Walls of Death

Dear Gabriel,

Sea Turtles Caught in “Walls of Death”

Endangered turtles and whales need your help. Deadly drift gillnets off the coast of California are threatening the lives of leatherback turtles, sperm whales, and other marine animals. These mile-long nets, left out overnight to catch swordfish, create an underwater “wall of death” for anything unlucky enough to swim into them.

These nets should be banned, but instead the fishery may soon expand. We’re fighting to protect these rare and important creatures, but we need your support. Donate $10 today and your gift will be DOUBLED!

Oceana.org

My Son Linus

Gabriel,

My son Linus loves to play video games, his favorite food is mac n cheese, and he was born with Asperger syndrome. We take Linus to a therapist for treatment — but now our health insurance company is planning to stop covering his visits, just because he’s turning 9 years old.

I was shocked when I found out that United Healthcare stops covering Asperger’s treatment at such a young age, forcing families like mine to pay thousands of dollars a year to continue caring for our children’s conditions.

I want Linus and kids like him to grow up with the best chance for a full and happy life. That’s why I started a petition on Change.org asking United Healthcare to change its policy and cover treatment for Aspergers and other autism spectrum disorders after age 9.

Click here to sign my petition.

Linus is beginning a chapter in his life when social skills are going to become very important. He has already experienced some teasing and bullying at school from classmates who don’t understand his condition. This is not just heartbreaking for me, but devastating for a kid that doesn’t understand how to do things like everyone else.

As a mom, I worry most about the isolation and depression that many children with Aspergers suffer from. I’ve read that kids with Aspergers are about 30% more likely to commit suicide than the population at large. That is a staggering amount — and it’s why I’m determined to keep Linus and children like him in the therapies that will help them navigate through their pre-teen and teen years.

I’ve tried speaking with several United Healthcare representatives, but so far none of them has offered a solution, leaving my family — and hundreds of others — on the hook for thousands of dollars in treatment costs.

Health insurance companies can set their own policies. I’m hoping that if enough people speak up for Linus and other children with Aspergers, United Healthcare will be forced to reevaluate their policy and set an example to other top healthcare providers. Will you help me fight for my son?

Sign my petition now to join me in asking United Healthcare to continue covering Aspergers treatment for children after they turn 9 years old.

Thank you so much for your help.

Mindy Armbrust
Doylestown, OH
Change.org

PEN Award for Fiction

It was just announced that Deena Metzger’s novel La Negra y Blanca is the 2012 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Award Winner for Fiction.

Maxine Hong Kingston (previous PEN Oakland award winner and author of China Men and The Woman Warrior) says, “Deena Metzger has used her skills as poet to understand the end of Victor Perera’s life. As we read La Negra y Blanca, the contemporary and the mythic, our selves and our ancestors, miraculously join.”

Ariel Dorfman (author of Death and the Maiden) says, “Many meetings weave in and out of this splendid, heartbreaking novel. Meetings of multiple Americas, meetings between the living and the dead, meetings where dreams and reality, history and pain, deception and hope, intersect. But above all, what we meet in La Negra y Blanca is a ravishing wager that words can still birth us into the puzzle of existence, that we can all be mothers to one another as the storm approaches.”

Ms. Metzger’s books include Feral; Ruin and Beauty; From Grief Into Vision; A Council; Doors: A fiction for Jazz Horn; The Other Hand; Tree: A Sabbath Among the Ruins; The Woman Who Slept With Men to Take the War Out of Them; and Writing For Your Life.

Read more at Hand to Hand Publishing
Available in print at Amazon.com
Available on Kindle at Amazon
Available at small press retailer BCH

Powerful Majestic Creatures

Dear Gabriel,

Sperm whales are one of the world’s most powerful, majestic sea creatures – but they’re no match for drift gillnets.

In just one year, an estimated 16 sperm whales were drowned in gillnets off the coast of California. That’s not counting the sharks, turtles, dolphins, and other open ocean animals that are caught in greater numbers.

These nets, which are supposed to catch swordfish, are notorious for killing some of our oceans’ most endangered species. They should be banned—but instead they continue to kill turtles, sharks, whales and more.

