88.5 WFDD - community: Recent Episodes
Eileen Rodriguez
Community members gathered at Watauga High School and virtually on June 13, 2022 to discuss potential solutions for having more affordable housing in the area. It was the first meeting of the newly created Watauga Housing Council. Photo courtesy of Logan DiGiacomo, a graduate student at Appalachian State University.
A High Country community is a step closer to creating an action plan that would address the need for more affordable housing. The Watauga Housing Council met for the first time this week to map out the process.
Local residents, community leaders, and stakeholders gathered at Watauga High School for the event. Dozens of people participated both in-person and virtually.
Most of the discussion centered around an online poll that allowed participants to provide feedback and decide what they want to tackle as a community. That narrowed the focus to all low to moderate-income people in Watauga County having accessible, equitable, safe, and affordable housing.
A recent study of the High Country showed therental housing market occupancy rate in the region is nearly 100 percent. The tourist community is growing and so are major employers, like Appalachian State University.
“This is going to change. It needs to change. Everything can change overnight in terms of the resources we are working with, the landscape we are working around and so this needs to be adaptable," says Lindsey Sullivan with AppHealthCare who co-led the discussion.
The group's next step is an action plan, research on what data will help measure success, and looking at housing strategies that are working in other states as well as some local initiatives.
All of this will be part of the Watauga Housing Council’s next meeting on June 27.
Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news
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watauga housing council #high country #affordable housing #action plan #north carolina #housing issues #community
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Roughly 200 community members packed the Carl H. Russell Community Center in Winston-Salem for a town hall meeting to identify new strategies for reducing gun violence on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. DAVID FORD/WFDD
A packed gymnasium greeted a panel of Winston-Salem city officials Wednesday during a sometimes-contentious town hall meeting. The goal was to gather community input and find new ways to reduce gun violence. The event was spearheaded by Northeast Ward Councilmember Barbara Burke well before the Uvalde school shooting, but that tragedy was very much at the forefront of people’s minds.
Burke began the community strategy session by calling for a moment of silence for "the horrifying event that took place in Texas." She said her goal was to develop an anti-violence action plan with audience input, and she praised city officials on stage and called for community members to support them in their efforts to keep Winston-Salem safe.
Among the panelists were Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus. McManus was asked for the number of student resource officers (SROs) being deployed in elementary schools.
"We do not have a resource officer right now in all of our elementary schools. We have them again in all of our middle and high schools, and then we have those on patrol that also roam the area," said McManus. "Sheriff Kimbrough, I don’t know if you wanted to add anything about the amount of officers, but that’s what we have right now currently in place."
Kimbrough confirmed that at the present time there are no SROs in local elementary schools, but he added that in response to the school shooting in Texas, he deployed his staff to local elementaries. Long-term, however, he says his department is already stretched thin.
"I’m willing to give up what I got to make this work, but I need you all to put pressure where it needs to be put," says Kimobrough addressing the audience. "The pressure don’t need to be on us. I need you to put pressure on the folks that control the money."
Further questions and responses lay bare the complexity and challenge of addressing gun violence. Police Chief Catrina Thompson is asked for more boots on the ground. She says morale is down, typical graduating classes of 45 officers have dwindled to 15, and the numbers of those leaving the force continue to rise.
"So, this class won’t even cover the retirements that we’ve had just halfway through the year," she says. "That’s our reality. So when you say you want more police officers, I tell you, so do I. Help us get people into our profession who have the 'can-do' and the 'want-to' to change lives in a positive manner in our community."
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill pleads with community members to come forward, identify suspects following a shooting, and allow officers to make the necessary arrests. Given the danger of reprisals against bystanders who finger suspects, O’Neill is asked what the DA is doing to protect those who come forward with helpful information.
"There have been many nights where I went to bed worried whether or not the person I prosecuted that day was going to come and try and do harm to me," says O'Neill. "But I believe that if we stand up and do what’s right — even if it makes us nervous — the people that are committing the violence can be plucked out. But if we don’t do that, this is going to turn into the wild, wild west."
The audience responds skeptically — many audibly questioning if protections are actually in place for those who report crimes. Assistant Police Chief William Penn announces phone numbers for anonymous Text to Tip, Crime Stoppers and a Spanish line — each available for the public to assist local law enforcement.
Then a mother who lives with her daughter across from a park area steps up to the microphone and says four bullets hit their home last year, gunshots there have become routine, she’s scared and wants to know what can be done. Assistant Chief Wilson Weaver answers.
"To my sister from Crawford Park, we understand what you’re saying," says Weaver. "We’re trying to get all the gun toters off the streets, but keep in mind that once we start doing all of these license checks and stopping cars, the first thing people start saying — even though we’re taking guns and dope — is that they were profiled. That’s one of our realities that we have to deal with both in the city and the Sheriff has to deal with in the county."
Burke closes the meeting after just over two hours. She said the discussion will continue with city officials on ways to implement some of the strategies collected during the town hall. Among them: put school resource officers in every school, hold town hall meetings with students and anti-violence groups, and increase parental involvement.
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This map shows the area of Greensboro the planning committee is studying. Image courtesy of the City of Greensboro.
Greensboro is planning some major improvements for one of the main roads into the city. Officials are seeking public input for the East Gate City Boulevard project.
City leaders are focusing on the area between South Elm Street and the I-40 interchange along East Gate City Boulevard as well as surrounding neighborhoods. It’s a historic community that’s filled with Black heritage. The goal is to build off the momentum of an existing project that will combine the Windsor Community Recreation Center and Vance Chavis Library.
