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representingot-neha · 8 months

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Building up our future, piece by piece.

When I ponder over the sustainable development goals, I see a puzzle. With each goal being a piece that fits in with another to create an image or picture of the future we want to achieve. As I have explored myself and the community, trying to integrate one into the other in these weeks that have passed, I have found that I have had to shape myself and fit myself in. This is why I now identify just as much as a puzzle piece. As OTs, we are constantly finding the gaps and fitting ourselves in, this is creating the bigger picture. (Wagman et al., 2020) In each goal, we see there is something more that can be done, and by taking the initiative to equip the community with the start of the thought process and action, we are showing them that they too, can be puzzle pieces.

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Food security remains a critical challenge in rural South Africa, where limited access to nutritious food contributes to high levels of malnutrition. At Denis Hurley Centre, high nutrition meals are prepared and provided 3 days a week to a large population of homeless, sheltered and hungry individuals. A similar programme is carried out in the soup kitchen at Cato Crest. We have seen that in most of the lunchboxes we see open, we are seeing unhealthy easy lunches that busy moms are packing for school. We are aiming to integrate the after-school youth programmes for education on healthy physical living and eating to be able to reach the soup kitchen for provision of after school meals if possible, as well as refer our clients we see at the clinic who struggle with food security to be able to receive meals from the community.

(consent obtained)

SDG 4: Quality Education

The first place I’ve found myself trying to fit in and close gaps are in schools. Access to quality education is crucial for the development of the community. In Cato Crest community, we have been exposed to the learning environments of creches, primary schools and high schools. There have been instances where teachers pick up red flags in students that prevent them from achieving their optimal function as well as a case where we had found a preschooler in a creche being excluded from ongoing class or group activities, with red flags on ASD being noticed but not addressed by parents and teachers. As OTs we are aiming to support this goal by working with educators on picking up red flags, addressing this with parents despite stigmas and taking this further to clinics and organizations such as KZN Children for referral. In many of the schools, the reality is that we are seeing 50 children for every 1 teacher. This takes a toll on teacher’s occupational efficiency and therefore negatively affects the education being delivered. We therefore also aim to develop inclusive educational practices for students with a delay in achieving the set-out norm at schools by providing youth programmes for after school including the social worker that may incorporate and re-enforce learning in a fun engaging way while also focusing on the strengths of these children thereby promoting equal educational opportunities for all. (Modise, 2021)

SDG 1: No Poverty

Poverty is a pervasive issue in communities all over, this stands to affect people’s ability to access basic necessities and healthcare services, we see this most prominently at Denis Hurley Centre where people are homeless living on a day to day plan basis. The effects of poverty are seen to result in other humanity-crushing ends such as crime, substance use, sickness and mental health illness. We attempt to address this goal firstly by integrating into education and youth programmes as mentioned, thereby putting individuals in positions so as to not end up in despair from no sustenance through meaningful occupations such as jobs or leisure. We have also started promoting economic empowerment through vocational training and financial planning in our women’s empowerment and substance use programs. By enhancing job prospects through skills sets and income generation, we have equipped these people who most of the time have little to no hope, be the agent of action to sustain themselves and possibly their families.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Many rural South African communities adhere to traditional gender roles, limiting women's autonomy and opportunity. Occupational therapy can address gender disparities by fostering economic empowerment and promoting gender equality through vocational training and entrepreneurship initiatives. By enabling women to participate actively in economic activities, occupational therapists can help break the cycle of poverty and promote social progress. (Bradshaw et al., 2017)

Through these vocational training and skill building sessions we can address the challenge of gender inequality by equipping women through skill development and promoting equal access to resources. In rural South Africa, traditional norms and gender-based discrimination often also limit women's opportunities. Promoting women's participation in decision-making processes, ensuring access to education and healthcare services, and working against gender-based violence are effective strategies towards achieving gender equality. (Moyo, 2019) We are attempting to educate and break through generational stigma through our involvement in the women’s group, high school, where risk of teenage pregnancy and drop out is so high, but also in the Cato Crest Community where we prioritize and carry out mental health and maternal mental health specifically through health promotion where moms have come forward in not coping due to their injustices and life load.

And now finally, as much as we want to work on the parts of the puzzle people usually lose or don’t look at, naming mostly precipitating factors to barriers in occupational wealth, those that tend to be forgotten in social determinants of health, we must implement our healthcare provision alongside all.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

People in the community often face limited access to healthcare services due to fluctuating financial or personal support, accessibility due to disability, and a broken healthcare system that consists of limited staff and restraints on service provision due to the wide implementation of the medical model. This results in collective poor health outcomes. We aim to contribute to this goal by providing preventive healthcare services through education, promoting healthy lifestyles through the creation of leisure, skill building and support programmes, and addressing common health conditions prevalent through community-based interventions and awareness campaigns, where many individuals can be reached, seen and heard in the company of each other to break the trends, stigmas and stagnancy, ensuring overall well-being is carried out together. An example of this presents in the promotion of good working postures and physical or lifestyle advices we are taking to the women in the soup kitchen as an active living programme to target conditions such as arthritis, blood pressure, carpal tunnel and back pain, using a by the way approach to respect their cultural routines and views while incorporating these principles into what they already are doing.

In conclusion, as we reflect on the Sustainable Development Goals and the intricate puzzle they represent for our future, it becomes evident that we, as occupational therapists, are essential puzzle pieces in this grand picture of progress. Our journey has led us to the heart of community, where we are actively bridging the gaps and shaping ourselves to fit into the broader mosaic of sustainable development.

As we work on these critical aspects of sustainable development, it's essential to remember that healthcare provision must go hand in hand with all other efforts. Together, as puzzle pieces fitting into the larger picture, we can break down barriers, challenge stigmas, and create a brighter, more inclusive future for all. Our journey continues, one piece at a time, towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals and the better community we envision.

References

Bradshaw, S., Castellino, J., & Diop, B. (2017). Women’s role in economic development: Overcoming the constraints. Did the Millennium Development Goals Work? https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447335702.003.0008

Moyo, T. (2019). Achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from the Experience of Selected Countries - Theresa Moyo, Rogers Dhliwayo, 2019. Journal of Developing Societies. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0169796X19845957

Modise, M.-E. P. (2021). Entrepreneurial Leadership in Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development in South Africa. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists. https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.1010680

Wagman, P., Johansson, A., Jansson, I., & Lygnegard, F. (2020). Making sustainability in occupational therapy visible by relating to the Agenda 2030 goals – A case description of a Swedish university. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1080//14473828.2020.1718266

Otekunrin, O.A., Momoh, S. (2019) How far has Africa gone in achieving the Zero Hunger Target? Evidence from Nigeria. Global Food Security 22 (2019a): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2019.08.001

Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals - United Nations Sustainable Development. (2023, May 31). United Nations Sustainable Development. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

Sarkis, S. (2019, March 5). Gender Inequality Led to the Rise of Women Entrepreneurs. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/03/05/gender-inequality-led-to-the-rise-of-women-entrepreneurs/?sh=266396794374

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child-safe-foundation · 9 months

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Best NGO in Mumbai: The Significance of Free Food Donation by Child Safe Foundation

1. Empowering Education for All:

At the heart of Child Safe Foundation’s endeavors lies its commitment to education. The foundation firmly believes that education is the key to unlocking doors of opportunity and breaking the cycle of poverty. With a school dedicated to providing free education to children who cannot afford to attend traditional schools, Child Safe Foundation opens the gateway to knowledge and dreams. By offering quality education, the foundation nurtures young minds, equipping them with the tools they need to build a better future for themselves and their communities.

2. Safeguarding Health and Well-being:

Child Safe Foundation leaves no stone unturned in ensuring the health and well-being of the children it serves. From access to medical care to providing essential healthcare resources, the foundation stands as a pillar of support for families struggling with health challenges. By addressing medical needs and offering preventive care, Child Safe Foundation ensures that children can grow up healthy and strong, ready to face the world with vigor.

3. A Roof Overhead:

Recognizing the vital role of a safe and stable home in a child’s life, Child Safe Foundation extends its outreach to shelter and housing support for families facing homelessness or inadequate living conditions. A secure living environment not only offers physical comfort but also provides the emotional stability necessary for children to thrive and focus on their studies.

4. Nourishing Bodies, Nourishing Dreams:

Child Safe Foundation acknowledges that a child’s growth and development are closely tied to proper nutrition. Unfortunately, many children face the harsh reality of hunger and malnutrition. To combat this issue, the foundation’s free food donation program plays a pivotal role. By collaborating with local businesses, donors, and volunteers, Child Safe Foundation distributes nutritious meals to children and families in need. These meals not only fill empty stomachs but also create an environment conducive to learning, growth, and happiness.

5. Extending a Helping Hand:

Child Safe Foundation goes beyond the classroom and food distribution efforts. The foundation actively engages in donating necessary goods to families struggling to make ends meet. By providing essential items like clothing, blankets, and hygiene products, the organization ensures that children are well-cared for and can focus on their education without the burden of lacking basic necessities.

6. Building a Stronger Community:

Child Safe Foundation understands that empowering children goes hand in hand with strengthening the community they belong to. The foundation actively engages with local residents and community leaders to identify the most pressing needs and address them effectively. By fostering a collaborative spirit and promoting community involvement, Child Safe Foundation not only brings positive change to individual lives but also creates a network of support that uplifts the entire community.

7. Nurturing Emotional Support:

Beyond physical necessities, Child Safe Foundation recognizes the importance of emotional support for children facing challenging circumstances. The foundation invests in counseling services and mentorship programs to help children cope with trauma, build resilience, and develop a positive outlook on life. Through these interventions, the organization strives to create a nurturing environment where children feel valued, loved, and empowered to pursue their dreams.

8. Inspiring Hope and Aspiration:

Every child deserves to dream, aspire, and believe in their potential. Child Safe Foundation serves as a source of inspiration and hope, igniting the spark of ambition in young hearts. By providing a safe and nurturing environment, access to education, and opportunities for growth, the foundation instills a sense of purpose and determination in children, encouraging them to set ambitious goals and strive towards achieving them.

9. Measuring Impact and Celebrating Success:

Child Safe Foundation’s impactful work is made possible by the support of individuals and organizations that share its vision. There are various ways to contribute and be part of this life-changing journey:

Child Safe Foundation’s commitment to child safety, education, healthcare, shelter, and free food donation serves as a powerful testament to the transformative power of compassion and collective action. Through the unwavering efforts of the foundation and the support of caring individuals and partners, countless children’s lives are being touched, nurtured, and given the chance to blossom.

#ngo #ngo donation #ngoindia #ngoaihanganh #child help

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mytikalijabe-30 · 2 months

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Sustainable Development Goals

I, as, an advocate of Sustainable Development Goals wanted to share my knowledge, about it and explain its purpose. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to address a wide range of social, economic, and environmental challenges facing the world today. The SDGs provide a framework for countries to work together towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all people and the planet.

Each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has a specific function in addressing different areas of sustainable development.

No Poverty: To eradicate poverty in all of its forms and dimensions globally.

Zero Hunger: To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Good Health and Well-being: To encourage healthy lifestyles and well-being among people of all ages.

Quality Education: To ensure that all students receive an inclusive and fair education, as well as to promote lifetime learning possibilities.

Gender Equality: To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Clean Water and Sanitation: To ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Affordable and Clean Energy: To ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

Decent Work and Economic Growth: To promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: To build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.

Reduced Inequality: To eliminate inequalities inside and between countries.

Sustainable Cities and Communities: To make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Responsible Consumption and Production: To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Climate Action: To take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Life Below Water: To conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems; manage forests sustainably; battle desertification; and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.

Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Partnerships for the Goals: To strengthen implementation mechanisms and revitalize global partnerships for sustainable development.

The organization I belong we supports all the goals because we believe that every activity we do caters to two to four goals. One of the best activities we have done is Project Booklat which caters the Goal No. 4 Quality Education, Goal No. 5 Gender Equality, Goal No. 16 Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and Goal No. 17 Partnerships for the Goals.

