#WATWB June – Shelter and Food

Over a year ago bloggers Belinda Witzenhausen and Damyanti Biswas contacted some of their blogging friends about the negativity that invades lives via our screens. They formed a We Are The World Blogfest Group #WATWB. This group posts positive stories on the final Friday of each month. We are people from all inhabited continents of the world. While coming from many cultural backgrounds and belief systems, we are all united in believing that the power of a good story can change lives for the better. You too, can join.

This month our co-hosts are:

Damyanti Biswas,

Shilpa Garg,

Mary J Melange,

Dan Antion,

and myself. Please visit their posts and others with #WATWB.

This month I have two examples to bring to the fest.

The CEO Sleepout

Photo: Vinnies Sleepout website.

The St. Vinnies CEO Sleepout is becoming an annual fixture. While raising awareness and funds for homeless people it also does something else. It gives people in positions of leadership in government, business, Church groups, advocacy groups and more, a glimmer of an understanding of what it is like to sleep on the streets. From their website

What is the Vinnies CEO Sleepout?

The Vinnies CEO Sleepout is a one-night event over one of the longest and coldest nights of the year. Hundreds of CEOs, business owners as well as community and government leaders sleep outdoors to support the many Australians who are experiencing homelessness. Each CEO Sleepout participant commits to raising thousands of dollars to help Vinnies provide essential services to the people who need them.

Last year, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout raised 5.6 million dollars for people experiencing homelessness.

Donating

directly assists people experiencing homelessness, by:

funding new initiatives
ensuring existing homeless services, like food vans and emergency support, continue
expanding the reach of our existing programs to ensure every Australian can access accommodation, meals, and emergency assistance when they need it.

There is some footage on youtube such as this video. You can also check out the stories by people like

As first time CEO Sleepout attendee Helen Yost braved the cool winds under the Story Bridge in Brisbane for the annual event in June 2017, she was reminded of her past and her own experiences of homelessness.

Now for an excerpt from Juliet Kono’s haunting poem:

Homeless

My son lives on the streets.

We don’t see each other much.

Like a mother who puts white lilies

on the headstone of a dead child,

I put money into his bank account,

clothes into E-Z Access storage

and pretend he’s far away—

at a boarding school, or in a foreign country.

Nights, I dream fairy tales about him…..

#WATWB May – Edna the Pest Tester

Edna the Labrador and Tom the Quarantine Officer. Picture: ABC News.

Peter Nena, Andrea Michaels, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal, Shilpa Garg

and Damyanti Biswas

are our friendly co-hosts for We Are The World Blogfest #WATWB May.

Please visit these co-hosts and check out their stories.

A special welcome to new viewers and welcome back to some of our previous visitors.

The Cane Toad (Picture: ABC News)

is an introduced species to Australia. It was brought here from Hawaii to control the native grey-backed cane beetle and Frenchi beetle in sugar plantations. In some Northern States it has now become a pest and it is a toxic hazard to mammals. Preventing the spread of this atrocious amphibian is a constant task.

Amidst this task, ABC News has found a patch of silver lining. Warning! It involves canine cuteness.

Enda the Labrador and Tom Lawton, a Quarantine and Biosecurity Officer with the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers based in Alyangula, are sniffing out the presence of Cane Toads in Groote Eylandt. It is part of a far flung archipelago near East Arnhem Land in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

As Wikipedia informs us:

Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It is the homeland of, and is owned by, the Warnindhilyagwa who speak the isolated Anindilyakwa language.

Groote Eylandt lies about 50 km (31 mi) from the Northern Territory mainland and eastern coast of Arnhem Land, about 630 kilometres (390 mi) from Darwin, opposite Blue Mud Bay. The island measures about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from east to west and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from north to south; its area is 2,326.1 km² (898.1 sq mi). It is generally quite low-lying, with an average height above sea level of 15 metres (49 ft), although Central Hill reaches an elevation of 219 metres (719 ft). It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for “Large Island” in an archaic spelling.

(Picture: ozoutback.com.au)

For more pictures of Groote Eylandt, follow this link.

Meanwhile, back to our story. So, Edna and Tom are ensuring that Cane Toads do not get a hold of Groote Eylandt, thanks to Edna’s ability to sniff out the presence of either live or dead toads. Currently, this duo has the problem by the nose. You can check out the full ABC News report yourselves.

