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Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts

Friday, November 26, 2021

Powering Health Care with Solar Energy


 [Español abajo]

Donate for Giving Tuesday here: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca


Today is Black Friday in the States when so much stuff is put on sale to entice people to come in and spend for the beginning of the Giving Season.  People have died in the crowds trying to get to that one particular thing or just getting in the store.  It’s nuts.


On Tuesday, social media outlets have an event call Giving Tuesday.  Some will match gifts and some will not, but it is their attempt at encouraging people to give to non-profits.  This year it falls on what would have been Mama’s 92nd birthday, the 30th of November.


When Mama died last summer, our family decided to offer people a chance to make a donation in her memory, to put solar panels on the Nueva Vida Health Clinic.  She would pray nightly and ask frequently if we had received enough to put the solar power system in yet.  “Not yet” I’d say.  “I’ll keep praying,” she would answer. (More on our Giving Tuesday goal here: https://www.jhc-cdca.org/giving-tuesday )


Mama was here when we had two hurricanes within two weeks of each other last year as the rains were slowing down. She was here with hot, hot temperatures.  She understood climate change.


According to the German Watch global climate risk index, Nicaragua is the fourth country in the world most affected by climate change. 


As a result, the government is actively trying to address the problem.  More than 80% of the energy Nicaragua generates is renewable: hydro, solar, geothermal and wind.  If the government had enough money to invest, they could provide all of Central America with geothermal energy with seven active volcanoes.


We want to do our part for renewables as well as cut expenses in running the health clinic.  We use a great deal of energy at the clinic:

  •         Air-conditioning nine rooms (two dental rooms, lab, office with computers, clean room, intake room, pharmacy, ultrasound room, and the big room that stores medicines)
  •         Refrigerating reagents, running the machines and microscope in the lab
  •         Running dental machinery, x-ray, lights, etc. in our dental rooms
  •         Running the ultrasound machine
  •         Sterilizing all the equipment with autoclaves and water distiller
  •         Refrigerators for medicines
  •         Lights
  •         Fans
  •         Otoscopes
  •         Computers
  •         Microwave
  • ·       And last but not least, a water pump

We need $6,200 to finish this project because costs have gone up.  This is our goal for Giving Tuesday.


I think Mama will rest easier knowing that we have enough money to put “those solar panels on the clinic,” I know I will at least. 

Kathleen

[English above] 


Para donar a Giving Tuesday, haga click aquí: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca  

Hoy es Viernes Negro en los Estados Unidos, el día cuando se ponen a la venta tantas cosas para atraer a la gente a que venga y gaste para el comienzo de las fiestas de diciembre. Hay personas que han muerto en la multitud de gente por tratar de conseguir cosas en particular o simplemente por entrar en la tienda. Es una locura.


El martes, las redes sociales tienen un evento llamado Giving Tuesday, Martes de Donaciones. Algunas empresas donan por igual lo que donan sus seguidores y otros no, pero es su intento de alentar a las personas a donar a organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Este año cae en lo que habría sido el 92 cumpleaños de mi mamá, el 30 de noviembre.


Cuando mamá falleció hace unos meses, nuestra familia decidió ofrecer la oportunidad de hacer una donación en su memoria para colocar paneles solares en la Clínica Nueva Vida. Ella rezaba todas las noches y preguntaba con frecuencia si ya teníamos suficiente para instalar el sistema de energía solar. "Todavía no," le decía yo. "Seguiré rezando," contestaba ella.


Mamá estaba aquí cuando pasamos dos huracanes con dos semanas de diferencia el año pasado, cuando las lluvias disminuían. Ella estaba aquí con temperaturas cálidas y calientes. Ella entendió el cambio climático.


Según el índice de riesgo climático global de German Watch, Nicaragua es el cuarto país del mundo más afectado por el cambio climático.


