Erin Curtiss is a midwife in Seattle. She is 34 years old, has sharp blue eyes and a raunchy sense of humor. She lives with her two young sons and her girlfriend. Erin, who runs her own home birth business, recently learned of an American nonprofit organization called Midwives for Haiti. She found it on Facebook. ... She traveled to a little city called Hinche, in Haiti’s Central Plateau. She came to volunteer at the public hospital, where patients are crammed into long rooms with no electricity, and where the windows and doors are open to the air – and the mosquitoes and flies and lizards that come through. Back home, Erin only deals with uncomplicated pregnancies, but here, women have extremely high blood pressure, anemia, even cholera. These are the sickest patients she has ever seen, and the hospital staff doesn’t seem to have enough time for anyone. Erin came here mostly to train midwives, but now that she sees how much needs to get done, she wants to do more. So she makes a generous offer. She’ll work the night shift, when there are fewer midwives on staff. ...
Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Whether relating to jobs, security, climate change, food production or income-generating activity, access to sustainable energy is essential for strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems, and achieving social equity. However, more than 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity, and 1 billion more have only intermittent access. Additionally, some 2.5 billion people-- almost half of humanity-- rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating. Linkin Park and Music for Relief have pledged to support the UN Secretary-General to help achieve Sustainable Energy for All through Power the World. Join us to help bring sustainable energy solutions to 1 million families. Empower the Planet. Power the World. Learn more about the year of Sustainable Energy for All here.-Linkin Park That's such a great new relief effort! I didn't even know that so many people live without power. This is a more detailed press release by "Sustainable Energy for All":
New York, NY — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the support of the Grammy award winning rock band Linkin Park for his "Sustainable Energy for All Initiative." The band will utilize its extensive social media presence, including more than 36 million Facebook fans, and draw on its significant public profile to mobilize support for the Secretary-General’s Initiative and sustainable energy projects worldwide.Read more... Linkin Park also visited the UN Headquarters today and met Secretery-General Ban Ki-Moon! Here are the video of the press conference, the UN's press release and some pictures: There's a longer video here. Unfortunately I can't download or embed it here, so you just gotta click the link. ...