Some proposals from a recent community open house include adding more pedestrian connectivity with sidewalks and bicycle trails, more housing options, artwork and improving food access with grocery stores and restaurants.
Hart Crane is with the Greensboro Planning Department. He says the plan they are working on will serve as a unified vision for the community and help guide future development.
"When we get to the point when new folks want to come into the community or changes are occurring, we can point to this plan as a collective voice and say this is what folks have told us," says Crane. "This is what they would like to see here, this is what they would like to be known for when folks get off of the highway."
Crane says there will be more opportunities for public input, including an online survey that is expected to launch by early June. A draft plan for the East Gate City Boulevard project is expected to be completed in the fall.
Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news
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Executive Director of Hogar del Inmigrante Connie Trejo. Eileen Rodriguez/WFDD
After the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant caught fire, many people in the vicinity had to evacuate with no emergency funds or plans. And for the Latino community, there were more challenges, including language barriers and the fear of asking for help. Many of them turned to local community organizations instead of government entities.
Hogar del Inmigrante, or The Immigrant Home, is a nonprofit organization that has provided social services for the Latino community in the Triad for many years. It's heavily involved in the community. So it was no surprise that when a fire broke out at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant, Connie Trejo was one of the first people residents called. She’s the executive director of the organization.
"A lot of our clients live in the vicinity of the fire plant, and obviously when the incident happened one of our clients called, and he was a senior citizen," said Trejo. "They were really scared and they were screaming, 'Miss Connie, please, come on, fire!' and I asked, 'What? Your house?' and they said, 'No, the fertilizer plant," said Trejo.
The day after the fire, Trejo posted a flier on social media asking for all members of the community who have been affected by the fire to contact the organization or go directly to them for emotional and financial support. But she wasn’t expecting so many people to come forward.
"People didn’t understand, it was chaos, nobody went to get them out, there were only firefighters and they didn’t speak Spanish," explained Trejo. "A lot of Hispanic people locked themselves in their homes because they didn’t understand."
One of the residents, Zoila Sevilla Ayala, said she knew what was going on thanks to her relatives who called her since they knew English. The next day, she saw the flier on Hogar del Inmigrante’s Facebook page.
"We went first and foremost to know what was going on and what was going to happen, and if the fire would have health repercussions. We went to receive information."
Sevilla Ayala didn’t know about the organization before, but since the incident has been staying current and keeping up with information from Hogar del Inmigrante, since she felt like it was one of the only places she could get help.
"We are a marginalized community because we are Latinos," explains a concerned Sevilla Ayala. "And I’ve seen that we haven’t been receiving the support we need. Now that I know that the nonprofit is there I feel supported, and protected, and I know I have somewhere to run. I wish there were more organizations like these."
Many turned to community organizations led by Latinos due to the language barrier, fear of prosecution due to a lack of documentation, and faster response time. Daniel Sostaita, the founder of Iglesia Cristiana Sin Fronteras, says the church was also a go-to place because of its involvement in the community and the bilingual information it can provide.
"It’s easier to call the church than the police, it's easier to call the Hispanic League than the county. They will understand in Spanish. They won’t ask for papers. People connect faster with people they trust and know. The government doesn’t have information in Spanish, the county doesn’t have a page in Spanish, or a direct line they could call in their mother tongue. So in case of an emergency, you want to speak to someone who understands you."
The trouble is, this puts an incredible strain on some of these resources, like Hogar Del Inmigrante. In total, over 450 people contacted the organization, which helped at least 200 families with funds. But the money is gone. It exhausted its funds due to the fire.
The City of Winston-Salem is trying to fill the gap. At a recent meeting, the city council approved a reimbursement of up to $1,000 to everyone who was affected by the Weaver fire.
An application fair is planned for March 9. You must bring receipts and show up in person. And if you don’t have them you can fill out a form to get a maximum of $300. For a lot of these families living paycheck to paycheck, that help can’t come soon enough.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.1 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
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Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus addressed reporters during Wednesday morning's press conference at Mount Tabor High School. DAVID FORD/WFDD
After a challenging week for students, faculty, and staff at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, education leaders and a current student spoke at an outdoor press conference on campus.
In the wake of last week’s school shooting that led to the death of 15-year-old William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr., Mount Tabor Principal Ed Weiss thanked community members for their unwavering support. He referred to the students, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff as family and described the healing process for all concerned as taking baby steps together.
Student body president William Burns said it’s been a tough week, and he encouraged his fellow Spartans to lean on one another, and the resources available to them.
"We have a crisis control team that I’m really appreciative for," said Burns. "I’m appreciative also for our law enforcement that was there who rushed to our school to help us students and put it on the line for us. I want to also very much thank some teachers because I know some teachers who are first-hand struggling with what happened, but instead, they were very comforting to us the day the events took place."
Looking ahead, after-action reviews are already underway at the school level — gauging the effectiveness of lockdown procedures on campus, food and restroom access, and transporting students to safety. And on Tuesday, an internal review was held to determine district-level responses to the shooting including interactions with law enforcement partners.
Schools Superintendent Tricia McManus said analyzing security measures is important, but equally so is the need for preventative measures.
"When it comes to counseling, when it comes to mental health support, when it comes to social and emotional learning and all the things that have to happen from the time students are in elementary school as they go into middle school — you know, mentoring — all of those things are critical to lifelong decisions that students make later," said McManus.
