Thanksgiving

We'll be closing the Albuquerque office today at 1pm for the holiday and will re-open on Monday, the 28th at 10am.  We hope you and your families and friends have a truly wonderful holiday all together.

There are so many people to thank --  for support of the project, for support of the mission, and for support of our staff.  We never cease to be amazed at the generosity and kindness of the people who cross our path.  From the people who have stopped in and made a bone just once to the people who dedicate tireless hours and effort on behalf of this mission, we thank everyone of you.  We wouldn't be here without all of it.

Be well and happy!

Susan

Post Script: Just in on Google Alert-Congo

This article just came into my inbox via my google alert.  It gives some information on the three leading Congolese candidates.

Election Day in Congo - November 28

With the election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo just a week away, it's a good time to reflect on what the Congolese people have been through, where they are, and what they have yet to deal with.

Years as a Belgian colony; more years as a pawn in the Cold War shenanigans between super powers, and now the wealth of the nation pillaged for the gain of the powerful and the violent, and the electronic needs of the developed world. This article from the BBC is a great overview. 

A week before the elections, they are dealing with an outbreak of Cholera, and conditions like those outlined here.  I hope it is, but I don't know if it is possible for democracy to take root in conditions like this.  

Here at One Million Bones, we are often asked, "Why now?  Why are you working to raise awareness about genocide and humanitarian crises now?"  The answer is that there is no other time than now.  When will the people of Congo need us?  After the election?  Next year?  No, they need us now.  They need the world to put pressure on the leaders in their country to do the right thing, and they need us to be standing by, if they don't. 

Day Five of Somalia Awareness Week

We've been sharing information all week, here on the OMB blog, on Facebook and via Twitter, about Somalia Awareness Week.

We've shared facts and figures, information and videos, and now what we're hoping is that all this has moved you to action.  For today, the call is to pledge to make a handmade bone through the Students Rebuild Humanitarian Crises challenge.

It is particularly heart-wrenching to me to think of all the Somali people who are hungry as I plan a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. What if after our dinner we all spent one hour creating bones, spending the time talking to people we care about and helping to make a difference for people we don't even know, but who need our help.  Here's what new refugee families is Dadaab Camp live on:

At reception centers for new arrivals, CARE distributes the first 21 days’ worth of food (wheat flour, corn soy blend (CSB), vegetable oil, maize/corn meal, pulses/beans, sugar, salt) and non-food items, which include plastic tarpaulins, kitchen sets, soap, blankets, plastic mats and 10 liter jerry cans. These items help to bridge the time until registration after which refugees are entitled to a tent and the regular food distribution cycle."

Every bone you and your family make, if you decide to do this, will help generate actual dollars for CARE's work in Somalia. 

All of us hope you'll consider some action to reach out. It's really easy to do:

Register here.

Find out how to make bones here.

Send them here when you're done.

And, send photos, if you'd like.

Thank you for everything that you do.

News from New Orleans and day three: Somalia Awareness Week

Hi folks,

I'm posting a blog by founder Naomi Natale letting you know how things are going in New Orleans.  You'll see that below, but first, remember it's day three of Somalia Awareness Week and here's something we'd like you to know:

53% of Somalis are experiencing a food crisis.  That's 4,000,000 people who go hungry because they can't afford basic foods. Learn.  Act.  Do.

And from Naomi:

Last Thursday, OMB in partnership with the Raise Hope for Congo campaign, hosted a Kick-Off event at Tulane University.  The event was co-sponsored by Tulane African Student Association, the Tulane Human Rights Law Society, the Tulane International Law Society, and FaceAIDS. 

I got to New Orleans in September and have been working at the Unfold Media Gallery to bring OMB to the New Orleans community.  The goal is to produce a 50,000 bones preview installation in New Orleans in March. As our Albuquerque crew can attest, a 50,000 bones event is a lot of work and grass-roots organizing and that could have gotten overwhelming, particularly starting from scratch in a new city.  Luckily as soon as I got here I started working with three Tulane students, Leigh, Emma and Erica, who are doing internships with One Million Bones this semester, and they are wonderful.  As a result of the event at Tulane last night I think we will be bringing on a handful of volunteers and perhaps new interns as well which is very important and exciting for us.

I’m also excited because at this event we were able to talk about the Raise Hope for Congo’s Conflict Free Campus Initiative.  OMB is actively working with the Raise Hope for Congo to bring their Conflict-Free Campus Initiative to the Tulane Campus.  The initiative calls upon students nationwide to help build a consumer voice for “conflict free electronics”-laptops, cell phones, and Ipods that do not finance war in eastern Congo, and to demand that their schools stop investing in these products.  We see this as a huge opportunity for Tulane students to leave a legacy on their campus promoting human rights and displaying a powerful form of student activism.  We also hope to engage students at Xavier, UNO and Loyola to bring this initiative to their campuses as well.

We screened the film Blood in the Mobile, which is documentary that reveals the conflict mineral trade in Congo, how it is financing the war and violence there and how we as consumers of the electronic products they are used in are perpetuating the conflict.  But it also very well explains that the role we play as consumers can be used as leverage demanding the big electronic companies to demand the minerals in their products be conflict free. The video ends with two jarring facts:

1. There is currently no law making it illegal to use conflict minerals in electronic products neither in the USA nor in the EU
2.  There is still no phone on the market which is guaranteed conflict mineral free

I feel encouraged by the amount of interest and enthusiasm that Tulane students displayed last night and look forward to the work we have a head of us in what we call here… The Big Easy.

Stay tuned for a weekly update on the OMB initiative in New Orleans.