Clean water in Africa

[Stormin Mormon]

It helps that I lived and worked in the area and my daughter is currently heavilly involved and has made it her subject of study for many years.

[Stormin Mormon]

You can get just as sick, just as fast, in Mexico

[The Daring Dufas]

Heck, I don't care if I help a church group who's faith I don't share. All I care about is whether or not they're good nice people and any of the Mennonites I've ever met gave me the impression that they were good folks. I've always told anyone who tells me they're a good Christian, "Don't tell me how good you are, show me how good you are." ^_^

Interesting note, I've never seen a flashy TV or print ad for The Mennonite Central Committee. Funny how that works. o_O

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

Not good practice with bots etc harvesting addresses - and not good net higiene

[HeyBub]

The Second War of Independence was the first in which electronic communications were spied upon. Both the Union and Confederate forces monitored telegraphic communications of their adversary during the Recent Unpleasantness.

[clare]

Proud of both of them, actually. My youngest had given up nn school - didn't know what she wanted to do - or what she would want to study if she went on to college. She got a summer job after grade 11 at the neighbour's insurance brokerage, and kept working through grade 12 - and on for12 years now - has all of her insurance credentials and is assistant operations manager now - on a good path towards partnership in the future if she wants to. I see her just about every morning as I look after all the IT stuff at the office where she works.

[clare]

No, you get help period. In many cases there is no "church". It IS unconditional. Doesn't matter if you are Hindu, Muslim, Amamist, or a total heathen with no concept of a God or religion.. If the need is there, they are there.

Mennonite Disater Service works the same way. They are still hard at work in New Orleans and can be found helping out after just about any major disaster in North America. A separate, but related organization.

After the floods in the Appalachians back in the seventies or thereabouts there were volunteers cleaning up in Elmira and Corning New York areas and in Kentucky for over 2 years..

After tornados in southern Ontario, I was on a cleanup crew for several days near Woodstock - the crew was busy there for several weeks.

They are currently on the ground in Shawnee Oklahoma., Bastop Texas, Birmingham Ala, Braithwaite La, Crisfield Md, Cordova Al, Far Rockaway NY, Joplin Mo, Minot ND, Staten Island NY, and West Liberty Ky. as well.

[clare]

Not only do I THINK they can = I KNOW they can.

They can learn to be excellent mechanics and machinists as well. I tault 35 mechanics - and of those 35, I am sure at least 20 turned ito quite adequate mechanics. Compare that to my 4 classes of Canadian kids taking Auto Mechanics - 10 to 20 in each class - total of 55 kids - only about 4 of whom I give any chance of ever making it as a mechanic.

You chould see some of the contraptions the kids come up with - toy trucks made out of fense wire and scrap iron that would make your head spin - and model motorcycles and airplanes made out of discarded drink cans and wire clothes hangars. Stuff your American kids wouldn't have a CLUE how to make - and this is kids with NO technical education.

If we can produce a generation of African youth who do not suffer from childhood malnutrition, chronic Malaria and Bilharzia, and get them a decent education, they could turn their world on end.

But to do that, we need to get a generation of those same kids into positions of responsibility and power, to root out the curruption of their forfathers, and provide a stable environment for growth and development. We need to also educate them on conservation principals to make the best use of the limitted water supplies they have for agriculture.

Look up "east africa sand dams" for one very successful project.

[clare]

If you stay away from anywhere you might possibly get sick you are going to have a hard time finding a place with enough square footage to even stand up, Stormy. And you better not EVER go to bed. Don't you know more Americans die in BED than anywhere else?????

I've travelled in Mexico. Almost 40 years ago. No great desire to go back - but more because of the political situation and general lawlessness in most of the country. And you think Africa is corrupt?????

[clare]

They don't need to advertise. I generally don't talk about religion or my beliefs on the forums. In general it is counterproductive - but I was born and raised in a Christian home, of swiss german mennonite ancestry (8th generation North American), and raised in the mennonite church. That doesn't make me any better than anyone else, but it is a large part of who I am. ANd I'm not ashamed of it.

I just don't feel I have to advertise it. It is not so much what or who I am, as it is what has made me what and who I am.

