My new favorite cooking site

Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by kchristieh in art, food

What happens when artists from all over the world showcase their skills to clearly present their favorite recipes? You get “They Draw & Cook: Recipe Renderings by Artists, Illustrators & Designers.” This fabulous blog features mouth-watering recipes depicted in a variety of different artistic styles, but all within a one-frame picture. The recipes range from cake to salmon rillettes to salsa verde, and hail from countries as diverse as Japan to Italy to Poland.

I love seeing how people can take the same assignment and come up with something completely different. I’d love to make all the recipes, but I think I’ll start out with the Tatziky,

the Tilapia,

and the Pan-Fried Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce.

If I had the time, I’d depict my mom’s amazing lasagna recipe. Maybe someday…

What can/can’t you live without?

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in inspirational people, my life

In 1985, I was perfectly happy living in an 8′ x 12′ concrete-walled dorm room. I was thrilled to have a single in a dorm full of wonderful people. I didn’t care that the bathroom was down the hall, or that I didn’t own a car. I had a decent bike, a comfortable bed, adequate food, and was learning and having fun with terrific people.

Twenty-five years later, I enjoy living with my family in a nice house in a safe town with wonderful schools. I appreciate all the comforts life has brought me, but I also recognize how my material comforts have also brought an added level of stress, as my husband and I need to work hard to make mortgage payments, save for college for the kids, and meet expenses. I often tell my husband that I’d be happy living in a much smaller house, as long as I have my computer, a fast internet connection, and a secure yard for our dog. Clearly, the list would be longer if I thought about it…I’d also want great schools, a safe community, my printer, my purse, our couch, my gloves, my boots, my fleece jacket, my special pajamas, my pillows and a few more items and services. But as I sit here and scan the interior horizon, there truly aren’t very many items I’d consider to be that important to me.

In his recent column, “What Could You Live Without?“, Nicholas Kristof tells of an Atlanta family whose daughter challenged them to sell their house and buy a smaller one, and donate the net proceeds to charity. Even as it inspired some people, it evoked the wrath of others who complained that they shouldn’t donate to people overseas when there are Americans in need. I’m in the former category, and am impressed that a modern American family that has so much could sacrifice it and make a difference in the world.

The unexpected dividend in this case was that the family found that downsizing brought them closer together:

Mr. Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house. But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other. A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house.

“We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness,” Mr. Salwen told me, adding, “I can’t figure out why everybody wouldn’t want that deal.”

I look forward to reading the book they wrote about their experiences, The Power of Half. I don’t think my family wants to downsize, but if they did, I’d be all for it. I wouldn’t mind slowing down the treadmill and enjoying life and my relationships more. In the meantime, if I ever find the time, I am going to get rid of a lot of extra stuff we have around here. The Sport Chalet shoes were just a start…

Donate gently worn shoes to Haitian earthquake victims via Sport Chalet

Posted on 17. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in international, non-profits

Hopefully the 28 pairs of gently worn shoes my family and I cleared out of our closets will help make life a little more comfortable for Haitian earthquake victims. I’m just about to drop them off at Sport Chalet, which is partnering with Soles 4 Souls by collecting shoes at all 55 of its stores until January 31st to send to Haiti.

I especially tried to part with sandals and durable shoes and sneakers, since I figure that as a tropical country the people there probably prefer warm weather shoes or shoes that can handle walking over rubble. But I included a few nicer pairs of shoes, since at some point people will be ready to wear more dignified clothing.

I hope that time comes soon.

I pray that my size 7 wide shoes wind up on the right (and left!) feet.

Why I give money to the Father of the White Monkey

Posted on 22. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in inspirational people, international, religion

Can you imagine putting yourself in mortal danger by training medics and bringing humanitarian aid to besieged people in an ongoing civil war? Would you bring your spouse and young children behind the enemy lines?

Several years ago I heard the founder of the Free Burma Rangers speak, and that’s exactly what he does. He’s the son of missionaries and a former U.S. Special Forces major, so he’s well-equipped to risk his life to bring medical care and hope to the ethnic Karen people of Burma. In order to shield his identity, he’s referred to as “Father of the White Monkey” in the recent Atlantic article, “Lifting the Bamboo Curtain.” Here’s how he describes his work:

“We stand with the villagers; we’re not above them. If they don’t run from the government troops, we don’t either. We have a medic, a photo­grapher, and a reporter/intel guy in each team that marks the GPS positions of Burmese government troops, maps the camps, and takes pictures with a telephoto lens, all of which we post on our Web site. We deal with the Pentagon, with human-rights groups … There is a higher moral obligation to intervene on the side of good, since silence is a form of consent.