She said there are approximately 30 social workers currently in place covering 82 schools district-wide, and while each campus is equipped with counselors, she said there aren’t nearly enough to go around. McManus said next week’s after-action review will be an external one with the school district’s law enforcement partners.
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Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson addresses media during the news conference to discuss gun violence on June 16, 2021. DAVID FORD/WFDD
With the number of shootings on the rise across the Triad, local law enforcement agencies are searching for ways to reverse this trend.
At a news conference in Winston-Salem, police officers shared a host of recently introduced firearm violence reduction initiatives. ShotSpotter technology detects gunshot locations for a more rapid police response. A centralized computer hub allows personnel to share information in real-time. And a new registry lets residents and businesses share the location of their private security cameras.
But Police Chief Catrina Thompson says more cooperation is needed on the part of citizens who witness crimes and come forward.
"We can’t do it alone," says Thompson. "It’s not a police problem, it’s a community problem. And it’s going to take this whole community doing their part to address it. We’re telling you what our part is. Now we want to know what investment are other people willing to make to stop this crime?"
Thompson adds the formation of new policing units dedicated to gun violence is putting additional strains on a department reeling from early retirements, and recruitment challenges due to negative publicity surrounding law enforcement work.
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Ridhwan Sediqe breaking fast on his birthday during Ramadan in 2020.
Noah Sediqe / Ridhwan Sediqe
Safiyah Zaidi, 21, has always enjoyed celebrating Ramadan. Growing up in a Muslim household, she considers the month, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, to be the best time of the year.
"You see all the friends that you normally don't see throughout the rest of the year, and there's food, there are lectures ... and just a real sense of community," Zaidi says.
Zaidi says it feels surreal to be spending another Ramadan at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she wants to make the most of it.
"One thing that's important that we did this year, not last year, is we did a lot of decoration," Zaidi says. "I think that that's very important to have a physical reminder that you're now in the month."
On Tuesday, April 13, Muslim communities across the U.S. started fasting in their second Ramadan during the pandemic. Last year, Ramadan was early on in the pandemic starting on April 24.So many events, including mosque prayers and iftars, the evening meals that break the fasting of each day, got canceled or switched to virtual. Although mosques and community organizations are continuing to create virtual events this year, some Islamic centers are holding in-person prayers. Muslim Americans are also reflecting on how the pandemic altered their fasting experiences.
While the communal aspects of Ramadan are essential to the experience, the month is also centered on charity, worship, and developing empathy and connection to others, according to Tom Cloyd, 66,a council member on the governing board of the Islamic Center of Brushy Creek in Cedar Park, Texas.
"We've really pushed hard this year to get a lot done," Cloyd says.
The center is hosting a variety of virtual events and lectures to appeal to different parts of the community. During the weekend, they have talks that are led by and centered on Muslim women. On Sundays, they hold youth-focused events.
"We started doing a community iftar via Zoom," Cloyd says. "We had just started last night and we had 45 people log on."
The mosque is holding in-person prayers at a low capacity and abiding by other guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone has to bring their own prayer rug, and they are implementing social distancing and a reservation system. They also sometimes use outdoor space as well to accommodate the numbers.
"They [people] want to be together. This is a time of community and people being together," Cloyd says.
But there's still a sense of uncertainty due to the pandemic. Ridhwan Sediqe, 23, who is usually based in the Bay Area, but is spending Ramadan this year with his family, says that he will hold off on attending in-person prayers at his mosque this Ramadan.
"The good thing is that our masjid [mosque] is live streaming so you can try to follow along," Sediqe says.
"I am trying to have the mindset of engaging with how folks are doing it in other spaces, like setting up WhatsApp groups where we keep each other on task about our progress with trying to do ... virtual reading circles."
Meanwhile, Zaidi is excited about the prospect of her mosque possibly holding in-person prayers. Last year, it was challenging for her to attend countless virtual events on Zoom.
"There was a feeling of the connection not being as strong, as intense," she says. "You couldn't make eye contact with the person giving the lectures."
Connecting spiritually during Ramadan
Luma Khabbaz,24, who is based in Chicago, found that fasting during the pandemic has made her appreciate having a quieter Ramadan and the opportunity to spend more time with her family.
"I would rather celebrate and observe it. ...with my close family. I think there is such a fun camaraderie that is going to dinner parties, but you kind of lose track of the days like that," Khabbaz says.
She also feels that she is able to connect more spiritually. Usually, she would attend the mosque for Tarawih, which are night prayers that Muslims observe during Ramadan, and listen to the Imam read the Quran during the prayers. But she instead read passages by herself last year.
"Something that I was finally kind of able to do is read Quran by myself in that setting where I felt like I was leading my own prayer," she says.
Stripping Ramadan out of its more social and "fun" elements has helped her reaffirm her spiritual commitment.
"This is the ultimate test for me, the fact that when there is no one here to keep me accountable, I am fasting, I am studying," she says. She is also excited about spending more time cooking. Khabbaz grew up eating Syrian food, but she plans to experiment with recipes from other cuisines.
"I'm going to try to step it up," she says. "Usually I'll just make something to eat, but maybe I'll make an appetizer or a dessert."
Hope of a more "normal" Ramadan
To many Muslims who are now vaccinated, there is more to look forward to this year than last Ramadan. Sediqe says that he is excited to go to iftar picnics with his friends, who are also vaccinated.
