flights between Lagos and New York (JFK) beginning on Sunday, 29
November 2009. The new route will be Arik Air’s third international
service outside of the West Africa region, following the commencement
of daily flights to London Heathrow in December 2008 and to
Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 2009
The new Lagos - New
York (JFK) service* will operate three times a week with outbound
flights departing Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, while inbound flights will depart New
York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (Terminal 4) on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday.
In announcing the new international service, Arik Air’s Managing Director, Mr Jason Holt said
“Arik
Air’s new non-stop flights between Lagos and New York will be the
airline’s first transatlantic service. They will also be the first
direct flights between Nigeria and the United States to be operated by
a Nigerian airline in the last decade. This is of great historical
significance for Nigeria and a source of great pride for Arik Air.”
The
airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Suraj Sundaram elaborated: “The
inauguration of Arik Air’s non-stop services between Lagos and New York
will meet the needs of businesses in Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos,
who are actively seeking air links with New York, the most important
commercial centre in the world’s largest economy.
As the first
Nigerian airline in over a decade to connect the two countries’
respective financial centres, Arik Air is extremely proud to take the
lead in fulfilling this strategic role. The benefits to guests of Arik
Air’s new non-stop services are many and two of the most important
centre on the opportunity to save travel time and reduce costs. By
flying with Arik Air direct to New York, guests will no longer need to
incur the cost of transit visa fees and other ticket taxes associated
with flying via Europe. They will also be able to save a considerable
amount of time on this non-stop service, equivalent to almost two full
business days over the course of a return trip via Europe.”
Arik
Air has scheduled its flights conveniently for guests travelling from
both ends of the new route. Flights from Lagos on Tuesday, Thursday and
Sunday will depart Lagos at 11.20pm (local time) and arrive New York
JFK (Terminal 4) at 5.50am (local time) the following morning. On
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Arik Air’s flights will depart New York
JFK at 10.00pm (local time) and arrive Lagos at 2.40pm (local time) the
next afternoon.
Mr Sundaram added that Arik Air’s Lagos
timings would provide the airline’s guests with the option to connect
to and from Nigerian domestic as well as Regional African points. “From
Lagos, Arik Air serves 20 other destinations across Nigeria including
Abuja and Port Harcourt. The airline also serves five West African
cities including Accra (Ghana) and Freetown (Sierra Leone). The reach
of our extensive Nigerian and West African networks means Arik Air can
offer our transatlantic guests convenient local and regional
connections that no other airline can match,” he emphasised.
The
airline will operate a brand new Airbus A340-500 long-range aircraft on
the new service. Ideally suited for flying transatlantic routes, the
four-engine, wide body airbus is one of the quietest and most
environmentally friendly aircraft operating in the world today. It
complies fully with airport noise restrictions and with current and
future international emissions standards.
Mr Sundaram
explained that the Premier Class cabin of Arik Air’s new Airbus 340-500
provides guests with 36 spacious seats that convert into fully lie-flat
beds. It also has a private bar and lounge area for Premier Class
passengers to socialize and relax. He explained: “On long haul
international routes we recognise that our guests seek comfort and
personal space complimented by warm Nigerian hospitality. The
individual seat pitch in Arik Air’s Premier Class cabin is 76 inches,
which will make it the most spacious seat in any commercial aircraft
flying between Nigeria and the US. Each of the 201 extra wide seats in
the Economy Class cabin also provides 50% more leg room. Our on-board
experience will ensure we lead in terms of convenience and comfort for
transatlantic travel to and from Nigeria. Both Arik Air’s Premier Class
and Economy Class products offer personal audio and video-on-demand
entertainment including a choice of Hollywood and Nollywood movies.”
Arik
Air is Nigeria’s leading commercial airline. It operates a fleet of 30
state-of-the art regional, medium haul and long haul aircraft. The
airline currently serves 21 airports across Nigeria as well as Accra
(Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Dakar (Senegal), Freetown
(Sierra Leone), Niamey (Niger), London Heathrow (UK) and Johannesburg
(South Africa).
The airline currently operates 124 flights daily from its hubs in Lagos and Abuja.
