“Living without a friend is useless”. This expression can take its meaning being a paradox. It’s a hard nut to chew when picking best friends. Beauty, skin color, origin, teeth, dressing and smile can’t determine the choice of a best friend. This outward ness may develop thorns to fringe you later. I don’t suppose it’s that easy as it’s not easy to study life of an individual in a day.

But who’s a best friend?

To sharpen understanding, they are not them who rush to conclusion of annoying you sooner. Even not them, who help if you’re in need, are best friends. This is because some people befriend you to be praised, spoil you or expose secrets about you. Some people who give with ease gossip with ease. Luck remains for in spite of these problems a gut friend’s got in a day.

What to keep in mind is, if poor, you can’t deny it unless ridiculed. Knowing of this fact can open ways of success rather than pretending. You’ll pretend until you discover you’ve not climbed any ladder. Friend can be assisted as well. Never be thinking your friend’s whom you defend on. Friendship should be mutual. If you’ve yours, you can share to polish life. With gorgeous things, chased after you by force, know that sorrow chases after them as well. Accept presents from people you didn’t know who have let you know what they are up to and who they are or need to be to you.

Once a present’s given by a pretending friend, hatred shows on the face suddenly. This makes you distinguish a hearty gift from a worse one.

Akinda changeable relationship too exists. Here, friendship takes a short length of time. These kinds of friends like new things. If they find new friends, it’s their need. They keep changing from one friend to the other till their world ends not knowing what exactly a friend is. Don’t waste time with them. They disclose secrets, therefore, not well for your health.

Love making too is dangerous geared by jealousy and may wreak havoc. Not all relationships between different gender parties lead to marriage. In my culture, a bride’s boyfriend can be paid a dowry like her brother when she’s married elsewhere. This doesn’t show my culture is the best. A contrast is that forced marriage’s a stuff of my culture. No child is required to disobey parents for it becomes disgrace to the family. The hardest is to get a true Dinka married to a foreigner. Many cultures are alike, others are parallel. One can stick to their culture where it demands to save you.

I was once traveling to South Sudan from Kakuma Refugee Camp. On my arrival, in Lokichoggio, there were no vehicles. The only lorry we got could not make it because it was rushing to evening and in South Sudan, no travels were expected at night. This was my first time to go to Sudan after completing my Secondary Education. I had no place to sleep. In hand I had a friend whom I met when I came to Kakuma from Eldoret, two days before this Journey. “Abraham, where do you spend night?” he asked.

“I don’t know any place,” I replied. This friend took me to his friends where we spent night and proceeded with the journey the following day. Do you need a friend as such?

It looks like it has God’s control. Even when you pronounce the words, “My friend” to describe your various friends, the accent differs. While greeting, a hateful face can be seen not by you. You hug keeping a foe in your arms. A few days back I was cheated to pay a clearance fee in order to receive my compensated fund. I ended up at a loss. If you were, what would you have done? I think it’s frustration. I think about why people think of putting me in problems. If I go wrong, I don’t forget to apologize. While young, if I got something belonging to someone, I had to give it to them. I have developed this way. To let you know, if I forget to give back what’s not mine, it destroys what’s mine. This shows that criminal acts are God forbid. Out there you have many enemies around you, look out! I was cheated with photographs of western union, names, website and emails.

The aftermath of any criminal act means a bullet in the head. You won’t like it.

Dear friends, have a secured life. Neither go for fraud nor enter their traps. Investigate well how you won. Delay the word, “Friend”, it can create friendship. Control your like of what belongs to other people. Don’t be ridden into misdeeds of crimes-drugs and drunkenness. Choose, a mindful personality, whose accent’s yours and hates are yours too. Befriend after a long and successful study. If relatives are harsh, friends are helpful not negligent. This explains why many people live with friends across the globe. Choose them wisely, who keep you in mood.

A man stabbed with a knife is in coma in Kakuma mission hospital;

Yesterday at one o’clock an assailant stabbed a gentleman on the mandible down to the neck. This assailant was eagerly waiting in Franco hotel drinking sprite inspecting the incoming of the people. When Deng entered, and proceeded to the washing place he instantly rose and followed. He then began to stab him with a knife. To the surprise of the rest of customers in the hotel, noise had risen.