"I think it's definitely not going to resemble anything pre pandemic," Sediqe says.
"But I think it's enough of a reminder of what that space looks like that I can hold on to that and use that as something satisfactory."
Zaidi also plans to meet with other vaccinated friends safely and in small groups for potlucks.
"We feel safe and secure enough because a lot of us live with elderly grandparents, so it's important that you have that security," Zaidi says about being vaccinated.
Zaidi says that the pandemic changed her perception of Ramadan as an experience. "It's almost a very pure reflection of what the month is meant to be about, because it's a month of collectivism and community," she says.
"What better way to safeguard your community than to make sure that everyone is safe and healthy."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Antonio Cartagena, an accordion player in a mariachi group meets his bandmates on the street in Medellin, Colombia.
Jorge Calle
Cardboard beds. Urban farms. Roving mariachi bands.
These are some of the ways that regular folks are solving problems and spreading happiness during the pandemic.
The solutions aren't perfect — public health experts have some critiques and suggestions. But at the same time, they applaud the ingenuity and positive vibes.
Read the stories of six grassroots change-makers — then nominate your own at the bottom of this story.
Urban farmer gives greens to the poorIn April, Jackline Oyamo, 31, was laid off from her job as an electronic sales assistant at a shop in Kibera, one of the world's largest slums on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. The curfews to control the pandemic meant fewer customers – and staff cutbacks. "After losing my job, it was extremely difficult to keep feeding myself after I exhausted my small savings," she says.
But Oyamo is able to get fresh produce for free from Victor Edalia, a 30-year-old urban farmer in her neighborhood. Last November, Edalia, who works as a driver by day, converted a trash dump site in the slum into an urban garden. He signed an agreement with a local chief to use the land. Now, the plot, about a quarter of an acre, grows vegetables such as kale, onions and spinach.
Edalia originally started the farm to boost his income. The idea was to sell vegetables to hotels. But once the pandemic hit, he changed the plan. He wanted to find a way to "give back," he says.
So throughout the pandemic, Edalia has been providing free supplies of vegetables to 10 needy families and individualsin Kibera. They include young people who lost their jobs in the pandemic, like Oyamo, as well as single mothers and families with households of more than seven people. They can drop by the farm up to three times a week to pick up a supply of vegetables.
"I saw needy families get food donations, mostly comprising of dry foods but without any vegetables," says Edalia.
Oyamo says the veggies supplement other food donations she receives from charities and people in the community.
Moses Omondi, team leader of Adopt a Family, a local nonprofit that's been providing dry food donations – like maize flour — to 500 families in Kibera, thinks Edalia's program is promising.
Providing veggies to families who receive food packs – "I think it's a pretty smart approach," he says. "In addition to supporting struggling families during these tough times that face starvation while at home, it helps to reduce anxiety and helplessness of a Kibera family."
Thomas Bwire is a digital and radio journalist from Kibera, Kenya.
App maker helps churches go virtualHouses of worship had to close their doors because of the pandemic. And even now, with some reopening, there may be limits on how many congregants are allowed in.
Nnamdi Udeh, 29, a tech entrepreneur in Nigeria, came up with OSanctus, an app that offers some solutions: easy access to virtual worshipping options and a reservations system so there won't be crowding at reopened churches.
Churches can use the app to stream mass online and share community announcements. Parishioners can book a virtual consultation with a priest — and send in a digital donation. And in Nigeria, where houses of worship have capped attendance at 50% of capacity, folks can use the app to register for a spot instead of showing up to church in the hope of being let in.
"It helps the priests manage their time schedule, know how many persons they are expecting on a particular day, all the appointments and masses booked and other activities that they want," says Udeh.
Harvard Medical School physician Dr. Abraar Karan says indoor churches are high risk. "There is singing usually and close face-to-face contact between participants. While the app is probably trying to reduce crowding outside the church, it is unclear if it will achieve that."
But, he adds, "if the church is going to open either way, the app could help ensure that only a certain number of people come at a time."
So far, it's been helpful to parishioners. "It is user-friendly and helps us to resolve church registration issues. Parishioners can easily access the parish office and we can also reach out to them," says Father Paul Akin-Otiko, a pastor at a Catholic-run chaplaincy. "It came in handy during this pandemic."
The app runs in six parishes in Lagos and has been downloaded about 500 times. It is now under trial in other parishes across the country. But it's not 100% altruistic. As everyone struggles to earn a living in these times, the app maker plans to charge the churches an annual fee, based on the size of the parish.
Patrick Egwu is a Nigerian freelance journalist currently based in Johannesburg, where he is an Open Society Foundations fellow on Investigative Reporting at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Designer makes recyclable cardboard beds for patientsAs the coronavirus surges in India, authorities are converting dozens of convention centers in major cities into temporary COVID-19 wards, some equipped with rather unusual beds — made entirely of cardboard.
The beds can be assembled in minutes and hold a load of more than 400 pounds. They're made of tough corrugated cardboard that's been chemically treated to make it waterproof, so they can be sprayed with disinfectant and wiped clean. They cost about $13 each – roughly half the price of the cheapest metal beds, says architect and designer Rhea Shah, who specializes in urban resilience.
Shah came up with the concept for the bed while under lockdown at her family's home in western India.
"I was grappling with helplessness, thinking about what I could do with my talent and the resources available," Shah says.
Her family runs a paper factory and is selling the beds at cost, without profit. They've shipped about 15,000 units to isolation wards set up by the Indian Navy, government hospitals and a school in Mumbai's Dharavi slum – a recent COVID-19 hotspot.
