What's Woody Doing Now

Ship is My One-Word Theme For 2011

In 2011, I will overcome the resistance.  I will ship.  Seth Godin says shipping something out the door, doing it regularly, without hassle, emergency, or fear makes you indispensable and a Linchpin.  

For me, shipping means implementing our bio-sand filter project, drilling our first water well, and building our prototype vinyl classroom.  Also, I will record those audio- and video-blog posts.

My One-Word Theme For 2011: Commitment | MariSmith.com.

Each year, I choose a one-word theme that becomes my guide throughout the entire year. Something magical happens in choosing just one word: the word helps guide my decisions and also activates the “law of attraction.” It’s as if all that resonates with my intent with the word comes to me effortlessly.

Another Setback for Congo

The US got tough with the Congo.  The rapes and other humanitarian abuses by Congolese soldiers were cited as the reason.   Maybe this setback will lead to some positive results.

VOA | DR Congo Decries Loss of Favored US Trade Status | Africa | English.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is criticizing the loss of its status as a favored U.S. trading partner. An order from President Barack Obama Tuesday stripped the DRC of its status as a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

The designation gave Congo specific trade advantages to encourage economic development and reforms. U.S. officials say the move stemmed from large-scale human rights abuses by the Congolese armed forces, especially rapes.

Congo, Rebels and Nuclear Materials

Here's a dangerous combination.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a third world, lawless, poor, African countries.  Eastern Congo is a wild, lawless place where rebels groups from neighboring countries roam around to rape, pillage, and loot.  A Congo mine produced uranium, and other nuclear and radioactive materials.

As a result, the US signed a nuclear proliferation deal with the Congo.  We must remember Congo is not your typical poor African country.

AFP: DR Congo signs nuclear proliferation deal with US.

The United States and Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday signed an agreement to prevent trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials, the US embassy said. The deal comes after a November UN report revealed that a group of Rwandan rebels in the east of the country attempted to sell six containers of uranium which dated back to the days of Belgian colonial rule.

The agreement highlights Washington's commitment to helping DR Congo effectively deal with proliferation of nuclear materials, the US embassy said in a statement. The United States has signed similar deals with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, the statement said.

The uranium discovered by UN experts came from the country's only uranium mine in Shinkolobwe, Katanga province, which closed in 1960. Uranium from Shinkolobwe was sold to the United States by Belgium in 1943 and used in the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

DR Congo and French nuclear giant Areva agreed a deal to develop uranium mining in March last year.

Enough Snow?

We are going to have a white Christmas. We plenty on the ground and everywhere. Plus they predict another snow storm on Christmas eve. So do we have enough?

Found in the Backyard

Beware! It snowed last night in Indianapolis. This morning, we found four snow crabs in our backyard. Wow! That was a strong wind out of Florida. LOL!

from my Windows Phone

Woody M. Collins
President
Congo Helping Hands, Inc
(317) 698-7643

http://facebook.com/woody.collins

http://facebook.com/CongoHelpingHands

Water Wells in Malawi

 
Clean water and a health clinic is a life-saving combination!   Congratulations to LifeNet and Rotary International, a great combo.

Photos of one of 3 Rotary International finances wells in Malawi.

In the first week of November, 2010 Rotary-funded borehole was drilled in Salima, Malawi. This is one of three wells drilled by LifeNet with funds received from Rotary Matching Grant #69973. Special heartfelt thanks to Rotary International for this wonderful support!

Is Your Christmas Gift Fueling War?

The Enough Project (@enoughproject) named the Scrooges of the Electronic Industry;  Canon, Panasonic, and Sharp.  Women and children in eastern Congo bear the hidden cost of metals used by some electronic manufacturers.

NPR.org » Is Your Christmas Gift Fueling War?.

The mobile phones, laptops, tablets and other electronic gadgets that define our age are all made with tin, tungsten, tantalite and gold. Those increasingly valuable minerals are mined in eastern Congo -- where their profits are blamed for fueling the region's ongoing war.

A new survey urges American consumers to press electronic manufacturers to make sure that their products do not contain minerals that cause war, mass rape, murder and exploitation in eastern Congo. The world's top 21 electronics firms are ranked according to their efforts to make their products "conflict free" in a survey published Monday by the Enough Project, a Washington-based pressure group.

HP is the best, according to the rankings. Intel, Motorola and Nokia ranked two, three and four, respectively. Microsoft and Dell round out the top five. At the bottom of the rankings were camera-maker Canon, electronics companies Panasonic and Sharp, and video game giant Nintendo, all of which are deemed by Enough to have done nothing.

The scores were based on the steps the companies have taken, according to their responses to a Enough's survey and publicly available information, said David Sullivan, research director for the Enough Project.

Mobile Justice Being Developed for Congo

The Mobile Justice sounds interesting.  We will have to see how it is implemented.  And more importantly, if it is used by the police and courts to bring them to justice.

Launch of the GSMA mWomen Program.

And we (US State Department) are developing an innovative program that addresses the particular needs of women. For example, we are in the early stages of developing an idea we are calling Mobile Justice to help women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where sexual violence against women occurs at a horrific rate. In many parts of that country the police and court systems have disintegrated, so women who are attacked have no way to get justice. They can’t even realistically travel to the urban centers where courts have been reestablished. But these cell phones give women the ability to collect evidence and record and transmit their testimony, so women in rural areas may be able to bring justice to them.

  

 

Witnessing History Up Close

At a recent Toastmaster meeting, my speech project was to bring history to life.  It was a speech out of the Storytelling Manual.

The original speech was ok at best.  After the meeting, I decided to rework the speech and record it.  Not because it was better but because I thought you may want to know about my first trip to the Congo in August 1998.  During that trip, I witnessed history taking place.  And it changed my life.

Witnessing History Up Close