Somber Reflections

Two things happened today to remind me of the recent tragedy in China: the Sichuan Earthquake.

First I received an e-mail from a friend showing the rescue of some pandas from the Woolong giant panda breeding ground after the earthquake. I'm glad those little fellas got rescued.

We had a 5.1 earthquake not far off our north coast this morning, which swayed my apartment for a little while.

In this day and age we seem to forget too quickly the disasters that befall others, so I want to put this link here so I won't forget how many lives were lost or destroyed on May 12, 2008. 69,196 are confirmed dead, including 68,636 in Sichuan province, and 374,176 injured, with 18,379 listed as missing.

For those of you who can bear to look, photos that aren't quite as heart-warming as pictures of pandas, from EastSouthWestNorth, Ronald Soong's blog.

Project Enlighten

Project Enlighten is a registered 501 (c) (3), Non Government, Non-Profit Organization, in the United States of America. The organization aims to provide non-discriminatory charitable giving that shall encompass education and humanitarian assistance to international communities based on need.

Asad Rahman, International Manager of Project Enlighten, is a good friend who was my roommate long, long ago. I've just recently tracked him down and discovered his very worthwhile project. Won't you please visit their website and blog and make a contribution to their cause. Thank you.

Woohoo, I'm a business woman now.

My eBay Shop, Gargoile's Far Eastern Bazaar
My Yahoo! Taiwan shop

My funds for that university education come from these shops, so go buy something!  The eBay shop is English, the Yahoo one is Chinese.