"The cardboard bed was really a great help because it can be disposed of easily," says city official Kiran Dighavkar, who oversees Dharavi. Once they are no longer needed, they can be recycled.
Dighavkar says it wasn't economical to buy thousands of metal beds, which would only be used during the peak of the pandemic.
Cardboard furniture isn't new. Cardboard desks and beds are popular in Europe because they're recyclable. With the high death toll from COVID-19 in Latin America, designers there have come up with cardboard beds that turn into coffins.
Other Indian manufacturers are adapting Shah's design. One company supplied 10,000 cardboard beds to a makeshift hospital in New Delhi, one of the largest COVID-19 facilities in the world.
"It's heartwarming to know that in spaces where it was most needed, it was useful," says Shah.
Sushmita Pathak is a producer for NPR India.
'Commander Safeguard' brings COVID-19 messages to remote areasRehmat Ali Jaffar Dost, 43, is known as "Commander Safeguard" for his clean-up and anti-littering campaigns in Chitral, a remote district of Pakistan on the border of Afghanistan. Now he's adding to his agenda: informing citizens about COVID-19.
In the area where Dost lives, fewer than 20% of residents have basic 2G internet and there are still some villages with no electricity, according to the Aga Khan Rural Support Program, a nonprofit operating in rural parts of Pakistan. And government officials and nonprofit organizations have been slow to spread crucial COVID-19 messaging to remote areas of the country. But the virus itself is spreading. In the district of Upper Chitral, with a population of nearly 200,000, there are more than 110 confirmed cases.
On March 17, Dost went on a 40-day journey across the Upper Chitral region to share information about the pandemic. He borrowed a friend's car and covered other expenseswith the help of friends and donations. Dost is the founder of Chitral Heritage and Environment Protection Society, a student volunteer organization.
In open spaces, Dost organized small group meetings with community members and leaders to answer questions and bust rumors and misconceptions. "A majority of the people did not know what a virus was," he says, "and some thought people in developing countries are already immune to every kind of virus."
"In order to respond with concrete and factual information, I have involved community leaders, religious clerics, educated people and health professionals [to answer their questions]," adds Dost.
Dost also trained people to sew their own face masks, which he learned how to do by watching YouTube videos.
In some parts of Upper Chitral, he was not able to meet face-to-face interactions with women. "Chitral is highly divided in terms of religious sects and extremely conservative," he says So, he came up with a solution. Standing in the street, he uses "a loudspeaker to reach out to Chitrali sisters and mothers," politely requesting that people stay home, wear masks, don't shake hands and wash their hands.
Government officials such as Shah Saud, deputy commissioner of Upper Chitral, is grateful for Dost's involvement. "We totally support and appreciate this initiative. Volunteers like Rehmat Ali can help stop or slow down the spread of this contagious disease."
Benazir Samad is a lead multimedia journalist at Voice of America's Pakistan desk in Washington, D.C.
Roving mariachi musicians uplift locked-down neighborsMedellin's mariachi and folk music bands are usually booked up with performances at parties, weddings and birthdays. But since mandatory stay-home orders were enforced on March 20, they have been out of work.
Equipped with masks, some Colombian musical groups are helping others and themselves by walking the streets and busking.
These public mini-concerts cheer up the city's residents stuck at home.
Jairo Muriel, 56, has seen four live performances outside his apartment in Bello, a suburb of Medellin. "It's really enjoyable," he says. People come out on their balconies to savor the music and sing along.
Then they lower tips in a basket."People are very good to us. They help us," says Antonio Cartagena, 66, an accordion player from a mariachi band.
The money is far from normal wages. Depending on how successful a band is, an 8- to 10-piece group can earn up to $1,100 to divvy up for one night's work. Cartagena says his share of the daily tips in the pandemic is $13 on average. Although it's not much, he says it's enough for him to buy food for his family each day.
Not everyone likes the music. Muriel has heard at least one person in the surrounding buildings telling the groups to move along. But the bands, he says, "don't stay very long, they're not annoying."
And the city's secretary for culture Lina Gaviria is a fan. Entertainment can "transmit a message of hope during these difficult times," she says.
Sophie Foggin is a journalist based in Medellin, Colombia, covering politics, human rights, history and justice in Latin America.
Tech entrepreneur connects farmers to customers In early April, Justin Stephen, a 36-year-old farmer from Udhagamandalam, a town nestled in south India's Niligiri mountains, was distressed.
As India's lockdown came into effect on the midnight of March 25,the prime season for harvesting avocados was just beginning. Every month, from February to September, the trees on Stephen's two-acre farmlands yielded a rich harvest of roughly 4,000 avocados. The fruit stays fresh only three days after being picked. So getting the produce to market as quickly as possible is a priority.
Even in previous years, Stephen had difficulty connecting with key retail markets in Indian cities and transporting the avocados on time because his farm, bordering a jungle, wasn't as accessible. There wasn't a reliable network of trucks to transport the products. And transport costs were high.
Now, with lockdown restrictions on travel, getting his avocados to market "seemed impossible," he says.
In mid-April, when he was staring at mounting financial losses and crop wastage, a friend suggested that he contact Harvesting Farmer Network (HFN), a website run by Ruchit Garg, a tech entrepreneur. Garg runs a tech company called Harvesting, which uses satellite data and artificial intelligence to identify, measure and monitor cropland.