It employs a workforce of more than 1,800.
*To be operated by HiFly of Portugal.
16 November 2009
Last week started calmly enough, I drove to New Rochelle on Sunday to witness and record a thanksgiving celebration for a wedding that took place in Nigeria; the groom's mother could not attend so she brought the bride and groom to New York and invited the senior church leaders to help celebrate. The Redeemed Church of God. The mother of the groom was the daughter of the church founder, and she knows a lot of pastors. The Redeemed Church of God is a Nigerian pentecostal church which differs from the one I know well, Christa Apostolic Church, in 3 ways: they ordain women, they do not spray money, they do not drink alcohol.
Spraying money is uniquely Nigerian. Or at least I have only seen it in Nigerian communities. A lady dances in a celebration, someone else starts placing paper money on her face. It has happened to me. When I went with Lookman Sulaimon to a Nigerian Muslim wedding Atlanta as his guest (see http://www.mjota.org/images/mjota2009vol3no5pp112-3.pdf) money was flying all over the place, and by the end of the evening I had $70. A lot more had been sprayed on me, a dollar at a time, but I had in turn sprayed the bride and the groom. This was not the first time I had seen this practice; during weekly services, Thanksgiving for wonderful things happening is a cheerful money-flying event after the sermon. And I have seen the son and daughter-in-law of a deceased Nigerian being sprayed with money at the memorial service. Spraying money seems to me intrinsically Nigerian, so hearing that a pentecostal church does not do it was astounding to me.
14 November 2009
Veteran's
Day in New York City started with a photo with Mayor Bloomberg (I
handed him 2 issues of Africa Reporters and told him we love him) and
ended in a bar in Brooklyn called Liquid Love. I marched with Haitian
American Veterans Association and we honored the family of Leopold
Damas, killed in Afghanistan, August. He was 26.
Riding
around NYC in Monica's white limousine with soldiers in fatigues and
veterans.... the songs in Liquid Love were hot and we all danced.....
what happened after I left at 12? I don't ask, you don't tell. One true
thing I know: Haitians know how to party.
I was there as media person for a small focused group of Haitian American Veterans Association. They want respect for their veterans, living or dead.
10 November 2009
November
11 we pause to mourn with the families the men and women who died
during war. I am a pacifist, a Quaker, and believe to my DNA that every
step should be taken to avoid war. And more steps, and more. Do
everything possible and impossible. And to mourn the dead, and to honor
them. November 11, I honor my relatives Maurice, John, Guy, Campbell,
Francis, Raymond, Robert, Tony.
I wrote a page for November 11, for what we called Armistice Day in England. Armistice Day because on that day, the corrupt and failed leaders of the British and German Empires met in a railway carriage and signed their agreement to stop their citizens killing each other. They had succeeded in killing 6 of my close relatives on the battle field, and the British and German Empires. Corruption crumbles empires, what better example that this. The British Empire was built on the blood of Africans, built on the slave trade, built on the blood of Indians, built on the toil of Irish and English convicts sent to Australia.
What are we mourning on 11 November? Lives pointlessly lost, and families that grieve forever, including mine. And we are also honoring those lives, and when I march with the veterans tomorrow, and record the laying of wreaths, I am honoring the good lives they led. Rest in peace soldiers.
To read the memorial page, click here, or go to http://www.mjota.org/warmemorialguydodgson.html
06 November 2009
What a week. As I was coming home after the big Bloomberg celebration in Manhattan, one word was echoing around and around my brain: mitzvah. I remember walking through Philadelphia last year with a Kenyan event planner and a Philadelphia lawyer who was talking about the need to give back when so many blessings had been bestowed.
Michael Bloomberg is all mitzvah. He didn't need to do anything except kick back, hey, he could have bought a small country or maybe even Kansas, but instead he looked at New York City and decided to make it the best functioning city in the world. Even the baseball team won.
