FYI, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) has announced that it's accepted enough donations for the time being to successfully manage its foreseeable costs dealing with the post-tsunami issues. Read more at http://doctorswithoutborders-usa.org/donate/index.cfm .
They're asking that folks be willing to contribute to their Emergency Relief Fund instead, from which they'll be able to draw on now and in the future for both the Southeast Asia crisis, as needed, as well as their other ongoing efforts around the world. They'll get my money every time, for having the integrity to announce such openly. (Then again, the CEO of MSF is reimbursed only on those days she has to travel on the organization's behalf; the rest of the time she works as a nurse full-time. Compare this to the $400K+ salary for the ARC's CEO. One guess who gets my support.)
Other orgs at work in Southeast Asia that are quality: UNICEF, CRC, and Mercy Corps.
The side-by-side seeming contradiction of strong Christianity and strong pre-Xtian traditions was all over Sweden when I was there, and none of the Swedes blinked an eye. My step-mother is Swedish, and almost virulently Xtian - pentacostal Lutheran (I had no idea there was such a thing). The very idea of me writing about elves, or phookas, or tanuki, makes her shudder and mutter comments in Swedish. Some things don't need to be translated to be understood: Those Things Are Devil-stuff.
Yet, while in Sweden, my sister and I saw trolls *everywhere* - gnome and troll dolls in the windows of lamp shops, grocery stores, clothing shops. When we asked, Gunnel and the other Swedes - equally religious as she - informed us that those are Quite Swedish. They saw no contradiction between joking that trolls will eat bad children and their religious beliefs. I suppose when it's your socio-cultural tradition, it's in a category by its own.
Then again, I also had a Southern grandmother who was staunchly Presbyterian, who used to wet her broom and shake it over the plants. She'd tell me, "it sounds like rain, and that reminds the clouds of what they should be doing" - and if that ain't sympathetic magic, I don't know what is.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2004 | 1 |
Total: 3 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by sGreer:
Show all comments by sGreer.