The first man who rose to the scene saw the fight but feared seperating them for this assailant was using a knife. The hotel manager ran then to the scene, pulled the assailant out and Deng too who was in pain. This oldman didn’t hesitate thus escaped. Deng came after him bleeding profusely. “Don’t let that person go guys, catch him,” he shouted for help. The rest of the people followed yet this old assailant scared with the knife. On the road people massed following him. It was there when the police took hold of him and took him to the police station.

Deng who got weaker was carried in a wheelbarrow onto the road where an ambulance picked him. He was taken to the IRC main hospital in a coma for the first aid. Then transferred to Kakuma mission hospital for surgery.

While I paid him a visit in Kakuma mission hospital this afternoon, he was able to speak unlike the previous night. His relatives who slept with him evidenced his situation has improved. Doctor Josiah said speaking with the IOM official,”I was afraid of his situation Yesterday.”  “He’s able to sit and speak now,” he added. Dr. Josiah’s medical report stated that the wounds of the mandible, rib and axil are two centimeters deep.

This patient sleeps on one side. It’s the right side which is in pain. The patient’s temperature today is 36.4 degree celsius. Two litres of urine collected show an improvement. Dr. Josiah said he could not perform a chest X-ray and DNA test which should be done. He said these including tubular replacement should be done in another well defined hospital with all the necessities for the patient. “If this tubular replacement is done, he will be well like everybody else,” said Dr. Josiah.

The patient is unable to eat any solid food. His relatives had been giving him yoghurt-sour milk. The doctor and the nurse advised they give him fresh milk instead of yoghurt. The IOM official assured the patient, Deng that tomorrow morning he would be flown to Nairobi in a safe plane for better treatment and ample environment. Deng should be accompanied by two of his relatives.

Cause of the conflict;

This conflict is said to have began in 2008. The oldman’s wife delivered a son. This son grew up that the oldman who has become an assailant accussed Deng of being the father. The accussation clearly stated that he committed an adultery by lying with the oldman’s wife. The oldman’s evidences were the shape of the boy’s head and his walking style which he said not being his but Deng’s. By then Deng was known in his entire group 50, as a student who was committed to studies. He could hardly sleep at home but in the hospital.

The solution reached by elders and the leaders of the group was to let Deng and the boy go to Nairobi for a DNA test. His studies couldn’t let him go. This oldman was advised to go back to Sudan. It was since then that he developed grudges. In the morning of his day of assault he cheated people in the group that he would travel to Sudan. The plan wasn’t known. He made his way into Franco hotel, bought his soda waiting for Deng who came from outside to the washing place. He followed and accomplished his intended mission. He is now in Kenya police station waiting to be taken to Lodwar for further trials.

Copyright 2010 Jessica Keralis

This was originally posted on the APHA International Health Section’s blog.

The Shona word murambatsvina means “to drive out trash.” This was the word used to describe the Zimbabwean government’s campaign to forcibly clear out the slum areas around the country, under the pretense of combating illegal housing and reducing the spread of infectious disease. Zimbabwe’s psychotic de-facto dictator current president has described the “urban renewal campaign” as “a vigorous clean-up campaign to restore sanity.” UNHCR has estimated that the forced evictions have directly affected at least 700,000 people, and that approximately 2.4 million more could have been indirectly affected in some way. The campaign was condemned by the UN and was called a crime against humanity.