Como resultado, el gobierno está activamente abordando el problema. Actualmente, más del 80% de la energía que genera Nicaragua es renovable: hidroeléctrica, solar, geotérmica y eólica. Si el gobierno tuviera suficiente dinero para invertir, podría proporcionar energía geotérmica a toda Centroamérica con los siete volcanes activos.


Queremos hacer nuestra parte por las energías renovables, así como reducir los gastos en el funcionamiento de la clínica de salud. Usamos mucha energía en la clínica:

  •         Aire acondicionado en nueve salas (dos salas de odontología, laboratorio, oficina con computadoras, cirugía, clasificación, farmacia, sala de ultrasonido y la bodega de medicamentos)
  •         Refrigeración de reactivos, funcionamiento de las máquinas y microscopio en el laboratorio.
  •         Manejo de maquinaria dental, rayos X, luces, etc. en nuestras salas dentales
  •         Operación de la máquina de ultrasonido
  •         Esterilización de con autoclaves y destilador de agua
  •         Refrigeradores para medicamentos
  •         Luces
  •         Abanicos
  •         Otoscopios
  •        Computadoras
  •         Microonda         
  •      Ypor último, pero no menos importante, una bomba de agua.

Necesitamos $6.200 dólares para terminar este proyecto porque los costos han aumentado. Este es nuestro objetivo para Giving Tuesday: https://www.jhc-cdca.org/giving-tuesday 


Creo que mamá descansará más tranquila sabiendo que tenemos suficiente dinero para poner “esos paneles solares en la clínica,” sé que al menos yo voy a estar más tranquila. 

- Kathleen


NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version, click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".  

Please join us and also share on your social media.

Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca 

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Future Fridays: Ent Speed

 [Espanol abajo]

One time our daughter Jessica told me, “Y’all treat everything like it's a crisis... all the time.  You need to chill out more, not everything is a crisis.”


I started paying attention to how we actually reacted to life in general and she was right.  Something would come up and the panic would start to kick in, snapping with each other would get more intense, and tempers would get hot.  I got to a point that when that would start to happen I would think of Jessica and carefully go through my mind slowly, “Is someone bleeding?  No.  Is someone dying?  No.  Okay, chill out and take deep breaths.”


But sometimes, I take too long to act and things fall by the wayside.  We cannot do this when it comes to climate change.


Our son, Daniel sent me this meme.  It definitely hits home!



 

If you do not know the Lord of the Rings, then you have missed one of the greatest beings imagined... the Ents.  They are tree people meaning trees that are sentient, mobile, and verbal.    And like trees, they are slow... so slow.


The Hobbits accidently encounter an Ent and tell him that the world is in danger.  After taking a long while to convince this Ent, who claims to be impetuous and young, he calls a meeting. It takes days to gather the Ents and then the discussion starts with introductions that take a day or two.  The Hobbits are furious and panicky, but the Ents are slow and deliberate.  The world is in danger!!!!   Sound familiar?


The COP26, a climate conference in Glasgow, started with introductions, then came the well-meaning speeches, and the talks and talks.


But as young people globally are crying out, “The world is in danger!!!!  Let’s get going!!!” the participants continue to talk.


Nicaragua is impacted enormously by climate change.  Their representatives to climate change conferences are a lot like the Hobbits yelling at the Ents to get to moving.  When the agreement on deforestation was reached at the COP26, the Nicaraguan National Assembly passed legislation to enable the government to take out a loan for $108.3 million to reforest and support the bio reserves of the Bosawas and Rio San Juan.  They just up and did that... not much debate.


May the rest of the world follow their example and act now to save trees.  My prayer is that when the nations of the world decide to act, as when the Ents decided to act, then NOTHING... no war machinery, no industrialization, and no evil will stand it their way.  I pray that they will act with force; I just hope it will not be too late.