When social media erupted with videos of distraught farmers flinging produce into rivers and onto streets, frustrated and unable to sell because of the pandemic travel restrictions, Garg's heart went out to them. "I could feel their pain. I knew I had to do something," he says.
Garg launched HFN on April 12 to address some of the farmers' challenges. With many shops being shut down, some farmers only lacked customers. Farmers can join HFN free of charge and display their fresh produce to customers across India. If a customer is interested in buying, they place their order on the site.
Once farmers receive their orders, they can coordinate deliveries to the customers themselves. For farmers unable to arrange for transport, Garg has arranged for buses and lorries and HFN vehicles to transport produce from the farms to the customers.
So far, he says that HFN has helped deliver over one million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from over 2,000 farmers to customers across the country.
Stephen's avocados have been popular on HFN. In a single day, he delivered about 3,600 avocados, and some of his delighted customers tweeted their thanks. "I was overjoyed that people appreciated my fresh produce, and that I could connect with customers in these difficult times."
So far, he's sold nearly 15,000 avocados. "In a country hit by COVID, we found kindness and a way to look to the future with hope," he says.
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, India, who has written for The International New York Times, BBC Travel and Forbes India. You can follow her @kamal_t.
Nominate a problem-solverWe'd like to tell more stories about inventive ways that people are using their talents and skills to address COVID-19 challenges in their community.
If you have any suggestions, send an email to goatsandsoda@npr.orgwith your nomination, with "Problem Solver" in the subject line. We may feature them in a future story on NPR.org.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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Healthcare workers celebrate the arrival of meals. Photo courtesy of Fuel The Fight Winston-Salem.
A grassroots initiative to purchase food for Triad-area health care workers has surpassed its fundraising goal. The meals are prepared by local restaurant chefs.
Fuel the Fight Winston-Salem provides an income stream for small businesses still reeling from the negative impacts of the coronavirus, while simultaneously supporting hospital workers battling the spread of COVID-19 on the front lines. Three weeks ago, A GoFundMe goal of $30,000 dollars was set to purchase and deliver 1,300 meals from local restaurants.
Co-organizer Sydney Poretsky says the work going on behind the scenes is all-consuming for her and a small group of volunteers: coordinating social media, restaurant and hospital contacts, and deliveries. She says the response they have received from both health professionals and small business owners has been transformative.
"Honestly every single time I see a picture or we get a message thanking us, it makes me emotional," says Poretsky. "It is just such a beautiful thing to see the looks on their faces and that level of gratefulness for what we’re doing."
Discussions are currently underway to extend the program in order to continue addressing ongoing needs in the community.
For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you’re experiencing.
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"So many distractions. #workingfromhome #officemates #wfddpets #dogsofnpr" MOLLY DAVIS/WFDD
Many members of our community are now working remotely, and some of their furry family members are more than happy to help! We asked you to share images of your pets as you work from home on social media with the hashtag #wfddpets, and we've already received so many responses.
Check out what some local pets have been up to recently:
Credit: Patricia Santangelo
Patricia Santangelo's new coworker Bella is keeping her company at her home office.
Credit: Cassie Freund
Meanwhile, Cassie Freund's pooch Freddy is feeling both happy and confused by the fact that his humans are home all the time now.
Credit: Jessica Richards
Jessica Richards's Scooter Cat is exhausted by the volume of email generated by moving an English Department to remote operation.
Credit: Lauren Hutchinson Clark
Lauren Hutchinson Clark's pup #eltonjohnthetinyprancer is tuckered out for another reason, according to her—all his micromanaging!
Credit: Ulli Becker
Ulli Becker's baby JuJu is all tuckered out, too, on her favorite place: Ulli's desk.
Credit: George Peterson
George Peterson's cat Spike is VERY helpful.
Credit: Tom Dollenmayer/WFDD
So is WFDD General Manager Tom Dollenmayer's cat, Peanut. He's busy answering WFDD listener emails and monitoring live coverage.
Credit: Tom Dollenmayer/WFDD
But he also knows the importance of taking a break.
Credit: Simone Caron
Simone Caron's pup is a big help to her mom with Meals on Wheels.
Credit: Simone Caron
Aw. :)
What about you? How are your pets helping (or hampering) your work as you work from home? Share it with us! Upload your photo on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter, and use the hashtag #wfddpets. Be sure to follow us while you're there, too! We love seeing all these sweet helpers from all over our community.
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From Left: Bishop Sir Walter Mack and Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough. Courtesy of Triad Cultural Arts, Inc.
Community advocates will gather this week in Winston-Salem to address gang and drug-related violence. The four-day conference comes as the homicide rate has ticked up in the city.
The mission of the Corner 2 Corner Drug Dealers and Street Life Conference is to educate, mentor, and deter gang violence. Event leaders say they want to address those issues head-on, as there have been 24 murders in the city compared to 21 this time last year.
Vegas Don, an ex gang-leader, will lead youth sessions addressing the challenges of getting out of a gang once you’re in one.
Bishop Sir Walter Mack, the pastor at Union Baptist Church, has been with the program since its beginning. He says they want to help those wrapped up in drug dealing apply their skills to noncriminal areas of employment.
“We offer them a plan, a strategy, to turn their life around,” says Mack. “After three days, we see that hope back in their face and their eyes. We see them light up again. And their life is never the same.”
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough will also speak at the conference. It starts on Thursday and is open to the public.
