World-Wide Need

It is times like these that kind of drive me crazy: an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in Thailand, an earthquake in China, etc. The pictures are horrifying, the loss is unimaginable, and the news coverage is non-stop. And then it starts: celebrities suddenly crawl out of the woodwork to tell you how to help. They let you know what they are doing, how much they are donating, and to whom.

Even Ravelry, a site I normally love and adore, has gotten into the act. Designers can tag their designs with special tags, and if one purchases such a tagged pattern a designated portion of the proceeds goes to a Haitian relief effort of the designer's choice. A person searching for a pattern can even filter for the special tag!

Before you keep reading, let me be as clear as I can be. I have nothing but the utmost empathy for what people most be going through in those situations. Obviously, I have not gone through a natural disaster of that magnitude. The closest I have experienced is the Missouri Floods of 1993, which was plenty for me, thankyouverymuch. And before you ask, yes, I participated a great deal in the clean-up efforts. I can only imagine what it must be like for people who have lost their entire families, for people who can't find their families, for people who have lost everything they have ever owned, and for people who now literally have nothing but the clothes on their back. Truly, it's unimaginable.

However, what disturbs me about the outpouring of "Help Haiti/China/Thailand/etc." campaigns is that there is a ridiculous amount of suffering and death on a daily basis that goes largely unnoticed by these same celebrities, media outlets, and dare I say it, Ravelry Powers That Be. For instance:

• Approximately 8,500 people die every day of AIDS-related complications
• Approximately 4,500 people die every day because they don't have clean drinking water
• Approximately 2,700 people die every day of malaria
• Approximately 33% of North Koreans are malnourished

These things happen EVERY DAY. These are problems that doctors, politicians (you know, the good ones - they DO exist; I promise!), public heath practitioners, and human rights advocates fight against EVERY DAY.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't give aid to Haitians right now. I'm not saying that they aren't deserving of prayer and compassion. Of course they are.

What I AM doing is imploring you to give aid to other, equally worthy causes every other day. They aren't as sexy, they won't make the news every day for two weeks straight, they won't have star-power backing them up; I can almost guarantee you that. That's kind of what makes the fight so special and meaningful. It's what will make you have so much passion for the cause later.

So, now that I've implored you to help, here's how you can:

My favourite HIV/AIDS sites/charities:

• CDC Factsheet on HIV
  
• Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
• amfAR, The Founation for AIDS Research

How to help with clean drinking water:

• Thirst Relief International

How to help eliminate malaria:

• CDC information on malaria
• Nothing But Nets

Information on North Korea's plight:

• World Food Programme

Euna Lee and Laura Ling Pardoned

I am cautiously optimistic that Lee and Ling have been pardoned from their sentences in North Korea.

I am ecstatic for them that they have been allowed to return to their homes and their countries. I can only imagine and wonder at the immense relief that they and their friends and families must feel.

However, the cynical part of me wonders what this will cost us. What does Kim Jong-Il have up his sleeve?

On the other hand, my theory that Kim Jong-Il has really been dead for awhile and that Kim Jong-Un has really been running the show has pretty much been shot to hell since I don't believe that President Clinton would negotiate for the release of prisoners with a dead man.

WBC

Forgive me for being remiss in not mentioning this in a more timely manner.

Congratulations to Japan for winning the World Baseball Classic.

And Korea, congrats for taking second. We'll get 'em next time.

Q&A, Part II

Grmph. I just took a half hour to type out a LONG post to answer Ria's question, and Friday the Thirteenth ate it.

I'll try again, starting (again) with my apology for taking so long to answer. Malfunctioning laptop at home + no blogging time at work = random and sporadic updates to blog. That said, let's begin again.

How do you connect with your Korean roots?

This has been something that I've struggled with for a long time. One of the biggest things I've done is change my name. When I was adopted by some random white people, they change my name to something completely culturally assimilated (in keeping with the times and the push for international/transracial adoption in the mid-70s). But I've since changed my name to something somewhat Korean. The surname is the one I came with but the first name is something I chose because it had meaning to me.

I've been wanting to take Korean language (Hangul) classes, but I haven't yet, mostly for financial reasons. I was going to start them in the fall, but with the hospital changing our tuition remission benefits, I don't know how that will play out. I have books on how to speak/read the language, as well as the Rosetta Stone free trial software, but that only gets one so far.

I'm fortunate to have the Asian Arts Initiative here in downtown Philadelphia. I support them, as well as go to performances and exhibits that introduce me to different cultural aspects of ... um... Asian art.

I know that I'm not as culturally connected as I would like to be, but writing this kind of makes me feel embarrassed and ashamed, which is probably another reason this answer has taken so long, now that I think about it. But I want to continue to educate myself about Korean culture and history. It is extremely important to me because when I have kids, I fervently wish to pass along some pride in their Korean heritage.

And, of course, I ALWAYS root for Team ROK in the Olympics. :) (and I will still never forgive Apollo Anton Ohno)