I was incredibly impressed by him (and his family). He’s brave, honest, hardworking and loyal. I feel completely confident that my donations to the Free Burma Rangers are used wisely and have an incredibly positive impact.

If you want to learn more, visit the Free Burma Rangers website. It uses photos and stories to document what the FBR relief teams have found on their missions. Note: it’s not for the faint of heart, for the Burmese Army has perpetuated some horrific atrocities.

Someone should make a movie about the Father of the White Monkey. In the meantime, I’ll keep donating, praying for them (I have a Memo to Me reminder to do so every day) and will make sure to wear the Good Life Club t-shirt he gave me to Curves tomorrow.

“Live and Become” is an amazing movie

Posted on 05. Jul, 2008 by kchristieh in international, movies

I agreed to see “Wall-E” last week only if my family would see “Live and Become” (translated from “Va, Vis et Deviens”) with me this weekend. I’d heard about it awhile back, but when I got a special Laemmle Theatre email touting it, it sounded like a movie I didn’t want to miss. I’m SO glad I went!

The movie’s about a Christian Ethiopian refugee boy whose mother places him with a Jewish Ethiopian woman who is being airlifted to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984. He hides that he’s neither Jewish nor an orphan for many years, and leads a completely Jewish life until his secrets overtake him.

I looked the movie up on Wikipedia, and it doesn’t mention anything about it being a true story. It sure seems real, however, and I’m guessing it’s a combination of many true stories. It’s a long movie – 140 minutes – but it kept me completely enraptured. The story is gripping, the acting is wonderful, and at the end it totally made me cry. It’s no wonder this film won too many awards to list. (Bonus for you Francophiles: much of the dialogue is in French!)

The adults in our group loved it, but my teenage son thought it was too long. I think my daughter would have liked it, but she wasn’t there. I took her to see “Kit Kittredge” tonight, so I made up for it. More about that tomorrow…

I’m making a difference as an international lender via Kiva

Posted on 19. Jun, 2008 by kchristieh in international, non-profits

A year ago, I lent María Del Roció González of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico $75 to help purchase a bread machine for her bakery. I did it via Kiva.org, which pooled my money with other lenders’ to loan Sra. Gonzalez a total of $1,200. She’s been paying it back on a regular basis, and made her final payment yesterday.

Instead of withdrawing the money, I chose to lend it to someone else. Whenever I lend to someone on Kiva, the first thing I do is search for a Hernandez. I figure they might be a distant relative. I actually found one yesterday, and decided to lend the money to Francisco Javier Saldaña Hernandez of Acuna, Mexico so that he can expand his small house. He still needs $400 to get to the $600 total that he needs, so click here to donate! At first I was hesitant: after all, he’s not using it to expand a business. But then, I figured that I was lucky to be a Hernandez in the United States, where banks are happy to lend far greater sums to me. Also, the agency that referred him to Kiva has a 0% default rate.

Of the 22 Kiva loans I’ve made, 10 have been paid back in full so far. It’s satisfying to know I’m able to make a difference in peoples’ lives.

How literature inspires in Burma

Posted on 23. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in books, international, politics, quotes, religion

Anger, hopelessness and fear prevail in Burma now that the military has cracked down and internet access has been shut off. Here are some quotes from yesterday’s NYTimes:

“It’s not peace you see here, it’s silence; it’s a forced silence,” said a 46-year-old writer who joined last month’s protests in Yangon and was now on the run, carrying with him a worn copy of his favorite book, George Orwell’s “1984.” “We are the military’s slaves. We want democracy. We want to wait no longer. But we are afraid of their guns.”

My daughter says that Napoleon carried around a copy of Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” I wonder what literature other famous people have cherished?

More quotes:
“Keep your pen and piece of paper in your pocket; there are spies everywhere,” said a 62-year-old retired man in Yangon’s Chaukktatgyi Pagoda. “Please don’t tell anyone my name. Big trouble for me.”