The SDGs have a specific purpose that is important, like providing a universal framework for addressing pressing global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and social injustice. They serve as a roadmap for countries, organizations, and individuals to work together towards common objectives. They also recognize that sustainable development encompasses economic, social, and environmental dimensions. By addressing these interconnected issues simultaneously, the SDGs aim to achieve balanced and holistic development that benefits both people and the planet. It set ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030, providing a long-term vision for sustainable development. This encourages governments, businesses, and civil society to adopt strategies and policies that promote long-term sustainability and resilience. Also, the SDGs require collaboration and partnership among governments, businesses, civil society, and other stakeholders. The SDGs provide a platform for fostering partnerships and mobilizing resources to support sustainable development efforts. In conclusion, the SDGs represent a shared vision for a better future and provide a framework for collective action to achieve sustainable development for all people and the planet.

As part of the youth, we need to play a vital role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Youth are the spearheads of social movements and activism, advocating for positive change in their communities, they are the agents of change. Youth also represent a significant portion of the global population, and their voices need to be heard. They should be engaged in policy discussions, planning, and decision-making, ensuring that their perspectives and concerns are taken into account. They also have the potential to raise awareness and educate their peers, families, and communities about the importance of the SDGs and their role in achieving them. Through education, advocacy, and outreach activities, youth can promote greater understanding and commitment to sustainable development principles. One of the most important roles of youth is to be adept at using digital platforms and social media to mobilize support, raise awareness, and advocate for causes they believe in. Digital advocacy campaigns and online activism can amplify youth voices and mobilize collective action towards achieving the SDGs. The active participation and engagement of youth are essential for realizing the vision of sustainable development and creating a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous future for all. Their energy, enthusiasm, and commitment make them valuable partners in achieving the SDGs and building a better world.

#youth #united nations #gender equality #quality education #good health #climate action

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relapseprevention · 3 years

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Why Do Addicts Relapse? Know the Triggers

Between 40 and 60 percent of addicts relapse while in recovery from drug addiction, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This means that, for every two people who seek drug addiction treatment or abstain from substance abuse for a period of time, one will relapse. The thought that an addict will still relapse even after treatment makes some people continue with their substance abuse. They feel that there is no need trying to get sober as they might still end up failing. In most cases, though, the brain of an addict convinces them that they are doing the right thing. When one takes drugs, the brain produces dopamine, which controls pleasure. After a long period of use, the brain re-prioritize essential activities such as eating, going to work, and taking a shower, among others. So during recovery, individuals take on a whole new experience of re-training their brain to see healthy living as the new standard for survival. Instead of getting high or using drugs, now it’s time to stay sober and take on a new lifestyle. Doing this can bring up quite an inner conflict for a lot of us. So it’s extremely wise to equip ourselves with understanding: why do addicts relapse, what is it, and how does it happen?

How Does Relapse Happen?

During recovery, an addict might relapse more than once. Sometimes, an addict might remain sober (or think they have recovered fully) but then relapse after many years. A good example is when actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment in 2014 after mixing heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine. Before his death, Seymour claimed he had been sober for 23 years.

Like other chronic diseases that recur after treatment, addiction (as well as mental health disorders) take a lifelong health “management” role. Put simply, addiction is considered a brain disorder where an individual convinces themselves to engage in compulsive drug use despite knowing the harmful effects. It’s not always so realistic to say to an addict, “just stop using”. Several factors can cause a relapse. Most of these factors might be extrinsic, but in most cases, the motivation to go back to substance abuse stems from within.

What Causes an Addict’s Relapse?

After going through treatment programs, people expect to go back to their normal lives free of drugs. But that is not always the case seeing as sobriety is not guaranteed. The end of rehab sometimes means going back to an environment where an addict once used drugs. The reality of this environment, along with certain people, or things can evoke emotions and memories that bring the urge to abuse drugs. The duration of addiction influences an addict’s likelihood of relapse. For instance, an addict recovering from a lifetime of alcohol use is likely to relapse than one recovering from a year or two of frequent binge drinking. The factors that contribute to relapse rates, triggers, and recovery vary. When an addict yields to triggers, relapse is more prone to happen. To manage these triggers, an addict needs to seek aftercare services.

What Are Triggers?

Triggers are feelings, thoughts, emotions, situations, things, places, or relationships that literally “trigger” an urge to go back to drug use. Triggers can happen randomly, without expectation, even after so many years of abstinence.

For instance, running into someone from your drug days who is still using the drugs can bring up unwanted memories that inspire intense drug craving. Or driving past your favorite bar while visiting your hometown can result in the curios temptation to check it out “one more time”.

To avoid the most common relapse triggers, many people use the acronym: HALT:

Hungry

Angry

Lonely

Tired

People in recovery need to avoid extreme hunger, anger, loneliness, and tiredness.

Other relapse triggers include:

stress

insomnia

anxiety or depression

physical illness

certain social events

friends who negatively impact your recovery

peers, coworkers, or unfavorable individuals

life crisis

emotional events

anger issues

major life changes, such as moving

Being aware of your biggest triggers is crucial in recovery. Addicts relapse generally when they feel an aspect of life is out of their control and they close off to the support in their lives. Therefore, it’s incredibly helpful to understand where to turn to if any of these things feel extra heavy on your process.

Maintaining Treatment Plans After Rehab

Treatment does not stop after rehab. A patient needs to continue with withdrawal relief medication if necessary, and attend therapy once in a while. Many years after treatment, the patient still needs to avoid triggers, like staying away from friends who do drugs and building their social lives around other sources of fun. When an addict takes the right conscious steps towards recovery, they increase their chances of maintaining sobriety for a lifetime. A treatment plan after rehab provides the care a patient needs to prevent a relapse. The plans include cognitive behavioral therapy and 12-step education, both of which ensure the addict avoid triggers that will result in relapse. Many addiction treatment centers have an aftercare service and follow up with their patients to ensure they do not relapse.

Sober Living and Supportive Community

Sober homes are effective in helping addicts deal with life after rehab. According to research published on the US National Library of Medicine Journal, Oxford House in Illinois has found great success in handling patients after rehab. Oxford House operates as a non-profit organization that runs sober homes in different parts of the US, among other countries. Those recovering from substance use disorders run the homes – they help each other like in AA meetings. After six months, new officers get elected to run the homes. According to the study, patients who completed their treatment at Oxford House were less likely to relapse compared to those who used conventional aftercare services. The patients in the study were tracked for 24 months, after which they showed significantly lower rates of substance abuse. After treatment, a patient needs a strong support system while staying sober. Immediate assistance needs to come from family members, friends, peer mentors, work colleagues, support groups, and recovering coaches. This group of people helps the addict in challenging times, and they are there to prevent triggers.

Other Warning Signs and Triggers

Several internal and external triggers can lead to an addict’s relapse. Any circumstance that recreates a situation that leads to addiction is likely to cause a relapse. Other factors that can cause a relapse to include: Fatigue: When one is stressed mentally or physically, they feel fatigued, and this can affect their everyday tasks. When the stress is too much, one feels the urge to numb the fatigue with alcohol or drugs. Depression: Depression will likely occur with or after addiction. During a period of depression, a person tends to oversleep, they lose interest in activities they once thought were fun, and they have difficulties focusing. If an addict recovering from substance abuse experiences depression, they will likely try drugs to find relief. Physical Pain: Alcohol numbs the pain. According to studies, reduction in physical pain reduces the chances of relapse after alcohol treatment. Dishonesty: Failure to express feelings such as anger and resentment can lead to relapse. People recovering fail to express their feelings and instead make excuses for tasks not accomplished and when they are frustrated by other people. As a result, these feelings trigger a relapse. Self-Pity: When one is recovering from substance abuse, they might pity themselves since they cannot attend some social events or go to the bar with friends. When an addict feels sorry for themselves, or they dwell on the negative impacts of fighting addiction, they might re-seek comfort in drugs. Idleness: If one is unemployed, lack hobbies, or feels bored, they have no money and spend most of their days idle at home, they might relapse to drugs. Research found that risky drinking is more prevalent among the unemployed.

Conscious Commitment and Mindful Activities Help Prevent a Relapse

In most cases, recovery takes years. While an addict can go to rehab and come out after six months, the recovery process does not stop there. To achieve lifetime sobriety, an addict needs to stay committed to the process consciously. During recovery, the patient needs to attend counseling and meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. According to a 2014 study published in JAMA Psychiatry, mindfulness-based programs such as meditation help reduce the chances of a relapse. When combined with traditional mindfulness prevention programs, such as recognizing triggers, these methods are more effective in keeping an addict sober.

Addiction Relapse and Social Stigma

To an addict, addiction is a private affair, especially among celebrities. Generally, addiction is stigmatized, and this stems from the fact that most people misunderstand addition. When someone is addicted, the brain prioritizes drug use to survival. When the need to use drugs supersedes a person’s survival instincts, a person risks their life just to use drugs. While people will see using drugs as a way to express problems in the family and at work, addiction is a disease that most people want to get out of but can’t.

Preventing Relapse

Addiction is irrational. An addict might lose their physical health, mental health, their job, family, friends, and everyone they care about, but the drug will still pull them back. The drug does not care about the consequences. As such, besides the addict doing everything to prevent a relapse, those around them need to offer a strong support system to help them avoid triggers and find them a replacement for the drugs. An addict may not handle a relapse on their own, seeing that their addiction works against their efforts. If you need help with addiction, get help today. Or if you feel a desire to relapse, reach out to a professional in your community.

Call Opus Health today at 949-264-0191.

#relapse prevention #drug addiction #alcohol addiction #addiction treatment

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rivkahstudies · 5 years

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do you have any advice for a high school senior who wants to make the most of their last year of high school? asking for a friend :)

hi darling! I think the things I remember most from my senior year (though it was only two years ago that it started) can be summarized in, “crazy busy, crazy stressful, but at times, crazy fun.” Here’s to making the most of it, and maintaining health while you do so!

This is going to be combination masterpost and advice post, because I’ve accumulated a lot on this subject and I have a loooot to say.

Also this is heavily based off of the assumption you’re pursuing higher education, but some of these things still apply/can be tweaked.

table of contents:

i. academics

ii. social life

iii. personal health

i. 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓬𝓼

a. grades

They’re important for your future if your plan is to go to college or academy, but they’re not the whole world. (see social life and personal health)

I’m not a big fan of the “3-to-1 rule” or other such things that tell you “study for this amount of time no matter what” because it’s important for you to understand what comes naturally to you and what you need further clarification on. Some classes are going to take up less of your time than others.

The best you can do on a given day isn’t necessarily 100%. Sometimes your best that day is 90%, 80%, 60%. “try your best” isn’t “your best ever” so don’t push yourself for 100s every time for the expense of categories ii and iii.

A lot of people (at least in places like where I went to high school) who are hung up on the stress of competition and the need to be The Best™ are going to ask you for grades. It’s going to be everywhere. Assignment grades, test grades, SATs, ACTs, (if you’re not in the US, the equivalents of your state, regional, or national standardized tests), entrance exams, et cetera, et cetera. I know it’s tempting to fall into the anxiety of whether you measure up, but here’s a quick tip: even if you think you did well/above average, you can keep it private. It infuriated my classmates when I wouldn’t share, because I was comfortable with how I competed with myself and didn’t care what my peers thought of my scores.

When you’re someone as dedicated to studying as I am, you might get a lot of “oh, you got that grade because you’re you” (the underlying implication being that it’s natural or the work is easy for you, which was not the case for me) or “ha! I got higher than (name)! I measure up!” This is a lot of their own biases and insecurity talking and the best way not to be affected is not to buy into it. Again, this is based on my own experience.

I really cannot emphasize extra credit enough because some of my teachers threw it around like candy and some of them barely drizzled a little in at intervals, but either way it really saved me when it came to rounding my grades up.

