Volunteering For NETwork by Lauren

Blue, red, green, yellow.  I scan the beads for the necklace I am putting together during a morning meeting at Network Against Malaria Club. The finished necklace is full of colors and neat beads.

One of the things I love about Network is bead-making. It’s so fun to sit around with your friends after or before school or on a weekend at someone’s house making beautiful jewelry, key chains, and rosaries! You are having an awesome time and helping others too!

It’s also fun to go to public events and sell the beaded creations. When you see other people come up admiring Network’s hard work, you get a sense of pride that is so so cool!

Another cool thing is where we get the beads and supplies needed for bead-making. Though a lot is bought by Network, much is donated too. It’s great to know that the community sees the good work that we all are doing and wants to help too. 

Orange, pink, purple, black. My next piece of jewelry is a bracelet. As I string the beads together, I think of who will buy and wear this. Whoever it is, they will spread Network to even more places by showing off all of our hard work through our bead-making. Through our jewelry, rosaries, and key chains, Network Against Malaria is traveling everywhere and growing bigger and bigger!!

New Year, New Posts, Same Mission (aka Changing the World)

The summer wrapped up with many changes for our global community, our NETwork community, and myself.

For starters, I headed off to college this year which is a major change. College is definately an adjustment: the workload, being away from home, sharing a room with someone who was a stranger 2 months ago, buffet style meals (Chinese food and pizza in the same meal minus portion control! That's a dream come true!). It's a major change but one I'm thrilled to have made.

For our world- politics, governments, natural disasters. It's been a buzy summer.

AND FOR NETWORK?

We distributed 1,000 bednets to the children of Hoima. Our vice president and co-founder travelled to Uganda and attended this distribution. I'll include a picture and a few links.


I'm so excited to talk to you again and you'll hear from me really soon!

It's May 24th and I feel like my life is starting to calm down again, like I can breath again.

That's the thing about taking on many responsibilities as youth volunteer. You need to keep up with them and it can be overwhelming. But with May wrapping up and June soon to follow, my lungs seem to fill with air more easily and my chest doesn't pound quite as much. I hope you're starting to feel the same way.

But, in my humble opinion, its all worth it. Its worth the confussion and exhaustion and all other things. Its worth it to be a person of conviction. It is worth it to strive for character.

We Are Young.

We are young. We are frustrated. We are uncertain. We are even confused. We are angry. We are disappointed. We are constantly finding things are not as we had hoped.

We are young. We are exhausted. We are overwhelmed. We are overworked. We are unappreciated.

We are young. We are discouraged. We are saddened. We are continuosly seeing the world is filled with cruelty.

We are young. We are spirited. We are, despite it all, optimistic. We are young. We find energy. We are hopeful. We are determined.

We are young.

We will change the world.

ART CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

NETwork Against Malaria Weill Cornell Medical School Chapter would like to invite you to participate in our 1^st Annual Art Contest in Recognition of World Malaria Day—April 25, 2011. Our theme, NETs work Against Malaria.

World Malaria Day is a day to remember malaria victims and celebrate global efforts to control malaria. In honor of World Malaria Day 2011, the Weill Cornell Medical School Chapter of a national nonprofit, NETwork Against Malaria, is hosting our first annual art contest to help spread awareness of a disease that threatens nearly half the world population and claims the lives of nearly one million people every year. Most of these are of young children living in sub-Saharan Africa. It doesn’t have to be this way. When mosquito nets are heavily used, malaria transmission can be cut by over 90%. Although nets can have a major impact, few families in sub-Saharan African have the ten dollars needed to purchase one.

To facilitate learning about mosquito nets and the people who need them, NETwork Against Malaria has established an art contest. By creating artwork that nurtures understanding of serving others with malaria, NETwork aims to help students develop an appreciation of other cultures, increase awareness of the problems others face, foster the growth of the global community, and teach children how they can make a global impact. For additional curricular resources visit www.networkagainstmalariaartcontest.blogspot.com; for additional information about malaria and NETwork Against Malaria please visit www.networkagainstmalaria.org.

For rules please see attachment and information below.

Thank you for your efforts to educate the next generation.

Sincerely,

The NETwork Against Malaria Weill Cornell Medical College Team

Attached: rules

Contests Rules for participating children:

Please email all submissions to: NETworkagainstmalariaCornell@gmail.com Or mail all submissions to: NETwork Against Malaria Box #820 445 East 69th Street New York, NY 10021

Deadline: postmark May 12, 2011 or email by 11:59pm May 11, 2011.

1. Create an original piece of art using the theme: Nets Work Against Malaria. The theme should appear on the front of the work. Art should reflect the theme.