- Kathleen 


[English above]


Una vez, nuestra hija Jessica me dijo: "Ustedes tratan todo como si fuera una crisis...todo el tiempo. Necesitas relajarte más, no todo es una crisis. "


Empecé a prestar atención a cómo reaccionamos ante la vida en general y ella tenía razón. Algo surgiría y entrabamos en un pánico, a perder la paciencia uno con el otro y los ánimos se calentarían. Llegué a un punto en el que, cuando eso empezara a suceder, pensaba en Jessica y diría lentamente a mi misma: “¿Alguien está sangrando? No. ¿Alguien se está muriendo? No. Está bien, relájate y respira profundo."


Pero a veces, tardo demasiado en actuar y las cosas se quedan en el camino. No podemos hacer esto cuando se trata del cambio climático.


Nuestro hijo, Daniel me mandó este meme. ¡Definitivamente es oportuno!


 

Si no conoces al Señor de los Anillos, entonces te has perdido a uno de los seres más grandes imaginados ... los Ents. Son personas arbóreas, es decir, árboles que son sensibles, móviles y verbales. Y como los árboles, son lentos ... muy lentos.


Los Hobbits se encuentran accidentalmente con un Ent y le dicen que el mundo está en peligro. Después de tomarse un tiempo para convencer a este Ent que dice ser impetuoso y joven, convoca una reunión. Se necesitan días para reunir a los Ents y luego la discusión comienza con presentaciones que toman uno o dos días. Los Hobbits están furiosos y asustados, pero los Ents son lentos y deliberados. ¡¡¡¡El mundo está en peligro!!!! ¿Suena familiar?


La COP26, una conferencia climática en Glasgow, comenzó con presentaciones, luego vinieron los discursos bien intencionados y el hablar y más hablar.


Pero como los jóvenes de todo el mundo están gritando: “¡¡¡El mundo está en peligro !! ¡¡¡Vámonos!!!" los participantes continúan hablando.


Nicaragua se ve enormemente afectada por el cambio climático. Sus representantes en las conferencias sobre cambio climático se parecen mucho a los Hobbits que les gritan a los Ents que se pongan en marcha. Cuando se alcanzó el acuerdo sobre deforestación en la COP26, la Asamblea Nacional aprobó una ley que permitió al gobierno obtener un préstamo por $ 108,3 millones para reforestar y apoyar las reservas biológicas de Bosawas y el Rio San Juan. Simplemente se levantaron e hicieron eso ... no hubo mucho debate.


Que el resto del mundo siga su ejemplo y actúe ahora para salvar árboles. Mi oración es que cuando las naciones del mundo decidan actuar, como cuando los ents decidieron actuar, entonces NADA ... ninguna maquinaria de guerra, ninguna industrialización ni ningún mal se interponga en su camino. Rezo para que actúen con fuerza, solo espero que no sea demasiado tarde.

- Kathleen


NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version, click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".  

Please join us and also share on your social media.

Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca 

 


Friday, November 5, 2021

Sovereignty?

Sunday is the Nicaraguan general election.

Map of Nicaragua

As a foreigner living almost three decades in this nation and as a person who visited Nicaragua extensively in the 80s, I have some thoughts to share about this home I've chosen and its current leadership...the Sandinista party.  I will also simplify my issues for you in yes and no questions.

1. First and foremost...is Nicaragua a sovereign nation?  Yes.

2. Is Nicaragua treated as such by the US and the US's allies?  No.

3. Is Nicaragua a democracy?  Yes. 

4. There has been so much reported on how Pres. Daniel Ortega has manipulated the Supreme Court so that he could be reelected.  Is that true?  Yes and no. 

   Two conflicting statements exist in the Nicaraguan constitution....one said no reelection was allowed and the other said that the people have the right to elect whom they choose.  The supreme court ruled that the second took precedence over the first in order for democracy to work.

