Burned Bear Cub Rescued

I have a soft spot for animals and I thought this was so sad. I saw on the news tonight where a baby bear cub had gotten burned in the forest fires in Northern California. He suffered major burns to his paws and had an eye injury. He is in critical condition, but it likely to make a full recovery. He might become the next “Smokey the Bear” becuase the original Smokey was a rescued cub that was burned in the past New Mexico fires. Check out the video of the poor little baby bear:

LiL Smokey

The Plight of the Red Apes

The orangutan population is in danger and seriously on the decline due to hunting, illegal trade and deforestation. Some say they may become extinct within the next decade.

  

Lone and BOS hope that their efforts will pay off, and after their time at the center, the orangutans can live safely in their natural habitat in the wild again.

(Margaret Conley/ABC News)
More Photos

Hope for their survival rests in a safe haven in Borneo at a sanctuary called Nyaru Menteng.

The orphaned and often injured orangutans are brought here and put through a rehabilitation program before being released back into the wild.

Orangatans

Lone Droscher-Nielsen, an orangutan enthusiast from Denmark, co-founded the project with the Bornean Orangutan Society (BOS) with the support of local forestry officials.

“It all started when I came here on holiday in 1993. I came back and stayed,” Droscher-Nielsen told ABC News. A personal passion project, Droscher-Nielsen even welcomed orangutans into her own home — to live with her while she cared for them.

Over seven years, she has had anywhere from 12 to 24 animal roommates. It wasn’t until recently that she got her house back to herself

Today what’s left of the orangutan population exists only in the rainforests of Borneo and northern Sumatra in Indonesia. Orangutans have close to 97 percent of the same genetic makeup as humans and are arguably the most intelligent of the primates. The word “orangutan,” derived from Malay and Indonesian, translates to “person of the forest.”

These forest people spend most of their time hanging around in trees — their arms may reach up to 6.5 feet — significantly longer than their 4-5 foot bodies.

The sanctuary, an hour and a half flight from Jakarta, is nestled in a quiet, isolated location surrounded by lush tropical trees. It has 183 staff members for 641 orangutans, allowing for a ratio of a little over three orangutans per person.

On the first day of arrival, each orangutan is quarantined for one to two weeks. They receive a general health checkup, are treated for parasites and tested for tuberculosis and hepatitis A, B and C. Visitors to the sanctuary are advised to stay at least 25 feet away from the animals to protect both species.

The youngest orangutans, under 2 and a half years old, are taken to baby school. Some wear diapers. They are encouraged to climb trees and make nests.

The 2- and 3-year-olds have class every day where they learn how to be orangutans. They are led by the staff, some holding their hands as they walk, to forest school where they are encouraged to find food on their own and relearn the skills necessary to survive in the forests again

They train their muscles to survive in the forest in an area specially designed to replicate tree branches and trunks with swinging ropes and tires. Their day ends back at the sanctuary for socialization time where they learn to mix with other orangutans.

The older residents of the sanctuary hang out on prerelease islands that staff visit daily to feed and check on their health. But for the most part they are left to their own devices as this is the last step in the rehabilitation process before they are allowed to go feral.

Droscher-Nielsen and BOS hope their hard work will pay off so the orangutans can return safely to their natural habitat. So far, they have been successful with 36 orangutans now living back in the wild.

But the fight for survival is an uphill battle, as the orangutan’s habitat is increasingly threatened. Their homes are being destroyed, logged, burned, or planted over, in some cases illegally, in a developing country whose income relies on natural resources. Recently much of the orangutan’s land has been turned into palm oil plantations. Palm oil is a widely produced edible vegetable oil, commonly used for cooking and cosmetics.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, in Borneo and Sumatra the orangutan population has declined by 30-50 percent in the last 10 years, with just over 60,000 orangutans left that survive.

Droscher-Nielsen and her team work seven days a week at the sanctuary to try to save the last of the orangutans, one life at a time.

You are on our side..

Everyone is so concerned with religion these days. We judge others for what their religious “views” are or aren’t. We try to make it so complicated when it is so very simple. It’s right in front of you in black and white. James 1:27 says “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this, to visit orphans and windows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

We, as christians, are called to love, just as Jesus did. Since when did Jesus start looking down on people that are on the wrong road. We are called to help them. To love them. That’s all.

Bethany Dillon’s song “You Are On Our Side” was inspired by James 1:27 and really shows us how to truly love all people.

Just another Wednesday..

So I got to hang out with my girl Janell for most of the day yesterday, and that was fun. We’ve been friends since like 2nd grade and she lives acrooss the ol’ rail road bed….yea we live in the country…..you know….”we’ll meet in the middle ‘neath that ol’ Georgia Pine”? Well, that was me and Janell for most of our lives.

We haven’t talked much in the last couple years so we just chilled and road around Barnwell and laughed about old times and whinned about our stupid boys. We talked about our “Plan B” for our lives if I didn’t get into grad. school, and if she didn’t find a good job somewhere else in a bigger city. We agreed to buy a trailor….yes, a trailor….that’s what we both grew up in….and put it on some of her other family land. We talked about plantin pine trees and selling the pine straw, or makin a horse pasture and making like a kids horse ranch or something. We even talked about makin a big mud hole in the middle of the field and charge admission for people to come mudd boggin. Can you tell we’re raised soo country?

Well, 2:30am rolled around and we both had to be up by 7am. Those few hours passed by very quickly, and I was on my way to babysit my two nieces, and she was on her way to summer school in Aiken.