2. Use 8.5 x 11 inch paper (for both mailed and emailed artwork).

3. Make your poster colorful. Use markers, colored pencils, crayons, paint. (Do not use glitter or glue.)

4. Original art only. Please no stencils or coloring book pages.

5. Please label the artwork: For mailed entries: student’s name, school, teacher, grade must be written on the back of the paper.

For emailed entries: The art should be scanned or photographed. Student’s name, school, teacher, grade must be included in the name of the file in the format: FirstNameLastName.School.Teacher.Gr(grade number) (e.g. JaneDoe.WeillCornell.MrsDoe.Gr8). Please submit files in .GIF, .JPEG, or .PDF format.

6. Prizes will be awarded to 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and honorable mention winners in each division.

7. The divisions are as follows: grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8,

Winners will receive a certificate and a goodie bag with a NETwork Against Malaria T-shirt.

Teachers/educators of winning participants will also receive a NETwork necklace made with fair trade Ugandan beads.

Please mail and postmark submissions by May 12^th or email by 11:59pm May 12^th.

Questions?

Email: Vlad Thomas or Margaret McGlynn at networkagainstmalariacornell@gmail.com

Phone: Margaret McGlynn (618-581-6046)

For curricular resources please visit www.networkagainstmalariaartcontest.blogspot.com

for more information about NETwork Against Malaria please visit: www.NETworkAgainstMalaria.org

Fr. Mujule

Meet Fr. Mujule!

With one Bead

With just one bead, you can change a life. NETwork volunteers make jewelry using beads made by Ugandan women. The women go to trash dumps and get old newspapers and magazines. They cut them into strips and roll them into paper beads. The women seal the beads and send them to America where volunteers string the beads to make jewelry.

The jewelry made by our volunteers is sold to purchased bednets for Ugandan children.

We can do a lot with a single bead like save a life.

How to Save A Life

Saving a life can be rescuing a child from a building. It can be pushing a person out of the way of an oncoming bus. It may even mean giving a life for a friend. It can generous- donating food to an impoverished family, providing funds for medical bills, or giving a bednet to children in the developing world. Saving a life can be more simple. It can mean showing someone their purpose and dignity. It can mean helping someone realize they are important, and matter and their life is precious. It can be as simple as being someone's reason to live.

5 Way to Counter Animal Homelessness:

5 Way to Counter Animal Homelessness:

1. Support your local animal shelter. Not only will you inspire limitless loyalty from your rescue pet, you will enjoy your time with a remarkable animal. There's a place for dogs with distinguished breeding, but I promise a lovable mutt form the "pound" will fill your heart. Often, mixed breed dogs have better personalities and fewer health issues because they are not inbred.


2. Spay or nueter. Self explanitory.


3. Tag and microchip your pet. The last thing you, or anyone else wants, is for Fido to end up on the streets. If more people tagged their dogs, more could be returned.


4. Volunteer, fundraise, or donate to your animal shelter. They need your help!


5. Educate others about pet homelessness and pet responsibility. Together we can make a big difference!

A Dog Called Sky

So I have a story.

I have a dog named Sky. I'm not sure if his favorite food is chicken fat or bananas.

He's a pretty funny dude. He eats carrot peals like its his job.

Whenever I'm with Sky I can't help but laugh. He has this giant goofy face that always looks a little concerned, happy, and confused at the same time.

He loves people. And that's it. Completely. Totally. And unrelenting. And that's Sky.

The Weight of the World

After giving my speech, I took my place in the audience at a youth rally. The next keynote speaker rose and began his speech by saying that ours was the first generation in the history of mankind that had the ability to end global poverty. For a moment I had such a high, such a great feeling of purpose, dedication, and hope that I could hardly keep from running laps around the rally. What he said next sobered me up pretty quickly. "What a grave responsibility." He looked at the group with heavy eyes and no smile. He continued on to talk about our ipods and laptops and excessive spending. He went on to say that we were squandering our opportunity to save the world. I felt my shoulders slump back into their resolute, determined position. The way he said it made it sound daunting. Alleviating poverty would not be a success if achieved. It would be a failure if we did not achieve it. I found myself feeling slightly discouraged. After the speech I took a few moments just to think for myself. I sat there for a long time and finally something occurred to me. If we had the ability to eradicate poverty, it was because we had already achieved other things. We had learned effective farming methods, ways of getting water to rural regions, and improved health. We had the resources to educate children and the knowledge to cure diseases. The reason my generation, our generation, has so much potential is because for centuries humankind has been building on one anothers accomplishments. Because of what past generations have accomplished, our generation is in the position were we literally (arguably) can eradicate poverty. That's empowering. But, no matter the outcome of our work, we all have a responsibility to honor our impoverished neighbors. BUT the fact that we would honor this responsibility is, in fact, a gift. SO no matter what is accomplished or not accomplished, the generation can build on the accomplishments of our own. Hopefully we can eradicate poverty, but nothing could possibly diminish such an accomplishment. We all have a responsibility to one another, but everything we do is a gift.