5. Did Pres. Ortega wait until the supreme court was balanced in the FSLN's favor?  Yes.  Duh.  Who doesn't?

6. Is the Sandinista government perfect?  NoWhich government is?  I know of none.

7. Has this government been good for Nicaragua?  Absolutely.

8. What has improved under this government?

  •    Health care including COVID response
  •    Infrastructure...including roads and bridges
  •    Food distribution,  farming, and reducing hunger
  •    Education
  •    Parks
  •    Electricity
  •    Potable water
  •    Disaster relief and rebuilding
  •    Women's rights and representation
  •    Indigenous rights including autonomy

9. Is Nicaragua aggressive to it's neighbors or other nations?  No.

10.Is Nicaragua a narco state like Honduras or El Salvador?  No.

11.Is Nicaragua supportive of the right of Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela to be sovereign nations?  Absolutely.   (This is just part of the burr that is in the U.S. State Department's backside.)

12.Has Nicaragua jailed people who are opposed to the government?  Yes and no...

   Despite what the international media publishes, everyone arrested has been charged with a specific crime breaking a specific law and the legal system has tried to be transparent about it.  Others who oppose the government and have not committed a crime are still campaigning.  (Six different parties are running.)

Nicaraguan election campaign posters and banners

13.Will most of the votes on Sunday go to the Sandinista party?  Polls show that they will.

14.Will the elections be respected internationally?  No.  

   We see how the elections are already being maligned in international media before they even happen.  There are 160 international election observers here now.

15.Last and most important to me... does this government take the climate crisis seriously?  Absolutely.

   The climate crisis is the most critical issue of our times.  And we just piddle away at it, even at the COP26.

   This government has spoken out as one of the most ardent supporters of serious action needing to be taken to address climate change and has called for penalties on those nations that pollute. 

   This government has worked hard to not only electrify the most remote areas of Nicaragua, but to also do it with renewable energy...wind, hydro, geothermal, and solar.  Now they are working to set up systems for electric vehicles.

   One would think that every person who cares about climate change would support them on this alone, but one would be wrong...because despite what people SAY, climate change is not the number one issue to most.

Nicaragua is a sovereign nation.  Let them decide to be great... To make mistakes... To be a beacon of hope in a world of climate change apathy.

- Kathleen 

NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version, click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".  

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Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca 

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Future Fridays: The. Most. Pressing. Issue.

This Future Friday, let me tell you about our family endeavor.  I've been writing about solar panels for the CDCA and the clinic...well, the Woodocks (Woodard/Murdock) have joined this parade.

Coury Joseph Jessica Tiff Daniel - New Year's Eve - 2014/12/31

Coury and Cassie (living in California) donated early on.  Daniel and Mike (living here) have been negotiating with the solar company to get good prices and specs for the installations.

Tiff and Liz (living in Texas) are matching gifts given to the project in honor of their wedding that happened in July 2020...instead of friends and family joining them here for their celebration in December 2020...COVID...sigh.  Here is the link if you do Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/donate/784271735768302/?fundraiser_source=external_url 

Joseph and Alex (living in New Jersey) are sending out thank you letters for us for the donations.

And Jessica (living in Massachusetts) has an art "channel" on YouTube and is auctioning a painting she did of a Nicaraguan scene.  You can see the video of her painting as she explains HOW climate change is affecting Nicaragua.  It is about 2 and 1/2 minutes long.   Here is the link.  https://youtu.be/7_6zLliBpr8 

It warms our parental hearts to have all the kids involved, but not surprising.... Some own their own homes, have solar panels, one has an electric car, and all the family knows that climate change is THE. MOST. PRESSING.  ISSUE.

Helen Yuill wrote in the the February 11th NicaNotes...

In the lead up to COP26 [the 26th meeting in Nov. 2021 of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change], the Nicaraguan representative Dr Paul Oquist, argues that the high level of social and economic destruction caused by Covid-19 and its impact on humanity will be ‘small, transient and recoverable’ compared with the potential total, irreversible destruction of the climate crisis.". https://afgj.org/nicanotes-nicaragua-cop26-climate-justice-and-reparations 

know it is hard to imagine something worse coming down the pike, but we have to.  We must imagine, work, and throw money, brain power, energy, and political will at climate change.   

