| http://www.airlineamb.org/TopLevel/5_Trips/AAI_Missions/Somalia/Somalia_NSabrie.htm | ||
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 Somalia October 15-30, 2011 How you can help Somalia A team led by Nurta Sabrie will be in Somalia October 15-30 to take water, food, medication and other aid. While there, the group will assess the situation and set up logistics for future trips. Ms. Sabrie's contacts and local authorities will team up and visit various camps in Mogadishu to ensure that those who need it most receive our direct help. The UN says that more than 11 million people in the Horn of Africa require food assistance due to the region’s worst drought in half a century. Across the country, nearly half of the Somali population — 3.7 million people — are now in crisis!  Visit the Somali blog for more details and to make your donation today. For further information please contact Nurta Sabrie at nsabrie@gmail.com or by phone 703-994-0839. | ||
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Airline Ambassadors International. Somalia
Thursday, October 6, 2011
DSU to Explore Establishment of Charter School on Campus
Delaware State University and representatives of the local community have partnered with Innovative Schools, a Delaware-based non-profit public school support organization, to submit a charter application to the Delaware Department of Education this December. If approved, the proposed charter high school would implement the state’s first Early College High School, a nationally recognized school design brought to Delaware through a partnership between Innovative Schools and EdWorks, and would be located on the DSU campus in Dover. The school would be designed specifically to serve first generation college-bound students.
In the Early College model, high school and college combine to form a coherent educational program in which students work toward a high school diploma and up to two years of college credits in four years of high school. Located on a college campus, the model directly challenges the belief system of under-prepared poor and minority students about their ability to do college level work and get a postsecondary degree.
Housing a high school on the DSU campus is not unprecedented in the University’s history. In the 1893-94 school year, the then State College for Colored Students established a two-year preparatory school to help students get ready for a college education. In 1917, a Model Grade School was established by DSU, which granted a high school diploma to graduates. Capital improvement donations by philanthropist Pierre du Pont in the 1920s included funding to construct a new school building named the Du Pont Building. That building served as the only high school facility for African Americans in Kent County until 1952, when the high school for blacks moved to a larger school facility in the then-Dover city limits.
“Adding an Early College High School on DSU’s campus is consistent with the University’s historic mission and would strengthen the University’s ability to serve first generation college-bound students and underrepresented minorities from the greater Dover area,” said Dr. Alton Thompson, DSU provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “It would provide them with an exceptional academic program that truly prepares them for success in college and beyond.”
Students participating in the Early College High School model launched by EdWorks in Ohio have an average graduation rate of 91% and out-perform state averages in high stakes graduation tests for reading, writing, and mathematics. At the completion of four years in high school, 100% of student attending Early College High Schools have earned a minimum of 30 hours of college credit, and as many as 60% of students earn an associate’s degree, or the equivalent of 45-60 college credit.
The University intends to blend the Early College Charter High School with its existing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Initiative.
“The Early College High School at DSU will be an innovative learning environment designed to inspire students who have the potential and motivation to be the first in their families to graduate from college,” said Dr. Thompson. “We are committed to making this school a good fit for our community.”
As part of the charter application process, members of the Early College Charter High School Founding Board are asking members of the Kent County community to share their opinion to determine the interest and demand for the proposed charter school. Students, parents, educators and other community members can learn more about the Early College High School, view videos of the school design in action, and complete an online survey at www.makemineamodelschool.org. All responses are confidential and will be used to help determine the demand for new schools.
About Delaware Charter Schools
Charter schools are free public schools open to all Delaware students. In Delaware, charter schools are authorized by Del. C., Title 14, Chapter 5 which was enacted in 1995. The creation of the charter school legislation is intended to improve student learning; encourage the use of different and innovative or proven school environments and teaching and learning methods; provide parents and students with improved measures of school performance and greater opportunities in choosing public schools within and outside their school districts; and to provide for a well-educated community. There are currently 21 charter schools operating across the state of Delaware. The proposed charter school, if approved, would open to students in the 2013-2014 school year.