It never hurts to have a grade tracker if you’re concerned, you don’t get graded by total points accumulation/have a weighted system, and/or don’t have an easy way to access your grades online throughout the year.

find your study strategy/ies for each class and stick to it/them. It won’t necessarily be the same. I’m a primarily visual learner, and it really, really helps for most things, but I still need rote memorization for subjects with a lot of vocabulary, like medicine or languages.

further resources

studying without notes by @fuckstudy .

prioritizing that crazy to do list (the abcde method) by @eintsein

a comphrensive guide to anki (flashcards online) by @studyingstudent

a stash of tiny study tips by @acalmstudiousfirecracker

and much much more on my #studyref tag.

b. extracurriculars

These I think matter (though I’m biased) more than grades, because they’re what shape you and your experience. Most of the students at my university had grades like mine, but it’s the places I frequented and the people to whom I devoted my time that formed my sense of self. I have so many skills, anecdotes, and ideas that I’ve gained from my extracurricular work.

If you have any you’ve stuck with since early in high school and you still like, keep ‘em. Quality over quantity. Show jobs or universities you can be dedicated and disciplined, and have stamina to see projects to the end. (I was in 7 and held leadership positions in 4 and it was probably part of the reason why I spent all of senior year on three hours sleep… besides my IB classes of course.)

If you’re not pursuing college immediately or at all (or even if you are), participate in ones that pull you out of your comfort zone and teach you something new.

ii. 𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮

Treat this category as you would anything else in your schedule–requiring time and being a significant priority. Not always at the very top, but still demanding its own attention.

See friends outside of school, for however long or short a period, at least once every week to two weeks. This can include extracurricular time if you’re pressed.

Schedule time with your family (especially if their lives are also cluttered and hectic) do something dynamic, and also something separate that’s relaxing. One week your family time might be reading in the same room and having gentle conversation or a family dinner; the next might be going out to the movies or taking a hike together. It can be easy to feel taken for granted or to take family for granted.

By the way, this includes “chosen” family if you’re not on great terms with some/all of them. I have experience with this too.

Get. Out. Of. The. House. This plays into “personal health” too! You need a change in rhythm/routine and exposure to the outside. Especially in your winter season.

I’m one of those people who has to have things scheduled way in advance, so family/curfew/etc permitting, do something a little bit spontaneous, say with only a few hours or a couple days notice. It will make you feel more alive if you’re in a stressful slump.

Communication is really important, especially if you’re stressed. Don’t be afraid to tell people “I am sensitive/hyperreactive to X because Y is putting me on edge right now” or “this triggers X insecurity because I’m anxious about Y.” This goes doubly if you’re struggling with mental illness. Talk to someone you trust. (See “personal health.”)

Don’t give in to peer pressure if you’re spent the time you need with friends and have to excuse yourself for other responsibilities. Balance!

No is equally as important to respected as Yes, no matter what the case.

Respect boundaries but invite people to challenge their comfort zone at their space.

Don’t be broken up if a romantic relationship doesn’t last. It’s senior year. Everything’s changing. Let it.

Also, please don’t be like me and let your summer/your school year be eaten up with relationship drama. I thankfully ended a difficult relationship early (late September) so it wasn’t a huge issue, but I watched people close to me struggle with while also battling the stress of the year.

iii. 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱

mentally

If you’re struggling with mental illness, be aware of your own limits and pace yourself.

Sometimes we feel dull because we need to break routine/stimulate ourselves in a new way. You should have a structure/routine, but it should be flexible enough for you to adapt to changes and listen to what your mind and body are telling you.

The path to self-love must first begin with self-acceptance. If you struggle with self-image or self-esteem issues, you can’t build positivity off a foundation of negativity. You must first level it to neutrality.

Perform check-ups with yourself. This may be in the form of meditation, a diary, therapy, etc. None of these things are a “last resort” but rather a healthy part of building good mental habits.

physically

Exercise! You don’t have to be a star athlete to bring about the benefits. Even a 15 minute jog, 30 minute walk/hike, or 10 minutes of stretching can give you benefits.

On that note! Take! Frequent! Breaks! And please, please google stretches for certain body parts like hands if you do repetitive motion like drawing or writing for a long period of time! You don’t want to push yourself!

Listen to your body and don’t ignore pain, hunger, nausea, fatigue, etc. Respond patiently and with what’s appropriate.

Don’t forget about diet. It’s easy when you’re busy to reach for the quick and nutritionally poor snacks/meals, but it’s really important to set aside time to cook/meal plan or even just throw together a quick snack tray of fruits/crackers/cheeses/etc. It doesn’t have to be instragrammable but you should have a balanced diet that factors in your specific needs, if you have any restrictions, etc.

Change yo pillow case frequently kids, it does wonders for acne.

I cannot stress enough! To! Stay! Hydrated! My goal is eventually eight glasses a day but my minimum is 4-5. I try to have one every meal, especially in college.

Bedtime is important! But more than that, wake up time is important. If you’re trying to adjust your schedule and can only keep one consistent, choose the time you wake up. Eventually your body will naturally become fatigued for the bedtime to match it. It’s how I turned my sleep schedule from 12:00 AM to 8:00 into 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM over the course of one winter break!

If you’re a morning person, you’re a morning person. If you’re a night owl, you’re a night owl. There’s research now to prove that forcing yourself into a rhythm too extreme for your tendencies can make you feel awful either way.

At the end of the day, you’ve got one goal and one goal only: to look back on this year and be proud of what you’ve achieved and how you’ve grown. You shape your future and choose what matters most in your life!

If there’s anything else you think I’ve missed or you’d like me to cover more in depth/link more posts to, please ask me! I’d be happy to clarify/continue this series! I want to make sure you’re completely satisfied.

#sleepover #annabethofcolor #rivkah answers #my advice #masterpost #high school #high school seniors #studyref

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kidsrkidsvalrico · 3 years

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Kids 'R' Kids talks about self-regulation skills among kids

Self-regulation skills for preschoolers

According to many studies, self-regulation is necessary for the social-emotional and academic success and well-being of a child. It is one of the most important life skills that parents and teachers must work together to build from an early age. Kids ‘R’ Kids Valrico, an educational preschool, shares below certain tips to help develop self-regulation skills in early childhood.

What is self-regulation?

Self regulation is a person’s ability to manage emotions and behavior as per the demands of the situation. This set of skills enables children to inhibit their emotional or behavioral responses and direct their behavior towards a goal. For instance, controlling the urge to hit another child because their demands are not being met is a skill that needs to be slowly built. The ability to resist highly emotional reactions to upsetting stimuli, to calm oneself down when upset, to adjust to a change in expectations, and to handle frustration without an outburst is an important ingredient to living an emotionally stable and productive life. This skill helps to direct one’s behavior towards a fruitful end despite the unpredictability of the world and one’s feelings.

Steps to improved emotional regulation skills

Set an example

Children imitate what their caregivers do. So it is important to be a role model when it comes to emotional regulation. The way parents and caregivers handle daily stress is constantly being observed by the little ones. These are life skills and strategies for coping with problems that children start learning at a very young age.

Help the child recognize stress

Certain situations, environments, and sensations can trigger children and upset them. The reasons could be lack of sleep, hunger, loud noises, crowds, too much screen time, and disruption of routine. Recognizing the reasons that cause excessive stress to a child can help create awareness and empower the child as well as the caregiver by preparing them. Challenging behaviors such as whining, defiance, or emotional meltdowns can be prevented or mitigated if there is clarity on the triggers. This discovery of emotional triggers is also a common anger management activity for kids.

Physical signs of emotions

Emotional triggers can make children feel “out of control” and cause anxiety in its wake. But teaching a child to recognize their emotions, especially in the way they show up in their body helps to create self-awareness. The way emotions manifest in the body such as sweaty palms, racing heartbeat, and restlessness can be identified and checked before they take over completely.

Educate on emotional intelligence

Besides identifying the physical signs of certain emotional triggers, it is important to name the emotion. Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s emotions and the emotions of others.

An emotional vocabulary goes a long way in helping a child identify emotions and working through them. Visual tools can help children through early elementary ages to learn to manage their emotions.

Coping together

Once an emotion and its triggers are identified, children need help with discovering healthy and productive outlets for these intense emotions. Every child’s unique nervous and sensory system means that the self-regulation trick would also be unique and will evolve. This requires some trial and error but it is worth exerting this effort. Some children may require physical touch when they are upset while some may resist it. Some children calm down in their own particular space while others need their caregiver’s company.

Generally, young children are physiologically helpless to calm down by themselves. Another effective approach to expanding a child’s emotional regulation skills is to practice co-regulation. This is active participation in helping a child deal with anger and other intense emotions by being present with them.

Mindfulness and breathing practice

There is an undeniable connection between the body and mind. Besides maintaining consistent routines, mealtimes, and bedtimes as well as building healthy habits, caregivers can teach children the importance of breath. Research proves that deep, mindful breathing can calm the nervous system. Research on mindfulness shows that it strengthens the prefrontal cortex and one’s ability to regulate emotions and behaviors.

Simple mindfulness practices can help maintain a low baseline of emotional arousal in children. This calming strategy can also be used anywhere, anytime to help them manage their emotions and maintain their calm.

Why Kids ‘R’ kids?

The philosophy of “Hug First, Then Teach”, defines every aspect of what Kids ‘R’ Kids, Valrico stands for. Unlike many daycare centers or childcare providers, its methodology is a whole-child approach. It constantly strives to strengthen and encourage every child’s emotional, intellectual, social, and physical well-being through the expertise of its childcare providers and a unique partnership with parents.

Kids ‘R’ Kids International is accredited by AdvancED®, the world’s largest education community, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS/CASI). SACS/CASI is an accreditation division of AdvancED®. This accreditation ensures that the high accreditation standards are met and exceeded.

Contact Information:

Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academy of Valrico

4321 Lynx Paw TrailValrico, FL 33596United States

Ben Fernandes(813) 657-6200http://www.krkvalrico.com/

from Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academy of Valrico https://kidsrkidsvalrico.blogspot.com/2021/09/kids-r-kids-talks-about-self-regulation.html

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isicericart-blog · 6 years

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The Cure

Prologue:

Near the middle of the 21st century food production reached an all time high, but malnourishment was still an awful truth for those who lived in poverty. Dr. Shelly Anko addressed starvation in a way that the ‘free market’ couldn’t subvert for profit, a hope for people getting the nutrition they needed. She developed Symbioglobulin, a more specialized version of ImmunoglobulinA that focused on its ability to regulate gut microbiota making them both more symbiotic with their human hosts and more symbiotic with each other. This adaptive system enabled even the most virulent strains of bacteria and fungi to be integrated into the microbiome and supply nutrition. With Symbioglobulin it became possible to meet an average human’s needs with less than 5% as much food.

Along with Symbioglobulin, she also cultivated a new kind of fat cell. AdipocyteB could handle containing even the most toxic of substances, making overdose toxicity impossible. These otherwise toxic substances were put to use by advanced protein folding tools in Symbioglobulin, enabling internal creation of things like graphene to enhance muscle, bone, nerves and more. This ability to get value out of things which were otherwise toxic reduced waste output to essentially nothing. The processes at play prompted frequent voluminous belching to release the non-toxic minimally useful byproducts. Since Symbioglobulin had way too many syllables to be communicated to the masses, this new way to avoid malnutrition and be immune to food based pathogens was simply known as “The Cure”.

The Cure was spread through belches, a resilient way to insure that people’s needs were met without market pressures putting a price on a pill. Despite extracting enough nutrition to deal with the body’s needs, this did nothing to address experience of hunger. Just because someone could now survive off only a small bowl of rice for a month didn’t fix the pain of hunger. Ghrelin, and Neuropeptide Y ran wild without a hint of Leptin in sight. Despite this flaw in The Cure’s functionality, people in first world nations were pretty excited about the concept of being immune to foodborne pathogens.

When The Cure was brought back to nations abundant in food, its impact was more extremely visible. The increased ability to gain nutrition from food and abundant access to food made the weights of those infected with The Cure increase dramatically. They had vastly superior health, but the forces of fat-phobia didn’t let that slow oppression down one bit. As more people were Cured, more of the population witnessed how so much infrastructure they had taken for granted wasn’t accessible to people of size. The power structure had no interest in adapting to meet people’s needs and as average weights doubled then quadrupled, infrastructure was useless for serving the needs of the growing populace.

