Kirsten Edmondson Branch's Open Salon Blog

Broadcasting the SOS call of the #BRESMA Orphans of #Haiti

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:01:44 -0500

The devastation is unimaginable, the need is overwhelming, and the feelings of helplessness are almost suffocating. It's hard to know what to do, whom to donate to, whom to trust will do the right things, get to the right people. In the wake of such a crisis, scams abound, preying upon the desperate need to do something to help. I have to say in the hours and days following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti I've been a bit numb to it. On purpose. It was just too much to take in.

That was before I learned about #BRESMA.

For those not familiar with Twitter-speak, the hash tag is a way of linking and following a common thread on Twitter. As I reviewed my daily Twitter feed, amidst the #Haiti tweets that were rolling in, the tweets about an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince that is spearheaded by two young sisters from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started to catch my attention. By Saturday, when the distressing tweets started to appear that this orphanage, currently caring for 150 children and babies was nearly out of water, I knew I couldn't turn away.

I started retweeting the distress call put out by @JanePitt, a columnist from Pittsburgh who is working with the women's family to coordinate information and get their story out via her blog. As I started to learn the background of these amazing, and humble, young women who have found their life's calling in helping these children, I became convinced that amidst all the chaos and bewildering need, focusing on getting attention and immediate help to these individuals that make such an impact was a way that I could contribute something more beyond my dollars. These women literally climb mountains, and have traveled in treacherous hurricane conditions to reach children in need. And they have a astounding 100% placement rate, and the fastest in the Haitian adoption community due to their dogged determination. These kids all have families waiting for them! I felt something needed to be done, and NOW.

I am not alone. This is where Twitter gets amazing.

My fellow tweeters have also been furiously broadcasting this singular SOS. News people, politicians, even no joke, an aircraft carrier sitting off the coast were targeted to try and get their attention, to find someone who knew someone on the ground to get water to them. Celebrities with large followings were appealed to, and it was wonderful to see@JillianMichaels and @Alyssa_Milano take notice and retweet to their followers, eliciting an immediate bump in the volume. CNN had even been there previously, and was running a segment about them. GPS coordinates were posted to aid anyone who could get someone there.

Information and pleas were flying. This is where Twitter gets dicey.

As I said, CNN had been there in the last several days, and they started to report the news that the women had secured permission to get the children out! But unfortunately that information was inaccurate, taken from an AP report sourced from an incorrect local Pittsburgh media report. So the tweets started rolling out to not lose focus, these women and their charges ARE not out of the woods by a long shot.

But a bright spot. This is where Twitter gets inspiring.

From @collazoprojects, a managing editor for a travel publication based out of Mexico City, I learned that he and a connection had networked to get a person on the ground to the orphanage, and had spoken with him this evening. He reported that while their need is severe (especially for baby items) that they are staying strong and holding on.

Tonight I'll pray. Tomorrow, I'll check my Twitter feed, and see if beyond resources there is anything else I can do to help people a world away, caught in hell, who thanks to social media now have names and faces.

I pray that it will be enough for the McMutrie sisters and their young charges.

Resources to learn more:

Photo by Beverly & Pack

*****UPDATE*****

This morning 53 of the 150 BRESMA orphanage and one of the McMutrie sisters, Ali, arrived safely in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to great celebration. Jamie McMutrie will be arriving soon with one last child who had gone missing and she had stayed behind to find. They have been granted a two year humanitarian visa. 47 of the children had already been in various stages of adoption to the U.S., Canada, and Spain before the quake, and 7 are to be placed. The balance of the children at BRESMA were similarly evacuated to France and the Netherlands, where they had also been in the process of being placed before the quake struck.

They were accompanied by Gov. Rendell and members of Congress and a host of medical personnel.

To say that this is a unique situation is a gross understatement! The unfolding of this story involved a inspiring and at times flawed marshaling of human power through networking channels, most notably through social media networks.

There will be alot of lessons to be learned from the situation, but for now two American women and a vast network of supporters inspired by their passion moved mountains and over one hundred Haitian children are on their way to the arms of their new families.

