I'm looking for sponsors for the children of Gisimba Memorial Center. Please email me at camera_rwanda@yahoo.com if you are interested. You can also contact www.orphansofrwanda.org

Gisimba Memorial Center.

The water tank.

An orphanage on the outskirts of Kigali, in Nyamirambo.

Rwanda. Afrika.

July 31, 2006.

A cadre of dedicated volunteers celebrated National Public Lands Day with a day of service and outdoor fun on the Green River and at the Price Canyon Recreation Area. Approximately two dozen volunteers from Carbon County Recreation, Sheri Griffith Outfitting, and Fort Lewis College greeted a sunny morning at Swasey’s Boat Ramp. The group spent the day rafting and hiking as they gathered trash and groomed trails along the Green River river corridor. This scenic stretch of the Green River is well-known to locals and tourists as the final leg of the Desolation and Gray Canyons River adventure. The project wrapped up at the Nefertiti Recreation Area, where the volunteers relaxed and enjoyed an autumn picnic.

Photo by BLM Utah.

A run-down parcel of land on the side of the Strzelecki Ranges has been transformed by a visionary landowner and Greenfleet.

Adam and Debbie Tyson’s property in southern Victoria was once covered with a mosaic of rainforest, including 90-metre tall Mountain Ash trees. As the agriculturalists and loggers moved into the region in the late 19th century, the land was cleared and less than a fifth of the original forest remains standing today.

“When I bought the land, it was overgrazed and run down with erosion and weeds. It had very little remanent vegetation left,” Adam explains.

The sparsely-forested property’s steep slopes and frequent heavy rainfall also made it prone to devastating landslides.

Since 2011, the Tysons and Greenfleet have planted approximately 14,880 native trees.

“We’ve seen many improvements over that time. The trees are thriving and there is a noticeable increase in birdlife,” Adam says.

“The trees are certainly helping with the erosion – and we haven’t had a landslide for a couple of seasons now.”

Find out more at www.greenfleet.org.au

A cadre of dedicated volunteers celebrated National Public Lands Day with a day of service and outdoor fun on the Green River and at the Price Canyon Recreation Area. Approximately two dozen volunteers from Carbon County Recreation, Sheri Griffith Outfitting, and Fort Lewis College greeted a sunny morning at Swasey’s Boat Ramp. The group spent the day rafting and hiking as they gathered trash and groomed trails along the Green River river corridor. This scenic stretch of the Green River is well-known to locals and tourists as the final leg of the Desolation and Gray Canyons River adventure. The project wrapped up at the Nefertiti Recreation Area, where the volunteers relaxed and enjoyed an autumn picnic.

Photo by BLM Utah.

The BLM Wyoming Cody Field Office hosted volunteers to remove net-wire fence and replace it with barbed and smooth-wire fence in order to help pronghorn and mule deer migration.

“It was a great time with lots of smiles and enthusiasm,” said BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner Nancy Patterson. “About 47 folks removed 1.75 miles of network fence!”

The Cody Field Office thanks all the volunteers who spent the day with us. Partners included The Nature Conservancy, which brought a Montana Conservation Corps crew to help; Sunlight Sports, which provided snacks and water; and Marathon Oil, which hauled-off all the netwire and took it for recycling. Folks from Trout Creek Ranch, Winding Pathways of Cedar Rapids and the MCC crew volunteered to be small group leaders and help teach others to fence. In addition to interested community members, volunteers from Wyoming Migration Initiative, Absaroka Outdoor Fellowship, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Northwest Outdoor Club, Shoshone NF, Cody Next Generation, and Buffalo Bill Center of the West all volunteered to help.

Photo by Megan Baumeister, Sunlight Sports and NPLD partner.

NPLD volunteers help the BLM Idaho Pocatello Field Office clean-up Goodenough Creek Campground.

Photo by BLM Idaho.

Local cub scouts and their families plant new trees and maintain trails at Pompeys Pillar National Monument!

Photo by BLMer Alyse Backus.

32 of Scottsdale's Most Eligible Singles Sent 50 Kids with Muscular Dystrophies to MDA Summer Camp in Camp Shadow Pines in Phoenix Matchmaker Roseann Higgins’ First Annual SPIES Cupid's Cure Fundraiser! Over 300 Valley’s single professionals mingled and bought silent auction items at the SPIES Cupid’s Cure Fundraising Social at Devil’s Martini in Old Town Scottsdale. It costs $525 to send one child to young adult age 6-21 with muscular dystrophies to a week long camp with lots of fun group activities, including wheelchair basketball and a mock Amazing Race and barbecues. Each camper is assigned their own individual camp counselor to look after their every need and everything is paid for. The first annual event raised approximately $26,000 and sent 50 of the ~88 kids to 2005’s Camp Shadow Pines in the woods by Payson, Arizona.

The event was the collaboration of matchmaker Roseann Higgins of SPIES and Laura Czarzasty from MDA. Laura made the first move and had the idea of doing an event for Valentine’s Day! That girl makes things happen and has a heart of gold!