IT. IS. THE. MOST. PRESSING. ISSUE.

- Kathleen

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Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:


Thursday, February 11, 2021

Future Fridays: No More Playing Around

This Future Friday let's talk about concrete things that we can do to help save our planet.

Solar panels on buildings and homes. We have received $18,500 out of the $31,000 needed to put panels on our clinic and offices. Electricity is expensive here and the panels will pay for themselves in two-and-a-half years. We just need the cash up front. If you have funds to share, it will help greatly, and if you can put panels on your homes and businesses that will also help reduce our carbon footprints.

Trees...not lawns...save carbon. No need to cut the grass. Moss is a great carbon absorber and we are looking at ways to plant moss. It is a bit difficult here with six months of no rain. We have lost a few trees due to age, termites, and hurricanes...but we have lots of baby trees growing. Trees not lawns.

Thanks to many of you, we are implementing a digital clinic records keeping program with Hikma Health, saving eight trees a year. You would not believe the paper we go through at the clinic. I'm cleaning out a file cabinet and moving records to the cloud. Here's just a small bit of clinic paper work.




What to do with old paper? Recycling is out of the question, so we reuse old paper by cutting it up to use as note pads. Grocery lists on the fridge. Drawing paper for children. Making crafts for kids. And even printing on the blank backs for other uses. When we have too much to store, we compost the paper.

Becca and Paul use old boxes as mulch to keep weeds down and moisture in their gardens. We try to compost yard leaves and waste…sometimes we have too much, though…lots of trees.

We have installed a filtration system at the Clinic for chemical sewage, to clean it before it goes into the septic tank at the clinic.

Water is precious. Last year the sesame processing plant bought a machine to decrease water usage in the plant by about 75%.

We have a attached bidet in our main bathroom to limit toilet paper use. We wash our dishes by hand and are learning how to use less water. Paul and Becca use their gray water to water plants. We try to only wash full loads of clothes and re-wear our clothes when we are not dirty. We reuse our towels often and our showers are no more than 5 mins. (Full disclosure: Mama's takes longer, being 91 years old.)

We use rags instead of paper towels. We use reusable masks 
mostly. I use a handmade face shield over and over the few times I go out. A great deal of the clinic's PPE is reusable and washable. We make our own chlorine to save on bottles and cost, and are learning how to make our own cleaning materials.

Kathleen garbed for shopping - double masks and hand-made faceshield


We buy sodas and beer in reusable bottles mostly. We rarely buy bottled water but take our own water with us in reusable containers.

We wear clothes until they start to fall apart and mostly buy clothes from secondhand clothing stores. Full disclosure... we do buy new underwear.

We try our best to eat leftovers and not let food go bad. We do compost.

We try to double up on errands so less trips are made out. None of us gets a wild hair and jumps in a car to go get one thing.

We try...and we have a long way to go. We look at our neighbors to learn how to not be so wasteful. People living in poverty do not waste.

We have only one earth...one atmosphere...and all our water is connected. We cannot play at being green…we must be green.

- Kathleen

NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version,click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".  

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Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:



Thursday, February 4, 2021

Future Fridays: Water Must NOT Be Traded as a Commodity

So, the other night we were watching a December episode of A Late Show with Stephen Colbert and he reported that Wall Street is trading WATER like gold and oil. Talk about a splash of cold water in my face! Check this out:

Shutterstock photo

 
How and why would people treat water, the basis of life, like a commodity?

“Climate change, droughts, population growth, and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come,” RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray told Bloomberg. “We are definitely going to watch how this new water futures contract develops.”

I remember when former President Enrique Bolaños (2002-2007) tried to privatize water in Nicaragua. The country rose up in defiance. Although basically health care and education were privatized to a degree, water never was.

Last November, the Nicaragua government voted to open consignments on water to get clean water into areas that do not have access, but water is still in the government's hands.


 
The World Bank estimates by 2025 that 2/3rds of the world’s population will experience a shortage in clean drinking water. Two-thirds!