The majority of government powers appealed to their wealthy donors that this was an emergency, new infrastructure was a necessity for society to keep functioning. When it came time to vote, infrastructure spending was slashed and subsidies were given to the top 1%. The attempt to have a better embodied experience of life was demonized by the power structure, saying those that used The Cure to fix their health challenges were weak of will and didn’t deserve infrastructure that served their needs. In order to more effectively demonize these people that now made up the majority of the population, those in power attached to the status quo engineered the Predator Pathogen. It skyrocketed the appetites of those it infected and expanded their capabilities to handle swallowing prey larger than themselves whole. It could sneak through the immune systems of The Cured because it didn’t actually do anything harmful to the body, just functioned as a catalyst for increased capability and behavioral change. The image portrayed in the media was that The Cured were human eating monsters, to be feared, despised and hated. As time passed, more people contracted The Cure and the Predator Pathogen and weight continued to increase.

Vehicles, buildings, and devices that were very day necessities were no longer available at scales that met the needs of the people. This became incredibly problematic when production of vital goods and services died out. The proletariate could no longer operate the tools needed to keep making food, vehicles and computers. Most nations collapsed.

The small Pacific island nation of Ki’Azu was ruled by queen Azaka, a powerless yet beloved figurehead in place to take publicity while parliament did the actual work. Azaka was quite the massive presence both energetically and physically. The engineers of Ki’Azu had been customizing larger infrastructure to meet Azaka’s needs for decades. These engineers had already investigated the challenges of the large and knew how to handle everything from door frames to cell phones to address her needs. While the rest of the world was collapsing, Azaka insured that the needs which had been met for her were also met for her people. Ki’Azu restructured all public systems to meet the needs of all their citizens including those of incredible mass. As an island nation, Ki’Azu couldn't handle their increased need for food. To solve this, they provided their expert skills in rebuilding infrastructure to what had been their biggest mainland trade partner, Cha’Tzien.

Cha’Tzien was the first nation to obtain infrastructure while also having access to lots of land. It became the primary food supplier for a much hungrier world, innovating agriculture through vertical gardening and other scalable systems.With the support of Ki’Azu, they stabilized the world's food supply. The human devouring practices from the Predator Pathogen had wildly unforeseen impacts. Symbioglobulin took in foreign bodies, analyzing their inputs and outputs. Pathogens were the original application, but when applied to complex things like humans, behavioral outputs also end up being integrated into Symbioglobulin. It was able to develop an answer for any element, structure or potentially pathogenic being and built a database based on what has been consumed. When a person was consumed, their symbioglobulin was also absorbed, integrating the way their database understands inputs and outputs.

Predators of people developed this intuitive sense of how things could effectively nourish humans and how to interact with others to modify behavior create greater symbiosis just like they did with pathogens. These beings that devoured others become known as Oracles because of the intuitive knowing they developed. When an Oracle visited a place they found a key person. This person could be a delinquent causing problems, a community leader organizing people, or a mail delivery person. Oracles would find these people who happen to be at ideal nexus points to influence a community and radically bless that person's life. The Oracle taught them lessons they needed to learn, gave them resources they need to have, and connected with them in ways that were nourishing. Oracles supported people in the self actualization process and the communities were blessed with these actualized individuals.

Oracles made all communities better and were a sought after resource, yet there were serious fears around consuming other sapient beings. The people of Cha’Tzien’s religious background was fertile ground for these new capabilities to be cultivated. They believed that people were the impact that's left on the world as the result of all the actions they took during their lives. A special class of religious clergy took on the perspective that the most effective way to have actions which leave positive impact on the world is to participate as Prey for Oracles. They expose themselves to a broad variety of pathogens, chemicals, etc. to build up strong databases in their AdipocyteB and Symbioglobulin with the intention of cultivating a diverse inner system to nourish the Oracle which would consume them. The sum of the Oracle’s actions plus their Prey actions without consumption would have been lower than the actions of them as a combined entity.

Cha’Tzien cultivated a public service supporting those with perspectives that can enable effective Oracle work. They embrace those with personalities that allow them to participate in consuming other people while remaining respectful of Prey and emotionally healthy. Cha’Tzien welcomed these people in so that they may become Oracles in safe and supported ways. Professional Prey get to 'live on' by making the world a better place through the Oracle’s actions. They are the social development devourer center of the world, where those that desire to have massive impact improving the world go to hone their skills and appetites. They invite people in, train them as Oracles, and make the world a better place.

100 years after the collapse Paratzia “Tzia” was born in Cha’Tzien and she knew she would become Prey as long as she could remember. She grew up in Appo, the religious capital of Cha’Tzien, it wasn’t exactly known as a space for children and she grew in the strangeness of this existence. There were only three other students in her class, and each got the time and attention needed to flourish. In an environment surrounded by Oracles, life was kind. All kinds of support falling into place wherever her life could become more blessed. She spent most of her development running around doing errands for the devout Prey, grabbing everything from uranium to krocadil for those who needed to build their inner libraries to cultivate themselves as nourishing meals. Future Prey and Oracles traveled in from all over the world and Tzia learned exceptionally basic forms of dozens of languages, able to help people with directions, and generally figure out what’s needed. She was so well regarded in the Prey community that she even developed the nickname “Heaven’s meal”, an honoring of the truth that before even studying at the academy she was considered the finest prey in the world.

Developing life in such a unique situation gave Tzia a perspective that enabled her to be blessed with the role of oracle. This came as a serious shock to Tzia when despite getting a perfect score on the entrance test to be accepted into the Prey Academy, she was turned away. She was told that she had the correct perspective to become a truly great Oracle. This turned everything she had learned on its head. She knew that the Oracles often had a way of knowing what would work out, so despite her uncertainty, she took the dive and enrolled as an Oracle.

Tzia was a massive woman. At 5’10” and 19,083 pounds, she already had the figure of an Oracle before any training! Her strong muscular core absolutely drowned in an ocean of fat, giving her incredible width and depth. To move at such an extreme size she learned the Oracle technique to stay mobile, flowing. Flowing was when a being moves in alignment with the waveforms traveling through their fat, accumulating power for motion, setting the massive body cascading like an avalanche. Tzia could gently shift her oscillation to adjust the angles and speeds of the crashing waves of flesh to keep her adipose abundance moving with her core. When entirely still it could be up to a minute before Tzia really got going because of her awe inspiring mass. For most of her days she was in constant motion, her neutral hip sway was like a grounded hover to keep herself ready for action. Her fat distribution was absolutely lovely, stretching out her rich gold, olive-splashed skin into a flowing lake in all directions. Her feet and legs dramatically taper, the stretch mark covered rolls of her massive thighs reaching the ground on every side. Such huge thighs were necessary to support hips over 16 feet wide, supporting her enormous stomach that surged across the ground and her many rolls of back fat. Her shoulders start a beautiful cascade, dripping as a liquid testament to just how much she’d consumed, a symbol of her power and capability. Her upper arms were each wrapped in thick roll that made a divot multiple feet deep where it intersected her elbow. She often wears simple grey robes which always seem many sizes too small, more like a capelet accenting her back, bits peeking out between her rolls. Tzia’s eyes are brown curious orbs that react with a terrifying awareness and reaction speed. Those skilled at reading emotions often see her react before events even happen, but she’s actually reacting to the conflux of factors that lead to the event in the first place. Her hair would be mid-back length if the path it had to go was straight down, but because of the depth of her neck and back it barely makes it to the top of her shoulders. She has five solid chins that are all incredibly expressive exaggerating and broadcasting her emotions to all who witness her.

Tzia has brought so many things into her system, studied and grown in so many unique situations that she’s very adaptable. She oscillates between polar confidence expressions. Sometimes she flows from a place of deep humility, having witnessed many truly great oracles that show even at her incredible scale, she’s but a grain of sand amongst stars. She knows that no matter how impressive she seems that there are always bigger fish in the ocean. She can also express supreme confidence. This isn’t arrogance on her behalf, she’s very aware of her skills and which tasks have success rates near 100%, unwilling to apply false modesty when it’s unnecessary. Lots of things that would be very challenging for others don’t intimidate her, and she keeps trying until the task is done, or intuition shows a better path. Tzia deeply respects and loves Oracles, she knew that she’d become a part of one for her whole life, and as she joins new Oracles in training her perspective shifts to be less servile. Now that she’s thinking about the path of devouring from another angle, she actually finds it really empowering and sexy, interested in exploring possibilities with those who feel alignment.

_______________________________________

Chapter 1: Learning and Monsters

Although it was clearly a most blessed and beautiful day, Tzia was still confused by her entire life plan being completely upended last night, denied study at the adjacent Prey academy. She had heavily internalized the messages that she would end up being the pinnacle of prey some day, and finding that her path was different filled her with a tentative curiosity as she shed old beliefs like a snake’s skin. She looked at the broad academy of Oracles with an entirely different perspective, she had known she would be within this space, but never thought it would be in this role. She felt an anxious flutter inside her chest as she pressed a hand to the sliding wooden door. It was still cool from the night, hydraulic support to insure that those of varying strengths had access to this sacred facility. Since it was the first day of a new class, she took the opportunity to share her awareness of where things were. After getting the news last night she prepared, making signs with directions written in each of the languages that new students spoke so that people could find their way through the massive facility.

The Academy of Oracles was obviously designed with large people in mind to even greater degrees than that of the general populace. The building was so wide that it reached the horizon on every side, each of its eight floors reinforced to handle incredible amounts of weight with ease. Even inside it felt more spacious than most outdoor environments with a vastness that felt oceanic in scale. Everything looked classic in design, all the machinery to increase accessibility hidden behind wood and stone. There was a large pack of roombas keeping the floors clean and bright, light bouncing off them. In the warmth of the early morning sun, the space felt open and accessible. Despite being such a huge space, there was an intuitive flow of the architecture that made it easy to find whatever one was looking for, Tzia’s signs only serving as a backup measure.

The rooms beyond the sun’s reach were lit by LEDs in lantern wrappings, a soft ambient light that spoke of a place free of secrets. Tzia briskly flowed to the Honoring Prey orientation where all the new Oracles would get acquainted with exactly what being an Oracle was and why it was important. The room felt like a welcoming cave, natural stone floors with carved pools and rivers flowing through the space providing a gentle background noise before they disappeared through slats in the walls. She was grateful to have arrived before the clamor and confusion of many people being exposed to a new environment. Despite those that were present having clarity, the environment was far from quiet, a constant stream of belches erupted from all over the room! There were sixty Oracles spread out across the room to lead small groups of the orientation, being fully aware that environments where people could ask questions and actually get them answered were far more conducive to learning than just blasting out information and hoping people would integrate what was said. There was free seating so people could go wherever their intuition lead, and connect with the teachers they desired. With each Oracle there were twenty Prey, and everyone was chatting eagerly about training this new batch of people here to make the world a better place.

Finally, the new students started arriving, three hundred in total for 5 students per each Oracle. It was apparent that most of these new people had only ever seen one or two Oracles in their life before, witnessing so many people of such incredible scale was overwhelming, like being an ant among titans. On average the Prey were between the weights of the students and Oracles, with substantial meat on their bones from their own training. Tzia was surprised to witness how tiny these students were, it was amazing to think that these scrawny little things from across the globe would become the next wave of change that this world needed. As people spilled in she made sure to help folks who looked confused or threatened find a space, bringing them to an Oracle whose form of being invited aligned with each student. As the space started to fill, new students saw others already in position and were less confused about what to do and diffusing more naturally, finding suitable Oracles to teach them.

Since English was the common international language, that was the official language of the Academy. Even though all natives of Cha’Tzien were fluent in the language, there were still some differences in cultural understanding. Where most cultures had let the constant belching interrupt conversation, things here were much more harmonious. When someone was speaking if they felt a belch come up they just let it roll through their words and kept going. The English was pretty flawless and the gassy additions added a thick accent which was both strangely alluring and also somehow felt like a more natural way to speak . When others were speaking, if someone needed to belch they’d modulate their tone into a frequency range that increased coherence, so despite the fact that in this room of 960 people having not a single moment of silence, it was still entirely possible to understand what people were saying with perfect clarity. The group nature meant that there was a background of juicy gurgles, sounds softening into each other forming something similar to white noise, but far more harmonious.

