Magazine Articles

I recently read Oprah and National Geographic magazines and two articles jumped out at me...Thought I'd share them with you!

1) Oprah - Sept 2009
Talks about a new book, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn who stress that "the key to economic progress in the world lies in unleashing women's potential." They offer two things to do to make a difference in women's lives: Support a women's business ("producing income she can use to feed her children and send them to school") and Keep a girl in school ("a girl who gets an education will have fewer children, earn more money, and be able to help her younger siblings"). We're working on both of those here...Not to toot our own horn, trust me I have many days where I don't feel like we do much, but it is nice to receive affirmation and support to keep doing projects here. So thanks for all your encouragement from back home!

2) National Geographic Adventure, Aug-Sept 2009
They have an article entitled "Grid Crashes: America's power supply is primed for an end of days blackout." Found it really funny, because in case any of you missed the memo, our village is OFF the grid already. But lucky for us, and you'll be glad to know, we are succesfully following the "How to Survive" guide...Check it out:
1 - Map the location of water sources (Got it - stream behind house, river 1/4 mile down the dirt path, 3 water pumps within a mile)
2 - Set buckets out to collect rainwater (Got it - 4 out at all times...though Nathan uses it to do laundry and wash dishes!)
3 - Boil or use bleach to treat water (Got it - Covered that the first day in Country and luckily we can filter as well!)
4 - Stock cheap canned goods (Got it - beans, peas, beans, and beans)
5 - Keep cash on hand (hmm...credit cards? what are those?!)
6 - Keep candles and batteries (Got it - but they forgot matches!)
7 - When dire, catch small animals to eat as a good source of protein (Got it - BUSHRAT!)

So I know you all are glad we're surviving. If the grid does crash in the US, call us! We got you covered! XOXO