Not perfect ( as anyone who knows me at all can attest) but a work in progress - "but for the grace of God. . . . . . "

[The Daring Dufas]

I have no children that I know of but I've been adopted by a passel of them. I have an almost daughter aged 40, she adopted me when she was 6 months old. I was dating her mother when I met the rug rat and the munchkin crawled over to me, climbed up in my lap and claimed me. I almost married her mother and would have except for one thing, I couldn't stand her or more correctly, I couldn't stand her bad habits. She smoked, drank alcohol and smoked dope. I've never touched any of that stuff and my gal called me a health nut before it became fashionable. She finally married a fellow with the same bad habits and I was at the wedding with folks thinking I was the little girl's uncle because of the way she was hanging off of me, she was about 5 at the time. Anyway, the guy my gal pal married is a nice guy. I'm going to have to look them up to see how they're doing since I moved away to another city 35 years ago. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

As far as I know there are no Mennonites in my immediate family but there are Roman Catholics, Jews and outer space aliens on one side and Southern Baptists, Methodist, Druids and a bunch who live in caves worshiping some sort of fungus that glows in the dark on the other side. The last bunch are Cavebillies who never evolved into Hillbillies moving out of the caves and into manufactured housing and living ON the hills instead of IN them. I'm everyone's cousin because Italians and Hillbillies will mate with anything so my kin have probably nailed a Mennonite sometime so we are probably cousins too. ^_^

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

An African woman in , say, Burkina Faso may have 8 children, of which

5 survive past Age 2, and 3 reach adulthood to be able to support her in her old age. Large families in Africa are NOT that common - unless you count the families of the MEN, who like in your religous backround, have many wives - they may father 30 or 40, of which 25 survive past age 2, and 12 to 15 reach adulthood.

[Stormin Mormon]

economies.

If memory serves, Gretchen posted this challenge on Survival_2004, and I forwarded it back and forth to the other lists. My sincere thanks to her for a good idea. And please consider joining her list. ========================= =

The great Dollar Store survival challenge!

You are at your day job, which is 18-20 miles away from your home. The PA system comes on, and announces that there is a terrorist threat, and that the building and all the vehicles in the parking lot are under bomb threat. All employees are instructed to leave immediately, but not to go to their vehicles.

You try to leave and go home, but traffic is completey gridlocked with wrecked and disabled vehicles, (other companies have been threatened too). The car, not an option. Unfortunately, that means you can't get to your bug out bag.

So you are on foot, 18-20 miles from your home and family, and you need to get back ASAP.

You set out on foot. You have nothing but the clothes on your back, and the normal random pocket contents.

OK...so now we have the basic scenario in mind. As you're beginning the long trek home, you pass by a dollar store. You decide to try and buy what supplies you still can for your long walk home.

It's wintertime, and it's starting to get dark. You shiver as you dig through your pockets and come up with $15. You enter the dollar store, to see what you can find. We'll assume the tax rate is zero, you can buy 15 items.

So get to it, and see what you can get for $15 at the dollar store to help you get home some dark, cold night.

What did you buy? And why?

No, you get help period. In many cases there is no "church". It IS unconditional. Doesn't matter if you are Hindu, Muslim, Amamist, or a total heathen with no concept of a God or religion.. If the need is there, they are there.

Mennonite Disater Service works the same way. They are still hard at work in New Orleans and can be found helping out after just about any major disaster in North America. A separate, but related organization.

After the floods in the Appalachians back in the seventies or thereabouts there were volunteers cleaning up in Elmira and Corning New York areas and in Kentucky for over 2 years..

After tornados in southern Ontario, I was on a cleanup crew for several days near Woodstock - the crew was busy there for several weeks.

They are currently on the ground in Shawnee Oklahoma., Bastop Texas, Birmingham Ala, Braithwaite La, Crisfield Md, Cordova Al, Far Rockaway NY, Joplin Mo, Minot ND, Staten Island NY, and West Liberty Ky. as well.

[Stormin Mormon]

Not only do I THINK they can = I KNOW they can.

