Darfur United is coming together!  Over the last several days, the Darfur United coaches Mark Hodson and Brian Cleveland and iAct founder Gabriel Stauring have been in Camp Djabal in Eastern Chad running the tryouts for the team that will represent Darfur at the Viva World Cup.  Their emotional accounts of the experience have been wonderful to follow and, as an Honorary Coach, Aid Still Required is here to give you an update on how everything is coming together.

While the men come from many different tribes, they are truly embodying their team moniker–coming together to represent the best of the people of Darfur before the world.  On the morning of the second day of tryouts, the coaches were worried that the players slept in as the 5:30am start time passed…but emerging in direct line with the rising sun, they came running in together, clapping to the rhythm of their strides.  It was what Mark Hodson called “a moment in your life that stays with you forever.” Their documentarian, James Thacher, was there to capture the moment that admittedly couldn’t have been scripted if they had tried.

With unbearably hot temperatures during the middle of the day, tryouts have been running from 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning and again from 3:30 in the afternoon until dusk while hundreds of fellow refugees watched from the sidelines and cheered.  This is just a microcosm of what has been happening across the refugee camps for the last several months as athletes competed to be one of the five representatives from their refugee camp to travel to Camp Djabal to try out for Darfur United.  Now, those who do not make the 20 member squad will go back to their camps, proud of their comrades and rooting them on as they train for the games in Iraq.

With the hardships of refugee life a constant reality, the joy of competition and the pride of playing for one’s country is a healing salve.  Aid Still Required is proud to be a supporting organization of this beautiful endeavor.  We will keep you updated as Darfur United trains for the Viva World Cup!

We gathered a team of volunteers at the Coffee Connection in the Venice/Mar Vista area of Los Angeles for a full day of outreach. Huge thanks to Coffee Connection for donating the beautiful space and for the great coffee! Throughout the day, our volunteers followed as our incredible group of high profile personalities posted Tweets and Facebook updates on behalf of Aid Still Required to alert their followers to the work that still needs to be done in Haiti.

Our great team of volunteers for the 2nd Haiti Social Media Campaign

It is impossible to know exactly how many people were reached by this campaign, but the numbers are staggering. Over 40 celebrities were involved with a combined following of more than 150 million people. Isn’t that incredible? AND, this is only the beginning. In addition, members of the LA Kings hockey team taped a PSA for Aid Still Required that was shown during halftime of their game at the Staples Center and on Fox Sports West. Maroon 5 also shot a great PSA for ASR that got a ton of attention on YouTube and across the internet. In addition, thousands of people like you Tweeted, re-tweeted and posted for Aid Still Required on Facebook.

All of this attention definitely had an impact. Haiti became a “trending topic” on Twitter and #AidStillRequired was the fastest growing hashtag for a period of the day. ASR doubled the number of “Likes” on Facebook and received an incredible amount of traffic on the website. Dozens of news outlets reported on the campaign. Over the course of the day, we received donations from all across the United States and from individuals in 15 different countries!

Our volunteers engaged in conversations with those discussing Aid Still Required’s projects on Facebook and thanked as many of those who retweeted on our behalf as possible. We engaged in conversation with people who had concerns about how the donations to Haiti have been spent over the last two years and explained how Aid Still Required has focused on working directly with small groups on the ground to guard against corruption and wasted funds.

It was an incredible day for Aid Still Required and for the people of Haiti as those around the world were reminded of the horrible devastation that took place there just and of all the work that still needs to be done. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support.

Alison ( far right, with We Advance team members Maeve McGoldrick, Aleda Fishburn, Deborah from Boston)

Hunter and Andrea met Alison in 2007 as they got more deeply involved in the work that became AId Still Required. Utlizing her nurse’s training as a first responder in the months following 9/11 changed Alison’s life and when the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami hit, her two week trip to offer aid turned into a 14 month Sri Lankan odyssey, creating a medical center, making a documentary and writing a book along the way. January 2010 saw Alison packing her bags for Haiti, where she still works today, as co-founder of We Advance, a women’s clinic in the most neglected slum area of Port au Prince.

You may have read about The We Advance Clinic in earlier ASR blogs and on the Haiti project page on the ASR website. We Advance provided the location for Aid Still Required’s first Women’s Trauma Relief project in August 2011; last month two more courses, including one for men in the community, were held in a tent adjacent to We Advance. Aid Still Required has also been proud to provide support to The Community Tsunami Early Warning Center on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, established by Alison during her tenure there and the only organization of its kind serving the region.