According to Water for All, they list these ten reasons for not privatizing water
  1. Privatization will lean to rate increases.
  2. Privatization will undermine water quality.
  3. Companies will be responsible to their shareholders and not to consumers.
  4. Privatization will increase corruption.
  5. It will reduce local control and limit the public's right to water.
  6. It will lead to job losses.
  7. Private financing is more costly than public financing.
  8. Privatization is hard to reverse.
  9. It will lead to bulk water exports.
  10. It can leave the poor with no access to clean water.
Privatization of water is terrifying.  We all need to rise up in defiance. This needs to be nipped in the bud NOW.

-Kathleen
*Yet, another reason for 2020 to be a crappy year!

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Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Organic Peanuts: a Roll of the Dice

Peanuts originated in South America, but are now a global commodity and used in many cooking styles from Thai and many Asian dishes, to African Groundnut Stew, to peanut brittle in the South, and peanut butter eaten world wide.  Not to mention peanut oil.

I hate peanuts. I mean I like the taste of peanuts and I cook with peanuts; but peanut crops are like a harsh mistress to COPROEXNIC (the organic agriculture cooperative) and its farmers. They promise a great deal and seldom come through.

Sesame grows well here. If it rains too much, it usually survives just fine. If there is not enough rain, it can survive…not so with peanuts.

Coffee does pretty well in the higher parts of Nicaragua. It can be damaged with too early rains that then stop after the plants have produced blossoms. Volcanic ash can damage the blossoms and with too much rain at harvest the berries can swell and fall off the plant. The higher temperatures each year is slowly hurting the coffee productions, but coffee is still sturdier than peanuts.

Organic peanut inspection - photo Dave Landstein, Multiple Organics

Peanuts grow in the ground. They are actually legumes, not nuts at all. Peanuts are healthy: high in protein and good fats.

The peanut plants are amazing at fixing nitrogen from the air and putting it in the soil, which is why they are a great crop for the earth to replenish the nitrogen that other plants absorb…but finicky! My heavens! They are finicky!

Because they grow in the ground, they are susceptible to fungi. Too much rain and they get all “fungus-y” which can develop aflatoxins…got that last part “toxins”….that’s right, "poison". Aflatoxin can cause cancer.

Vermin LOVE peanuts. Behind our property, someone grows a field of peanuts. After they harvest, our property gets the many mice and rats who no longer have peanuts to munch on.

Pests LOVE peanuts. If peanuts are not processed in a timely manner then they are infested with bugs, which requires freezing the peanuts to kill the insects.

And for the fungi that creates aflatoxins… one way to reduce aflatoxins is to blanch the peanuts. Now we have TWO additional processes added to the peanuts which gets really costly. Add to that we have YET to find a processor who will process the COPROEXNIC peanuts in a timely and correct manner.

Peanut processing - Once Again Nut Butter visit

BUT when the rains are good and not overly heavy, peanuts grow well here.  Organic peanuts processed well and on time are an excellent cash crop and they build up the soil's nitrogen.

Unlike the other crops that COPROEXNIC grows and markets, peanuts are like the little girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead…when they are good…they are very, very good…but when they are bad, they are horrid.

Unfortunately, with climate change affecting Nicaragua so much, growing peanuts is getting to be a bit like betting on a roulette wheel and I am no gambler. But the farmers and the managers of COPROEXNIC keep hoping…at least peanuts help the soil.
-Kathleen

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Thursday, January 14, 2021

Future Fridays: Small Steps WE CAN Do!

2021 is a year for getting serious about climate change.  What are we doing here in Nicaragua?

  • With help from so many of you, we are implementing the digital record-keeping system in the Nueva Vida Clinic that will save the world 8 trees a year in paper. 

  • We have installed a personal bidet in our main bathroom to cut down on toilet paper use - every 3 seconds a tree is cut down for toilet paper.