I haven't come to my observations late. I have lived 90 miles south of New York City Hall for 31 years. My first year I showed up to Times Square for the New Year ball to drop, staying in a flop house 2 nights. Scared me to death. The next time I ventured forth with the Concerto Soloists for a violin concert in Carnegie Hall, followed by an elegant reception in an lady artist's home. That was enough for me, I scurried back to Philadelphia, married the first ophthalmologist I could find and started a family. I went to New York City maybe 10 times in the next 3 decades, only for job interviews, client meetings and visa applications.
In March, after 10 days of increasingly amorous phone calls from a Nigerian graphic designer, I drove to New York City at his invitation for 3 days of celebrating Ghanaian independence and Nigerian pentecostalism. I met him first outside the United Nations, then we drove around Brooklyn buying cows' feet, tripe, kidneys, fish, drove to East New York to the New York Housing Authority's Pink Houses, then to the Ghanaian Ambassador's house, and the next day to Manhattan for the Ghanaian diaspora celebration, then the next day to the Brooklyn house of the leader of the men's group of Christ Apostolic Church First in the Americas. So I had a pretty good tour of New York City, and my impressions were that it is vast, that all things are possible (my goodness, the graphic designer was printing a publication from the projects and a few weeks later, he got me to talk on the phone to Mayor Bloomberg's people and convinced them to buy advertising!) and that the energy of New York is unending. I became addicted to New York. I stayed on with the graphic designer for 3 months, leaving when I realized that he was not who he seemed (I have filed a grievance against him in civil court because he refuses to return money he said was a short-term loan), but I have not left New York.
I love New York.I didn't understand what that meant before March, but now I do. New York is unique, an island of socialism jammed next to vast wealth in the United States. And Mayor Bloomberg gets New York, gets every person in New York. And God bless him for his mitzvah, and God bless New York.
Publisher of MJoTA
05 November 2009
The United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) announced a five year $100 million grant
to The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for
Communication Programs (CCP), with the Malaria Consortium and Catholic Relief
Services to ensure the distribution and proper use of long-lasting insecticide
treated bed nets (LLINs) in malaria endemic countries. USAID missions across
Africa and in parts of Asia are expected to buy into the project.
USAID implements U.S. Global Malaria Programs through the
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) focused in 15 focus countries in Africa and
through four non-focus countries; the Amazon Malaria Initiative, which covers
eight countries in the Amazon Basin of South America; and the Mekong Malaria
Program, which covers five countries (plus Yunnan Province, China) in the
Greater Mekong Sub-region in Southeast Asia.
"The U.S. is dramatically expanding the availability and use
of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Africa," said Rear. Adm. Tim Ziemer,
Coordinator, U.S. Global Malaria Programs. "During this massive effort to scale
up to universal coverage, including in some of the most hard-to-reach places on
the planet, we must also build local capacity to manage delivery systems and
create a culture of net use, getting everyone to sleep under nets."
Long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) are an
essential tool for achieving and sustaining malaria control. The ability to
efficiently and effectively distribute nets and increase their use is critical
to reducing the burden of malaria and maintaining control of the disease in
endemic countries. The new project, called NetWorks, will rely on a flexible
approach that will rapidly analyze the current situation, coordinate between
local, regional and national players in malaria control, strengthen internal
distribution networks and, at the same time, increase demand using
state-of-the-art behavior change techniques to close the gap between net
ownership and use. The project intends to promote a mixed distribution model to
flexibly respond to the situation in each country, blending distribution via the
private sector, public health facilities, NGOs and mass campaigns. The hope is
that ultimately the project will leave countries with sustainable LLIN systems
that ensure a continuous and coordinated supply of nets for those who need
them.
Matthew Lynch, PhD, NetWorks' Project Director and leader of
CCP's Global Program on Malaria, says the ability to get LLIN's to those most
vulnerable to deadly malaria-young children and pregnant women-is critical to
controlling the disease. "In the global fight against malaria, we desperately
need new ways to better protect children," Lynch says. "We need to make sure
every vulnerable child sleeps under a net every night."
JHU will partner with the Malaria Consortium and Catholic
Relief Services as well as hundreds of local partners in the implementation of
NetWorks.