…

“Please solve this problem,” wrote a 9-year-old girl in her diary the day she heard her government was shooting at monks. “Who can solve this problem?”

…

At the same time, government-run media carried pictures of generals kneeling and bowing before senior monks with cash and food donations — an apparent effort to soften the military’s image. “They come with fire in one hand and water in the other,” said the 60-year-old monk. “These days, I cannot even leave my monastery without their permission.”

I was pleased to see that the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of 14 senior members of Myanmar’s government, and that the State Department imposed travel restrictions on them. I hope we can find a way to help the people of Burma achieve their freedom from these evil people.

For more on “evil,” read today’s NYTimes Magazine article, Speak No ‘Evil’. I hope I’m never afraid to call evil what it is.

Pain without morphine

Posted on 11. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in health, international

My son winced last night when I told him that people in poor countries often don’t have access to morphine for their pain. He’s been given morphine each of the last two times he’s broken his arm, and he genuinely appreciated it. The first time he had it, he was in so much pain that they had to quadruple the original dose.

The New York Times is running a series of stories about how little access there is to morphine in poor regions. Yesterday it reported in Drugs Banned, Many of World’s Poor Suffer in Pain that morphine is routinely denied to impoverished nations because of the fear of addiction or the fear of increased drug trafficking.

At pain conferences, doctors from Africa describe patients whose pain is so bad that they have chosen other remedies: hanging themselves or throwing themselves in front of trucks.

Today’s article, In India, a Quest to Ease the Pain of the Dying, reports that of the 1.6 million Indians who suffer cancer pain each year, only about 0.4% get pain relief. A combination of bureaucracy and inadequate funding conspire to keep morphine out of the hands of Indians who need it.

Hopefully this situation will improve soon. Pain is awful, particularly when there’s no relief in sight.

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Yesterday’s multicultural day

Posted on 09. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, music, my life, politics

Now that school’s started, our calendar is filling up! It’ll get even busier once my son’s arm has recovered enough to play club soccer again.

Yesterday was not only busy, but it was very multicultural. The first phone call of the day was from a parent who will be translating the high school PTA newsletters into Korean this year. We’ll publish our first issue soon.

Later in the morning, I took my daughter to an orientation session for the STARS tutoring program in Pasadena. It’s run through the Lake Avenue Foundation, and is supported by our church. My daughter’s going to tutor there one evening a week, and will probably tutor younger kids who are either Latino or African-American.

In the early afternoon, my husband and I attended the funeral of Donald Long Chu in Rosemead. (see obituary) His son, Newton, lived across the street from us when we lived in Pasadena. We’ll always remember Mr. Chu’s big smile, and how he loved carrying the American flag as he led the tricycle/bicycle parade at our neighborhood block parties. Before he retired, he was a film editor, and in fact was the first Chinese-American film editor in Hollywood. His son Nathan read a very touching letter from the Motion Picture Editors’ Guild praising Mr. Chu’s skill and dedication. One of the most memorable parts of the ceremony was learning that the box that contained his ashes was made from a tree that he’d planted in his yard many years ago.

After the service, we rushed to downtown Los Angeles to attend a Stanford alumni conference about Immigration. There were great speakers, including Xavier Becerra, Zoe Lofgren, Alan Acosta, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Hazel markus and Al Camarillo. I especially enjoyed my breakout session with Monica McDermott. My biggest takeaway from the event was that the immigration debate is often colored more by negative images of immigrants, and could benefit from a more balanced view. That’d be tough, however, as most illegal immigrants would be loathe to publicize their status.

Finally, as we were leaving the Wilshire Grand Hotel where the conference was held, we passed the venerable Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm band. We felt like we were in the presence of celebrities, since they were featured on the front page of the NY Times yesterday, hailed as having an incredibly entertaining, disciplined, and high quality band. I’d even taken the time yesterday morning to watch the online video about them. We asked some of the band members if they knew about the story, but they didn’t. It turns out they were in town to play North Carolina A&T in the Angel City Classic at the Coliseum. My husband and I are both former high school trumpeters, and we love the direction today’s innovative bands are going.

Note to self: get tickets to next year’s Angel City Classic. Unless there’s soccer, of course.

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Kiva loan paid back: time to lend to someone new!

