Nigerian Crisis?

As I’m sure none of you know, there has been pretty dramatic crisis in Northern Nigeria involving lead poisoning. After discovering a large deposit of gold in this area, local villagers, thinking they’d found an escape from poverty, began to mine this gold. The villagers in an honest effort to maximize profits began to cart gold-rich ore to compounds at home where women extracted the valuable metal. However the waste product, a seemingly harmless mixture of metal slag was dumped right in the heart of these villages, where children, often barefoot, spend most of their time. It turned out that the slag byproduct contained lead, a heavy metal that is terribly toxic and especially dangerous to children, as it cause severe developmental issues. After a few short weeks of mining in these small, isolated 7 villages of 30,000 people all together, over a hundred people, mostly children, dropped straight dead.

The death toll is grossly underreported. The scary thing is that the villagers had absolutely no idea that what was supposed to bring prosperity to their families would actually kill their children, and the truth was shocking to some. However once the message was properly conveyed, the villagers were horrified, and immediately moved all mining related activities out of the villages, where extraction can be done in a controlled and harmless manner.

To make things worse, the rains will come in a matter of days, washing the lead particles deep into the earth and spreading the contaminated dirt all over these villages. If this happens before proper remediation efforts have been implemented, hundreds, more likely thousands of people, children, could be crippled or killed. Fortunately, the international press has gotten wind of this horrible story, and some attention is being brought to the situation.

The scariest thing of all is the fact that despite the news coverage and  volunteers willing to do anything they can to fix the situation, the money just isn’t there. A site can only be cleaned properly using a relatively cheap piece of technology, however the struggle continues to find this tiny sum of money, which numbers in the tens of thousands of dollars, either from the Nigerian government or other sources. Its a little sad that we and every other citizen of a developed country, as members of the internationally community can’t pool together enough money, money that wouldn’t buy a small house, to save thousands of lives. The numbers don’t make sense, and I’m sure that there are enough compassionate people in the world who wouldn’t think twice about supporting a cause such as this, but simply aren’t aware of the gravity of the situation or that there is a situation in the first place.

Finally, this issue is being properly dealt with, and government money is slowly on its way. However many lives may be lost in that time.

Bottom line, we can identify two underlying problems at the root of the crisis: poverty, and lack of communication. Only by solving these issues can we definitively prevent catastrophes like this from happening again.

Here is the CNN coverage

You can donate easily to the cause online at http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org

On a lighter note, Happy Fathers Day dad

Great Song

Just heard this song on Youtube. It’s called Amigos Para Siempre (Friends Forever), and it’s sung by a Spanish group called Los Manolos. Enjoy!

–Tyler

A Summer Poem

A really cool poem that I came across and happened to like a lot. I’ve been starting to really like poetry. A good poem really gets the emotions going, and is one of the best ways of self expression when life gets really difficult or depressing.

First Year Teacher to His Students

by Gary J. Whitehead

<!– (from Measuring Cubits While the Thunder Claps) –>

Go now into summer, into the backs of cars,
into the black maws of your own changing,
onto the boardwalks of a thousand splinters,
onto the beaches of a hundred fond memories
in wait, where the sea in all its indefatigability
stammers at the invitation. Go to your vacation,

to the late morning cool of your basement rooms,
the honeysuckle evening of the first kiss, the first
dip and pivot, swivel and twist. Go to where
the clipper ships sail far upriver, where the salmon
swim in the clean, cool pools just to spawn.
Wake to what the spider unspools into a silver

dawn dripping with light. Sleep in sleeping bags,
sleep in sand, sleep at someone else’s house
in a land you’ve never been, where the dreamers
dream in a language you only half understand.
Slip beneath the sheets, slide toward the plate,
swing beneath the bandstand where the secret

things await. Be glad, or be sad if you want,
but be, and be a part of all that marches past
like a parade, and wade through it or swim in it
or dive in it with your eyes open and your mind
open to wind, rain, long days of sun and longer
nights of city lights mixing on wet streets like paint.

Stay up so late that you forget day-of-the-week,
week-of-the-month, month-of-the-year of what
might be the best summer, the summer
best remembered by the scar, or by the taste
you’ll never now forget of someone’s lips,
and the trips you took—there, there, there,

where snow still slept atop some alpine peak,
or where the moon rose so low you could see
its tranquil seas…and all your life it’ll be like
some familiar body that stayed with you one night,
one summer, one year, when you were young,
and how everywhere you walked, it followed.

Just Because I Love You

I love Michael Franti, and this is his new song written just for us (not really):

Hope you enjoyed!  Love to you all!  Have a great week!

Mathew

The Sound of Settling

Hiya!

Yesterday, I watched the movie “Dear John” with my friends from home. It is a very very sweet story about love and all that great stuff that I’m a big fan of. I encourage you all to watch it. It’s a great movie.

The one thing that I want to talk about today is something the world does too much too often: settling. Last year, I became a big fan of the game TapTap Revolution. One of my favorite songs there is Death Cab for Cutie’s “The Sound of Settling.” It’s a super duper song. It’s very short, but it basically talks about what is means to have to settle for something you didn’t really want. I didn’t really listen to this song’s words for a while, but when I first did, it really hit me. Wow… people have such a bad habit of just holding back and taking something less than what they deserve or want! Again, I put this idea in the back of my head until this winter. At Choate, students put up one-person shows. One of them really stood out to me, a senior whose name escapes me put up the most amazing show with such a great message: “People settle for less than what they deserve.” And then I realized, wow… I really have to act on what I do. So… here goes.