Paratzia ended up in a group of 10 with others that had congregated in a carved out hot springs. She was drawn to the group with the most experienced, fattest Prey, the scrawniest of which measuring in at a good 6 tons and the largest at 8. She decided to join this group because she was already friends with all the Prey and began chatting with them excitedly before orientation began. The Oracle dwarfed even these huge women at well over 30 tons, far from the largest of the teaching Oracles, but substantially larger than anyone else in this group. Once the last of the students settled in she began her orientation. “ Welcome new Oracles and esteemed Prey!” She belted out, the appetizing aroma of the whale shark she’d snacked on for fifteenth breakfast booming forth with her words. This put an end to the cross chatting in a way that didn’t feel like oppression, but giving an opportunity for something even greater to be shared.

“Today you continue your journey of making the world a better place. You are here to become Oracles, those who witness the flow of the world and upgrade all forces to greater cohesion. I’m going to start with the most important lesson you will learn in your entire time here.” She gestures to the assorted Prey relaxing in the hot springs. “Without these brave, brilliant women an Oracle is nothing.” She pauses for emphasis, “So, before you do anything to increase capacity or listen in to the wisdom of the Universe, the most important thing you can do is learn to -URP connect with these women from a place of love and respect. Most beings have instinctual fear of those that consume them, in the Honoring Prey classes that I will teach you, you will learn how to conduct yourself in such a way that you are inviting enough to not only overcome this default fear, but offer a new excitement for the opportunity to participate in this blessing. Anyone who isn’t open to learning how to treat Prey with love and respect can leave now.” She offers before punctuating her words with a particularly meaty belch that leaves flesh jiggling throughout the entire room and reinforcing the powerful aroma of her meals.

It was pretty common for Tzia’s immense roles of flab to reach others, however she wasn’t accustomed to them interfacing with those as small as the new students. She hadn’t really given it much thought, personal space in Cha’Tzien had no boundaries against being in physical connection with those nearby, here what was valued was making sure to not cause any harm that may be a byproduct of incredible mass. However when Tzia felt a particularly bellowing rumble shake her side it draws her attention to one of the new students. Did those huge things really come out of this 500 pound pipsqueak? Before Tzia could explore her curiosity further, the Oracle invites “Since none of you are opposed to the proper treatment of Prey, you’re henceforth in Oracle training. My name is Iyaka and you’re group eight of the thirtieth Oracle class. Cha’Tzien subsidizes the lives of Oracles and Prey, within this facility there is lodging, food, services and more. You’ll be staying in house Eight, the lodging there supports up to fifty tons, if you near that range we’ll shift you to more appropriate dwellings. Prey will live with you and cycle so that by the time you’re able to eat them you’ll consistently have your fill and you’ll have cultivated the proper relationship with them rotating through your life” She offers, starting the intensive process of shifting enough that she could start flowing.

Once Iyaka starts moving it’s breathtaking to behold, something beautiful and awe inspiring that feels inhumane to have not witnessed before. The cohesion and elegance of her crashing rolls of felt like the contrasting blessing to counterbalance the chaos of natural disasters. The students and Prey follow Iyaka to House Eight. It has a parallel design to the part of the previous room Tzia had found herself in, with hot springs, rivers, and beautiful stone. Beds were positioned so they were easy to access, but had strategically placed mountainous outcroppings of rock so that people could have privacy if they desired it. Despite accessible privacy, the majority of the space was communally designed so that people could easily connect with one another. There was no distinction between beds for Prey and beds for future Oracles, a reminder that Prey are not inferior, but people, just like the students. It was much quieter here without needing to hear the continuous enormous eruptions of other Oracles in the training hall, but despite the increased quiet it still felt more chaotic. Despite being the noisiest place any of the students had ever been to, the training hall felt serene in some way. All the noises worked together and the huge eruptions of teachers smoothed out background noise to help everything fall into place perfectly.

Iyaka lets out a satisfied “URRRP!” Her short, powerful belch echoing through the massive room. This leads her to smile in warm satisfaction, expression spreading across her massive cheeks out in angelic beauty. “I know a lot of you are accustomed to being one of the bigger people in your home towns and that the contrast of being among Oracles who actually have experience eating can force you to re-examine your world view. Orientation is brief so that you have time to adjust to your new homes and make friends with the people here. Remember that the path of the Oracle is to be friends with all, get to know the people living with you and remember, you’re here to make the world a better place. If you have questions about anything feel free to ask any of the Prey or Paratzia.” She pauses for a moment gesturing to Tzia who don’t seem at all phased by being singled out or related to the Prey in that way, embracing the truth that she has awareness that can help her fellow students. She waves, making sure to make eye contact with each other student, letting them know that it’s safe to talk to her and that she is here to support. Iyaka starts to flow out of house eight, mentioning over her shoulder, “Along with answering questions they also know delicious places to eat around here.” She teases playfully as she leaves, leading to a scramble of new students who hadn’t eaten in an entire hour and forty five minutes scrambling to talk to various Prey and get that situation sorted out.

The powerful pipsqueak who Tzia heard earlier comes to ask her for guidance in finding food. Tzia beams a welcoming smile back at her. She nervously asks, “H-hi, I’m Simone. would you please, Urrrp, show me where to get food?” Tzia does a little shuffle with her hips so her fat is more side oriented than depth oriented as it jiggles back and forth, freeing space for Simone to get closer to her. When Simone belched mid greeting Tzia doesn’t exhibit any of the disgust or disdain symbols that were prevalent in Simone’s homeland. Tzia is momentarily surprised, but it does nothing to shake her warm and inviting nature as her hips jiggle hypnotically with the side to side motion. Instead of chastising Simone’s eruptions Tzia giggles, “Don’t worry, you don’t need to show off here, we respect people of all sizes and know that big Oracles come in small packages.” She respond, not only did she not think it was gross, she was actively impressed with Simone’s eruptions. Tzia respond with a huge encouraging rumble of her own, my shifting stomach gurgling with a gaseous gurgle with the bewitching beauty of a geyser about to erupt. “ORRRRRRRRRRRRRP! UAAPeeeorrrrRRRRRRRP. Urrp, urp Buap, BORRRRP.” Despite not being an Oracle yet Tzia most certainly belched like one! The intriguing tones of the eruptions were immersive, when she belched just for the pleasure of it all her eruptions were worlds of their own, bassy soundscapes that swirl through a narrative of pressure, release, and satisfaction, resonating the entirety of Simone’s flesh with those feelings. Tzia’s belches are so big that even the desperate pleas for food from many students stop momentarily as people just stare in awe. Despite the six beefy blasts, she barely pays notice to them, idly flicking her wrist as if to dismiss them. Her voice is cheerful with a hint of seductive allure to it in response to Simone’s own eruptions, “Welcome Simone! It’s lovely to meet you, I’m hungry too, let’s grab some seventh breakfast!”

Tzia grabs Simone’s hand and flows off, the rest of the classmates still gaping at the powerful sensations that accompanied those eruptions. There’s a food court staffed by religious devotees who were not prey, but still wanted to contribute to the nourishment of Oracles. There were all kinds of cuisines and Tzia had a good friendship with everyone who worked there. She offers, “Since I was given the opportunity to become an Oracle I made a personal vow to never eat another dead thing again. So I’ll only partake of the living stuff they have at that final eatery, but feel free to enjoy whatever aligns with you!” Gesturing to some of the amazing aromas wafting over from each restaurant. Despite her personal vow, she expresses no hint of judgment as she shows off the wonderful opportunities! There was an incredibly broad array of things available, and the quantities were intimidating. First there was Japanese cuisine, serving a bowl of Udon that looked more like a bathtub than a menu item. Then there was Shanghainese cuisine with endless xiao long bao steaming, their pork soupy aroma mixing with that of the Udon. Then there was some more Western diner food that had a platter displayed in front with 3 dozen eggs, fifteen pounds of chicken fried steak, many biscuits smothered in gravy, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, macaroni salad and so much more. These were only the first few of dozens and dozens of eateries.

While starting to gesture to the fiftieth place down Paratzia looses a big rumbling, “BUAAAAPP! Mmmmm that was good.” She groans out, the powerful smell of my seafood meals carrying a powerful sense of life with it, just witnessing the loud wet belch brought a rush of endorphines, feeling of movement, and witnessing of a deep power. She appends, “If you want to eat what I’m eating we’re going down there.” she continues her gesture, other hand slapping her incredibly adipose gut as it growls expectantly. The slap sets off a myriad of waves across her massive form as she licks my lips, mouth open, gaseous after shock burps blasting forth every few seconds as she gets to re-taste the flavor of her sixth breakfast. It was very obvious that she was a woman who loved belching, but her eruptions instead of being violent were powerfully inspiring, alluring and inviting, like a neon sign pointing to the truth that there’s so much more to learn.

As Simone get massive trays of wonderful food, every person working there treats her wonderfully. All the chefs and servers are friendly and inviting, happy to give her as amazing of an experience as they can. Each dish is prepared with compassion as if for a lover, despite being massive and full of many elements, the meal feels incredibly intimate, each part like a poem crafted with the consumer in mind. It felt like the kind of omnipresent love some experience at religious institutions and other deeply communal activities. In many ways it was an act of sacred service for those involved, creating food as if for a deity, each element of cooking ritualized in a way to bring it depth, power and passion. Each delectable morsel that buried an enormous serving slab was well executed and felt catered for royalty. Despite this act of service there was none of the standard behaviors that often come with the power imbalance of serving someone’s needs. The chefs and servers were more than happy to look Simone in the eye and address her, not as a superior or inferior, but just as a person worthy of care.

There were live sea creature troughs with a high nutrition bait in them that broke down into small particulate floating out into the open ocean through an underground cavern, bringing in many animals. Because of global climate change, the most common sea life of substantial size were Humboldt Squid which had taken over both the Pacific and Atlantic. Bait attracted the squid and the squid was a satisfyingly massive meal that was great to consume. Since there were such massive numbers of the squid, even with incredible needs of a hungry populace they were a great food source. Where most would cook them up in a variety of ways, Paratzia’s vow of life meant she needed alternative approaches to these 4 foot long behemoths of the sea. She went into a larger dining area of water where the squid could roam freely, taking time to meditate in prayer and align herself with the squid. Although they weren’t human like Prey, they needed to be treated with respect as well for the gift they provided. Nutrition, another day of life.

As Simone looked around her enormous food covered slab, she observed the behaviors of the squid change as Tzia enters a trance-like state of gratitude. They curiously approach, swimming along the creases of her rolls, arms drifting along them. There was a combination of tension and serenity as her belly loosed an incredible growl, it rumbled up through the water, gut visibly quaking with the intensity of its desire for food. The squid reacted in a startled but almost mesmerized way, they could tell they would be eaten and fight or flight had kicked in, but it was paired with a kind of acceptance and exhilaration that was absolutely enchanting. As a big woman swimming was a lovely experience, Tzia grappled one of the many armed creatures and stuff it into her mouth, quickly followed by another. The upgrades in her physical durability from Symbioglobulin made even the impacts of their strong tentacles and razor sharp beaks a paltry assault on her enduring form. What would have been able to eviscerate a human back at the turn of the century was just a small section of a greater meal now.

Paratzia absolutely gorged herself on squid, gulping down their long heads and powerful arms. The sight of her throat bulging massively with their large forms tautening her many chins as each of these incredible meals went down was beautiful. It became even more apparent when she started devouring multiple at a time. She ate like a force of nature, taking in mouthfuls that were more than the entirety of Simone’s body and gulping them down with a kind of visceral, ravenous beauty so substantial that it was like opening a doorway to a greater world. Tzia’s lips, teeth and tongue all participated fully and despite my passionate action there was a tenderness that could only be witnessed in those with true power. She didn’t use my incredible bulk to tear my teeth into my meal, but to support it, grasp and guide, supplementing its squirming motion with the peristalsis of her throat, the pressure of the back of her tongue, and moving the squid to her belly. The sheer quantity of what she ate was astounding as well! With the first 5 of them she ate more than Simone’s entire mass, but she didn’t stop there, she didn’t stop at 30 or even 60. Other new students gawk as in the course of 20 minutes Tzia polished off 4 shoals of squid, 48,000 pounds in total! Although her belly was already the centerpoint of her frame, seeing it bloated out to over double the rest of her mass made it even more mesmerizing. The squirming motions of squid were visible, the entire surface of Tzia’s belly undulating and writhing with life inside. She was full of bliss, gratitude and squid. There was no mistaking the fact that she loved to eat, and loved being full of life. The new students were gawking, while the chefs and servers kept their cool, but were still impressed with her feat of incredible consumption.