  • We are leasing fuel-efficient and less-polluting vehicles to run the multitude of errands that must be done, instead of using our heavy, diesel-guzzling ambulances.

  • We compost and are drastically cutting back on trash and trash bags.

  • We use reusable bags for shopping (when we remember to take them) and are buying fresh local produce from a grower who grows organically and uses paper bags to deliver the produce.

  • Now we are working towards the goal of raising $35,000 to install solar panels both at the Nueva Vida Clinic and here on the office property. We will need two bi-directional meters to feed excess generated energy back into the grid.

Rogelio and Solar company engineers testing energy use

Besides creating renewable energy for us and the nation of Nicaragua (77% of its energy is already from renewable sources), estimates are we will cut our electric bills in half.  Electricity is expensive.  It is our highest utility bill.

But most importantly we vote and/or support government leadeers who make climate change a priority.

I have five grandchildren. I want them to have a lush, green world to enjoy and protect when they are adults.

- Kathleen


NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version,click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".  

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Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:

Saturday, January 2, 2021

Assembly of People Into Giving a Sh*t: It's a New Year!

I’m the world’s worst at procrastination. “I’ll start that on Monday.” “Come the New Year, I’ll get right on that.”

Well, it is the New Year and as societies we have procrastinated long and hard on issues that needed our attention yesterday, last year, decades ago, and forever. 




We knew back in the 1950s that coal and industries polluted the air so horribly that people wore coverings over their faces when they went out. Hospitals dealt with lung disorders. In the 1960s Los Angeles was a city that was blanketed in smog. We knew. We did little bits and pieces depending on what administration was in state or national offices, but we never actually set our minds to addressing the problem.

Now we have an extinction-level climate crisis.

We have known for hundreds of years that keeping the poor in poverty and not addressing their issues can lead to pandemics and epidemics. We know that borders do not keep out pathogens…the Black Plague taught us that. Sanitation, good food, shelter are all the things needed to keep society as a whole healthy. But we ignore our brothers and sisters who are poor, who are homeless, who eat whatever is available, and who live in filth because sanitation is not available.

Now millions have died in a pandemic and scientists and health professionals say that pandemics will be more prevalent.

We just keep postponing and postponing.

I had a friend whose car was acting up. “What do the mechanics say is wrong?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. I’m hoping it will fix itself,” looking sheepishly she replied.

Not too long after that her car broke down completely and she had to buy a new one.

Well, when it comes to our climate and our health we cannot wait until it collapses completely and go buy new ones.

The prophets of the Hebrew scriptures called for the Israelites to address the problem of widows and orphans and the poor right away. They continually announced that Yahweh would judge them on how they treated the poor and would condemn them if they did not.

Jesus called for his followers to address the problems of society right then…heal the sick, touch the untouchables, free the imprisoned, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and befriend the outcast. And he did.

Those were millennia ago and still the poor are with us and growing in numbers with COVID-19 and climate change.

When will we stop procrastinating?


A friend of ours asked me if we tithed. I said yes. She shook her head and said, “I want to tithe but I don’t have enough money…but you have less than I do. I don’t know what to do?”

I told her what my mother taught me growing up, “If you wait until you have enough money, you will never have enough to tithe. Giving back to the poor 10% of what God has given you is easy as long as you remember it is what God has given to you.”

The Divine entrusted us with this planet. In Genesis, God told Adam and Eve “I give you dominion over the animals that move…” In other words, “I am trusting you…don’t f**k it up.”

Well, we have.

There was a great line on a TV series, True Blood, “We need to regroup and come back and unf**k this situation.”

And that is what we have to do now. We have to FIX IT!

We cannot wait until the pandemic is over and we are all vaccinated…the poor need us now. The climate needs to be addressed now.

It’s 2021, time to act.
-Kathleen

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Thursday, December 10, 2020

Future Fridays: Are Nations Not Responsible For Their Actions?

If your neighbor had a tree twith a branch that hung over into your yard and over your house, and though you had asked for them to trim the branch, they had not. And if that branch cracked and fell on your roof caving in part of it, should your neighbor have to pay for the damages?