That kind of indiscriminate killing of ocean wildlife cannot be allowed to continue, so we are fighting to stop the use of swordfish drift gillnets off the coast of California.

You can help us meet our $40,000 goal if you chip in – and until October 31, every gift you give will be MATCHED for double the impact. Donate just $10 today and join the fight to stop deadly gillnets»

The destructive power of gillnets cannot be underestimated, even for the formidable sperm whale.

Up to 65 feet long and weighing over 50 tons, these deep diving whales can hold their own against nearly anything in the oceans. But sperm whales were prized by whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries for the spermaceti oil contained in their large heads, and were hunted mercilessly.

They grow slowly, taking time to raise their young between births. Without human interference, a sperm whale may live to be 70 years old. But a young whale caught in a net doesn’t just lose those decades of life—it loses its chance to have babies and help replenish a population still struggling from the effects of whaling.

Six weeks ago, we filed our formal intent to sue the federal government for violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. This is precisely the kind of action that will force the government to protect endangered ocean wildlife threatened by gillnets.

While they can be expensive, these lawsuits work. A similar lawsuit in 2009 forced the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant protections for the endangered loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles. Our fight against the use of drift gillnets in places where endangered sea creatures reside could save more turtles and whales – but only if we have the resources we need to win.

With your help, we can continue the fight for sperm whales and other ocean creatures around the world. Give $10 today and we’ll DOUBLE your support!»

For the oceans,
Emily Fisher
Oceana

All Around The World

Dear friends,

It’s not often you get to feel the world shift a little bit — but three years ago, that’s exactly what happened.

On October 24, 2009, 350.org’s first ever day of action took the world by storm, with over 5,000 events in 181 countries. The International Day of Climate Action helped put the 350 movement on the map in every corner of the globe.

It’s hard to describe it in words, so take two minutes to watch this video — and consider chipping in to support the work ahead of us:

WATCH THE VIDEO

CNN called the event “the most widespread day of political action in our planet’s history.” Foreign Policy magazine called it “the largest ever global coordinated rally of any kind.” For 24 hours, the global climate movement was the top story on Google News.

But it isn’t the media attention that inspires me most — it’s everything that has happened since.

In the last three years, a truly global movement has risen up to fight the climate crisis. Millions of people have been touched by 350 campaigns, trainings, and mass mobilizations. We’ve launched and won critical climate battles all over the world — and we’re just getting started.

Our most important work is ahead of us — we’re planning a landmark global convergence, embarking upon an educational road-tour, and launching hard-hitting campaigns in countries all around the world.

We’re working with local groups and partners in India, the Philippines, and Australia to scale up campaigns to move beyond coal and shift to renewable energy. Our friends in France and Indonesia are carrying on the fight to #EndFossilFuelSubsidies and cut off corporate polluters from public handouts. And so it goes around the world — everywhere we’re able, we’re working with incredible grassroots activists to push for the solutions that the planet and its people so desperately need.

Whether you joined us three years ago, or just found out about 350.org yesterday, thank you for all that you do to build this movement.

Let’s keep shifting the world. Together.

Onwards,

Will Bates for the 350.org team

Rainforest Larger Than Texas

Gabriel,

An area of Indonesian rainforest larger than the state of Texas has been destroyed over the last 50 years.

The forest is being logged, burned, or pulped at an alarming rate and its products shipped around the planet. Often for throwaway things like chicken buckets and napkins. It’s bad news for the planet and really bad news for the 400 remaining Sumatran tigers that call the Indonesian rainforest home.

If we lose these last 400 tigers, there’s nothing we can do to bring them back. Now more than ever we need your help to ramp up the pressure on companies buying rainforest fiber and to save the last Sumatran tigers.

Please make your most generous contribution today toward our campaign to save the Sumatran tigers and help us reach our goal of $25,000.

I’ve personally visited the Indonesian rainforest and can honestly say that the speed and scale of the devastation is hard to believe.

The Sumatran tiger is already classified as “critically endangered” — on the brink of extinction and barely hanging on.

They’ve lost 93% of their habitat because companies like Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) are destroying their forest homes. Tigers are left to roam landscapes where they are easily slaughtered by poachers for their body parts.