A huge wet gurgle rumbles from Paratzia’s stomach and she knows even that set of belches from earlier will be paltry in comparison with what’s gurgling away in her belly. She checks back in with the new student who had come to her, “Now that I’ve shown you where the food court is, I have a previous commitment to attend, but if you like you can come with.” Simone nods accompanying her. Tzia responds with a smile, giving warm and positive feedback to Simone for exploring new opportunities, giving her shoulder a soft brush with Tzia’s pudgy hand. Her skin is angelically soft and the mass behind it shows the care and precision with which she conducts herself to support instead of flatten the smaller student. She takes Simone through the facility, unlike the orientation space, lodging and food court, the area they go to isn’t quite as easy to find. Tzia flows while Simone walks for what must be three miles of twists and turns through the academy as she explains. “One of my commitments I’ve had for the last decade has been to support Neakiha in her rehabilitation, and I make sure to visit her every day. Just as a warning, she’s the reason for the part of the introduction and class on treating prey with respect.” Tzia offers honestly since the information seems pertinent, but without the judgement that would often be applied to such a controversial figure. Neakiha had been one of the primary people that the media used as a sign that those infected with The Cure were monsters. In the fourth Oracle class, she went on a rampage, consuming over 10,000 people during the 4 months it took to apprehend her, a person who had commited a crime so heinous anywhere else would have been executed, or at least imprisoned for life. Cha’Tzien had no death penalty, focusing on rehabilitation instead of imprisonment.

The duo get to an area marked very clearly, “REHABILITATION” There were no locks or guards, the space was just as clean and beautiful as the rest of the academy, far more luxurious than one would expect a society to put the greatest mass murderer to ever live. Paratzia also seems to not have a terribly somber view of the situation, happily rubbing her gurgling, squirming stomach as it writhes with prey and gas as they approach a room marked. “Space of the Oracle in Darkness” Tzia knocks swiftly, calling in a friendly tone. “Hey Kiha, it’s Tzia, and I’ve brought a new friend, Simone.” The door slides open, and the two enter. The inside of the room is beautiful wood, with one wall of dark wood with thousands of names carved in filled with dark crimson resin. On the opposite wall there are at least quintuple names carved, but filled with a golden resin. Neakiha looks far different from the images the media had put out. Where everything from that era had shown her with a crazed, inhuman look in her eyes, now those same brown orbs look sweet. “Come on in, I’ve got some tea brewing.” She offers with a slight Korean accent. She’s only slightly larger than Tzia is at 13 tons, with long black hair and kind brown eyes. Despite her kindness, she’s aware of her reputation and turns to address Simone directly.

Kiha’s voice carries the air of someone who has had to say this thousands of times before, but a clarity of why it’s necessary that she share. “It’s nice to meet you Simone. You’ve probably heard a lot about me, some of it I’m sure is bullshit, but I’ll confirm the things that were true. A decade ago I hunted through Appo outside these walls and devoured 10,352 people. At the time I felt I was strong and they were weak, the law of the jungle and all of that bullshit.” She begins as Tzia grab herself, Simone and Kiha all enormous barrels of tea, it’s large enough that even glutted Simone could bathe in it, but an aroma of coconut pu-erh rises in tantalizing steam. “I was apprehended by an experienced Oracle from the first class with ease, all that strength I’d acquired from consuming those I found inferior was nothing in comparison to her. I saw that there were still those stronger than me in the world and felt it was my time to end as I had lived, be devoured as I had devoured others. However, she didn’t destroy me, didn’t send me beyond this world, but took me and held me close, rubbing my back. For the first time in my life I didn’t feel like I needed to fight to justify my right to live and I cried. It was so beautiful that someone so clearly had the power to abuse me if they chose to do so, and I knew I deserved it, but they supported and loved me instead. She took me here to Rehabilitation, where I could work out the toxic patterns that lead me to treat others as less than human. That’s how I met Tzia!” She says, voice growing excited at the end, reaching out to grab Tzia’s hand.

“She was expected to be the greatest prey in all of Cha’Tzien, I didn’t know why they’d put such a valuable asset with me after I’d taken such despicable action. Despite getting there in the wrong way I was an Oracle, and my intuition told me Tzia was part of my destiny. I wanted to lash out, to destroy anyone here to help since I didn’t deserve it, I was guilty of ending those people.” before Paratzia interject fiercely, “We all deserve help, those that are unhelped are more likely to cause harm, those who receive the support they need can make better decisions.” She chuckles, “And this is why I needed her, I swear in that first year I tried to eat you what, a hundred times?” Tzia rolls her eyes playfully, “Every day for a year is more than a hundred, but yeah, you’re lucky I was told not to take any bullshit from you.” Neakiha blushes, the warm color spreading across her massive frame. “I’m grateful that for such a peace and love lady you had some fight in you. No matter how many days I tried she’d come in here and sit with me, just someone to talk to who wouldn’t only see me as a monster. She’d known people I ate, but she was friends with plenty of Oracles who ate those she loved. She knew I’d done it in the wrong way, but saw my actions as a mistake instead of as who I was. I only saw that look in the eyes of Oracles, but here I saw this delicious dish who didn’t hate my guts and that pissed me the fuck off. How could she not hate me after what I’d done?”

Tzia retorts, “Because you are a living being, all that lives is worthy of love, from the smallest microbe to the greatest predator. I don’t need to be an Oracle to see this system. How would your mother have felt if we executed you? How would more death honor the sacrifice of those that were lost? Dying doesn’t counter death, the only way to address death is by embracing life.” Neakiha sighs, “Since she was born into all this ‘path of helping the most people’ stuff, she was exactly who I needed to help me realize that although what I’d done was deeply wrong, me suffering wouldn’t make that any better. She encouraged me to start my project.” She references the walls, “Those dark red words are the names of each person I consumed during those 4 months, each person that was lost because my heart and mind were lost in darkness without support. Those names in gold are for each life I’ve saved using the gifts I’ve gained as an Oracle. This is to remind me that no matter what I do, it won’t bring back those that were lost, but it lets their loss contribute to something good.” It’s very obvious the rehabilitation efforts had been remarkably successful, despite her dark past, there was a feeling of goodness that was palpable radiating from Kiha. She hands Tzia a stack of letters, “I use my gifts as an Oracle to send invitations to those who are persecuted in their homelands, I sense those who feel that their only option is to turn to that same violent darkness I did and I tell them other paths for them to be safe, to be loved. I tell them timings for when people will walk by, how to get plane tickets and more. Those that spirit says would die or kill if left alone are given the chance to make better decisions and come to join Cha’Tzien where they can be supported in finding a better path.”

Simone gasped, able to feel the truth in Kiha’s words, fighting the programming in her home society that told her the best way to respond to violence was with more violence. Kiha’s voice took on a powerful and prophetic tone, eyes shifting from brown to a beautiful storm of color and light, “The three of us are a confluence, and through our connection we will bless the world.”

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adalidda · 3 years

Photo

Illustration Photo: Vegetable farmer who uses solar pumps for irrigation in Sayapatri Tol, Budiganga Rural Municipality 7, Morang District of Nepal. (credits: Nabin Baral / IWMI / Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0))

iF Social Impact Prize for SDGs projects in Developing Countries

For Algeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Niger, Benin, The Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Somalia, Central African Republic, Kenya, Chad, South Sudan, Comoros, Lesotho, Tanzania, Congo, Liberia, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Djibouti, Mali, West Bank, Egypt, Mauritania, Yemen, Zambia, Eritrea, Morocco, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Lao PDR, The Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras

The iF SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE aims to publish and support projects that contribute to our society. The prize categories correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. We do not charge any fees. The best projects will be honored with a share prize money of EUR 100,000 in total in 2021.

Publish your project in the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE (for free) and you will automatically compete for the prize in 2021! In addition, your project will reach the global design community through various communication measures by iF.

Categories | The UN Sustainable Development Goals https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere Since 1990, extreme poverty rates have been cut by 50%. But one in five people in developing regions still in live on less than $1.90 a day.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food if we are nourish today's 795 million hungry people.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Sustainable development depends on ensuring healthy lives. More efforts are needed to increase life expectancy.

Goal 4: Quality education Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed for achieving universal education goals.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Equality for women and girls is not only a fundamental human right, it will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies at large.

Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all Due to poor infrastructure, millions of people die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy The goal is universal access to modern energy services, improved efficiency and more renewable sources.

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all The creation of quality jobs will remain a major challenge for almost all economies well into the future.

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Without technology and innovation, industrialization will not happen, and without industrialization, development will not happen.

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries To reduce inequality, policies should be universal in paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Cities enable people to advance socially and economically, but some cities face congestion, a shortage of adequate housing and declining infrastructure.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Responsible consumption and production aims at "doing more and better with less", resource and energy efficiency and access to a better quality of life for all.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent, disrupting national economies and affecting lives.

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss Forests cover 30% of the Earth's surface and are key to combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and the homes of the indigenous population.

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies Conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice remain a great threat to sustainable development.

Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, regional, national and local levels — built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre.

Many countries require Official Development Assistance to encourage growth and trade. Yet, aid levels are falling and donor countries have not lived up to their pledge to ramp up development finance.

Your benefits

If you apply for the iF SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE, you can benefit from many advantages which help to boost your project:

Your application is free of charge. Your project will be published in the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE forever. You can permanently update your projects with new photos, videos and information. Your project will be introduced to a global design community, media and the design interested public. You can win a share of EUR 100,000 in prize money.

Application Deadline: 18 November 2021

Check https://adalidda.com/posts/7LSpQmDpDQGHAwmfm/if-social-impact-prize-for-sdgs-projects-in-developing

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remotecareers · 3 years

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Engineering Manager Remote

Want to build a product that uses data to see and make sense of the future?n If you are a passionate technologist who wants to make an impact working on a product that clients love, we’d want to talk with you.nAt CB Insights, we build products that help clients make sense of the future and drive their businesses forward, using data.

Our system retrieves large amounts of structured and unstructured data, uses scientific methods to extract knowledge and insights from the data and presents the data through a sophisticated dynamic user interface which enables the user to find answers to their most important questions.nAs an Engineering Manager at CB Insights you will lead a high performing team to solve challenging technical problems and coach engineers to meet their full potential.nOur Engineering Managers’ main responsibility is to build and foster a cross-disciplinary team to form the future of our platform, using state-of-the-art technologies regularly shipping high quality code to production.

The ideal candidate not only has technical chops to dive into code, but also has proven ability to provide technical leadership for projects while inspiring a team of software engineers.nThis is a technical and managerial role working across the stack, enabling the team to build beautiful user interfaces, robust services and scalable data processing jobs, while partnering closely with the product and design team and managing stakeholders.

We focus on modularity and reuse where it makes sense while ensuring that there are no constraints to delivering world-class software continuously following a smooth development process.nWe are proud of our collaborative culture where your role evolves with your interests.nIf this sounds interesting to you, reach out and join CB Insights now!n Your Main Responsibilitiesn Build an engineering team that follows agile principles to develop features for our next generation market intelligence platform Coach, mentor, inspire and support a team of 5-7 engineers Partner with Product team to consistently and frequently deliver solutions that are well-engineered, maintainable, tested, and within the agreed upon timeframe Lead by example through hands-on coding, code reviews and sprint planning Collaborate with the product team to understand business requirements and influence technical strategy conversations across the engineering team n What You Bring To The Tablen BS in Computer Science or similar; advanced degrees also acceptable

8+ years professional software development experience with Python, Go, Javascript or other programming languages 2+ years leading an engineering team and managing software engineers Pragmatic approach to technology with a startup mindset Proficiency with modern front-end technologies & micro-service architectures Excellent written and verbal communication skills Exceptional problem solving and analytical skills Strong understanding of development best practices, continuous integration, source control, code reviews Proficiency developing in a Mac/Linux environment Relational database proficiency (e.g.

