Power | UP | uncultured project

Do Charities Need Celebrities?

Sometimes I wish I was a celebrity. Not for the fame. Not for the fans. Not even for the money. But rather, if I was a celebrity and wanted to help people in any country, all I'd have to do is pick-up a phone and a charity would be at my beck and call. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="The Front Door for Many Charities"][/caption] The sad reality is that, even when I'm on location, it can be an uphill battle to team up with large reputable charities. This is regardless of how many times I get my foot in the door, regardless ...

Within Reach of Davos

In January of 2007, I withdrew from grad school at the University of Notre Dame and began an unemployed, unplanned, and "uncultured" journey to help the poor. Almost exactly three years later, that journey has brought me to within grasp of being able to talk to world leaders about global poverty at one of the planet's most important conferences. I can get there - but only with your help. Out of 75 applications from around the world (and many more that didn't make the deadline), I was selected as one of five potential candidates to go to Davos. The winner, is determined ...

The Quest for Sustainability

[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="I Give a Talk to YouTube & Google Staff in San Bruno, California"][/caption] "Years from now, I'm going to be looking back at this point in my life and laugh," I told my friend whom I'm staying with in San Francisco. "I'm doing something successful enough that people are inviting me to meet them and give talks... yet unsuccessful enough that I can't afford to buy myself some new clothes," I said with a wry laugh. Right now I'm in San Francisco - home of Silicon Valley. It's home to where all this technology that has made this ...

The Final Week?

This is maybe my final week in Bangladesh. Since I landed, I've been trying to complete projects related to Challenge Poverty. As you know, I've been working on building that Pond Sand Filter and repairing that school. It's been nearly 6 months and I want to wrap everything up in the next 72 hours. Yeah.... that maybe a bit ambitious. Fingers crossed. The good news is that the water quality of that Pond Sand Filter is now clear, clean, and deemed safe to drink by official tests conducted by the Department of Public Health here in Bangladesh. Here's a photo. One is ...

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BREAKING: National Power Grid Failure

Published

Shawn

on December 15, 2007

in News and Personal

. 0 Comments

As reported by Reuters, I can confirm the national power grid has failed. The entire country is in a blackout. I have four minutes of battery left. Further updates will be available when power returns. Not sure when. Power started cutting out in the morning but it came back earlier today and then went out again.

Unfortunately, this means a lot of people won’t have water either as many homes use an electric pump to store water in a holding tank. The place I am staying at currently has neither water nor electricity.

Anyways gotta go before my laptop battery dies.

Cyclone’s Impact in Dhaka – The Morning After

Published

Shawn

on November 16, 2007

in Cyclone, News and Personal

. 0 Comments

The sound of generators now fills the streets of Dhaka – power hasn’t come back since last night. I was kind of hoping that this would be like other blackouts I’ve experienced – where some regions would have power and others not. But, after talking to relatives in Shantinagar, Mohakhali DOHS, Gulshan/Baridhara – it seems like this is a city-wide blackout. That’s a first during my stay here in Bangladesh.

The BBC is reporting that at least fifty people are reported dead in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. Unfortunately, not many people in Bangladesh will have access to news – no electricity, means no TV. The cell phones and celluar internet connections still work though which is how I’m able to post this blog.

I plan on going out later today and hopefully will have some photos that I can share. Apparently, after talking to a relative in another part of town, exploding transformers like that one I saw yesterday was not an uncommon occurrence last night.