I was so very tired and didn’t feel like watchin the girls. I’m such a horrible aunt. I know. The day was alright. I caught a little nap here and there while the girls were asleep. I cleaned up baby throwup, and changed many diapers, but only two nasty ones! Hallelujah! I got home around 4:45pm, and now I am so bored becuase all of my friends are too busy with their lives right now, or at church camps, so that’s why i wrote this blog today. Hope you enjoyed.

—Melissa

Refreshing Spring Smoothie

Courtesy of Cranberry Marketing Committee

Serving:      1

Prep Time:  5 Min.

What You Need:

• 1/2 c. cranberries, fresh of frozen
• 1 Anjou pear, peeled, cored and chopped
• 8 oz. yogurt, plain, fat-free
• 1/3 c. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. hazelnut meal*
• 1/2 tsp. orange zest

What To Do:

1. Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth.

* To make hazelnut meal, place approximently 1/4 c. toasted hazelnuts in food processor and pulse until finely ground.

_______________________________________________________________

Calories 250; Calories From Fat 4; Total Fat 4g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol Omg; Total Carbs 51g; Fiber 4g; Protein 8g; Sodium 90mg

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Class Schedule for Fall 2008

Wow. Am I really a Junior? That’s crazy! Unless you’re a Psych. major, living in my house, or living with me at Furman, you’re probably not going to see me much this semester! Let me know if we have any classes together….

Monday
10:00am-10:50am Chapel
11:00am-11:50am Research Methods in Social Science
2:30pm-3:45pm Foundations of Christian Psychlogy

Tuesday
9:25am-10:40am Marriage & The Family
1:40pm-2:55pm Social Psychology
6:00pm-8:45pm Abnormal Psychology

Wednesday
10:00am-10:50am Chapel
11:00am-11:50am Research Methods in Social Science
2:30pm-3:45pm Foundations of Christian Psychlogy

Thursday
9:25am-10:40am Marriage & The Family
1:40pm-2:55pm Social Psychology

Friday
11:00am-11:50am Research Methods in Social Science

Somewhere in there I’m going to have Guitar lessons and Cultural Events Makeup (I know I’m a slacker)

Adventure of a Lifetime

This past weekend me and four of my friends piled into my Volkswagen Jetta and headed for Gatlinburg, TN for my 20th birthday . We sang to songs on the radio, took pictures of the beautiful mountains, and just enjoyed being together again. We got into Pigeon Forge, and I missed the turn that would take us to our cabin. I found a place to turn around and I thought that in a bout 30 minutes we would be relaxing indoors…… if we only knew what was a head of us.

I was at the stop light and my car felt diffferent in some way. I didn’t want to bother the girls so I didn’t say anything until my car wouldn’t go past the light. I pulled as close to the curb as I could, and thank goodness Candice had AAA! They said the tow truck would be there within the hour. So we made the best out of this situation and sat in the middle of Pigeon Forge and took pictures and laughed until Dan came to the rescue. He took us to a michanic up the road and we sat in the gravel while Steve fixed my poor little Jetta.

Well, 2 hours and $450 later, Steve sent us on our way. It was 9:00pm by this time, and I thought we were home free….

I pull into a Texaco and fill my car up. This gas station should have been named Little Mexico if you know what I mean. I go to crank up my car and it barely stays cranked again. Here we are at the beginning again. None of us have had any dinner yet and we’re tired and me, brittany, and candice have been in the car since 10:30am. I called Steve and he came in about 30 minutes. Turns out the new part he put on was defective. He put one of my old spark plugs back on, and he said that it should get us to our cabin and back to him the next morning.

We get on the curvy road leading to our cabin, and I thought I missed a turn so I turned around and my car shuts off again. This time we are in the middle of no man’s land, it’s 11:00pm, and no cell phone service! So I call 9-1-1 and they send someone to us. In the back seat we have Brittany who was pissed off and aggrevated, Candice who is scared out of her mind and is crying, and Mary Beth who is just nervous and scared. Charity and I are sitting in the front seats with the sunroof open admiring the beautiful stars.

By about 12:00am the cop, Lea Loveday (woohoo it’s a woman), pulls up to the rescue. She calls the tow truck , and takes us to our cabin. Mary Beth and Charity stayed at the cabin and Brittany, Candice, and I ride back with Lea to wait for the tow truck…in a cop car! haha Around 1:00am, Dan (the same tow truck man from earlier), comes and tows my poor little jetta away! Lea has a lot of time on her hands and we weren’t sure how long we were gonna be stuck in our cabin in the middle of no where with out a car so she takes us to the Kroger to get some grocerys! We get back to the cabin about 1:30am and finally get to sleep about 2:30am. What a wonderful start to an amazing birthday weekend! Really…I’m serious.

The next morning Charity and I wake up at about 8:00am for some reason and we walk around to check everything out. This place was beautiful. We had a pool and a pond and basketball court. It was wonderful. Charity’s mom ended up coming Saturday afternoon and my car got fixed!! We went out to eat at Crackerbarrel and then played Hillbillygolf! My wonderful friends cooked me a brhtday cake, and we chilled in the hot tub that night. The next morning we packed everything up, and Charity and her mom went home, and Mary Beth, Candice, Brittany, and I headed to Dollywood. We had a great day there and then headed back home.

The weekend I had planned did not happen. Anything and everything went wrong, but despite all of that I had the best weekend of my life!