Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Photo Source: Headstone With Flowers by Shari Weinsheimer

Happy Veteran’s Day?  

That doesn’t sound right; does it?  

Isn’t that like saying Happy Day of Atonement?  

Or Happy Ash Wednesday?  
Or even something along the lines of the freakish phrases: Fun Funeral, Delightful Death, or Appealing Apocalypse. 

I feel sad that the world has wars (a.k.a. conflicts) and that we can’t just all get along.  The universe has more than enough resources, if only we would all just learn to trust and share.  

But it’s like the Earth is a Mega-Giant Screen HD 3-D Plasma TV; and each country wants control of the remote.  

Can’t we let each other take turns watching our favorite shows?  

Or can’t we build multiple monitors, metaphorically speaking, so everyone can enjoy the proverbial programming of his/her own choice all the time?  

Apparently not.  

At least, not yet.  

So we do have wars (a.k.a. conflicts), which is why we need the brave people who help protect our way of life and our very lives, which is why I say:   

Thank you to our veterans who served our country well; and thank you to our current military and other civil servants who daily risk their lives to protect us and help us live in peace.  

And so, my friends, I hope that one day soon, we can all get along and work together, not only to create a wonderful world without war, but to create a wonderfully, wonderful world, where everyone can wear marshmallow life-jackets while paddling down a river of chocolate in a peanut butter raft with graham cracker oars, accompanied by his/her own favorite supermodel clone.  

Blessings & Joy,

Dean

P. S. Please enjoy how British comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus presents a different kind of warfare in their sketch The Killer Joke: 

This video was uploaded to YouTube by mpython72 on Mar 13, 2007

 

Your Gift Multiplied 12 Times!

Your Gift Multiplied 12 Times!

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July 10, 2012

Donated medication helps child fight worm infestation

Ezera, 4, was suffering from intestinal worms. But like too many children growing up in poverty, he didn’t have access to the basic medication he needed to recover from his treatable condition. World Vision’s deliveries of donated medicine help to change that.

Story and photos by Simon Peter Esaku, World Vision Uganda.

Ezera and his father await treatment for the boy’s worm infestation at a local health center. If not for World Vision’s recent delivery of donated medicines, he might not have access to any remedy for his ailment.

Sitting outside their grass and mud hut, Ezera Odoi grits his teeth and rubs his swollen stomach with his right hand. It is evident there is something wrong with the stomach of this 4-year-old boy.

“I feel something biting my stomach,” says Ezera, who lives in easternUganda.

The boy’s father explains that Ezera first felt the pain last year, and in the time since, he’s been taken to the health center on multiple occasions.

John Oketcho, a health worker who treated Ezera, recalls his course of action. “I suspected Ezera has worms,” he says. “The last time, I gave him three albendazole tablets to take, one a day for three days. I also gave him tablets of folic acid to take, one per day for 14 days.”

A life-saving delivery

The albendazole tablets, used especially for the treatment of worm infestations, were part of a collection of donated drugs delivered by World Vision. Three government health centers in the area benefited from the distribution.

World Vision partners with pharmaceutical companies and other corporations, which donate top-quality medicines and supplies that our staff members can ship and distribute to areas where poverty often renders these items unaffordable or inaccessable — like Ezera’s village in Uganda.

Health workers in the region confirm that the drugs have made a positive impact on the health of people living in several of World Vision’s program areas.

“In fact, there were many people suffering from worms,” says Oketcho. “But when World Vision gave the de-worming tablets and we started de-worming children and adults, we now get fewer cases.”

Poverty’s crushing toll on sick children

John Oketcho, a worker at the local health center, issues a prescription of de-worming tablets and folic acid for Ezera.

With the government providing drugs to its health facilities only once every three months, the distributions of donated medications by World Vision contributes to better health for the rural families in poverty who must survive solely on subsistence farming.

“The government supply of drugs does not even last a month,” Oketch admits. “When the drugs are finished, we write prescriptions and advise patients to go and buy the drugs from pharmacies.”

Of course, very few families can possibly afford to do this.

Ezera’s hope

Oketcho says Ezera may be getting new worm infection. He adds that there are different kinds of worms that can infect children — flatworms, roundworms, and tapeworms, to name a few. Infection can result from poor hygiene, including unsanitary toilet use and using contaminated water.

“I advise Ezera to go for a lab test…for a correct diagnosis,” says Oketcho.

There is hope for Ezera. With deworming drugs now available, Ezera will recover once he gets the correct diagnosis.

Learn more

Check out this photo blog of children around the world who are benefiting from World Vision’s shipment and distribution of donated medicines and supplies.

Two ways you can help

Please pray for children like Ezera whose lives are put at risk because they live in poverty and don’t even have access to basic medicines and supplies that can help them heal.

Make a one-time donation today to help ship and distribute life-saving medicines and supplies to communities in need. Your gift multiplies 12 times in impact to help provide donated phamaceuticals, supplies, and over-the-counter medications to places where children and families are suffering.

Article Source: http://www.worldvision.org/news/donated-medication-helps-child-fight-worm-infestation

Uploaded by T1R9A6C3Y on Mar 23, 2009

This YouTube video was uploaded by michaeljacksonVEVO on Oct 2, 2009

You can be the hero to these children need.

Instead of buying sodas and coffees this week, 
especially instead of buying cigarettes, 
donate that money to save lives. 

One of the best ways to beat the blues 
is to help, love, and care for others. 

Enjoy the feeling of knowing 
that you’re doing the right thing 
and making a positive impact. 

Especially now, 
when your gift multiplies 12 times!
$10 is like donating $120.
$50 is like donating $600.
Every hundred dollars 
is like donating over a thousand dollars!

Blessings & Joy,

Dean

Please Note: I don’t know how long this special gift-multiplying offer lasts, but I do know there is a constant need for help in the world, so please don’t hesitate to donate. Countless lives are depending on you. Global problems may seem overwhelming, but if we all do our part, whatever we do will mean a lot to those we help. Like the man throwing the beached starfish back into the ocean, there were thousands upon the shore! An observer said to the man that he couldn’t possibly throw all of those starfish back into the ocean. The man agreed, but also said, “It sure means a lot to the ones I do throw back.” So maybe we can’t help everyone, but it will sure mean to those we do help. Hey! I wonder if that’s what Michael Jackson meant when he rescued me and called me his little Starfish? See: Is This Really The End?