Love is in the Air

Valentine's Day happens to fall in the month of February and that's reason enough for me to roll with a wedding theme for this post.



Something Old


I would be willing to award ten points to anyone that builds a pair of these early roller skates today.

I was really hoping one of them would grind down a staircase railing.

Something New


In July of 2011, the Republic of South Sudan became the newest country on Earth when they split away from Sudan.  


From what I've read, conditions in South Sudan are dire. 


I did a little research on what I could do to help the people of South Sudan


The country has a newspaper callled The Citizen.  "Fighting Corruption and Dictatorship Everyday" reads their sub-heading.  I plan on keeping an eye on their website to stay informed about the issues facing the people of the South Sudan.

According to an article published in the New York Times about The Citizen, “Another reporter, Joseph Lagu Jackson, was a former child soldier and learned how to use an AK-47 at the age of 8; the news editor received death threats from the Arab rulers in the north when he was a radio journalist.”  Don’t we have an obligation to prevent people from being turned into soldiers at the age of 8?  Wouldn’t teaching these people to become journalists be far more productive than teaching them to kill one another?

At this point, I determined to do a little research into the logistics of sending material support to the people of South Sudan.


First, I checked with the U.S. State Department to be absolutely sure how Washington views the South Sudan to ensure I wouldn't be doing anything potentially unlawful by supporting the people of South Sudan.  According to a statement issued by the office of the Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department issued on July 8, 2011, "The United States stands with the people of both Sudan and South Sudan during this time of great hope and immense challenge. Our commitment extends beyond July 9, and we will continue to expand on our deeply-rooted partnership in the years ahead."  From what I've read nothing has significant changed in the attitude of the State Department since that time in regards to the South Sudan.


A quick search of the FedEx website indicated that they do not yet ship to any location inside of the South Sudan.  I found that one could use FedEx to ship to the city of Jimma in Western Ethopia, which is fairly close to the capitol of the South Sudan.  Unfortunately, to send a small box that weighs 80 pounds to Ethiopia using the least expensive method of shipping with FedEx would cost more than $5,200!


At this point I've given up on the idea of simply sending a care package.


That's All for Now


Tune in later when I wrap up this up with something borrowed and something blue.


TL;DR: I discovered that the reason that people living in developed nations do not simply ship books, medical supplies and other useful things to help the people of Africa is because it is wildly expensive to do so.