About Innovative Schools the Make Mine A Model School Campaign:
Innovative Schools is a non-profit public school support organization that empowers educators and communities to adopt modern school models proven to inspire passionate teaching and learning. As a comprehensive center for school innovation, the organization provides the strategies, tools, and ongoing support needed to select the right school models and ensure its successful operation. As part of its work, Innovative Schools has developed the Make Mine A Model School campaign, a community-based tool to mobilize Delaware educators, students, families, and citizens who want modern schools that inspire passionate teaching and learning. The goal of the Make Mine A Model School Campaign and Innovative Schools work is to modernize Delaware's public school system by providing schools and students with choices for academic programs that offer new and engaging ways of teaching and learning, and that prepare students to become members of a global community. The Early College High School model is one of four unique high school designs being brought to Delaware by Innovative Schools, in partnership with national school design organizations. Learn more about this school design and about the work of Innovative Schools at www.innovativeschools.org.
About Delaware State University:
DSU has a long and proud history as one of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and is among the top 15 of 72 ranked in the nation. Founded in 1891 as the State College for Colored Students, DSU has evolved in its 120-year history into a comprehensive University that offers a wide array of bachelor, master and doctoral degree programs. While the University is predominantly African American, it enjoys a rich, ever-growing diversity of students from other backgrounds, including those from more than 27 countries. To learn more about Delaware State University, visit www.desu.edu.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Comments on '11 All-Hazards Position Task Book(PTBs)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Medical Reserve Corps
http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage
The Secretary of Health and Human Services receives a vaccination from a Virginia MRC volunteer.You've worked hard in your career to master a variety of skills – in medicine, public health, safety, logistics, communications or a number of other areas. Volunteering with the Medical Reserve Corps is a simple and effective way to use and improve those skills, while helping to keep your family, friends and neighbors safe and healthy. For example, you may put those skills to use during an emergency, or while providing some services for the most vulnerable members of your community.
Volunteering can give the great satisfaction of helping others. For many individuals, volunteering gives them a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. It helps to broaden their social networks, and that can have many positive effects. Volunteering provides opportunities for social interactions with fellow volunteers while supporting an important activity in the community. Interacting with others with a common interest is also a great way to create new relationships.
Volunteering can also have a significant effect on your own health. Research presented by the Corporation for National and Community Service shows a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer. See The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research for more information (http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/benefits.asp).
Imagine a community – or a nation – in which everyone volunteered. Everyone would expand their skills and knowledge. Everyone would be healthier. And everyone would have a more meaningful life. This is a future we all can work towards.
Saline MRC (MO) volunteers participate in a dramatic exercise.MRC volunteers train - individually and with other members of the unit - in order to improve their skills, knowledge and abilities. Sometimes the training is coursework, and other times it is part of a drill or exercise conducted with partner organizations in the community. Continuing education units and credits are even available for some programs.
Many MRC volunteers assist with activities to improve public health in their community – increasing health literacy, supporting prevention efforts and eliminating health disparities.
In an emergency, local resources get called upon first, sometimes with little or no warning. As a member of an MRC unit, you can be part of an organized and trained team. You will be ready and able to bolster local emergency planning and response capabilities.
The specific role that you will play, and the activities in which you will participate, will depend upon your background, interests and skills, as well as the needs of the MRC unit and the community.
Upper Merrimack Valley MRC (MA) volunteer performs a blood pressure check.Every MRC unit is led by a local MRC Unit Coordinator, who matches local volunteer capabilities and schedules with local needs for both emergency responses and public health initiatives.
Many MRC members are just like you – nurses, doctors, pharmacists, therapists, public health officials and other community members who believe in keeping your local area healthy, prepared and resilient. They share your commitment to helping others and making a difference.
You may also work closely with staff members from the local health department, emergency management agency, hospital or other organizations that partner with the MRC. In fact, the services that you provide may help these other organizations to meet their mission.
About Volunteering
Local health, safety and preparedness begins with youWhy Should I Volunteer?
The Secretary of Health and Human Services receives a vaccination from a Virginia MRC volunteer.
Volunteering can give the great satisfaction of helping others. For many individuals, volunteering gives them a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. It helps to broaden their social networks, and that can have many positive effects. Volunteering provides opportunities for social interactions with fellow volunteers while supporting an important activity in the community. Interacting with others with a common interest is also a great way to create new relationships.
Volunteering can also have a significant effect on your own health. Research presented by the Corporation for National and Community Service shows a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer. See The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research for more information (http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/benefits.asp).
