Every now and then, I forget what I’m doing and so I end up terribly surprised when I pop up in the newspaper.

Such is the case with the Maneater’s article about MSA/GPC sponsoring t-shirts and petition over the university’s decision to close Reactor Field parking lot to tailgating on game days.

I remember Nick, the photographer, taking photos…and accusing him of taking them of my butt, because of the angle he was shooting at, but I honestly didn’t think he’d put one of me in there, when the fabulous and gorgeous Lauren Zima was standing right next to me.

I just wanted to share my amusement with all of you. And the photo:

Freshman Andrew Gates buys a “Rally for Reactor” T-shirt from Emily VanCourt, Graduate Professional Council national issues coordinator, Thursday afternoon in front of the University Bookstore. Sponsored by GPC and the Missouri Student Association, students could sign a petition and buy the T-shirts in an effort to bring back Reactor Field as a place for students to tailgate.

A lovely story, in a beautiful place. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.

I have not only ascended my soap box with a vengeance, I have painted it gold and sparkly, and then emailed it to multiple news outlets. I am that enraged.

If I start, it will just run into an enraged capslock rant, so rather I’ll copy and paste one of the letters I wrote to a reporter in St. Louis:

Around 9:30 this morning on the Phillips and Company show on Y98, Guy Phillips and his cohost Jen made several shocking racist comments about Romani–more commonly known by the derogatory term ‘gypsies’. They called them ‘thieves’ and ‘freeloaders’, in addition to other comments, mocking them. This had been after they covered a story about Madonna making comments during a concert in eastern Europe, asking for the Roma to be treated equally.

The Roma are a historically persecuted peoples, and this denial of even basic human rights such as healthcare and education continues today. They are fragmented and vulnerable, due to their inclusive nature and therefore have been used as scapegoats for crimes and social issues for centuries.

Groups such as Amnesty International have been working hard to secure rights for this tiny, persecuted minority. In many places, they are still tortured by military and police officials in Eastern Europe. Their children are segregated and given lesser schooling than their Slovakian counterparts. Madonna did a GOOD thing in calling attention to the human rights violations and urging for equal rights. Guy Phillips not only perpetuated a stereotype, but made callously racist comments.

I am hoping that a reporter will pick up this story, in an effort to elicit an apology from Y98 and Guy Phillips, and to help education the people of St. Louis that the Roma are NOT thieves and freeloaders, but rather a persecuted and vulnerable peoples who need to be spoken up for, instead of attacked.

For more information from Amnesty Internation, click here.

Even more about the violation of children’s rights in Slovakia here.

Secondly, you will remember me Nujood Ali last year, the young girl in Yemen who successfully fought for a divorce after being forced into marrying as a child.

Now word comes from Yemen AGAIN about atrocities regarding child brides. Fawziya Ammodi died at the age of TWELVE after a painful and protracted childbirth. She was forced to drop out of school and marry a 24-year-old man in 2008 at the age of eleven. I fight the urge to type all of this in capslock, because I am blown away and enraged all at once.

This young girl died because of lack of education, human rights, children’s rights, and the use of earth logic. Once again, Yemen is able to leave me dumbfounded that it could allow children to be married and sexually abused in such a way, and think it okay.

Who are you people google searching my name!? You freak me out!

All I can see is google searches that lead to my website, and academia.edu lets me know when someone looks at my profile there, so I get a general idea of when people are searching for info on me, but it’s still a little intimidating.

Still, I wish that people would leave a comment and let me know they’ve dropped by. Call it reverse-curiosity. I like to know who’s reading, and if they’ve liked it, or if they think my prattling about school and Malawi is inane.

LOOK AT ADORABLE VOLUNTEER!JAREN!

Isn’t he cute? Jaren was our Program Coordinator this summer, so it’s cute seeing him as a volunteer. This video isn’t mine, but I’m pretty sure WC doesn’t mind me passing it around, since it’s meant to be seen.

Just a random moment on the bus after our first day of camp.

FYI, at the end, we’re all saying our group names, which were generally named after animals.

The elephant who wandered up, ten yards from our bar while we were on safari in Zambia. Except that this wasn’t ON safari, this was our campground outside the park.

He was pretty chill, and was more interested in the trees than us.

That’s right: it’s a drum, a piece of wood, a guitar string, a stick, and a glass bottle. That’s one impressive homemade instrument.

mugazi ku mugazi – blood to blood
amayi ku maya – mother to child
kudziletsa- unprotected sex

Congratulations to Jamie on getting accepted to participate in World Camp!

If any of you enjoyed reading my adventures, and the process that I went through in going to Malawi–go check out his blog, Jamie’s Adventure to Malawi. He’s a great guy, and a wonderful writer. He will be going to Malawi for the January 2010 session of World Camp, and I’m intensely jealous. I wonder what Malawi in the rainy season is like??

In other news, I will be posting a boatload of photos and videos tomorrow, so stay tuned!