* * * * * * * * *

With a sniff and a snuff, and a bit of a “Ruff”,

Edna goes about her way.

As the barge sets sail, she wags her tail,

To begin her working day.

When a Cane Toad’s found, she stands her ground,

As Tom helps her in the fray.

Groote Eylandt is free of a Cane Toad spree,

And man’s best friend is here to stay.

* * * * * * * *

Want to join the WATWB Blogfest? Check out some details here.

#WATWB February – Girl Giving a Heart Away

Welcome to the We Are The World #WATWB Blogfest for February 2018. Please visit our generous co-hosts. They are Shilpa Garg, Peter Nena, Eric Lahti, Roshan Radhakrishnan and Inderpreet Kaur Uppal.

Alisha with her parents. Source: SBS news.

Due to a rare disease, little Alisha Kapoor needs a heart lung transplant. In the process her heart is healthy and she is willing to donate it to save another persons life. As SBS News reports

Alisha Kapoor knows little outside the walls of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in Sydney’s west.

She turns five in a few weeks but has spent the majority of her life living at the hospital, away from her parents and two siblings in Blacktown, 13km away.

“I think we have two houses, one here, and one there,” her father Raj Kapoor told SBS News.

“This is my second house. My wife, she stayed almost one and half years, or more, in the hospital, 24/7.”

This is all because

Alisha has an incredibly rare genetic disorder; surfactant protein C deficiency, which affects less than 10 children in Australia. It means she struggles to breathe and is permanently on a ventilator.

But while Alisha needs a lung transplant, Dr Pandit says it is safer to transplant a new heart at the same time.

“Technically it is very difficult for the cardiothoracic surgeons to separate the lungs from the heart,” Dr Pandit said. “As a result, in her case, it will have to be the heart and lung together. Technically it is much better to do it as a block transplant, rather than separating just the lungs.”

Here is the part that is so, literally, heart-warming

Among this comes a positive. While Alisha will become the youngest heart-lung transplant recipient in Australia, her heart is perfectly healthy. It means she can donate it, and save another young life in the process.

“We feel very good [about it],” Mr Kapoor said.

“Someone will save my kid, and my kid will save someone else. Everyone should be a donor, it’s a precious gift of life.”

Mr Kapoor is urging everyone to think about organ donation and the lives that could be saved.

It is touching to read that someone so needy is willing to give, to share, for the sake of another’s life. It reminds us of the inter-dependence of our lives.

The rest of the article and video can be found here.

Alisha Karpoor and her father, Raj.

Alisha with her father. Source: SBS News.

Here are some verses to close a story on the kindness people show to one another.

The kindness of others

is all they ever wanted,

the laughter of neighbors

prospering in the blue light of summer.

The generosity of others

whose spirits, like their long-legged

children blossoming into a progeny

of orchards and fields, flourish.

Two stanzas from ‘The Kindness of Others’ by Cathy Song. Source: Poetry Foundation.

Want to know more about this blogfest? Read on.

Once again, here are the guidelines for #WATWB:

1. Keep your post to Below 500 words, as much as possible.

2. Link to a human news story on your blog, one that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood. Paste in an excerpt and tell us why it touched you. The Link is important, because it actually makes us look through news to find the positive ones to post.

3. No story is too big or small, as long as it Goes Beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.

4. Place the WE ARE THE WORLD badge or banner on your Post and your Sidebar. Some of you have already done so, this is just a gentle reminder for the others.

5. Help us spread the word on social media. Feel free to tweet, share using the #WATWB hastag to help us trend!

Tweets, Facebook shares, Pins, Instagram, G+ shares using the #WATWB hashtag through the month most welcome. We’ll try and follow and share all those who post on the #WATWB hashtag, and we encourage you to do the same.Just click Here to enter their link and join us! Bigger the #WATWB group each month, more the joy!

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#WATWB January 2018 Kicking Goals for Goodness and Culture

Welcome to the first edition of WATWB for 2018. Our co-hosts for this month are Shilpa Garg, Simon Falk, Lynn Hallbrooks, Eric Lahti, Damyanti Biswas and Guilie Castillo.