With representatives in more than 30 countries, CCP designs
and implements strategic communication programs that influence political
dialogue, collective action, and individual behavior change; enhances access to
information and the exchange of knowledge to improve health and health care; and
conducts research to guide program design, evaluate impact, and advance
knowledge and practice in health communication. For more information about USAID and PMI, please visit
www.usaid.gov.
--------------------------------------
27 October 2009
In Manhattan yesterday, the Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, Bill Thompson, held a pess conference for the ethnic media, and Africa Reporters was invited. I showed up to represent Africa Reporters, and listened to Mr Thompson answer questions for about an hour. He explained that he was going to be elected because of 2 things, New York voters were betrayed that the 2-term limit of the mayoral term was violated, and because people are leaving Ne York because they cannot afford to live or work there. Mr Thompson has been Controller of New York for 8 years, 2 terms, and I understand Controller is not a passive job of moving around money without any input.
Mr Thompson spoke well, I was surprised to see that he sat behind a desk throughout the press conference rather than stand. I found the arguments unsubstantive. The prosperity of New York, or otherwise, is not solely the responsibility of its Mayor, who is not a dictator. And Mr Thompson himself has had 2 terms, although not in the job he now wants.
This term-limit argument, when I first heard it, seemed to me to be silly; it has happened, Mr Bloomberg (a lifelong Democrat) is the Independence candidate; should not the voters only care about prosperity and safety in New York City? And yet I am hearing in the streets of Brooklyn, in events in Manhattan, in establishments in the Bronx, in restaurants in Queens that the term-liimits is an issue. I beg you New York City voters, get over it! Answer a single question: is New York responsive to your needs as an African? Are you proud that your city has weathered the international financial crash with health and transportation and other essential services largely intact and you doing better than you would be doing in any other city in the United States? If the answer is yes, get out and vote for Mayor Bloomberg on November 3rd.
Africa Reporters endorses Mayor Bloomberg. We have not been paid to say this; he has not paid for a single advertisement in our pages, but we love him. He is extremely comfortable in African communities, in fact, in all ethnic communities. I first photographed him in Crown Heights in April speaking at a Black church during the service. I took a lovely photograph of him surrounded by children which photograph appeared on the front page of the first issue of Africa Reporters. He clearly enjoyed having the children around him, and they loved him.
Dr Ololade La Crown is a police officer, pastor, former army officer, member of United African Congress, a community leader in the Bronx and a non-practicing physician. Dr La Crown came to the Bloomberg campaign office on October 7 in a rally of Africans for Bloomberg; and helped organized a subsequent press conference on October 20 in which the signs "Africans for Bloomberg" were introduced. I called Dr La Crown after the Thonpson press conference to find out why he was not supporting the Democratic candidate, Mr Thompson, who is black. Dr La Crown said it all comes down to Mr Bloomberg reaching out to the African communities. Mr Bloomberg cares about New Yorkers as New Yorkers, and as Africans and as immigrants.
Publisher of MJoTA
26 October 2009
Yesterday I recorded the minutes of the Business Meeting of the Haddonfield Quarter of the Society of Friends, as is my duty as Recording Clerk. We met in Westfield Monthly Meeting House in Cinnaminson, old, lots of leaves, and the Friends listened to a presentation on how to get young people involved. Well, that is the key to everything; giving the young tools so their imaginations take off and they become passionate about something. I want everyone to become as passionate about solving the inequities that centuries of racism and sexism has caused; I don't understand why my passion is not universally shared, but it isn't.
I left before lunch to drive to Manhattan on this lovely fall day, when I should have been raking leaves that my dogwoods and maples have dumped on my front and back gardens. I had a meeting at the American Association of University Women New York City. I walked in through the front door of 111 East 37th St, and saw an African boy of 11 sitting doing homework on a computer. I immediately decided I would join the organization.
The President of AAUWNYC, the mother of the young boy, is an African mathematician with roots in Nigeria and Sierra Leone; and because of her, Journalists Without Borders which publishes Africa Reporters and Xclusivenigeria, will be presenting its first public lecture on 06 November 2009 at the AAUWNYC premises, 111 East 37th St, Manhattan. from 7 to 9:30pm The Publisher has assembled a distinguished panel to lead the discussion on whether Nigeria is a failed state or a developing nation. All are invited, please call me if you need more information or if you need a little encouragement, 609-792-1571, or the Publisher Mr Oraegbu, 646-421-4135.