Posted on 04. Jun, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, international

The Bank of Kathy has a perfect record so far! I just received word that Maria del Carmen paid back the money I loaned to her through Kiva to purchase merchandise for her retail store. She’s right on schedule! I had lent her $50, which was only a portion of the $825 she got from myself and others. She’s the third person I’ve lent to who’s paid off her loan.

If you’re not familiar with Kiva, it facilitates microlending by allowing people to lend money to others around the world who have been pre-approved by local partners. You can donate any amount you want, and the money isn’t released to the applicant until it’s all raised. I like to lend to many people at one time, so that I can spread out the impact my money can have.

I decided to re-loan Maria’s money to Anselmo Carrizales Márquez:

Anselmo is married and has three children, ages 2, 5, and 9. He used to have a grocery store, but three years ago, when his last child was born, his wife had complications with the birth and was in the hospital for a while, and the medical bills absorbed all the savings they had, along with any capital to reinvest in the store. At that time he decided to close the store and start selling bedding. He started out offering his products to friends and relatives. Finding good results, he started selling from house to house, taking orders. Fortunately he has seen his business, and his orders, grow.

In order to increase his sales, Anselmo knows that people want to know the quality of a product before they order. He is asking for a loan in the amount of $750 to buy merchandise that he can show to customers. He will pay it back over a period of 6 to 12 months. Your help will contribute to the growth of this business. Anselmo and his family need your support, without a doubt.

Everyone deserves a chance. Especially a family where the mom had to be hospitalized after childbirth.

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Design for the other 90%

Posted on 29. May, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, international, technical

Doesn’t that sound like a Target ad? It isn’t. I’m talking about design for the rest of the world, for the people that in their wildest dreams wouldn’t even be able to afford Target.

Today’s NYTimes reports in “Design That Solves Problems for the World’s Poor” that the Cooper Hewitt Museum has mounted an exhibition honoring cost-effective inventions that fill the world’s needs.

Interestingly, most of the designers who spoke at the opening of the exhibition spurned the idea of charity.

“The No. 1 need that poor people have is a way to make more cash,” said Martin Fisher, an engineer who founded KickStart, an organization that says it has helped 230,000 people escape poverty. It sells human-powered pumps costing $35 to $95.

Even though they may spurn the idea of charity, inventing something that makes so much of a difference has got to be incredibly satisfying!

Last week, the NYTimes reported in “Solar Flashlight Lets Africa’s Sun Deliver the Luxury of Light to the Poorest Villages” that an American named Mark Bent has spent $250,000 to develop and manufacture a solar-powered flashlight that gives off seven hours of light from a daily solar recharge. He’s distributed over 20,000 so far, and has another 10,000 ready to go.

Here are a few inventions that today’s article highlights:

“The Q-Drum, a circular jerry can, holds 20 gallons, and it rolls smoothly enough for a child to tow it on a rope.” How cool is that? No more huge water jars on the heads of women and girls!

“The Lifestraw drinking filter, which kills bacteria as water is sucked through it.”

(I wonder if American hikers would use this?)

“One computer for every child.”

I’d like to teach the world to blog
in perfect harmony…

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The Darfur Puppy vs. 21 Million Starving Africans

Posted on 10. May, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, international, my life, religion, things that bug me

Why are even caring, generous people more moved by the plight of one needy child than the despair of millions? Nicholas Kristof examines this question in today’s NYTimes column, “Save the Darfur Puppy.”

In one experiment, psychologists asked ordinary citizens to contribute $5 to alleviate hunger abroad. In one version, the money would go to a particular girl, Rokia, a 7-year-old in Mali; in another, to 21 million hungry Africans; in a third, to Rokia — but she was presented as a victim of a larger tapestry of global hunger.

Not surprisingly, people were less likely to give to anonymous millions than to Rokia. But they were also less willing to give in the third scenario, in which Rokia’s suffering was presented as part of a broader pattern.

This isn’t surprising to me. I admit that I’m more likely to respond to a personal funding request than to a global one. Clearly, I’m not alone:

“Our capacity to feel is limited,” Paul Slovic of the University of Oregon writes in a new journal article, “Psychic Numbing and Genocide,” which discusses these experiments. Professor Slovic argues that we cannot depend on the innate morality even of good people. Instead, he believes, we need to develop legal or political mechanisms to force our hands to confront genocide.