We trust you had a great break over the change of year and hope to bring you good news stories both this month and in the months to come. More information about the WATWB blogfest is at the bottom of this post.

(Photo: from supplied source)

Some Somali’s in Melbourne go back to Somalia to play soccer (football). It was commented that the exchange inspired young people to be engaged in the community in practical ways when they got back to Australia.

As SBS news reports:

It’s often said that sport can unify communities, bridging the gap between various cultures. And there’s perhaps no better example of a universal sport than football.

Armed with this theory, a group of 50 young men from Melbourne’s Somali community were taken on a month-long trip back to home turf.

“Soccer is the easiest way to build a bridge,” Hussein Horaco, Secretary of the Somali Australian Council of Victoria, who organised the initiative, told SBS News.

“We wanted to give hope to young people in Somalia, and for us also, the young people in Australia to experience how difficult life is there.”

As the SBS report continues, we observe that the young people from Australia did get real in the field cultural experience too:

One of the footballers, 25-year-old Abdirahman Ahmed, said being taken out of their comfort zone gave the team a greater appreciation of what they have in Australia.

“Hot water, just having a cold drink in the fridge, small things like that, that you take for granted. And when you go there and you see people, the majority of people, not having those kinds of things … seeing them still being happy, it’s very uplifting,” he said.

Council representative Ahmed Mahmoud said some of the players were also pleasantly surprised by what some people had in Mogadishu.

“The boys thought they’d be sleeping in huts and probably go out into the wilderness to go to the toilet. But when they went there, there were five-star hotels, there were baths, showers in your room, balconies, room service. There was internet and some of the boys were joking that it’s much faster than Melbourne internet.”

They even had an audience with Somalia’s recently elected president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – known by the nickname ‘Farmajo’.

So the world game continues to catch on. The exchange of events such as these breaks down barriers of nation, culture and fear in a fun way. They are kicking real goals of human goodness during such a formative age of these people’s lives.

(Photo courtesy of SBS news.)

* * *

Just a final little note. Since this blog is about poetry, here is a sample of some Somali poets at Poet Nation in Minneapolis, US. There is some great stuff there. The second guy cuts across some of our WATWB themes.

= = =

Want to know more about this blogfest? Read on.

Once again, here are the guidelines for #WATWB:

1. Keep your post to Below 500 words, as much as possible.

3. No story is too big or small, as long as it Goes Beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.

4. Place the WE ARE THE WORLD badge or banner on your Post and your Sidebar. Some of you have already done so, this is just a gentle reminder for the others.

5. Help us spread the word on social media. Feel free to tweet, share using the #WATWB hastag to help us trend!

Missing, Lost and Found #WATWB September

Welcome to We Are the World #WATWB for September. Our dedicated co-hosts for this month are: Michelle Wallace, Peter Nena, Emerald Barnes, Andrea Michaels and Shilpa Garg. We are grateful for their generosity. Please visit their blogs too!

Missing

We witness days where acts of terror occur. We view reports of extreme natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. In some of these, people are missing and loved ones long to know where they are.

Australian current affairs program, Insight, recently featured the stories of some people, such as Sevak Simonian, on an episode covering the tragedy of missing persons. It is wrenching to lose a loved one. When new evidence surfaces, glimmers of hope shed light on the darkness of unknowing and grief.

Burst Daily has posted on people who have been found.

Many bloggers connected to our pages are interested in literature that weaves around a narrative. Some of those narratives tell of mysteries to be unlocked. I found this story about a writer whose writing opened a closed case and begun to solve a mystery.

Melissa Pouliot’s cousin, Ursula Barwick, was found after a 30 year search. She was buried under another name! Melissa wrote her novel, Write About Me, to honour Ursula’s memory, the Canberra Times reports. There are still facts to sifted, but at least the family now know that she has a place of rest and could celebrate a memorial service. This gives them the impetus to resume their search with renewed vigour. It is heartening to hear of people getting some answers to the struggles of their lives.

Missing… Lost… So Long

You were there

Now

You are gone.

Gone

For so long

And

We had said

“So long”

to you.

But

Were we through?

The searching

For a trace

In the hope of

An embrace

With you.

