Tokyo: Support the victims of Cyclon Nargis

Two huge natural disasters have rocked our planet earth over the past couple of weeks. With death tolls in the tens to hundreds of thousands, it's easy to feel either overwhelmed and helpless or completely unaffected by something so far away. However, theres is something that we can all do to help. In particular for the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, this weekend in Tokyo, Parties 4 Peace is partnering with Sounds of Sunday Party and organizing an organic vegetarian BBQ this Sunday, May 25th.

The funds raised will go to support Save the Children www.savethechildren.org
Save the Children currently operates programs in all five of the most-affected regions and has worked in Myanmar (Burma) since 1995. As one of the largest nongovernmental organizations at work in Burma, the agency implements programs focused on early childhood care and development, child survival and child protection.

"Our staff in Burma are doing lifesaving work, but we could reach more children and families if we had the supplies that they so desperately need. Indeed, if aid continues to be restricted, the condition for thousands of children will rapidly deteriorate. Alarmingly, food prices have already risen, which means that hunger might become a problem for some families. Public health conditions could also get worse as people live close together in shelters and water supplies remain limited. Without immediate and wide-scale assistance, the situation for children looks likely to get worse before it improves."

今週の日曜日「SOUNDS on SUNDAYS」　＆　パーティーフォーピースKitchen

P4P - Parties 4 Peace & S.O.S
Presents: S.O.S. - Sounds On Sunday

5.25 [SUNDAY]
@ Oath in Shibuya [ 4 pm - 11pm ] 1000 YEN

Techno / Minimal / Electro Beats

FEATURING DJs
Anthony Mansfield (Hector Works - San Francisco)
Groove Patrol [Two Dogs]
Radarboy (Radarpop)

Tazzy [Rhythm Odyssey]
Keisho Kikuchi [Kamui Recordings]
Jasmine Jordan [ABCDGCDB]

BBQ Provided by Alishan Foods & Second Harvest
*all Organic and Vegetarian Foods*
http://www.alishan-organic-center.com
http://www.2hj.org

ACCESS:
Oath in Aoyama
MAP: http://www.aoyama-oath.com/map.html


Come and enjoy some yummy veggie kabob.

(Photo courtesy of Parties 4 Peace)

Applying for grants and fellowships

Hello~! I am back in Tokyo and have been working diligently on my thesis. I feel very positive about the progress that I am making and believe that the less than two months I have left will prove to be a smooth experience. Otherwise, I am also in the process of applying for grants and fellowships.

It is my belief that there is an abundance of money in this world- money that people put aside to do good with- and money that is channeled through the form of grants and fellowships, and money that will support me in my endeavors to use the power of media for peace, human rights and development.
Here are some of the ones that I am looking at:

International Reporting Fellowship- Due April 1, 2008- "The International Reporting Project will offer up to four IRP Fellowships to U.S. journalists to carry out a project reporting from any country in the world outside of the United States. One of these Fellowships will be the “IRP/FRONTLINE World Fellowship” for video journalists, which will offer additional support through the PBS program FRONTLINE/World and a chance for the Fellow’s story to appear on that program’s web site and broadcast."

New Media Women Entrepreneurs- Due May 1, 2008- "NMWE is a unique initiative addressing opportunity and innovation, recruitment and retention for women in journalism by spotlighting their ingenuity and entrepreneurial abilities. Pilot projects will show what can be done. Research will tell us what more to do. And an awards program and summit will showcase women’s creative ideas. NMWE is supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation."

Rotary's Positive Peace Place

Each year the International Christian University holds an annual festival in which the university's club and associations participate in by setting up booths to sell snacks and other such goods. The local community is invited to visit the campus and partake in festivities which often include wadaiko (Japanese traditional drumming) and various musical dance performances.

This year, the sixth year of the Rotary Internationals' partnership with ICU in the Rotary World Peace Fellowship, we RWPFs decided to have our own booth in which we sold nachos and held a flea market to raise funds for the Burmese NGO called Back Pack Health Worker Team.

BPHWT provides "primary health care in ethnic armed conflict areas and rural areas where access to healthcare is otherwise unavailable. The BPHWT provides a range of medical care, community health education and prevention, and maternal and child healthcare services to internally displaced persons in Burma."

Anyways, I have to say that I think that our booth was quite a success. We did have to give away some items for close to nothing towards the end of the second day (but that's to be expected when you try to sell off things that you don't even want.) I believe we made our two main goals: raising a reasonable amount of funds for a good cause and having a more visible presence on campus. I hope this is the beginning of a Rotary tradition.

We made our fundraising goal!

Today, May 10th, is our fundraising goal due date for the Oxfam Trailwalker. We are supposed to raise a minimum of 120,000 yen ($1000 US) for Oxfam's humanitarian projects and so that we can participate in our crazy 100km challenge.

So as of last night (with some more last minute donations still coming in) I had the 120,000 in my hands!! Yippppppeeee!!! Thank you all to those who contributed!! (If you sent donations online and didn't email me, please let me know because unfortunately the website doesn't tell me who's contributed, just how much.)

We have been super busy fundraising:
-We sent letters to our friends and family asking them to support us
-We held a fundraising party on Friday, May 4th in which we were able to raise 43,000yen
-We have received individual contributions from our professors
-Last Sunday, we went on the local Nishi-Tokyo Radio and talked about the Oxfam Trailwalker and asked for support from the local community.

So here's a slide show of our various hikes and the party!
The 100km challenge is a week a way, wish us luck!!!

Oxfam Trailwalker!!

A few of my classmates are currently training for the Oxfam Trailwalker! It's a 100km walk to be completed in 48hours. We will fundraise approximately US$1000 to fight against poverty.

The hike looks intense and most people walk through the night with out sleeping! Anyways, I am excited to push myself physically and walk for a good cause. We'll have 'till May to train, so every other weekend we have been hiking and I've started to regualrly run 6km every other day.

I'll be posting photos from our various hikes on my flickr site. Clikc on the Oxfam Trailwalker Set. Yay! Walk to end poverty!