The Guidepost article provides an excerpt from Alison’s book The Third Wave, listing helpful tips of what to bring if you go into a disaster situation

What to Know If You Go
1. Prepay any upcoming bills and leave checks with friends who can pay while you’re away.
2. Get the appropriate vaccinations.
3. A soft backpack is easier to travel wtih than a hard suitcase. Include a first-aid kit. The last thing you want is to become part of the disaster.
4. Be sure to pack water filtration tablets, sunscreen, insect repellent, flashlights and batteries, waterproof matches, rubber gloves, plastic garbage bags, rope, duct tape, a Swiss Army knife, a watch, a compass and energy bars.
5. Pack stickers, bubbles, colored pencils, anything to put a smile on a kid’s face.
6. Take cash in smaller denominations, nothing larger than a twenty.
7. Buy a return ticket in advance. If things get too tough, you can always go home.
8. Don’t forget your faith—in God and in yourself. Leave behind your fear.
—adapted from Alison’s book The Third Wave

If you’d like to read the entire article, click here : Guide Post – Inspirational stories

and…….. make a SNOBALL for Haiti!  Read on…..

Aid Still Required has galvanized 43 celebrities with 155 million FaceBook and Twitter followers to FB post, Tweet, make challenges to raise awareness and funds starting today, January 12th, the 2nd anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake.

Hundreds of thousands are still living in tents, vast unemployment, abandoned kids…and ASR has programs to help! You can help by

-LIKING ASR on FB ( we receive a donation each time we receive a new LIKE)

-FOLLOWING ASR on Twitter ( improve our reach to be attractive to corporate sponsors)

-Liking our Campaign participants
-commenting on their posts
-engaging with followers
-retweeting
-posting to your friends
-helping ASR trend
-in garnering donations from those who are able and inspired

AND

SNOBALLING!

SNOBALL is our campaign corporate sponsor and offers fun, creative ways for mini fundraising challenges FOR EXAMPLE: Everytime the Lakers get a basket in tonight’s game, I will donate .50 to ASR for Haiti. OR Each time I buy a Latte at Starbucks I will Donate $1…..

UPDATE:  Over 15 people have committed $.25 every time ASR receives a new LIKE!  75 new fans means a  followup for our Wharf Jeremie project in the slums of Port au Prince!  15 new LIKES feeds 3 kids for a month!  700 new LIKES = 1 house for a villagers.

CLICK HERE  FOR THE CAMPAIGN WEBPAGE

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE A SNOBALL .  Watch the video, Have Fun, and Fundraise!

We hope you’ll  hop on board!!!!!
♥ Andrea, Hunter and The Aid Still Required Team

CAMPAIGN PARTICIPANTS:
Sting, Alicia Keyes, Martha Stewart , Usher,  Janet Jackson, Jason Mraz, Hugh Jackman, Deepak Chopra, Don Cheadle, Sheryl Crow, Adam Schefter, Slash, Pamela Anderson, Victoria Justice, Lady Antebellum, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Maroon 5, Hilary Duff, Will Smith (football) , Jarius Wynn, Mike Richards, Dustin Brown, Stephen Collins, Paul Pierce, Thalia, Nina Dobrev , Chelsea Handler, Kimberly Cole , Rob Kardashian , Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Seth Green, The Killers, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Jordin Sparks, My Chemical Romance, Solange Knowles, Hans Zimmer, William Shatner. Tim McGraw, Vinny Guadagnino

Thievery in Todmorden!

We just heard about a town in West Yorkshire, England where you can steal to your hearts content without being arrested!!!!! Steal fresh fruits and vegetables, that is.

The town of Todmorden has created Incredible Edible, a program to make their town completely food self-sufficient by 2018. Citizens plant fruits and vegetables in approximately 70 large fruit and vegetable beds planted around the town. Broccoli is planted by the railroad station in honor of a much-beloved recently deceased ticket master, raspberries, apricots and apples grown next to the canal towpath, beans and peas are planted by the area college, strawberries at the doctors office, cherries at the health club, mint, thyme, fennel and rosemary in the supermarket parking lot and yes, carrots, kale and lettuce next to the police station!

Any idea that Incredible Edibles is strictly yuppie program is dispelled when realizing a third of the local population does not own a car, one-fifth of the population does not have central heating. Homeowner prices range from approximately $75,000 US to 1.25 million US. The idea has become so popular that 21 other towns in the UK are developing pilot programs and interest has been reported as far afield as Hong Kong and New Zealand.