They can learn to be excellent mechanics and machinists as well. I tault 35 mechanics - and of those 35, I am sure at least 20 turned ito quite adequate mechanics. Compare that to my 4 classes of Canadian kids taking Auto Mechanics - 10 to 20 in each class - total of 55 kids - only about 4 of whom I give any chance of ever making it as a mechanic.

You chould see some of the contraptions the kids come up with - toy trucks made out of fense wire and scrap iron that would make your head spin - and model motorcycles and airplanes made out of discarded drink cans and wire clothes hangars. Stuff your American kids wouldn't have a CLUE how to make - and this is kids with NO technical education.

If we can produce a generation of African youth who do not suffer from childhood malnutrition, chronic Malaria and Bilharzia, and get them a decent education, they could turn their world on end.

But to do that, we need to get a generation of those same kids into positions of responsibility and power, to root out the curruption of their forfathers, and provide a stable environment for growth and development. We need to also educate them on conservation principals to make the best use of the limitted water supplies they have for agriculture.

Look up "east africa sand dams" for one very successful project.

[Stormin Mormon]

economies.

The Survivalist and FRS Radio NOT THE OLD JUNK Many of us can remember as children how our CB toy walkie-talkies did not work any better than tying a couple of tin cans together with a piece of string. Fortunately, the new FRS walkie talkies are far superior to the old CB walkies that ran on 9 volt battery.

The FRS radios of today are quality, compact transceivers which transmit and receive over greater distances while providing superior voice clarity. They operate on UHF radio frequencies which are not as prone to the usual static and interference which has traditionally plagued the CB frequency bands.

USES FOR FRS These FRS 2-way radios represent another choice for keeping in constant touch with members of your group. The uses include for example talking to campers when they roam from the base camp. Or, when members are exploring areas ahead of the unit for safety and advanced information, when hunting for food or for general communications between several BOV's that are traveling together.

ABOUT FRS There are several advantages associated with the FRS radios over the more common CB radios or even cell phones. These advantages include no airtime charges, no per call charge, freedom from static and interference, they are compact and lightweight and easy to operate. Sadly, they are also over used at places like malls and ammusement parks, and it may be tough to get a word in, edgewise.

FRS is commonly known as Family Radio Service. The FRS band has 14 channels. Their legal maximum power is 500 miliwatts or 1/2 watt.

Unlike citizens band radios there is no license required for use of FRS radios and you will encounter no fees for its usage.

GMRS Closely associated are the General Mobile Radio Service radios (GMRS) which have 8 channels of operation. Their power rating is 1 to 5 watts with a maximum power of 50 watts. These radios are similar to the FRS radios except that the GMRS radio requires you to purchase an operator's license, they usually have a greater range, and they may be outfitted with optional car antennas to extend their range. You can easily communicate with any additional users of either the FRS or the GMRS radios if the operators are within range regardless of the make or model of the unit.

PRIVACY CODES Often you will hear the term "privacy codes" mentioned when reading ads for FRS radios. This is a misleading term since the privacy codes do not encode or scramble the transmission. Anyone with a cheap "no code" radio can hear everything you say. Or, a walkie with the privacy code set to "0" can hear all transmissions. Privacy codes prevent you from hearing the other person who is yelling at you to shut up and move to a different channel, or he will find you and beat you senseless. The 38 or more CTCSS quiet codes allow you to pick a combination of channel and code so you can filter out other peoples transmissions. You might not hear other people complaining that you are hogging the channel. The advertisements say that instead of having a mere 14 channels to choose from by using these sub-channels you can effectively have

532 available channels. This is nonsense. There are only 14 FRS channels, regardless of what the advertisements say.

FEATURES There are many features often found on the FRS or the GMRS radios such as a built in GPS system, weather band, Backlight, Adjustable squelch, a VOX system hands-free operation, Auto scan and more.

As you can ready see these personal communications devices can provide a great service to survivalists and should be seriously considered. POWER SUPPLIES

diabetes.

Cassablanca

They don't need to advertise. I generally don't talk about religion or my beliefs on the forums. In general it is counterproductive - but I was born and raised in a Christian home, of swiss german mennonite ancestry (8th generation North American), and raised in the mennonite church. That doesn't make me any better than anyone else, but it is a large part of who I am. ANd I'm not ashamed of it.

