Post-tsnami contribution: sneak peak

When my colleagues and I received notice that our company would match 100% of any donations made towards the Red Cross's relief effort in Japan, we were relieved and grateful...but it still felt nowhere near enough. There is only a certain limit of effectiveness that can be achieved by outsiders when it comes to global-scale issues like poverty, environmental degradation, etc.  Most of the time, this comes in the form of monetary contributions...and it's not like any of us had a plethora of extra cash falling out of our pockets. Plus, where is this money really going?  How is it spent? Is it really effective as it seems?  How much of it is directed towards overhead fees? For this reason, I am a much stronger advocate in local, community-based efforts as a means of tackling different types of disparities on a more direct, longer lasting scale.  Even more influential is the impact one can have on an individual scale by just being instead of asserting one's presence as a "helper" (which is kind of scary).  It was no coincidental fate  that I was unexpectedly reunited with a good college friend, Miya on the 20th at the Wing Luke Museum.  It turned out that she was now working there and we shared a few laughs catching up on each other's lives.  I had originally visited the museum to explore the "CULTURAL CONFLUENCE: Urban People of Asian and Native American Heritages" exhibit but left with much more community empowerment than I ever anticipated.  It was through the Wind Luke Museum that I found about about "Artists for Japan,": a locally driven cause that I will further share in my next post because I literally have only one night to prepare the following contribution...and need all the time I can get.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of what's to come.

Wood-burning...