Roseann Higgins is President of Matchmaking A Difference Foundation. With the help of hundreds of volunteers and donors, over $250,000 in community service projects and donations have been completed.

She’d coordinated a homeless shelter project remodel and support with the help of hundreds of amazing volunteers for CASS Central Arizona Shelter Services in 2002 that was valued at $100,000.

In 2005, Roseann was already super-connected as an 11-year matchmaker - Founder and President of SPIES Single Professional Introductions for the Especially Selective. The 32 singles who reached out to their circles to raise money, sell tickets, obtain silent auction items did such a fabulous job.

Huge thanks to fundraisers former NHL player Jocelyn Lemieux for bringing out Jeremy Roenick to sign a golf back that night at the event and who donated a foursome with the two of them at Whisper Rock and Paola Embry from Paola’s Wine Bar at Christopher’s Restaurant at the Biltmore Fashion Park for raising money and coming down to the FOX 10 News Station to help promote the event and raise more money to send kids with muscular dystrophies to camp! Catch two of these most eligible singles who were helping raise money for Muscular Dystrophy with Chairwoman of Cupid's Cure Phoenix matchmaker Roseann Higgins on FOX News: youtu.be/KP2TUFGkFjE

Down a long narrow cement corridor, around the corner from where the sisters are washing and cooking, you'll find their children.

This girl has just cooked some rice that she eats off an aluminum lid. In a recycled tomato paste tin is a mixture of oil, tomato, and green leaf.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Remera, Kigali.

Rwanda. Central Africa.

October 4, 2006.

Charles insists on wearing my hat, too.

Gisimba Memorial Center

July 15, 2006.

Kigali, Rwanda. Africa.

You will laugh and enjoy the creativity and professional delivery by the Evening News Team outside of their full studio and without a production team! (PHOENIX, AZ 1998)

Watch the video: youtu.be/gZ4XDemwg8Y Sean McLaughlin hums the opening to the newscast.

Jineane Ford mimics flames of a fire.

In lieu of footage that aired on the 6 pm newscast, Mark Curtis and Sean do SNL-style sportscaster - impersonator ad libs for ASU Coach Pat Murphy, Arizona Diamondbacks Matt Williams, former Diamondback Randy Johnson, and Michael Jordan...

"Baseball/basketball is a funny sport. The ball bounces this way and that way. We're just going to take one game at a time."

If anyone is casting for a play or a Late Night Television Show, Sean McLaughlin is your guy! Spontaneous Tex Earnhardt and Debbie Gaby of Sleep America commercials even get a playful plug.

Thank you NBC News 12 and your cast: l-r Sean McLaughlin, Jineane Ford, Kent Dana and Mark Curtis!

Many thanks also:

* Gompers Habilitation Center

* Continental Catering - the 6 course meal was Michelin "Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey" delicious!

* the gracious Joe and Kathy LeRoy (Sacramento Container Corporation) who opened their stunning mountaintop home with the negative edge pool overlooking the Valley.

* Greg Voigt of Intercoastal Pictures, former Chief Photographer at Channel 12

* Auction winner at the Gompers 50th Celebration Gala at Orpheum Theater in Phoenix, Arizona:

Roseann Higgins and 7 special guests!

Gompers' loving representative (know her name? please let us know!) graciously introduces Roseann Higgins - President and Founder of SPIES Single Professional Introductions for the Especially Selective "No blatant plug intended. This is going to be a helluva memory for me and for all of us!"

It will be a rare enjoyable newscast for all who get to see it thanks to Gompers providing this video memory. Forgive any skips and color

RIP Phil Hartman - who's passing is noted in the newscast.

Note From Roseann:

We hope you enjoy this and the other videos and photos we are sharing as we celebrate 21 years meeting extraordinary people and introducing true loves. Our couples have traveled the world, begun families and even had grandchildren since we opened the doors to SPIES matchmaking service and began hunting for true loves at business, charity and social events in 1994.

Thanks for the memories! <3

The BLM Wyoming Cody Field Office hosted volunteers to remove net-wire fence and replace it with barbed and smooth-wire fence in order to help pronghorn and mule deer migration.

“It was a great time with lots of smiles and enthusiasm,” said BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner Nancy Patterson. “About 47 folks removed 1.75 miles of network fence!”

The Cody Field Office thanks all the volunteers who spent the day with us. Partners included The Nature Conservancy, which brought a Montana Conservation Corps crew to help; Sunlight Sports, which provided snacks and water; and Marathon Oil, which hauled-off all the netwire and took it for recycling. Folks from Trout Creek Ranch, Winding Pathways of Cedar Rapids and the MCC crew volunteered to be small group leaders and help teach others to fence. In addition to interested community members, volunteers from Wyoming Migration Initiative, Absaroka Outdoor Fellowship, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Northwest Outdoor Club, Shoshone NF, Cody Next Generation, and Buffalo Bill Center of the West all volunteered to help.

Photo by Megan Baumeister, Sunlight Sports and NPLD partner.

The BLM salutes our partners and welcomes you to join them in helping take care of your public lands.