I just don't feel I have to advertise it. It is not so much what or who I am, as it is what has made me what and who I am.

Not perfect ( as anyone who knows me at all can attest) but a work in progress - "but for the grace of God. . . . . . "

[Stormin Mormon]

When the power is off (or when you are expecting an air raid) it's important that your home be dark on the outside. During World War II, the blackout was a daily event. During power cuts, or other crisis, it may be tactically wise to black out your house. Below are some ideas.

Comply with light discipline.

a. Search for all light sources, and keep them concealed. This means lights on cars, electronic devices such as cell phones or PDA, candles, lanterns, cigarette lighters, any lit tobacco product, etc. b. When outdoors, use a poncho or black plastic to cover any time you need a flash light to read a map. Or if you need to use a cell phone or PDA, which puts out light. c. Cover anything that reflects light (for example, metal surfaces, vehicles, glass). d. Use all available natural concealment. Grow shade trees around your house. Read your map a couple feet into the woods, not in an open field. e. Camouflage all vehicles and equipment. At least cover any glass, or chrome. f. Use dimmest possible light for the task. Use a red filter on your flashlight while reading maps. A candle or two indoors is more light safe than a couple of 100 watt bulbs. Also easier for your eyes, not having to go from pitch black to very bright. Much better safety for you, going from dim to outdoors. So you aren't night blind when you step out the door, and trip and fall over the garden rake that's laying across the path.

Do you exit a building when the inside lights are on? If so, build a "light trap" by hanging dark blankets or black plastic around the doorway. Much like a vestibule in a building cuts down on heat loss in the winter. A "light vestibule" can also keep the light in.

Black or grey cheap military Wool blankets should be placed over windows. They work great also for thermal insulation. Help keep heat in. These are also useful if you work shifts, and need to sleep during the day. You can also use black shower curtains. Or the black plastic sheeting which is available at hardware stores. Black paint (flat, not glossy) can come in handy.

I have no children that I know of but I've been adopted by a passel of them. I have an almost daughter aged 40, she adopted me when she was 6 months old. I was dating her mother when I met the rug rat and the munchkin crawled over to me, climbed up in my lap and claimed me. I almost married her mother and would have except for one thing, I couldn't stand her or more correctly, I couldn't stand her bad habits. She smoked, drank alcohol and smoked dope. I've never touched any of that stuff and my gal called me a health nut before it became fashionable. She finally married a fellow with the same bad habits and I

was at the wedding with folks thinking I was the little girl's uncle because of the way she was hanging off of me, she was about 5 at the time. Anyway, the guy my gal pal married is a nice guy. I'm going to have to look them up to see how they're doing since I moved away to another city 35 years ago. ^_^

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

Africa Mexico Public bathrooms Bed / sleeping Bathtub (falls) Door knobs in public places Coin returns of public phones (AIDS needles) theatre seat cushions (more AIDS needles) Fast Food (you know what those workers do...) Salads and vegetables handled by workers Peanut butter with salmonella Religious door knockers (you know.... the cult....)

If you stay away from anywhere you might possibly get sick you are going to have a hard time finding a place with enough square footage to even stand up, Stormy. And you better not EVER go to bed. Don't you know more Americans die in BED than anywhere else?????

I've travelled in Mexico. Almost 40 years ago. No great desire to go back - but more because of the political situation and general lawlessness in most of the country. And you think Africa is corrupt?????

[Moe DeLoughan]

Back in the 70s and 80s, certain aid organizations installed village pumps in many rural areas worldwide, including Africa. However, it turns out that in many parts of the world, including parts of Africa, the groundwater is heavily contaminated with arsenic and making people very sick. There's now research going on to develop cheap, simple, renewable filters for the third world to make their water safe to consume. All in all, another example of a simple solution that turned out to be not so simple after all.

[Metspitzer]

They could still run PVC from where those ladies are getting the water on their heads from and run it to where they are taking it to. If that water dries up...........they can move the PVC.