How many more acres of destruction can the Sumatran tiger survive before its status moves from “critically endangered” to “extinct”? We have to act, and fast.

Thanks to our efforts KFC — one of the major buyers of Indonesian rainforest fiber — recently announced a process to examine where it gets its paper from. But a process alone isn’t going to help save the 400 remaining Sumatran tigers from extinction.

That’s why we’re ramping up our campaign right now to make sure KFC develops a global policy that rules out deforestation. This can only happen with your support.

Our efforts to put pressure on the KFC board and continue our hard-hitting international campaign by doing things like dipping the Colonel in a tank of his own sauce all depend on you.

Make a gift to help us reach our goal of raising $25,000 by October 31st to save the last Sumatran tigers.

Since Greenpeace takes absolutely no money from corporations or governments, we rely on the power of individual supporters like you. With your help, we can achieve this.

For the forests,

Rolf Skar
Greenpeace Forest Campaign Director

“Rape is God’s Gift”

Dear Gabriel,

Last night a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate claimed that raped women should be forced to carry their rapist’s baby to term because their pregnancy — a result of rape — is a “gift from God.”

Tell Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock: Rape is a heinous act of violence, and no politician should tell women that any part of being raped is a gift from God. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Mourdock’s exact words — in the debate with his Democratic opponent — were:

“I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape. It is something that God intended to happen.”

Mourdock is a staunch believer that abortion should be illegal even for victims of rape and incest. But even for an anti-abortion Tea Party Republican claiming that any part of of being raped is for the woman a “gift from God” is appalling.

Make no mistake: Tea Party Republicans like Mourdock will stop at nothing to send women back to the Stone Age. And if he wins election in Indiana, he will put Republicans one seat closer to control of the Senate. And that could mean that extreme anti-woman legislation passed readily in the House — defunding Planned Parenthood, redefining rape, blocking access to birth control — would now have a shot at passing the Senate.

Rape is rape. And it is not acceptable for a Republican politician campaigning for one of the highest offices in our government to tell women that if they get pregnant as a result of rape, that it’s a “gift from God.”

Thank you for standing up for women.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Uganda Village Banking

From FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance)

Celebrating 20 Years of Village Banking in Uganda!

FINCA Uganda, the first FINCA Subsidiary launched on the African continent in 1992 is celebrating 20 years of providing life-changing financial services to both urban and rural clients throughout the country. So it was fitting that, as a show of appreciation, FINCA Uganda returned to communities in which it operates, especially its inaugural community of Jinja, by providing clients and their families with access to free health screenings and hands-on care.

So far about 10 of such events have been carried out at its branches in partnership with AAR Health Services, where they have provided, among other services, voluntary HIV/AIDs testing and counseling, body mass checkups, blood pressure testing, nutrition counseling, family planning methods and HIV/AIDs control measures, as well as general health consultations, all at no cost. The health screenings have been open to FINCA Uganda’s clients and their families as well as to entire communities.

FINCA Uganda’s Marketing Manager, Simon Ahimbisibwe, said that Jinja holds a special place in FINCA Uganda’s history as it was the location of the subsidiary’s first branch.

“At FINCA Uganda, we believe that a healthy body makes for healthy banking; that is why we brought these services to the people free of charge,” Mr. Ahimbisibwe said. “We will continue to engage in such services that impact the lives of our clients positively, especially as these services are sometimes not easily accessed, mainly due to logistical challenges”.

FINCA Uganda currently serves more than 54,400 clients through a wide variety of products and services including Village Bank Group Loans, Solidarity (Small Group) Loans, Individual Loans, Local Currency Loans, Savings, Money Transfers and Insurance. More than 3,000 Village Banking groups can be found throughout its service areas, and loans average $395. FINCA Uganda employs more than 570 men and women who mainly come from the local communities, and is recognized as one of the local financial services industry’s top employers.

FINCA Uganda holds the distinction of being the first Microfinance Deposit Taking Institution (MDI) to be licensed by the Ugandan Central Bank in 2004, and is able to offer services that include savings, loans and money transfers at all of its 27 branches country wide.