We often don’t really say what we want. We hold back because we’re scared. Is that okay? Yeah… we’re humans, so it’s expected? But I feel like settling goes bey0nd this. People will settle for being with a person who they don’t really want to be with. When you’re in love, say it! Don’t hold back. Act on it. Don’t be afraid to love. And when that feeling comes around, hold on to it. Don’t let it go and don’t settle for another person if you lose your love! But yeah… I hope we realize that we don’t need to settle for less. Act on your impulses. Kiss that person when you want. Give that person a hug. Scream! Give someone you don’t know that compliment. Try that new dish you’ve always wanted. Be true to yourself and do what you want. Don’t settle. And now here’s the song.

“My hearts repeating, ‘if you’ve got an impulse let it out…’”

Much love,

George :]

Singing In The Rain

Hola people!

It rained in New York City today. Of course, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go out and do things. So, I went back to my old school in the Bronx and spent time with my friends. Overall, I had a great day. I gladly took the bus home and when I got off my stop, I walked home singing MIKA’s “Grace Kelly” off the top of my lungs and dancing. Yes, there were a coupld of people in the street, but it was fine. I just felt pretty happy. So, here is MIKA’s “Grace Kelly.”

Super super super song. It’s so weird, but it makes me happy. It just reminds me not to care so much and just be yourself. Don’t try to be like Grace Kelly… it’s too complicated. Being yourself is so much easier! Haha. Just like MIKA says… when you try to be like someone else you “gotta be everything more!” So don’t ask “why don’t you like me?!” Tell people to “walk out the door” if they don’t like you. WORK IT, WORLD! You’re awesome. Just do your thing… it’s so great.

So, again, that leads me to singing in the rain. It’s so fun! I used to hate getting wet, but some time in the 9th grade, I just decided it was not worth all that. So, one day during a huge thunderstorm, I ran out with my friend Nikki Yetke and Shira Hereld and frolicked the Choate campus’s Memorial Field. Sure, we got kicked into a building because it was unsafe, but it felt so liberating just running and singing. Try it sometime… it’s loads of fun. If you need some help getting started, here’s the perfect video for you to learn. This is Gene Kelly’s “Singing in the Rain.”

So, I hope you got some good things out of this.

1. Mika is AWESOME! Listen to more MIKA. He’s a happy guy.
2. Singing in the rain is cool!
3. How to sing in the rain. (I know guys… REALLY USEFUL STUFF!)

So get to it, sunshiners! Enjoy that rain. Again, WORK IT! Strut yo’ thang!

Much love,
George :]

The Joy of Technology

Hello SunShiners!

Happy happy Tuesday. So, if you’re like me, technology hasn’t been too friendly to you at times. Somehow, I’ve found to appreciate it just because it happens to always help out at the end of the day. How lucky are we to enjoy these things that just make our lives easier?!

Last year… exactly a year and a week ago, I had the pleasure of having my computer crashed. I’m not going to lie… it sucked, but looking back on that moment, I realize a year later that I didn’t really need everything I lost. Yes, I lost 3 years worth of documents, music, pictures, among other things. What hurt me more was the loss of my pictures because I relied to much on that to make sure that I kept memories. So, from that moment on, I realized that I had to make sure that I would let my brain work harder to remember things. But although that happened, I had to get over it… I had lost EVERYTHING in it. So, I had no computer over the summer. Let’s look at the bright side of this catastrophe:

1. I started using my mother’s laptop for the summer. It had a webcam, so I started to video chat with a lot of my friends. This was just so good because I loved seeing my friends every day!

2. In the fall, I got to use a MacBook that my scholarship allowed me to borrow for the year. Pretty much, I love both Macs and PCs… which is good because now I can say I experienced both.

3. I got my PC fixed and I got to start all over. Although it pained me to look at the pictures folder 3 days ago when i got it back, I realized it was time for a new start. So… yay for new beginnings.

So I took the time today to start all over again. It was hard… and kinda annoying (not going to lie). First, I don’t think I use much for my computer. Honestly, as long as I have Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.), AIM, Skype, Internet, iTunes and pictures, I’m dandy. But downloading took a while. Once it was done, it was really weird to see how much all of these things had changed in a year of not really using them. How happy was I when I reused these things? REALLY HAPPY! How cool and how much did I miss them!

And really, I’m so happy for the internet. I was really scared that I would lose all my music from my iPod, the last place where I had my music. I knew if I plugged it back in to my empty iTunes on my computer, I’d lose all my stuff. After literally typing, “Transfering music from iPod to computer,” I had so many results. It was super. I used a couple of links that I forgot and eventually got all my music to my iTunes in a easy (and legal way). So use Google. It’s really useful! And so I leave you with these pieces of advice about technology.

1. Give it a chance. I never thought I’d find a solution to my music problem, but I tried. I googled and tried different things and eventually my problem got solved. Sure, it took like 2 hours to finish it, but it got done!

2. Be patient. Finding a solution takes a minute, but finding a good solution may take a while. Just remember: when there’s a problem, look for a GOOD solution. I learned that in 5th grade. Good wise words.

3. Have fun. Explore. Try something new. Don’t be afraid to take risks with these things. Look for something new to fool around with. Technology is out to help you… for the most part.

So, go out. Go learn something. Technology is great.

Have a super rest of your day,
George :]