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community #winston salem #gangs #drugs #homicide #shooting #violence #sheriff #vegas don #bobby kimbrough #advocate #c2c #corner 2 corner
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A month after Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas, Sherrine Petit Homme LaFrance gets a hug from husband Ferrier Petit Homme. The storm destroyed their home on Grand Abaco Island. They are now living with China Laguerre in Nassau.
Cheryl Diaz Meyer for NPR
Editor's note: This story includes images that some readers may find disturbing.
Sherrine Petit Homme LaFrance was crying on the side of a road when China Laguerre spotted her.
Hurricane Dorian destroyed LaFrance's newly constructed house in Great Abaco Island on the northern edge of the Bahamas the same night she moved in. That was on Sept. 1.
She then moved into a hotel offering free shelter in Nassau with her husband and 14-year-old son. But she saysthey were kicked out when staff found her son talking to guests.
She had nowhere to go. So Laguerre invited her to come stay at the home she shares with her parents and her brother.
"If these people didn't help, I didn't know what we were going to do," says LaFrance."I just thank God for these people."
LaFrance is one of thousands of Haitians who lived in Abaco but were displaced to Nassau after the storm. The government's policy is to keep evacuees off Abaco until power, water and housing is restored.
But life in Nassau is not easy for evacuees: Haitians in the Bahamas — some recent immigrants, others who have lived in the Bahamas for generations — say that they face discrimination by their Bahamanian neighbors and that government officials that has made it harder to access emergency aid, shelter and health care and to find jobs toget back on their feet after the storm. On Oct. 2, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis announced that Haitians in the Bahamas without documentation would be deported.
So some are relying on the kindness of strangers — and Laguerre's home has emerged as the headquarters of an ad hoc Haitian community support network.
While volunteering at a local hospital after the storm, Laguerre, 31, met Haitian evacuees who inspired her to open her doors to strangers.
"I feel sorry because it could've been me," she says.
Laguerre was born and raised in the Bahamas, but her parents are of Haitian descent. Despite not having enough money to pay their water bill, they have taken in 10 Haitian evacuees from four different families. They pool together what resources they can to grocery shop and cook for everybody in their compound.
"I wouldn't say the floor is comfortable because it's just cement," she says. "We just let them put a sheet on the floor, and they sleep on the ground like that."
The families are still working through the physical and psychological effects of the storm. Lacieuse Timothee of Treasure Cay spent two days buried beneath debris before her sons found her. At the Laguerre home, she spends most of her time in bed. She says she is partially paralyzed, and the injuries around her feet have begun to turn black.
Laguerre and her parents do not have enough room in their home to keep welcoming guests. But they help those in need however they can. Recently, Laguerre referred a young mother to a friend's house so she wouldn't be left on the street with her child.
"I am not employed, but by the goodness of my heart — and I believe in God — this is God's work here I am doing," she says.
For now, LaFrance's family is living off the small amount of money that their relatives send from Haiti. They're unsure when things will start to look up.
"You can't even sleep. You have nightmares. You feel like you're still in the storm," says LaFrance, more than a month after Hurricane Dorian made landfall. "If you see a little rain, you think the storm is coming again."
Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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health care #news #world #health #global health #environment #race #discrimination #community #racism #haiti #hurricane dorian
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More than 400 visitors gathered in the main sanctuary of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro to say goodbye to five refugee children who died after a May 12 kitchen fire at the Summit-Cone apartment complex. DAVID FORD/WFDD
On an early morning in May, a kitchen fire swept through a low-income apartment in Greensboro. Inside, a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo—five young siblings and their father—slept. The mother was working her night shift many miles away. All of the children, aged one to eight years old, perished in the blaze, leaving their parents to grieve.
But they have not grieved alone. The final installment of our series “Unsafe Haven,” surveys citizens all across the community whose lives will be forever changed.
"Homegoing Service"
At the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Greensboro, a Homegoing Service is getting underway.
African mourners from across the region cross the Mt. Zion Baptist Church parking lot to attend a Homegoing Service for five young Congolese siblings who perished in a May 12th kitchen fire at the Summit-Cone apartments. DAVID FORD/WFDD
Mourners walk slowly across the sprawling parking lot, a sea of colorful, traditional African dresses against the grey, overcast sky. The sound of Swahili being translated into English blares out across the asphalt from loudspeakers attached to the enormous modern church, welcoming new arrivals.
Many of them now call North Carolina home, but they come from Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and elsewhere on the African continent. More than 400 visitors, family members, and friends enter the church, led by the parents of the deceased children, Mugabo Emmanuel and Faraha Lucy.
They gather close together on pews facing five small caskets holding the three little boys and two little girls who perished in the fire. But this service is a celebration of their lives—their journey to heaven—and soon the auditorium is filled with song.
"It Changed Our View Of Housing"
Immigration advocates, volunteers, and nonprofits that worked directly with these refugees were appalled by what happened to the family.
“Because of our work with them, I think it impacted not only us emotionally—obviously, we were devastated—but also the way I think we will work with the families that we host on our campus, especially helping them, supporting them vet off-campus housing I think more diligently,” says Every Campus A Refuge founder Diya Abdo. “And really, it just sort of changed our view of housing in Greensboro. It didn’t occur to me that it could be this bad.”
Before the still-mourning Congolese family left Summit-Cone, dozens of local African refugees gathered near their burned-out apartment for a healing ceremony. The sounds of terrified screams are replaced by singing voices ringing out across the courtyard.