FINCA Uganda also holds the distinction as being one of FINCA International’s primary programs to pilot new products and services, and has successfully implemented ATM services, a solar energy loan product, and youth-focused savings programs including Smart Start and StarGirl. Both savings programs target youth aged 10-24, providing education about the importance of savings as well as additional life skills such as soap and candle making and other handicrafts.

Syrian Children

Dear Gabriel,

By the time Syrian children have reached Jordan, they’ve seen more than any child should ever have to.

Their country has been swallowed by brutal, unspeakable violence. They arrive in the camps with fear in their hearts. Their lives have been upended and their family members killed by a violent war they can barely understand.

These children – and children just like them around the world – need our help during this time of crisis, and Gabriel, we’re depending on you and other CARE supporters to make it possible for all of these children to know comfort, safety, and hope.

We’re raising $100,000 by Friday to help children and families in Jordan and those suffering around the world. Please make your gift today.

“People are dying like flies.” Ahmad loves his beautiful homeland, but he knew he had no choice but to leave it to keep his family safe.

In the Za’atari camp, Ahmad’s family is packed in with many thousands of others, growing poorer and poorer as the refugee crisis drags on. “I have nine children and my wife. One of the children is only three months old.” It is difficult for him to continue telling us his story. “At home I could take responsibility for all of them. I was working, I earned money to support my family. Now I cannot do anything.”

If only Ahmad’s story was unusual – but it’s not. Tens of thousands of refugees have ones just like it.

Heartbreakingly, the majority of the people living in the camp in Jordan today are innocent children like Ahmad’s – children who have lived through extreme heartbreak, violence, and terror. Their families need emergency assistance just so they’ll have enough food to eat and clothes to keep them warm as winter approaches.

Once their basic needs are taken care of, these Syrian children need psychosocial support. The longer you leave kids alone with their trauma, the more it gets inside of them. CARE is ramping up our support of not only emergency financial assistance, but aid and comfort for children and other vulnerable groups who have already endured too much.

None of the work we do for families living in crisis or squalid poverty is possible without the support of people like you. We desperately need your help today.

We’re raising $100,000 for families living with hunger and poverty in Jordan and around the world by Friday. Please, will you help us meet our goal?

Families are depending on us, and I know we won’t let them down. Thank you so much for everything you do.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE

Syrian Refugees Survival

Dear Gabriel,

I recently returned from 6 weeks in Jordan, now home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. My stay included time in Za’atari, the camp for Syrian refugees, not far from the border to the war-torn country. What I saw and what I learned in conversations with the families who have escaped from the brutal violence of the Syrian war was shocking.

The camp was started at the end of July. When I first visited, there were only maybe 3,000 refugees. By the end of August, there were 40,000.

Even though there is an effort underway to double the camp’s capacity before the end of the year, it’s not nearly enough space for the families fleeing their own country, where war and terror and violence are raging.

Check out more information about the dire and worsening conditions in Jordan, including my interview on Al Jazeera.

In the camp, wind is blowing constantly, and fine-grained sand is everywhere. The camp is a safe place, but of course, it’s not a home. It’s not anywhere close. Nearly every refugee I’ve talked to says if the war ended, they’d go back immediately. They want to rebuild their destroyed homes, to secure a future for their children, and get them back in school.

So far, that doesn’t look likely to happen soon. Instead, thousands more exhausted families stream in every day. A lot of times they refuse to be registered by the Jordanian government. They fear retribution and sometimes the Syrian government has taken their passports, making a return to their homes even more difficult. UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, is expecting 250,000 refugees in Jordan by the end of the year. The Jordanian government estimates an even higher number – 350,000 or so.

Everyone on the ground, including UNHCR, has been working like mad and doing everything they can to step in, especially before the frigid Jordanian winters make tent living truly hazardous. At CARE, we’re scaling up our response to help distribute emergency support so that refugees have basics like food and medicine, and also psychological support to help bring healing to those traumatized – especially children – by the brutal, horrifying events they’ve endured.

Things are changing rapidly here, so we’re prepared to be flexible. Even at the end of September, the needs were 300% higher than we’d expected 2 months before. We’ll continue to keep you updated on the refugee crisis as it progresses.

Sincerely,

Thomas Schwarz
Director International Communications, CARE