Imagine a community – or a nation – in which everyone volunteered. Everyone would expand their skills and knowledge. Everyone would be healthier. And everyone would have a more meaningful life. This is a future we all can work towards.
What Would I Do As A Volunteer?
Saline MRC (MO) volunteers participate in a dramatic exercise.
Many MRC volunteers assist with activities to improve public health in their community – increasing health literacy, supporting prevention efforts and eliminating health disparities.
In an emergency, local resources get called upon first, sometimes with little or no warning. As a member of an MRC unit, you can be part of an organized and trained team. You will be ready and able to bolster local emergency planning and response capabilities.
The specific role that you will play, and the activities in which you will participate, will depend upon your background, interests and skills, as well as the needs of the MRC unit and the community.
Who Do I Volunteer With?
Upper Merrimack Valley MRC (MA) volunteer performs a blood pressure check.
Many MRC members are just like you – nurses, doctors, pharmacists, therapists, public health officials and other community members who believe in keeping your local area healthy, prepared and resilient. They share your commitment to helping others and making a difference.
You may also work closely with staff members from the local health department, emergency management agency, hospital or other organizations that partner with the MRC. In fact, the services that you provide may help these other organizations to meet their mission.
It's up to you. Join your local Medical Reserve Corps unit and be an active member. Visit Medical Reserve Corps to learn more
Saturday, October 1, 2011
International Sector. How human waste could power Nigeria's slums.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/world/africa/nigeria-sewage-biogas/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
That's according to Olatunbosun Obayomi, a Lagosian microbiologist and inventor who has lived in the city all his life.
But now Obayomi thinks he's found a solution -- one that not only tackles the slums' sanitation issues, but creates free, clean energy in the process.
"With a cheap retrofit, household septic tanks -- the source of the sewage -- can be converted into biogas generators," said Obayomi, 29, whose concept has earned him a TED fellowship, a Nigerian Youth Leadership Award and growing international acclaim.
"The idea of turning waste into energy has been around for centuries. My innovation is simply applying the chemistry in a practical way by using the resources we already have," he explained.
In most homes in Lagos, toilet waste is stored in rudimentary septic tanks beneath the ground. Here it decomposes into a poisonous compound, before being sucked out by a tanker that deposits it all in a nearby lagoon.
"Unfortunately, the system of water pipes is very disorganized, and they often pass through the same place where the sewage is dumped," said Obayomi. "And it's not uncommon for poorly constructed septic tanks to leak directly into the drainage system."
As he explained: "When excreta decompose with oxygen, it creates a useless, incombustible mixture that carries disease. But without oxygen, the germs die and the mixture produces a combustible gas."
This biogas -- a mix of carbon dioxide and methane -- can be stored in an adjacent underground chamber and used to power cooking stoves, heat homes or even generate electricity.
Opinion: Tackling climate change still a luxury in developing world
"Converting waste into biogas is a win-win strategy," said Sarah Butler-Sloss, founding director of the Ashden Awards, an organization that champions local energy innovations around the world.
"What makes it so elegant is that it resolves a life-threatening sanitation issue -- by treating harmful, waterborne germs -- while simultaneously creating a much-needed source of carbon-free energy," she said.
Butler-Sloss added that recent figures from the U.N. say 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity, while 2.7 billion still prepare food on grossly inefficient and carbon-hungry open fires.
"We have seen similar projects in places like India and China -- where everything from domestic garbage to animal waste has been used to produce energy with great success ... Clearly this is the time to embrace domestically produced biogas, especially in the developing world."
It's a view shared by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Patrick Mwefigye is program officer for sustainable consumption and production at UNEP's regional office for Africa. He says that in areas where there is "little funding, capacity or infrastructure" for complex waste management, "we see the production of biogas as having great potential."
At present, Mwefigye says the gas is regularly produced in just a handful of African nations.
"In Rwanda, for instance, the prisons have been fitted with large biogas generators, so that they are almost entirely self-powering," he said.
But, although Obayomi's retrofitted biogas generator is relatively cheap to build -- requiring only low-tech materials such as plastic pipes, cement and sand -- and despite all the recognition it's attracted, only a prototype has been installed so far.
Yet Obayomi conservatively estimates that the average street in Lagos could produce 1,720 liters of biogas a day -- enough for an engine-powered water pump to serve the daily domestic needs of at least 50 families.
So what's the hold-up?