Since the fire, the broader community has rallied around the family. The Greensboro Housing Coalition in partnership with the Community Foundation provided financial assistance to help the parents and their extended relatives relocate. Coalition Director Brett Byerly says it’s work that needed to be done.
"Imagine the emotional aspect of seeing that every day. I have to walk past this apartment where five children that I’m related to died, and how that affects my mental health and stability," says Byerly. "So, it was important for the Housing Coalition to work to get those families into a place where they can kind of grieve and work on what they’re going to do next in their life and where they want to go and where they want to be."
"A Great Outpouring Of Love"
In May, local African refugees and advocates gathered near the burned-out apartment at Summit-Cone for a healing ceremony with song in the courtyard. Photo courtesy: Veronica Bryant.
Former Rankin Elementary School social worker Emily Wright counseled two of the children who died in the Summit-Cone fire. She grieved with the family, and they entrusted her with arranging the funeral service along with their Pastor Jean de Dieu Munyambabazi.
“I wanted him to be a guide for respecting their cultural norms and traditions regarding funerals and funeral ceremonies,” says Wright. “Many, many people came out to assist the family at that time. Greensboro had a great outpouring of love and care for this family during the time of the death of their children.”
Faith communities throughout the city upped their commitment to supporting Summit-Cone refugee families: aiding in relocation efforts from the condemned buildings, settling families into new apartments, providing essentials, and raising donations.
A Greensboro House Fire GoFundMe page set up on their behalf netted more than $55,000 dollars. And church groups, educators, and individuals volunteered daycare for young children of refugee parents who often work long shifts far from home.
"A Call To Compassion"
Greensboro church leaders like First Baptist’s Alan Sherouse spoke to their congregations about the deadly fire. Sherouse focused on the poor living conditions of many of the city’s refugees, and the moral obligation the community has to right this wrong. He says that’s what a shared faith means and what the New Testament is all about.
“There’s this building call to compassion that culminates when Jesus says, ‘When you welcome the stranger, you are welcoming me,’” says Sherouse. “And so, treat every stranger as though they were Christ himself is the call, is the theological underpinning. As a Christian and a person of faith, that needs to guide me in terms of how I view the stranger or my newest neighbors here.”
Sherouse spoke at the Homegoing Service for the Congolese children who died in the fire. The gathering was intended to be a celebration of young lives, and yet, lining the front of the stage are five small, white caskets, each adorned with bright yellow flowers; a startling reminder of the horrible loss.
“Part of my response has been to carefully consider all of the dynamics that led to this moment, because if we dismiss it only as an accident, that allows us to set it aside as though there’s nothing we can do about it,” says Sherouse. “And I feel that there are a lot of factors that lead to a tragedy like this that we need to consider carefully as a community.”
Congolese refugee Louis Mashengo, a close friend of the family whose children died, says there’s one question that keeps him up at night.
"What can we do to promote the refugee community?" Mashengo asks. “Among us we have lawyers. Among us we have doctors. Among us we have pastors. We have musicians. We have draftsmen. Okay. But we need to promote it to another level.”
In some parts of Africa, the traditional greeting is “How are the children?” The welcoming community of Greensboro is still working toward the hoped-for reply: “Allthe children are well.”
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greensboro #congolese #refugees #funeral #community #fire #affordable housing #choir #song #unsafe haven
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People pass books down a chain to help the bookstore October Books move to a new location on Sunday in Southampton, England.
October Books
When October Books, a small radical bookshop in Southampton, England, was moving to a new location down the street, it faced a problem. How could it move its entire stock to the new spot, without spending a lot of money or closing down for long?
The shop came up with a clever solution: They put out a call for volunteers to act as a human conveyor belt.
As they prepared to "lift and shift" on Sunday, they expected perhaps 100 people to help.
"But on the day, we had over 200 people turn out, which was a sight to behold," Amy Brown, one of the shop's five part-time staff members, told NPR.
Shoulder to shoulder, community members formed a line 500 feet long: from the stockroom of the old shop, down the sidewalk, and onto the shop floor of the new store.
Cafes brought cups of tea to the volunteers. People at bus stops joined in. Passersby asked what was happening, then joined the chain themselves.
"We had elderly people, children, and everybody in between," Brown said.
When the great bookchain began, she was in the stockroom. "I was handing books to people without actually seeing the entire of it. So it was only after about 20 minutes I actually go out into the road and saw the extent of the people," she said.
October Books, founded in 1977, calls itself "more than a bookshop." It sells political and current affairs books, fiction and children's books, and and some food and fair-trade products.
But as it struggled to pay rising rents, it had launched a campaign over the summer to raise $400,000 to buy a space of its own: an old bank building. And raise it they did, through donations, crowdfunding, and people who donated money as "loanstock" — the shop will repay them the money that they've lent after one, five, or 10 years depending the loan terms.
"There's been people who've been visiting us and buying books from us for 40 years" as the store has moved around the city numerous times, Brown said. "So a lot of people feel quite invested in it as a thing."
And in just one hour on Sunday, the community passed more than 2,000 books, hand to hand, to the new shop.
"It was really sort of surprising and positive, and just a really moving experience to see people chipping in because they wanted to help. And they wanted to be part of something bigger," Brown said.
Meanwhile, the bookshop's new location is being painted and built out. And Brown says she currently is surrounded by boxes and bits of broken-up furniture.
There's a lot to get ready for the shop's next chapter. The new, permanent location of October Books has its grand opening on Saturday.
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
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