A World Away

Our American and Ugandan volunteers may feel a world apart, but both are essential for NETwork's sucess. Pictured are some of our chapters in the US and Uganda. (Thanks Google for the map)

Sharing in a Simple Project

"Last wish from a little 12 year old boy dying of terminal cancer. He lives in Neola, Iowa. His last wish is to receive one million cards in the mail. I think we can make his wish come true if enough people pass the word. It is not too much to ask for a 12 year old boy. One million cards. Let your fellow employees know and your churches and school children. We need to take the time to do this for this little boy.

Let's make his last wish come true.

His name and addressas published in the Ottumwa Courier newspaper is:

Max Low.

c/o Greg and Bambi Low.

P.O. Box 111

Neola, Iowa 51559"

This was sent to me via e-mail. I am sharing it with you now.

Being a teenager is hard. College, tuition- these are impending time bombs ticking from the time you meet your guidance counselor freshman year. Of course college is always the goal, the dream, the target in the sky. Of course from the very beginning everyone says, "I'm so ready to get out on my own, so ready to find my own way." We beg for Independence. If its denied, sometimes we take it anyway. We argue, we defy, we oppose, sometimes for no other reason than to show ourselves and those around us that we are capable of doing these things.

But we try. So hard. Everyday. We crave people telling us we're doing it, making it, being our best self. We try so hard and sometimes this trying is exhausting, overwhelming, confusing.

People say these are the best times of our life and sometimes we believe them- when we're with our friends on something that feels like an adventure. When we laugh so hard that nothing else seems to matter and when we wake up to find we were smiling the entire time we were asleep.

But usually we hope this isn't true. Because we 15, 16, 17. Because we hope to live to be 85, 86, 87. Because we don't want the best times of our life to be over before our life is even 1/4 gone.

And somehow I think we all understand, realize that the best times in our life, they're always before us. Because the best day of our life should be the one we are living at that moment. Because each day truly is a wonder, each night an escape and each new day more wonderful than the last.

An Ocean Away

Bridging the gap from your school to Uganda, can be simple by working through NETwork Against Malaria. Its phenomenal to see how far away your efforts travel in the fight against poverty and malaria.

This picture shows the distance between a fifth grade class from South Eastern Illinois who raised funds for bednets and the Ugandan children who received these nets a continent away.

Go the distance!

St. Patty's Day: Parades vs. Protests

Parades are someplace you bring the kids. Candy flies from float. Beads get tossed into crowds. There's popcorn vendors, loud crowds, unpleasant Johnnys, marching bands, goofy clowns, floats, and the list goes on and on.

Protests. They usually aren't someplace you bring the fam. Sure they can be quiet, respectful. They can be enjoyable and fun. But they're not really about celebration.

Parades= fun.
Protests= causes.

I am not saying we need to get out there and protest the way protests are viewed, but I do think we should find some middle ground. I am not really talking about political issue protests but on cause related protests. We need to find some middle ground, grow in our understanding, and realize there are many important ways to use our time- making our voices heard included.

Off the Shelf

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is a great read for a young change maker. After Jean Valjean gets out of prison, one man's kindness is enough to turn his life into one of selflessness. Through kindness, love, and devotion he becomes a new man.

Jean Valjean is pursued by the ghosts of his past and one man who is determined to send him back to prison. Could Jean Valjean's compassion be so powerful that it could influence the very people determined to bring him down?

Another Ugandan Prover

You can't dig with a spade handle, but it helps the spade to dig.

For Them

It is more than a project. Service benefits real people.

For them take action.

My l...o...n...g Day

Today was a long day. This morning feels like a year ago and its only four o'clock.

Usually when I say this it's an extraordinarily exciting day: I started at five thirty and my head didn't hit my pillow until midnight. Sometimes I travelled, hit up an event, hung out with friends, and accomplished something major all on the same day.

Today was a long day.

Sometimes I mean it was an emotionally trying day. I felt drained. I was excited, demoralized, disappointed, and relieved. Sometimes it means this.

Today was a long day.

And I really don't know why. It was a good day- not an overwhelmingly exciting day. It was a consistant day- no remarkable dissapointments or excitements. It was just a long day.

Looking back on this long day I can't help but smile. It didn't look like an important day but it was a good day. I got to school early and helped plan an upcoming event. We went to service. I got back a test I thought was difficult (and did okay) and took a test that really was difficult (and hoped I did okay). I ate lunch with great friends, learned a couple of new things, came home and worked on NETwork stuff and sat down trying to think of something to blog about.

So yeah- today was a long day. It wasn't exceptionally exciting or exceptionally emotionally trying, but it WAS exceptional- because I had fun and learned and suceeded and struggled and accomplished and laughed and just loved being me today.

And the funny thing: its only four o'clock.