Five years later, the evicted slum-dwellers still remain homeless. The few houses that were built as part of the re-housing scheme were given to government employees. Obvious human rights abuses aside (like torching people’s houses and belongings) aside, the campaign had serious health consequences for the evicted populations. HIV patients were cut off from clinics and antiretroviral medications. Thousands of IDPs are still living under emergency plastic sheeting with no medical services or clean water, no schools, no sanitation, and no source of income. Amnesty International has reported a shockingly high neonatal mortality rate among babies born to evicted mothers: in five months, there were 21 newborn deaths in Hopley, a settlement 10 km south of Harare. Most of the babies died within 48 hours of birth. The women have said that they were fully aware of the importance of maternal healthcare, and they all wanted to give birth in a hospital or with a trained birth attendant, but many could not afford the $50 required to register for antenatal care. The nearest maternity clinic is 8 km away. Some thought their babies had died because of minimal access to healthcare, while others suspected they had died of cold because they live in plastic shacks.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have called for an investigation of the newborn deaths, but there seems to be little hope of a serious inquiry. Meanwhile, there are growing concerns of another eviction campaign: residents are again being forced to leave their homes because they cannot afford a(n arbitrarily-imposed) $140 “lease renewal fee.” Zimbabwe’s government of course denies this, but it a bit difficult to argue when the evidence consists of shacks on fire. Several MEPs have called for the Zimbabwean diplomat to the EU to be sent home in response to the evictions – but will it be enough?

British actress and model Lily Cole visited Nai Soi refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. She kept a journal of her visit, which is a pretty good read.

Copyright 2010, Jessica Keralis

One might think that refugees’ lives are already complicated enough as it is. The simple necessities of putting a roof over your head and food on your table are daunting, not to mention the bureaucratic process of making sure you are doing it all legally in whatever country you are trying to settle. But when a person is displaced by a controversial phenomenon which some cannot even agree exists, putting down new roots inevitably becomes infinitely more convoluted.

Climate refugees, or those displaced by natural disasters or other environmental phenomena that many attribute to climate change, are only now beginning to receive widespread international attention. The earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan have contributed significantly to this increased awareness. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to agree on how to deal with them, where to send them, or even what to call them: some organizations prefer the term “environmental migrants,” while the UN has used the term “environmentally induced migrants.” “Climate refugee,” while popular in the media, is a highly controversial term: UNHCR has expressed concern that referring to these migrants as “refugees” might lessen protection for conventional political refugees that have legal rights to assistance. While political refugees (obviously) cannot go to their governments for assistance, many environmental migrants can. Others argue that times have changed and that environmental migrants should be classified as refugees in order to receive legal and material assistance. The debate rages on.

Regardless of what they are called, millions currently suffer some form of environment or climate-influenced displacement. At the Copenhagen summit last year, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said that 36 million were displaced due to natural disasters in 2008, 20 million of whom were forced to move due to climate change-related factors. The UN University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security estimates that there are nearly 50 million environmental refugees in the world today, though this estimate is somewhat controversial. Recent examples of large-scale environmental migration include the 1.5 million displaced in Haiti and the seven million driven from their homes by flooding in Pakistan. Other groups are forced to move due to slower or smaller-scale environmental degradation, such as desertification in north-central Africa and regular flooding in Bangladesh. Pacific island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Vanuatu are slowly disappearing under rising sea levels. Oftentimes these slow environmental changes can trigger or exacerbate conflict by increasing conflict for resources.

The upcoming talks in Cancún highlight the sense of urgency surrounding this issue. However, many commentators are skeptical that any meaningful progress will be made, considering how poorly negotiations went during the Copenhagen summit. Additionally, a recent study by the UN Environmental Programme has established that even if all countries followed through with their commitments in the Copenhagen accord, CO₂ emissions would not be sufficiently reduced to halt the rise in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius, which is regarded as the “danger threshold.” While some hope for an eventual legally-binding agreement between countries, others are crafting their own solutions. In Bangladesh, for example, a non-profit organization called Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (a name meaning “self-reliance”) designs boats to house schools, libraries, and climate shelters. In Pakistan, communities are determined to get back on their feet, with or without international assistance. “We appreciate all the outside help, including seeds being supplied by the US, but the [we] are proud people and we are determined to help ourselves.”

Jessica Keralis is a public health specialist with an active interest in international health and refugee issues. She is the Communications Committee chair for the International Health section of the American Public Health Association. She blogs for the IH section and can be followed on Twitter here.

How Can We Raise Awareness In Darfur Of How Much We’re Doing For Them?