The President's biography, taken from www.aauwnyc.org, follows:
Nkechi Agwu, Ph.D., is the President of the American Association of
University Women New York City (AAUW NYC) Branch. She is a past
Executive Vice President, Program Co-Vice President, Public Policy
Chair, Black History Chair, By-laws Committee Member, Emerging Leader
and Educational Foundation Honoree of the Branch. She has given several
workshops and presentations for students and parents within the NYC
Branch’s Explore Your Opportunities (EYO) Conference,
College/University Program and Black History Program. She is currently
spearheading efforts of the NYC Branch in developing a free Mathematics
Tutorial Program for College/University and High School students and in
documenting the lives of women, men and programs that have made a
significant difference to the community through recognition within the
NYC Branch Memorial Trust Fund. Under her leadership as Black History
Chair, the NYC Branch initiated its annual Martin Luther King Day
Celebrations to foster values of civil rights and equality for all. The
Branch MLK Day celebrations in 2010 will take place in conjunction with
the Winter Open House on Monday, January 18, 2010.
Dr. Agwu is a
member of the Leadership Corps of AAUW. She is a past AAUW New York
State (NYS) Special Projects Awardee and a past member of the NYS
Nominations Committee and Public Policy Committee. She is a Project
Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Faculty for the Twenty-first Century (F21), Class
of 1997, and has received professional development in leadership from
PKAL at its summer institutes for Heads of Departments, Deans,
Directors, Vice Presidents and Presidents of colleges and universities.
Dr.
Agwu is a Professor of Mathematics at the Borough of Manhattan
Community College (BMCC), City University of New York (CUNY), a
certified BMCC Community Emergency Response Team member and a past
Director of their Teaching Learning Center. She is a recipient of the
CUNY Excellence Award and of the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY
Friends of CUNY Award for service related to the tragic events of
September 11, 2001.
Dr. Agwu is a member of the Bronx Volunteer
Fire Patrol (BVFP), Company #4, and of the Firemen’s Association of the
State of New York (FASNY). She is a recipient of the Sierra-Leone
President’s Bronze Award (1980) for community service as a Junior
Rotarian in advancing the cause of the aged homeless community in
Freetown, Sierra-Leone. A former Title I Officer of the Parents
Association of P.S. 182 in the Bronx, she served as an advocate for
parents of P.S. 182 with the school, the District and the Department of
Education. She organized, coordinated and presented at several
workshops at P.S. 182 for the educational advancement of parents and
their children.
Dr. Agwu received her doctoral degree from
Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, with a major in Mathematics
Education and a minor in gender studies and multicultural education.
She received her master’s degree in mathematics from the University of
Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, and her bachelor’s degree with honors
in mathematics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. She
received a certificate and advanced certificate in the History of
Mathematics and Its Uses in Teaching from the Mathematical Association
of America (MAA) Institute in the History of Mathematics and Its Uses
in Teaching at the American and Catholic Universities, Washington D.C.
She is the Historian of the American Mathematical Association of Two
Year Colleges (AMATYC), an AMATYC INPUT awardee for innovation in
teaching, and the Writing Team Chair for the chapter on instruction of
AMATYC’s signature document, Beyond Crossroads. She is a member of the
Centennial History Committee of MAA and a Life Patron and Life Fellow
of the International Biographical Association (IBA). She has received
honorable mention on many Who’s Who listings, including Who’s Who in
the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who Among American Teachers.
Publisher of MJoTA
MJoTA.org. Published since 2006 by Emerald Pademelon Press LLC. PO Box 381 Haddonfield, NJ 08033, USA. 1-609-792-1571. Publisher@mjota.org
I like leaders to be able to remember if they ate breakfast or bombed something this.morning. None of these old men look capable of that. Cleopatra was a great pharaoh caught in an impossible time. Great women leaders are emerging in Africa in this new world, praying for one to emerge in Egypt.