It’s wrong, but when I know who’s receiving my aid, perhaps I’m more trusting that my money will definitely make a difference. I know it’s irrational, and it bugs me. A corrollary would be when I buy a new skirt or something else I don’t really “need,” even though that money could make a much bigger difference in someone else’s life. Kristof continues,

Even the right animal evokes a similar sympathy. A dog stranded on a ship aroused so much pity that $48,000 in private money was spent trying to rescue it — and that was before the Coast Guard stepped in. And after I began visiting Darfur in 2004, I was flummoxed by the public’s passion to save a red-tailed hawk, Pale Male, that had been evicted from his nest on Fifth Avenue in New York City. A single homeless hawk aroused more indignation than two million homeless Sudanese.

Several years ago the beloved crossing guard at my kids’ elementary school lost his adult son. Thousands of dollars poured in to help him pay for funeral expenses, even though he never said he needed financial help. Yet, when high school kids try to get people motivated to donate money to help kids in Uganda, very little is raised. Kristof says that perhaps the best way to get President Bush to pay the proper attention to Darfur would be to represent its problems with a sad little puppy.

So maybe what we need isn’t better laws but more troubled consciences — pricked, perhaps, by a Darfur puppy with big eyes and floppy ears. Once we find such a soulful dog in peril, we should call ABC News. ABC’s news judgment can be assessed by the 11 minutes of evening news coverage it gave to Darfur’s genocide during all of last year — compared with 23 minutes for the false confession in the JonBenet Ramsey case.

If President Bush and the global public alike are unmoved by the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of fellow humans, maybe our last, best hope is that we can be galvanized by a puppy in distress.

He’s probably right. And I’m probably no better than anyone else in this regard. I think we all need to work on putting our compassion into action.

Kiva – loans that change lives

Posted on 08. Aug, 2006 by kchristieh in international

I think microlending is a terrific idea. The concept is that if you can lend someone a small, targeted amount of money so that they can start or enhance their own business, that little bit of money can go a long way in changing peoples’ lives.

Even so, I always figured that microlending would be done by people with lots of money. That was until I heard of Kiva. If you’ve got at least $25.00 and a Paypal account, you too can be a microlender. Just donate to one of the third-world entrepreneurs they profile on the site, and if all goes well they’ll pay you back your money. Then, you can donate again!

I loaned some money to Angel Peralta (see picture) so that he can expand his retail food business in Ecuador. What I donated helped complete the loan he needed. Now I can’t wait to hear how he does! It’s probably a human trait to want to know something about the people you give to. But, it’s still important to give to causes even when you don’t know all the personal stories.

Lucky to be an American

Posted on 04. Jul, 2006 by kchristieh in international, movies, my life, politics

The 4th of July isn’t just about fireworks, burgers and swimming. It’s about appreciating the freedoms we have, and the safety in which we’re able to enjoy them. I may not always agree with what our elected officials do, but I appreciate the fact that they’re elected, and that I have the freedom to say what I want about them. And, I appreciate that others have these freedoms too, and can believe and say whatever they want.

Tonight we watched the movie “I Am David” on Tivo. It’s about a boy who escapes from a prison camp in Bulgaria. I won’t tell you what happens, but it made me cry at the end. The website has stories of modern-day refugee boys.

Or, maybe I was crying because now my sister is talking about staying in northern California…but, I digress…

Happy 4th of July!

Doctors Without Borders Speaker in Pasadena

Posted on 13. Mar, 2006 by kchristieh in articles, international

Here are some more heroes you should know about: the brave and talented women and men of Doctors Without Borders (aka MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières). They risk life and limb to provide medical care to the world’s sickest and neediest people, and support themselves primarily through private donations.

I just returned from hearing the group’s Executive Director, Nicolas de Torrente, speak in Pasadena. His talk reiterated what Nicholas Kristof’s article says in my previous posting, that Africa is in the midst of a huge humanitarian crisis, and much of the world is ignoring it. Here’s a snippet of what the Doctors Without Borders website says about Chad:

So what can we do? Lobby politicians, write blogs and get the word out, pray and donate money are the best options I can think of right now.

Many thanks to Julie for inviting me to this talk!! This was part of the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Pasadena Civic Center.