MySQL, Aurora, PostgreSQL, Oracle) Love for experimentation and learning n What’s CB Insights All Aboutn The CB Insights platform is the smartest way to explore and exploit emerging technologies.

We help the world’s leading companies accelerate their digital strategy and transformation with data, not opinion.

Our Emerging Technology Insights Platform fuses machine and human intelligence to help you discover and manage your response to emerging technology startups and markets.n The Perksn Amazing culture that emphasizes Hard Work, High Standards, Hunger, Helpfulness, and Humility.

Learn more here A newsletter that 650k+ people follow: Sign up here.

Be Healthy: Health with HSA and FSA options, dental, and vision insurance along with unlimited/take what you need sick day policy Plan for the future: 401k with up to 4% match Continued Learning: $1,000 yearly continuing education stipend Rest and Relax: Competitive vacation and holiday plans n We know that diversity makes for the best problem-solving and creative thinking.

We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage everyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.

n Equal Opportunity Employer: CB Insights is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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As such, in compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.

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alivannarose · 6 years

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Laziness Does Not Exist

But unseen barriers do.

[This article was posted on Medium, written by Erika Price]

I’ve been a psychology professor since 2012. In the past six years, I’ve witnessed students of all ages procrastinate on papers, skip presentation days, miss assignments, and let due dates fly by. I’ve seen promising prospective grad students fail to get applications in on time; I’ve watched PhD candidates take months or years revising a single dissertation draft; I once had a student who enrolled in the same class of mine two semesters in a row, and never turned in anything either time.

I don’t think laziness was ever at fault.

Ever.

In fact, I don’t believe that laziness exists.

I’m a social psychologist, so I’m interested primarily in the situational and contextual factors that drive human behavior. When you’re seeking to predict or explain a person’s actions, looking at the social norms, and the person’s context, is usually a pretty safe bet. Situational constraints typically predict behavior far better than personality, intelligence, or other individual-level traits.

So when I see a student failing to complete assignments, missing deadlines, or not delivering results in other aspects of their life, I’m moved to ask: what are the situational factors holding this student back? What needs are currently not being met? And, when it comes to behavioral “laziness”, I’m especially moved to ask: what are the barriers to action that I can’t see?

There are always barriers. Recognizing those barriers— and viewing them as legitimate — is often the first step to breaking “lazy” behavior patterns.

…

It’s really helpful to respond to a person’s ineffective behavior with curiosity rather than judgment. I learned this from a friend of mine, the writer and activist Kimberly Longhofer (who publishes under Mik Everett). Kim is passionate about the acceptance and accommodation of disabled people and homeless people. Their writing about both subjects is some of the most illuminating, bias-busting work I’ve ever encountered. Part of that is because Kim is brilliant, but it’s also because at various points in their life, Kim has been both disabled and homeless.

Kim is the person who taught me that judging a homeless person for wanting to buy alcohol or cigarettes is utter folly. When you’re homeless, the nights are cold, the world is unfriendly, and everything is painfully uncomfortable. Whether you’re sleeping under a bridge, in a tent, or at a shelter, it’s hard to rest easy. You are likely to have injuries or chronic conditions that bother you persistently, and little access to medical care to deal with it. You probably don’t have much healthy food.

In that chronically uncomfortable, over-stimulating context, needing a drink or some cigarettes makes fucking sense. As Kim explained to me, if you’re laying out in the freezing cold, drinking some alcohol may be the only way to warm up and get to sleep. If you’re under-nourished, a few smokes may be the only thing that kills the hunger pangs. And if you’re dealing with all this while also fighting an addiction, then yes, sometimes you just need to score whatever will make the withdrawal symptoms go away, so you can survive.

Few people who haven’t been homeless think this way. They want to moralize the decisions of poor people, perhaps to comfort themselves about the injustices of the world. For many, it’s easier to think homeless people are, in part, responsible for their suffering than it is to acknowledge the situational factors.

And when you don’t fully understand a person’s context — what it feels like to be them every day, all the small annoyances and major traumas that define their life — it’s easy to impose abstract, rigid expectations on a person’s behavior. All homeless people should put down the bottle and get to work. Never mind that most of them have mental health symptoms and physical ailments, and are fighting constantly to be recognized as human. Never mind that they are unable to get a good night’s rest or a nourishing meal for weeks or months on end. Never mind that even in my comfortable, easy life, I can’t go a few days without craving a drink or making an irresponsible purchase. They have to do better.

But they’re already doing the best they can. I’ve known homeless people who worked full-time jobs, and who devoted themselves to the care of other people in their communities. A lot of homeless people have to navigate bureaucracies constantly, interfacing with social workers, case workers, police officers, shelter staff, Medicaid staff, and a slew of charities both well-meaning and condescending. It’s a lot of fucking work to be homeless. And when a homeless or poor person runs out of steam and makes a “bad decision”, there’s a damn good reason for it.

If a person’s behavior doesn’t make sense to you, it is because you are missing a part of their context. It’s that simple. I’m so grateful to Kim and their writing for making me aware of this fact. No psychology class, at any level, taught me that. But now that it is a lens that I have, I find myself applying it to all kinds of behaviors that are mistaken for signs of moral failure — and I’ve yet to find one that can’t be explained and empathized with.

…

Let’s look at a sign of academic “laziness” that I believe is anything but: procrastination.

People love to blame procrastinators for their behavior. Putting off work sure looks lazy, to an untrained eye. Even the people who are actively doing the procrastinating can mistake their behavior for laziness. You’re supposed to be doing something, and you’re not doing it — that’s a moral failure right? That means you’re weak-willed, unmotivated, and lazy, doesn’t it?

For decades, psychological research has been able to explain procrastination as a functioning problem, not a consequence of laziness. When a person fails to begin a project that they care about, it’s typically due to either a) anxiety about their attempts not being “good enough” or b) confusion about what the first steps of the task are. Not laziness. In fact, procrastination is more likely when the task is meaningful and the individual cares about doing it well.

When you’re paralyzed with fear of failure, or you don’t even know how to begin a massive, complicated undertaking, it’s damn hard to get shit done. It has nothing to do with desire, motivation, or moral upstandingness. Procastinators can will themselves to work for hours; they can sit in front of a blank word document, doing nothing else, and torture themselves; they can pile on the guilt again and again — none of it makes initiating the task any easier. In fact, their desire to get the damn thing done may worsen their stress and make starting the task harder.

The solution, instead, is to look for what is holding the procrastinator back. If anxiety is the major barrier, the procrastinator actually needs to walk away from the computer/book/word document and engage in a relaxing activity. Being branded “lazy” by other people is likely to lead to the exact opposite behavior.

Often, though, the barrier is that procrastinators have executive functioning challenges — they struggle to divide a large responsibility into a series of discrete, specific, and ordered tasks. Here’s an example of executive functioning in action: I completed my dissertation (from proposal to data collection to final defense) in a little over a year. I was able to write my dissertation pretty easily and quickly because I knew that I had to a) compile research on the topic, b) outline the paper, c) schedule regular writing periods, and d) chip away at the paper, section by section, day by day, according to a schedule I had pre-determined.

Nobody had to teach me to slice up tasks like that. And nobody had to force me to adhere to my schedule. Accomplishing tasks like this is consistent with how my analytical, hyper-focused, Autistic little brain works. Most people don’t have that ease. They need an external structure to keep them writing — regular writing group meetings with friends, for example — and deadlines set by someone else. When faced with a major, massive project, most people want advice for how to divide it into smaller tasks, and a timeline for completion. In order to track progress, most people require organizational tools, such as a to-do list, calendar, datebook, or syllabus.

Needing or benefiting from such things doesn’t make a person lazy. It just means they have needs. The more we embrace that, the more we can help people thrive.

…

I had a student who was skipping class. Sometimes I’d see her lingering near the building, right before class was about to start, looking tired. Class would start, and she wouldn’t show up. When she was present in class, she was a bit withdrawn; she sat in the back of the room, eyes down, energy low. She contributed during small group work, but never talked during larger class discussions.

A lot of my colleagues would look at this student and think she was lazy, disorganized, or apathetic. I know this because I’ve heard how they talk about under-performing students. There’s often rage and resentment in their words and tone — why won’t this student take my class seriously? Why won’t they make me feel important, interesting, smart?

But my class had a unit on mental health stigma. It’s a passion of mine, because I’m a neuroatypical psychologist. I know how unfair my field is to people like me. The class & I talked about the unfair judgments people levy against those with mental illness; how depression is interpreted as laziness, how mood swings are framed as manipulative, how people with “severe” mental illnesses are assumed incompetent or dangerous.

The quiet, occasionally-class-skipping student watched this discussion with keen interest. After class, as people filtered out of the room, she hung back and asked to talk to me. And then she disclosed that she had a mental illness and was actively working to treat it. She was busy with therapy and switching medications, and all the side effects that entails. Sometimes, she was not able to leave the house or sit still in a classroom for hours. She didn’t dare tell her other professors that this was why she was missing classes and late, sometimes, on assignments; they’d think she was using her illness as an excuse. But she trusted me to understand.

And I did. And I was so, so angry that this student was made to feel responsible for her symptoms. She was balancing a full course load, a part-time job, and ongoing, serious mental health treatment. And she was capable of intuiting her needs and communicating them with others. She was a fucking badass, not a lazy fuck. I told her so.

She took many more classes with me after that, and I saw her slowly come out of her shell. By her Junior and Senior years, she was an active, frank contributor to class — she even decided to talk openly with her peers about her mental illness. During class discussions, she challenged me and asked excellent, probing questions. She shared tons of media and current-events examples of psychological phenomena with us. When she was having a bad day, she told me, and I let her miss class. Other professors — including ones in the psychology department — remained judgmental towards her, but in an environment where her barriers were recognized and legitimized, she thrived.

…

Over the years, at that same school, I encountered countless other students who were under-estimated because the barriers in their lives were not seen as legitimate. There was the young man with OCD who always came to class late, because his compulsions sometimes left him stuck in place for a few moments. There was the survivor of an abusive relationship, who was processing her trauma in therapy appointments right before my class each week. There was the young woman who had been assaulted by a peer — and who had to continue attending classes with that peer, while the school was investigating the case.

These students all came to me willingly, and shared what was bothering them. Because I discussed mental illness, trauma, and stigma in my class, they knew I would be understanding. And with some accommodations, they blossomed academically. They gained confidence, made attempts at assignments that intimidated them, raised their grades, started considering graduate school and internships. I always found myself admiring them. When I was a college student, I was nowhere near as self-aware. I hadn’t even begun my lifelong project of learning to ask for help.

…

Students with barriers were not always treated with such kindness by my fellow psychology professors. One colleague, in particular, was infamous for providing no make-up exams and allowing no late arrivals. No matter a student’s situation, she was unflinchingly rigid in her requirements. No barrier was insurmountable, in her mind; no limitation was acceptable. People floundered in her class. They felt shame about their sexual assault histories, their anxiety symptoms, their depressive episodes. When a student who did poorly in her classes performed well in mine, she was suspicious.

It’s morally repugnant to me that any educator would be so hostile to the people they are supposed to serve. It’s especially infuriating, that the person enacting this terror was a psychologist. The injustice and ignorance of it leaves me teary every time I discuss it. It’s a common attitude in many educational circles, but no student deserves to encounter it.

…

I know, of course, that educators are not taught to reflect on what their students’ unseen barriers are. Some universities pride themselves on refusing to accommodate disabled or mentally ill students — they mistake cruelty for intellectual rigor. And, since most professors are people who succeeded academically with ease, they have trouble taking the perspective of someone with executive functioning struggles, sensory overloads, depression, self-harm histories, addictions, or eating disorders. I can see the external factors that lead to these problems. Just as I know that “lazy” behavior is not an active choice, I know that judgmental, elitist attitudes are typically borne of out situational ignorance.