To learn more:

www.pghcomet.blogspot.com (a Must read behind the scenes look at what was happening to make this a reality from a key player)

www.2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com (local Pittsburgh blog--excellent and tight reporting)

www.wpxi.com

Post-Gazette

Support Means A Little More Than Your Bra Color

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:01:55 -0500

Unless you engage in little or no social media, you are no doubt aware of the bra color breast cancer awareness meme circulating. In theory the cute, indeed attention grabbing antic, serves its purpose and gets people talking in great numbers very quickly about an important topic. Seemed like a good idea to me, and I shared. But what innocently gets forgotten is its effect upon those that have suffered, or struggle to survive the very thing that you are trying to raise awareness about. You see, by drawing attention to the bra, you are also drawing painful attention for those who have, or have survived, breast cancer to the one symbol of their femininity that many of them no longer have. This dimension was eloquently written about by a blogger, WhyMommy, here, and definitely deserves a read. I say, share on, and be grateful you are able to. But also have a thought for the breast cancer survivor who can not, and maybe do something out of awareness of that.

Being Present Means Facebook Can Wait

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 12:01:57 -0500

Ah technology, blessing or curse? For a more than slightly obsessive compulsive personality like mine, I'm thinking it can be a curse if not kept in perspective. I am reading a parenting book presently that talks about raising a spirited kid. I don't know that my toddler is necessarily "spirited" or just a toddler, but I'll take ideas anywhere I can get them. That's my way of tackling a problem, I research it from many angles and try to apply the best solution to fit the challenge.

The book speaks about the differences between introverted spirited children and extroverted spirited children, and asks the reader/parent to assess themselves as well. I was shocked to find that I would be classified as an extrovert. I know some people may say, "duh," but you have to understand that although I may not be at a loss for words in a venue such as this (which is why I write), in person one on one I'm not the most graceful conversationalist, shall we say. I associate an extrovert as someone who is the life of the room when they enter it. What was illuminating from this author was her definition of an extrovert as a person who draws their energy from being around others, whereas an introvert actually draws their energy by being more solitary. Aha, lightbulb city!

Making the transition from seeing literally dozens of people a day in my prior career life to being home with small children was tough for me in part because, it turns out that I need to be out and interacting with other people; It does actually energize me. Even the pain of my social awkwardness can not keep me from putting myself out there, because I need to connect.

Which brings me to Facebook and Twitter. You know where I'm going with this, right? How much time do you spend interacting with others on social networks? I fear too much for me personally. I worry it can cut into my relationship with my husband, my self care in the form of accomplishing the endless little details of running my family's life that keep me feeling balanced and accomplished (remember those endless lists I'm so fond of), and also for me the most shameful of all, my parenting.

Recently the blogosphere was on fire with the controversy about a work at home mother, very active on social networks, who lost her toddler in a tragic drowning accident in the family pool. Her extremely active interaction in social media while caring for small children at home drew sharp criticism as a contributing factor to her loss. I recoiled at that group that wanted to blame her for not watching her young child every single second to avert that disaster, because it could have just as easily been a case of making any number of split second errors in judgment such as zipping out to put a load of laundry in, grab a glass of water, etc. We all walk this tricky line every day.

But, I also saw their point. Social media can be consuming and addictive, and in the case of being alone with small people that are extremely needy, and not the most brilliant conversationalists, social media connection feels like a life preserver. It's nice to be heard, and it's nice to know you aren't alone going through it. But when the connection of others outside of your home becomes more important than those inside your home, you've got a problem.

This lesson came home for me today. I took my spirited toddler to run some energy off at the park. For various reasons I chose to revisit a park that has been a difficult park for us in the past because it has a lot of very tempting water. It has been a very long while since we had gone, and I decided that it was time to try again. Having my infant with me, makes this a tricky proposition under the best of circumstances, but I like to push myself to tackle challenges that scare me head on. (Another surprising thing I learned about myself as a parent actually) Well, while we did MUCH better than we have in the past, there were still plenty of stressful moments and my frustration with my son was aching for venting. So, I reached for my I-Phone... for about a second. When I realized that I was about to take to my social network to express how I wondered if I would ever have a time with my son when I felt that I didn't need to be right next to him to avert certain disaster, I realized I was about to take my attention away from my son, perhaps opening us up to that very disaster. I put the phone right back in my pocket, and trailed after a little piece of my heart who needs me to make better decisions about who needed my attention most at that moment. Venting could wait, he could not.

Score a victory today in my goal this year to be more present and in the moment for my family.

Photo courtesy of Matt Hamm

Refrigerator Psychoanalysis

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 20:01:36 -0500

What's on your fridge? If it's like mine, you have appointment reminders, lists for shopping and to-dos (the honey-do list is getting frighteningly little perusal recently...it's stacking up). Maybe some pictures, a few pizza place magnets from college nearly 20 years ago? A funny cartoon, perhaps? Some kid artwork and the family command center with all the emergency contact info and directions for what to do in case of a crisis situation, because in a panic, sure, I've got time to check off the action steps, right? Sound familiar?