We search

And wait

Anticipate

Reunion

Too.

Simon C.J. Falk 27 September 2017

Looking for some stories of hope!
Why not SIGN UP for WE ARE THE WORLD BLOGFEST in the linky list below:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
~~~GUIDELINES~~~
Keep your post to below 500 words, as much as possible.

All we ask is you link to a human news story on your blog on the last Friday of each month, one that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood. Something like this news, about a man who only fosters terminally ill children.

Join us on the last Friday of each month in sharing news that warms the cockles of our heart. No story is too big or small, as long as it goes beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.

Place the WE ARE THE WORLD Badge on your sidebar, and help us spread the word on social media. Tweets, Facebook shares, G+ shares using the #WATWB hashtag through the month most welcome. More Blogfest signups mean more friends, love and light for all of us.

We’ll read and comment on each others’ posts, get to know each other better, and hopefully, make or renew some friendships with everyone who signs on as participants in the coming months.

To signup, add your link in WE ARE THE WORLD Linky List here.

We Are Still Warmly Welcoming #WATWB

We warmly welcome

Anyone with good news on

The last Friday of each month to

Write a

Blog with us.

Cohosts this month are: Sylvia Stein, Roshan Radhakrishnan, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal, Damyanti Biswas and myself.

Want to spread more cheer with other great writers. Check out our We Are The World Blogfest and its Facebook Page . You only have to write 500 words of good news and can add in links to the website or video clip for that news. If you are ready to sign up here is the linky list.

Want to make your post easier for readers to find and tag?

Add #WATWB to the blog title.

Thanks so much! 🙂

We Are The World Blogfest #WATWB and Sydney Story Factory

SydneyStory

Sydney Story Factory

When we began this blogfest we said we wanted to hear stories. This May post is about a story. It is also about how a story draws out many more stories from a lot of people.

Little people.

Strugglers.

Battlers.

It is about unlocking the stories they have within.

For the We Are the World Blogfest post this month I would like to feature the Sydney Story Factory. When you go to the link be sure to check out the youtube clip.

In the meantime, here’s a bit from their website:

At the Sydney Story Factory we believe that all Australian young people, no matter their background, should be given opportunities to develop the communication skills and flexibility of thinking that will allow them to live their lives to their full potential and flourish in a rapidly changing world.

Our priority is marginalised young people – those most at risk of losing confidence in their writing and switching off at school. We light the spark of creativity and help them find their voice.

Programs are for young people aged 7 to 17, in primary and high school, and are designed by creative writing and literacy experts to:

improve young people’s written and oral communication skills;
enhance self-confidence and self-efficacy;
nurture creativity and empathy; and
deepen engagement with learning.

All of our lives are story factories. The Sydney Story Factory is a very special one. I wish we had a story factory in the towns I lived in as a child.

We all love to hear stories

To hear them all the time;

About the drearies and the glories,

The downtime and the prime.

I love to hear a tale,

And see others give their spiel;

Even if their voice is frail,

I know we’ll get the feel.

A feel for what is rising,

of creativity deep within;

Whether great or small by sizing,

We welcome stories in!

A larger story goes on….

The last Friday of every month bloggers will share their stories led by co-hosts. This month’s co-hosts are Peter Nena, Eric Lahti, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal , Roshan Radhakrishnan , Emerald Barnes and Lynn Hallbrooks

Please SIGN UP for WE ARE THE WORLD BLOGFEST in the linky list below:

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

~~~GUIDELINES~~~

Keep your post to below 500 words, as much as possible.
All we ask is you link to a human news story on your blog on the last Friday of each month, one that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood. Something like this news, about a man who only fosters terminally ill children.
Join us on the last Friday of each month in sharing news that warms the cockles of our heart. No story is too big or small, as long as it goes beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.
Place the WE ARE THE WORLD Badge on your sidebar, and help us spread the word on social media. Tweets, Facebook shares, G+ shares using the #WATWB hashtag through the month most welcome. More Blogfest signups mean more friends, love and light for all of us.
We’ll read and comment on each others’ posts, get to know each other better, and hopefully, make or renew some friendships with everyone who signs on as participants in the coming months.
To signup, add your link in WE ARE THE WORLD Linky List here.