Plenty in the Gulf

Since hurricane Katrina and the failed levees devastated New Orleans at the end of August, 2005, Plenty has been working along the Gulf Coast to help residents recover their homes Most recently we have been helping members of the native Choctaw-Biloxi-Chitimacha communities in the Bayou region southwest of New Orleans in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles. Here is an interview with an elder living on Isle de Jean Charles, Wenceslaus Billiot, who grew up on the Isle and remembers when the Isle was covered in trees and was protected by barrier islands and wetlands before the intrusion of the big oil companies in the 1960s and 1970s.[wpvideo ebZVqLcL]

Victory for Women

Victory in Washington for Women Everywhere

The UN Family Planning Association (UNFPA) reports that “the newly passed 2009 federal budget includes a $50 million contribution to the UNFPA. President Obama has signaled his intention to restore this funding to UNFPA so this is truly a great day for women around the world. After seven years in which no U.S. government funds were released to UNFPA – a period of time which saw the deaths of over 3 million women from preventable complications of pregnancy or childbirth – we will now, as the President said, “join 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries.””