Copyright 2010, Jessica Keralis

I did competitive acting when I was in high school. One of my performances was a duet acting piece based on the poem “1990” by Bob Holman. The refrain of the poem – the line it keeps coming back to – is

It’s 1990
& Nelson Mandela is free!

The poem is an interesting political and cultural “snapshot” of that year – it talks about everything from gay rights to tearing down the Berlin Wall to Tiananmen Square and the AIDS epidemic. Mr. Holman framed that pivotal year with Nelson Mandela’s release in his poem. It would seem that we are in a similar period of change as the world globalizes, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is a similarly appropriate event with which to frame it.

The question remains, however – will her release bring any relief to the Burmese refugees and IDPs?

Burma’s military junta is notorious for one of the worst human rights records in the world. Aside from the standard battery of no freedom of speech or press or assembly, no independent judiciary, forced labor, sexual violence, human trafficking, and official corruption, the government targets ethnic minority groups for “Burmisation” – a polite euphemism for a slow genocide. The military kills, rapes, and pillages: they burn down entire villages, destroy farming tools and livestock, force villagers into labor, and force the women to marry them. These minorities, which make up more than one third of Burma’s population, are constantly fleeing this military-perpetrated violence, which has created one of the worst refugee crises in the world. There are nine permanent refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border alone, with more on the borders with India and Bangladesh and in Malaysia. It is estimated that there are nearly 300,000 refugees from Burma, the majority of which are the Royingya and the Karen, and hundreds of thousands of more IDPs throughout the country.

Optimists hoped that the election on November 7, which was meant to mark the transition to civilian rule, would lay a new foundation for an improvement in the country’s situation. Unfortunately – surprise! – the election was declared a sham by pretty much everyone except for Burma’s autocratic neighbors. The elections were “cancelled” in nearly 24,000 villages along the eastern border (where the ethnic groups are focused, naturally). The UN and foreign journalists were not allowed to observe. Allegations of fraud and vote-rigging are all over the place. Dr. Suu Kyi was barred from participating, so her party, the National League for Democracy, boycotted the whole thing. The junta’s de facto party was the only one who could field candidates for all of the positions, so it naturally took 80% of the “vote,” which basically means that the junta is now wearing a civilian mask.

Despite international disappointment, however, governments and democracy advocates around the world welcomed Suu Kyi’s release as a positive step and expressed the hope that it marked the start of a change in direction for the country. Other commentators are not so cheerful, though. Some see her release as a show of confidence by the regime, or a tactic to distract the world from the country’s sad excuse for an election. Since winning her freedom, she has been walking on eggshells: she has withheld comment on most major issues, including whether or not she supports continued sanctions against the country, and her words have been “measured and careful.” Also, she has apparently not decided whether she wants to join Twitter or Facebook. The junta does not seem particularly worried.

From this point, things will undoubtedly be slow-going. After all, an election does not magically make things better (even though Thailand seems to think so). Leaders of armed ethnic groups fighting for the autonomy promised by her father before he was murdered support Suu Kyi and have welcomed her call for a multi-ethnic conference. But most Burmese refugees do not believe that anything will change. Saw Tun Wai, a Kareni who works as a teacher in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand, firmly believes that the elections offer no hope for positive change, “neither for the Karen, nor for any of the people in Burma.”

Jessica Keralis is a public health specialist with an active interest in international health and refugee issues. She is the Communications Committee chair for the International Health section of the American Public Health Association. She blogs for the IH section and can be followed on Twitter here.

In times of need

We’re referred to as beggars

Hatred at a family level; neighbours don’t see

We remain kins we don’t know its nicety

Even if a coin we need to settle debts

It will be useful to them

In that minute we’re in need

Leaving aside; millions for our funerals

Where they eat and drink to satisfaction

In the eyes of others impersonating

That they were helpful

Kins; they celebrate

Spending millions on coffins

Keep our corpses; decorated outside

And what lives inside? Gone lives

I can’t help my own self in such mazes

Relationship a maze

How can I help the world? For now

Unite with neighbours; it’s of significance

It pushes you ahead

That emotions won’t take you

Hope that; when I find one

To listen to my call

That who understands better

I will raise my two hands and eyebrows

To give you a pity