The project co-founders report it took about six months and a myriad of signs posted encouraging fruit and vegetable theft” for the community to catch on. Now children grab bits of fennel to much on their way to school and it is common to see someone walking through town with a tub ready to pick up his or her lunch! Not only does Incredible Edible encourage people to grow their own vegetables, it offers lessons in pickling and preserving, courses in bread-making. It also encourages support and development of local businesses. If you are interested in learning more: http://bit.ly/z0y0si

Camp Mile: Final Day of i-ACT11 from iActivism on Vimeo.

Darfur United: Camp Kounoungo Football – Soccer from iActivism on Vimeo.

Darfur United Colors from iActivism on Vimeo.

In Aceh, we are working with local NGO partner Yayasan Lamjabat to develop self-sufficency and ecological awareness through reforestation, small business training for women, and clean water. In YL’s work with village farmers, the tree planting not only provide fruit and spices for nourishment and sale, it also improves water tables, stops soil erosion, and assists in halting climate change.

ASR also supports local women’s empowerment through handicrafts and small business training. Women who have otherwise limited options under Sharia law, learn how to make recycled handicrafts. The subsequent business training allows them to contribute economically to their families, creating confidence and raising their stature in the community.

Clean water is a major concern for the area as well. This winter ASR was able to provide a village with a bio-sand water filter, thereby greatly improving the health of the community.

Sri Lanka’s southwestern coast was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. In these remote areas, there is little electricity and little government assistance. The village of Peraliya was among those villages hardest hit, with a trainwreck killing more than 1500.

ASR friend Alison Thompson founded The Community Early Warning Tsunami Centre, empowering the community to take on its own disaster preparedness education. Not only does the center provide the only early warning system in the entire region, it also provides after school enrichment programs.

Your purchase of the Aid Still Required All-Star CD  gives a hand up to these communities. Thank you!

AID STILL REQUIRED ALL-STAR CD COMPILATION FOR TSUNAMI..with Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles and Norah Jones, Maroon 5 and many other great artists

Over three years ago, during the 2008 Darfur campaign, Mt. Hebron Congregation in South Central Los Angeles found Aid Still Required online and contacted us about being part of their service program. The congregation believes strongly in the importance of providing service both at home and abroad. We were so honored that the congregation selected Aid Still Required to be the recipient of its international service grants. As one of their Board members said, Mount Hebron may be a small church in size but their contributions to the community are far-reaching!

ASR shared the podium with Sister Marjorie Shelvy of Legal Aid Foundation and was so inspired to hear about Sister Shelvy’s passionate commitment to helping others. Sister Shelvy has been a sister of the Catholic Religious Community since 1961 and at the age of 54, she decided to enroll in Law School to give a voice to low-income families and individuals!
If you would like to learn more about Sister Marjorie Shelvy, click here!

Jody WIlliams, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate and activist

On November 16, Hunter, Andrea and their new assistant Dan Parziale attended a lecture by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations, presented by the International Human Rights Program at UCLA Law School. Her lecture, entitled “Rape as a Crime Against Humanity & War Crime: Accountability & the International Criminal Court,” was a powerful expose on the prominence of rape in war zones and areas of low government oversight.

Williams received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban landmines. Since then, she has taken on countless projects, most recently chairing the Nobel Women’s Initiative which she established alongside other female Nobel winners. The purpose of the Women;s Initiative is to use the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize to magnify the power of women working around the world for peace, justice and equality. In 2007, Williams led a controversial High Level Mission on Darfur for the UN’s Human Rights Council and continues her work in Darfur. In 2004, Williams was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

One would think that a person with this many accomplishments might be a little aloof. Williams’ humility was only outmatched by her charisma and down-to-earth nature.  It was a treat to hear a globally-renown humanitarian  share her expertise so passionately and directly. Alongside Williams were Ana Deutsch, the co-founder and clinical director of the Program for Torture Victims, Shirin Ershadi, the co-chair and co-president of the International Criminal Court Alliance, and Lara Stemple, the director of graduate studies at the UCLA School of Law and Deputy Co-Director of the UC Global Health Institute’s Center of Expertise on Women’s Health and Empowerment.

Williams graciously spent time after the lecture to speak with Hunter and Andrea about their work with Aid Still Required and has asked to stay updated about the work ASR is doing. It is always inspiring to be around like minded people who are dedicating their lives to reshaping the world in which we live.  Jody Williams is one of those people and the crowd that gathered at UCLA for her lecture were moved and enlivened by her energy, enthusiasm and optimism for a better future.