"Biogas generators tend to be constructed in situ," said Butler-Sloss, "And while the materials are relatively cheap, they're not mass-produced like solar panels or wind-turbines so, at present, it's difficult to scale-up."
Obayomi has a different take, however. For him, it's not an issue of resources or need, but attitude.
"Although I've been filmed by government TV and won these awards, no politician has approached me to build anything. In Nigeria there is a lot of talk but very little walk," he lamented.
There is also a problem of credibility, he said. In Obayomi's experience, the hardest place to be taken seriously as a Nigerian inventor is in Nigeria itself.
"It is a new concept for many Nigerians," he said. "There's still this feeling that unless an idea or a piece of new technology comes from the West, then it's not glamorous ... it's not valid."
How human waste could power Nigeria's slums
updated 9:25 AM EST, Mon September 26, 2011
(CNN) -- In the crowded slums of Lagos, Nigeria, untreated sewage mingles with the chaotic network of pipes that deliver water to the city. Those who can't afford a local borehole or a private vendor know better than to take their chances with the taps -- most preferring to go thirsty instead.
But now Obayomi thinks he's found a solution -- one that not only tackles the slums' sanitation issues, but creates free, clean energy in the process.
"With a cheap retrofit, household septic tanks -- the source of the sewage -- can be converted into biogas generators," said Obayomi, 29, whose concept has earned him a TED fellowship, a Nigerian Youth Leadership Award and growing international acclaim.
"The idea of turning waste into energy has been around for centuries. My innovation is simply applying the chemistry in a practical way by using the resources we already have," he explained.
In most homes in Lagos, toilet waste is stored in rudimentary septic tanks beneath the ground. Here it decomposes into a poisonous compound, before being sucked out by a tanker that deposits it all in a nearby lagoon.
"Unfortunately, the system of water pipes is very disorganized, and they often pass through the same place where the sewage is dumped," said Obayomi. "And it's not uncommon for poorly constructed septic tanks to leak directly into the drainage system."
As he explained: "When excreta decompose with oxygen, it creates a useless, incombustible mixture that carries disease. But without oxygen, the germs die and the mixture produces a combustible gas."
This biogas -- a mix of carbon dioxide and methane -- can be stored in an adjacent underground chamber and used to power cooking stoves, heat homes or even generate electricity.
"Converting waste into biogas is a win-win strategy," said Sarah Butler-Sloss, founding director of the Ashden Awards, an organization that champions local energy innovations around the world.
"What makes it so elegant is that it resolves a life-threatening sanitation issue -- by treating harmful, waterborne germs -- while simultaneously creating a much-needed source of carbon-free energy," she said.
Butler-Sloss added that recent figures from the U.N. say 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity, while 2.7 billion still prepare food on grossly inefficient and carbon-hungry open fires.
"We have seen similar projects in places like India and China -- where everything from domestic garbage to animal waste has been used to produce energy with great success ... Clearly this is the time to embrace domestically produced biogas, especially in the developing world."
Patrick Mwefigye is program officer for sustainable consumption and production at UNEP's regional office for Africa. He says that in areas where there is "little funding, capacity or infrastructure" for complex waste management, "we see the production of biogas as having great potential."
At present, Mwefigye says the gas is regularly produced in just a handful of African nations.
"In Rwanda, for instance, the prisons have been fitted with large biogas generators, so that they are almost entirely self-powering," he said.
Yet Obayomi conservatively estimates that the average street in Lagos could produce 1,720 liters of biogas a day -- enough for an engine-powered water pump to serve the daily domestic needs of at least 50 families.
So what's the hold-up?
"Biogas generators tend to be constructed in situ," said Butler-Sloss, "And while the materials are relatively cheap, they're not mass-produced like solar panels or wind-turbines so, at present, it's difficult to scale-up."
Obayomi has a different take, however. For him, it's not an issue of resources or need, but attitude.
"Although I've been filmed by government TV and won these awards, no politician has approached me to build anything. In Nigeria there is a lot of talk but very little walk," he lamented.
There is also a problem of credibility, he said. In Obayomi's experience, the hardest place to be taken seriously as a Nigerian inventor is in Nigeria itself.
"It is a new concept for many Nigerians," he said. "There's still this feeling that unless an idea or a piece of new technology comes from the West, then it's not glamorous ... it's not valid."