And that’s why I’m writing this piece. I’m hoping to awaken my fellow educators — of all levels — to the fact that if a student is struggling, they probably aren’t choosing to. They probably want to do well. They probably are trying. More broadly, I want all people to take a curious and empathic approach to individuals whom they initially want to judge as “lazy” or irresponsible.

If a person can’t get out of bed, something is making them exhausted. If a student isn’t writing papers, there’s some aspect of the assignment that they can’t do without help. If an employee misses deadlines constantly, something is making organization and deadline-meeting difficult. Even if a person is actively choosing to self-sabotage, there’s a reason for it — some fear they’re working through, some need not being met, a lack of self-esteem being expressed.

People do not choose to fail or disappoint. No one wants to feel incapable, apathetic, or ineffective. If you look at a person’s action (or inaction) and see only laziness, you are missing key details. There is always an explanation. There are always barriers. Just because you can’t see them, or don’t view them as legitimate, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Look harder.

Maybe you weren’t always able to look at human behavior this way. That’s okay. Now you are. Give it a try.

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perfectirishgifts · 3 years

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Prepare For A Post-Pandemic World: But, First, Feed The Children

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/prepare-for-a-post-pandemic-world-but-first-feed-the-children/

Prepare For A Post-Pandemic World: But, First, Feed The Children

Children may ultimately be the pandemic’s biggest victims

We are now nearly a year into the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus that became a global pandemic and upended life as we knew it.

More than 60 million people have fallen ill worldwide and almost 1.5 million have died. Even so, an increasing number of public intellectuals and social sector leaders are looking to a post-pandemic world. Renowned New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently predicted “When we emerge from this corona crisis, we’re going to be greeted with one of the most profound eras of Schumpeterian creative destruction ever.” J-PAL’s Radhika Bhula and John Floretta, writing in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, posited that “Perhaps one positive outcome of the pandemic is that it will push us to overcome the many remaining global educational challenges sooner than any of us expect.” (I also explored implications of the pandemic on education in two previous articles)

As CEO of a foundation that seeks to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people by multiplying the impact of high-performing leaders and organizations, I also look forward to the opportunities a post-Covid world will present—and encourage social sector leaders to prepare for these. But, even as we anticipate the future, we still have a crisis to get through–the true costs of which are under the radar of a fatigued public.

Top among these is the little-known fact that children may ultimately be the pandemic’s biggest victims. As UNICEF recently explained, while the direct impact of Covid-19 on child and adolescent mortality appears limited, “the indirect effects on child survival stemming from strained health systems, household income loss, and disruptions to care-seeking and preventative interventions like vaccination may be substantial and widespread.”

Undernutrition is the number one killer of children each year

Consider these dismal facts, offered by UNICEF and other UN organizations (writing in The Lancet) including the World Health Organization:

Children are dying—an additional 10,000 each month in the first year of the pandemic, as Covid-related restrictions undermine nutrition services and disrupt food and health systems worldwide.

Wasting, meaning low-weight-for height (and essentially the technical term for life-threatening undernutrition), could strike an additional six to seven million children this year—on top of the estimated 47 million children under five affected by wasting pre-pandemic.

The pandemic’s socioeconomic impact may increase other forms of child malnutrition, including stunting (low height-for-age) and deficiencies in vitamins and other micronutrients that are essential for physical growth and brain development.

Covid-related disruption of immunization programs puts eighty million children under the age of one at risk of diseases like measles and polio.

To put this in context—and learn how the world can address this unacceptable situation—I spoke to two outstanding experts who devote their lives to helping children avoid, or survive, malnutrition: Dr. Víctor Aguayo, Global Chief of the UNICEF Nutrition Program, and William Moore, CEO of the Eleanor Crook Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting global malnutrition.

To start, both told me, it is essential to understand the pre-pandemic situation. “Many people may not realize that in the first two decades of this century we have seen amazing progress on malnutrition,” said Aguayo. “We have reduced by one third the number of undernourished children, which means that today the number of undernourished children is 55 million lower than in 2000, and that is without taking into account population growth.” Moore agreed, saying, “Over a 30-year time horizon since 1990, the world has cut hunger and malnutrition in half, even in spite of major population growth. That’s an amazing accomplishment.”

L-R: Dr. Víctor Aguayo, Global Chief of the UNICEF Nutrition Program; William Moore, CEO of the … [] Eleanor Crook Foundation

But, there is still much work to be done. Indeed, in 2019, one in three children did not get the nutrition they needed, according to UNICEF’s The State of the World’s Children. They suffered, Aguayo wrote, from a triple burden: undernutrition, which is still the number one killer of children each year, and led to conditions like stunting and wasting, reflecting a profound nutritional failure in the first 1000 days of life; hidden hunger, which included deficiencies of vitamins and micronutrients like vitamin A and iron; and overweight and obesity, a problem increasingly impacting children even in poor households and countries.

The pandemic’s onslaught threatened both progress that had occurred and that which was still needed, but the rich world, blindsided by its own problems, has hardly seemed to notice. “There just really hasn’t been much media coverage at all,” said Moore. He continued:

“For folks in the sector, we are watching as everything we’ve accomplished in the developing world over decades just falls apart at a really alarming clip. I think it’s safe to say that it is probably the worst time in decades to be a mother or a young child in the developing world. I mean, it’s never a good time, but things have gotten better for moms and kids in developing countries over the last three decades. And, suddenly, for the first time in modern history everything is really sliding backwards very quickly.”

Severe Secondary Impacts

In developing countries, said Moore, the secondary impacts of Covid-19 are often more dangerous than the virus itself. “The food system disruptions and the health system shutdowns—that’s what’s probably going to have a much greater toll at the end of the day.”

Indeed, lockdowns and other measures meant to mitigate viral spread also disrupted planting, harvest, and trade, which led to price spikes on staple foods. This, explained Aguayo, “put large numbers of children and families at risk of malnutrition and many have had to resort to poorer diets and nutrition practices that are negative to children.” While adults and children alike could suffer from malnutrition, it was children under five—and especially under two—who were most at risk. “That’s when people die from malnutrition,” explained Moore, “and that’s also the period of growth and brain development that’s most critical from a nutritional standpoint.” In addition to mitigation measures, general socioeconomic disruption could send millions of families into poverty and prevent them from feeding their children enough food to be healthy.

Health systems disruptions due to shutdowns, social distancing requirements, and fear also had devastating consequences. “We’ve watched community health systems around the world just go dark,” said Moore. “Community health workers who move from house to house are the lifeline for the world’s bottom billion and all of a sudden most of those routine services are no longer operational.” This included immunization against childhood diseases and distribution of vitamin A to the 250 million young children worldwide who were deficient in it and thus at risk of preventable blindness, severe illness, and even death.

Covid-19 poses devastating secondary impacts on the health of young children

To make matters worse, the universal impact of the pandemic has meant that donor countries are also affected and many are unwilling or unable to increase contributions that would help stave off malnutrition in other countries. “We’re seeing donor dollars more at risk on issues like malnutrition than we’ve seen in recent years,” said Moore, “and we already have a $7 billion annual funding gap for what’s needed to end malnutrition.”

Solutions

Fortunately, solutions are readily at hand—if only the world would muster the will to act.

For starters, said Aguayo, it is essential to see that families have access to minimum diets and to reestablish nutrition services. He elaborated:

“Bring essential nutrition services for children back to normal: protect breastfeeding, promote and support nutritious foods for young children and mothers; and provide therapeutic foods for children who are undernourished; make children go back to school safely so schools can become a delivery intervention for healthy meals, vouchers, micronutrient supplements, and fortified foods.”

This has already started to happen, he added, as a number of countries in Africa and Asia worked to strike a better balance between “protecting everyone against the virus and protecting children against threats that might be deadlier than the virus itself.”

It is also essential to counter fear and misinformation that is rampant the world over. Fear keeps parents from accessing primary healthcare systems and the preventive care their children need. Fake news spreads harmful lies—like the falsehood that the virus could be transmitted from mother to child through breastmilk.

Finally, it is necessary for governments, foundations, and even individuals to contribute to the achievable goal of ending global malnutrition. Said Aguayo:

“Support UNICEF… We build national systems and work with national and international NGOs delivering services to children with the highest risk, often in fragile countries and humanitarian settings; so if you are a philanthropist or even an everyday donor who feels outraged by these figures, and you’re wondering, what can we do—well, support our vision, which is help us deliver a package of essential nutrition interventions to children in the first two make-or-break years of life. These are the children that we need to protect because this is when mortality is happening… most child malnutrition deaths happen to children in the first two years of life.”

The average cost of these essential interventions, added Aguayo, is strikingly low. For an average of $4.70 per child—less than it costs to buy a Starbucks latte—UNICEF and its partners can support the delivery of these essential interventions to millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa for a year.

In July, four UN agencies issued an urgent call to action—“Child malnutrition and COVID-19: the time to act is now”—in which they estimated that at minimum US$2.4 billion is needed to protect at-risk children, prevent and treat malnutrition, and avoid human loss; they also called for four life-saving interventions and five urgent nutrition actions. Moore responded with his own plea, “It’s Time for the Global Nutrition Sector to Finally Act,” in which he praised the call to action but urged that a specific plan be created to back it. Wrote Moore:

“A $2.4 billion funding appeal will not fundraise itself—we need a pledging moment and designated leadership to ensure resources materialize… All nutrition stakeholders must now push for swift development of a roadmap and fundraising framework that builds on this Call to Action. Millions of people without lifesaving services today cannot afford to wait another eight months—or worse, have these actions never materialize at all.”

Congressman Andy Levin visits a UNICEF-supported malnutrition treatment center in Cox’s Bazaar

In our interview, Moore noted that he was optimistic that donors would soon come to the table with meaningful commitments. ECF planned to make a $50 million pledge for wasting treatment and he hoped that other private donors would step up, too; in the long run, persuading more multibillionaires to help combat malnutrition—as the Gates Foundation has done for many years—would be critical.

Philanthropists and even small or medium-sized donors can increase their impact by joining the Coalition of Philanthropies for Global Nutrition, a collective of philanthropies advancing investments to combat malnutrition around the world. The Coalition grew out of the 2017 Nutrition for Growth Summit in Milan when several philanthropies made major commitments to nutrition and demonstrated an interest in convening with peers to take collective action on malnutrition. It serves as a vehicle through which emerging philanthropists can find ways to invest within the global nutrition landscape, find synergies between investments, and opportunities for co-investment. It also provides a venue where emerging and in-country voices can be highlighted and receive the attention and investment they need. And, finally, the Coalition offers a forum for global philanthropies and philanthropists to enhance the efficacy of their own work, as well as drive collective impact and expand the network of funders for ending malnutrition.

Post-Pandemic Possibilities

As they look to the future, both Moore and Aguayo are cautiously hopeful.

“All of a sudden, health ministries, for example, are willing to take risks to strengthen nutrition policies, scale up prevention programs, and simplify treatment protocols,” said Aguayo. “So we see opportunities to accelerate innovation and results.” Moore agreed, adding that innovations undertaken were often based on research and pilot projects in which ECF and other funders had been investing for years. “Countries are a lot more willing to take a risk on those right now in order to still be able to deliver care,” he said.

One example of this is a new-found willingness to equip caregivers with MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) measures that are a reliable, fast, and cost-effective way to identify children at risk of malnutrition rather than requiring them to go to a clinic or wait for a community healthcare provider. “We were imagining a 5 to 10-year time horizon before we really saw something like family MUACs scaled up,” said Moore. But, it is happening now—and ECF is funding UNICEF to scale its use in certain contexts.

Optimism and determination, insisted Aguayo, provide the only path forward “I would like the world to know that it is our obligation to remain optimistic and determined and to always believe there is a way out,” he said. “The Covid-19 pandemic can be a catalyst for change, and we will not lower our ambition for children.”

From Leadership Strategy in Perfectirishgifts

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