If your neighbor, avoiding garbage pick-up fees, burns their trash and during a dry spell a spark flies over to your house and catches it on fire, should your neighbor have to pay for the damage to your home?

If your neighbor keeps having huge barbecues with billowing smoke even though you have asked and asked that they be mindful of your child with asthma. And then if your child has an asthma attack breathing in said smoke, should your neighbor be responsible for the hospital bill?

Negligence and plain selfishness are easy to see on an individual level and holding people responsible on an individual level is usually a cut-and-dried solution.

But what about nations?

When nations do not limit green house gases, then are they responsible to pay for the damages of climate change to nations suffering from the changes in climate (like hurricanes, droughts, flooding, or fires) but who are not polluting nearly to the degree that wealthier nations are? 

2020 hrricane damage Caribbean coast communities, Nicaragua


Last month Nicaragua lived through two category 4 hurricanes within two weeks. TWO within TWO WEEKS!

The Nicaraguan government is committed to reducing green house gases even though Nicaraguans per capita have a low carbon footprint. The president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Dante Mossi said that as of October 2020, the Nicaraguan National Program for Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy (PNESER) has achieved for Nicaragua a 98.33% in electricity coverage throughout the nation and 74.39% of the electricity was generated from renewable sources. Mossi went on to say…

  “Nicaragua will be the second country in Latin America to achieve 100% national coverage, which is a historic accomplishment that demonstrates the commitment of the Government to guarantee this basic right for the population…we must acknowledge and congratulate Nicaragua for obtaining approval of US $ 115 million-dollar funding from the United Nations Green Climate Fund to manage the effects of climate change. Approval of funds at this scale by the Green Climate Fund is unprecedented for the region and a clear recognition of Nicaragua's work on environmental protection, as well as
adaptation and mitigation of the effects of climate change. We have a lot to learn from the Nicaragua experience.” 

So, with Nicaragua working to do its part, should not neighbors who are having so much impact on climate change help pay for the damages created by climate change? 

And this is the rub…an individual may be held responsible, but a nation?

Why not?

Climate justice calls for action, and being held responsible when negligence and selfishness happens is a good way to ensure the action.  Being held responsible calls for atonement and funds to repair damage or reparations.  Only when climate change hits us in the pocket.. that seems to be the only effect that moves many.
-Kathleen

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Saturday, November 28, 2020

GivingTuesday and Future Fridays and Climate Change and...

 It all seems to roll over me in one giant growing ball of complications... we won't have many Future Fridays if we lose our trees and can't breathe... our children won't have many Future Fridays if we can't stop climate change.  Scientist say that unless we change, apparently we're going to keep having more severe weather patterns like the hurricanes that just swept over Nicaragua.  And we are creating environments that encourage the emergence of toxic pandemics, with their ongoing after-effects on the increased health needs of our patients... and with COVID-19 protocols and social distancing in place, how do we even attempt to continue to meet those needs?  And... and... and.... 

But that path of thinking is too big... the more the problems cycle around the bigger the ball keeps getting... problems too huge to wrap my head around. 

Instead...

One tiny step in the right direction: Using less paper in the Nueva Vida Clinic.  NOW.

This Giving Tuesday.  NOW.  

One attainable goal that we CAN help do, and can do it NOW. 

We can save eight trees each year starting NOW. We can create more space for patients by using less space for paper files. And we can protect our health givers and our patients in the process by switching to a digital patient record-keeping system.

We just have to get it in place... get it started... and then this ball of action can itself begin to roll and grow.  But we can not do it without your help.  We've been promised $1,350 so far.  We are a fourth of the way there.  It won't fix hurricanes.  It won't keep viruses from forming.  It isn't a magic answer.  BUT it is a real place to start, to help, to make a difference.

  https://jhc-cdca.org/givingtuesday/

Together we CAN tackle problems.

- Sarah

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