Welcome to The Kettle!

Primarily, "The Kettle" publicizes and manages the "Three Cups of Tea Book Project." However, as described in our very first post (click here), we also hope to use "The Kettle" as a medium for individuals interested in social issues to become more aware of the lives of those less fortunate. Ideally, whatever we write or publish here will take that nascent concern and transform it into action. To inspire any action, small or large, in the genuine interest of doing better for the world is our ultimate goal.

Though heavily slanted towards Pakistan and Afghanistan presently, we do try to include news, opinions, and reference materials regarding diverse topics, including poverty, reconstruction, human rights, Africa, "Green" developments, Micro Finance, and other solutions and considerations for what are essentially man made problems in the world. In the universe of charitable options, we endorse and support multigenerational solutions and initiatives for multigenerational problems.

The education made possible by the Central Asia Institute is one such solution, but there are certainly others. We encourage the commitment of resources and people that goes beyond merely "patriarchal" handouts to the multitude of people in need. We agree that it is good to charitable, but charity that only treats the symptoms and not the root causes has proven to be insufficient. A consistent commitment to work with the local communities of people in need to provide and/or improve education, nutrition, access to capital, human rights, security, sustainable development/redevelopment, and environmental stewardship are what will lead to an enduring improvement in people's lives.

If you have any questions, general comments, and suggestions for improvements, please leave a comment on any of the posts below, and we'll follow up with you!

The Kettle's shared items

Showing posts with label Nicholas D. Kristof. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicholas D. Kristof. Show all posts

Thursday, November 5, 2009

NYTimes: More Schools, Not Troops

Published: October 29, 2009
A compelling argument against more troops in Afghanistan rests on this trade-off: For the cost of an additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for a year, nearly 20 schools could be built. [More]
Excerpt: 

Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed. The aid organization CARE has 295 schools educating 50,000 girls in Afghanistan, and not a single one has been closed or burned by the Taliban. The Afghan Institute of Learning, another aid group, has 32 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with none closed by the Taliban (although local communities have temporarily suspended three for security reasons).




-- The Kettle Rumbles

Thursday, August 20, 2009

NYTimes: The Women’s Crusade


Published: August 23, 2009
The liberation of women could help solve many of the world’s problems, from poverty to child mortality to terrorism. [MORE]

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Some of these people are truly amazing. Seeing what other people have to go through just to be able to read or provide for their kids makes so many of the things that concern people in my world so trivial. When I find myself wasting time, I think about stories like Tererai's. She spent much of her life being told to not educate herself, not to go beyond what was expected of women like her. She was beaten and punished for trying, but in the end, a cattle herder from Zimbabwe DID go to America, IS making a difference for the lives of her children and her people, and WILL achieve all her dreams, including getting a PhD. Wow.

I think we should all ask ourselves what it is exactly that we're doing with our time, wealth, and education. There is more to life than entertainment and luxury.


-- The Kettle Rumbles

Thursday, July 30, 2009

NYTimes: Nicholas D. Kristof: An Update on Assiya

Published: July 28, 2009
After my Sunday column on Assiya Rafiq, the teenage girl who is trying to prosecute the police in Pakistan who raped her, an update. First, many, many of you donated money through Mercy Corps to the Mukhtar Mai fund (a total of $75,000 so far), and some of that was stipulated for Assiya. [MORE]


-- The Kettle Rumbles

Saturday, July 25, 2009

NYTIMES: Not a Victim, but a Hero


Published: July 26, 2009
A Pakistani girl musters the courage to publicly fight her rapists, despite threats to her family. [MORE]
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Knowing how hard other people's lives are makes it hard to complain about the little frustrations I have to deal with. I am grateful for the resources and freedom I have, and hope that these things will allow me to make a real difference in this world. I would change the title of that article to "A Victim, but Also a Hero," but I am no Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times! I have done nothing in my life that comes close to how bravely Assiya Rafiq has perservered after her ordeal.

I've been trying to figure out the mercycorps.org website mentioned in the article. There doesn't seem to be a fund to help Assiya's family. Maybe if I twitter the author, he would actually respond and tell me how to get money to her!

-- The Kettle Rumbles