I also have what I will call "inspirational living clippings." I have an article from March of 2008 about "Do it Yourself Postpartum Fitness." Yeah people, from baby number one, we're on number twofolks (as I tuck another pillow behind my aching back because my core muscle strength is crap)! I've also got a print out from Oprah.com of Dr. Oz's Anti-Aging Checklist from who-knows-when, but certainly a while back because it's been aging on my fridge for quite a while now, and looks a little washed out (and I might add it carried over to the "new" fridge we've had for about two years). And, I have what is frankly a reaaaaallllly intimidating list of "Calls to Action" from the Book of James, from my women's bible study about a year back. I'm not even touching that one. Let's just say, I'm not worthy.

I walk past them daily. Grumble when either I walk past so fast that something blows off, or when my toddler yanks something off with a maniacal laugh because he knows it makes us crazy. Occasionally, I stop, read, sigh, and tell myself "I really need to get on these."

They seem so enticingly do-able, in their succinct and clear list format. What's so hard about drinking a glass of red wine or concord grape juice once daily, and having four cups of green or white tea per day (I'm on number one for today by the way...I opted for the black tea at breakfast)? Or for that matter, what's so hard about sleeping se..even to eighhhttt hours per...night, and um, hmmm, having monogamous sex two to (oh come on now, I have an infant people) three times per week? "WEEK?" Yeah, he said "wee-k." Crap! As you can see, It gets a little trickier as I move down the list.

My husband hates the stuff on the fridge and really would like it if the obsessive Scandinavian minimalism of one half of my heritage would somehow break on through to this side of daily life, and not be relegated to emerging regally in the middle of an argument, like some Nordic ice queen. I should say, he would LOVE the stuff, if I actually routinely put much of it into action...especially that sex thing. Every time as he passes with his wide shoulders, and clips something on that fridge, dislodging it, he shoots me a dagger look that clearly yells, "Would you please DO something with this crap?!"

Oh honey, I'm with you. I'm trying.

Photo not my fridge, courtesy of anikarenina

Christmas Letter Atrocities and Crimes Against Grammar

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:12:45 -0500

Oh joy! 'Tis the season for the Christmas letter...

People love to revile the annual Christmas letter, but let's face it, people secretly love it, because they are nosy. I think Facebook and Twitter exist for much the same reason; you may grouse about knowing the small insignificant details and thoughts of an other's daily life, but you log on nonetheless, if only to roll your eyes as

you read through the live feed.

We don't get as many as we used to in the era of social media madness, but I look forward to them and find them entertaining, EXCEPT when egregious grammatical and linguistic atrocities are committed. I know I am pickier than most. I write and edit for a living and I usually am careful not to cast stones. You know, that whole "people who live in glass houses" deal. But, sometimes something is so outrageous I can't help but fume, out loud.

Here are a few guidelines if you don't want similarly afflicted grammarians to run around their living rooms arghhing and screaming. Or, maybe you DO want that to happen, and for those people I say...that is SO not cool!!

1. Pretend you understand the concept of a paragraph, or really even BASIC punctuation. One long block of run-on sentences that are done in the stream of consciousness mode just make you look like a rambling silly person. ( I want to use the word "idiot," but we don't use those mean words in our house, and mama is trying to walk the walk)

2. CAPITALIZATION IS FOR prudent EMPHASIS, not for the entire letter. Same applies to bold face.

3. Save the truncations, abbreviations, and texting language for your Twitter posts. If you can't be bothered to spell it out in a letter, honestly, don't send it.

4. Um, basic formatting would be nice.

5. Make sense. That would also be appreciated.

6. If your age does not end in "teen," don't try to use slang. It's just pathetic.

7. I've just about given up on this one in general, but misuse of "their," "there," "they're," etc., is just like fingernails on a chalkboard.

8. If it's not too much trouble: s-p-e-l-l c-h-e-c-k.

I'm not even going to touch content, as that really is subjective, and for me is what makes them so entertaining. So bring on your crazy, inane, boasting Christmas letters, but just exhibit amodicum of care for what goes out there into the world to represent you and your family.

Unless, you want me to consider you an idiot, um I mean silly, silly individual. If so, I'm OK with that. Done.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Feel free to add your own Christmas letter atrocities in the comments