These photos are but a sample of the many stalwart volunteers and service organizations whose invaluable partnership with the BLM has enhanced public awareness and protected the natural splendor of our lands in the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you for all you did in 2010, and here's to a great 2011!

Under the shade of a plastic tarp in front of her house, a sister prepares the charcoal stove for lunch.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Remera, Kigali.

Rwanda. Central Africa.

October 3, 2006.

PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 20, 2021) Sailors assigned to amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) are given damage control training in auxiliary machinery room two during a routine underway. John P. Murtha is underway conducting routine training operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)

The boys feast on potatoes and beans. On school days, the older children come back to the orphanage for lunch, a break that splits their day into two. The younger children attand school only in the morning or afternoon.

Gisimba Memorial Center

June 29, 2006.

Kigali, Rwanda. Africa.

Dec. 31, 2015

#AmbPettit: As we conclude a challenging year, I want to say to each of you, that despite its problems, Moldova has immense potential. Your resources, your human capital, your spirit of creativity and hard work – subtract the problems (which are well-known by all), and Moldova could be a prosperous, democratic, European country in a stunningly short period of time. Don’t let a handful of individuals stand in the way of your success. Hold your leaders accountable to the highest standards – they are, after all, supposed to be serving the citizens of this country. Demand that they act #ForTheMoldovanPeople. The roadmap is clear: get back on track with the EU Association Agreement, stamp out corruption, and address economic vulnerabilities.

The United States will always remain a friend and partner of the Moldovan people, and I wish you, the Moldovan people, a happy, healthy, and prosperous year ahead. As we go into 2016, the year when you will mark 25 years of independence, let’s all focus on how we each can #MakeADifference #ForMoldova. I fully believe that we could see a successful Moldova in the foreseeable future, but this period may be the turning point for your country. Don’t lose the opportunity.

***

Acum când încheiem un an dificil, vreau să spun fiecăruia dintre dumneavoastră, că, în ciuda problemelor cu care se confruntă, Republica Moldova are un potențial imens. Resursele dumneavoastră, capitalul uman, spiritul de creativitate și munca asiduă – scad din probleme (care sunt bine cunoscute de toți), iar Moldova ar putea deveni o țară prosperă, democratică și europeană într-o perioadă surprinzător de scurtă. Nu lăsați o mână de persoane să stea în calea succesului dumneavoastră. Țineți conducătorii voștri responsabili la cele mai înalte standarde - la urma urmei, ei ar trebui să fie în serviciul cetățenilor acestei țări. Cereți ca ei să acționeze în interesul poporului Moldovei. Foaia de parcurs este clară: revenirea la Acordul de Asociere cu UE, eradicarea corupției, și abordarea vulnerabilităților economice.

Statele Unite vor rămâne mereu un prieten și un partener al poporului Moldovei, și vă doresc dumneavoastră, poporului Moldovei, un an nou fericit, sănătos și prosper. Acum când intrăm în 2016, anul când veți marca 25 de ani de independență, să ne concentrăm toți asupra faptului cum putem fiecare aduce schimbarea pentru Moldova. Am deplina convingere că putem vedea o Moldovă prosperă în viitorul apropiat, dar această perioadă poate fi un punct de cotitură pentru țara dumneavoastră. Nu ratați oportunitatea.

Thanks to the NPLD volunteers who helped make the Glade Run Recreation Area trash clean-up a success!

Photo by Abby Mattson, Natural Resources SCC Intern.

Lunchtime. On school days, the older children come back to the orphanage for lunch, a break that splits their day into two. The younger children attand school only in the morning or afternoon.

Gisimba Memorial Center

June 29, 2006.

Kigali, Rwanda. Africa.

The cafeteria at Gisimba Memorial Center.

Gisimba Memorial Center

An orphanage on the outskirts of Kigali in Nyamirambo.

Kigali, Rwanda. Afrika.

July 15, 2006.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Official Statement on Name Change

"Sisters of Rwanda has been in operation in Rwanda for 2.5 years. Our original mission was to “ensure justice, equality and economic opportunities for Rwanda’s most vulnerable women”. Over the years we have learned better how to serve this amazing country and the people that dwell within it. We came here to listen and to learn, and as part of the natural maturation of our organization, we have grown into KEZA. Simply put, KEZA is the result of a 2.5 year pilot project called Sisters of Rwanda. “KEZA is a people-inspired luxury fashion house based in Rwanda. We buy top quality fashion goods from non-profit development organizations, generate income for the poor and help to establish Africa’s position in the luxury fashion industry.”

We still work with the very same 43 women that helped build Sisters of Rwanda. And our vision has only strengthened and become more strategic. Sisters of Rwanda has grown up, and we are proud to present KEZA to the world. Welcome to KEZA, “Where ‘they’ become ‘we’”. "

The sisters keep each other company as one of them prepares the charcoal stove for lunch.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Remera, Kigali.

Rwanda. Central Africa.

October 3, 2006.

It might be rainy and miserable, but we're still out there getting the job done! Brian and his team at Quartech kickstarted the site preparation for tree planting later this year on this gorgeous property in Gippsland, Vic.

The farm is home to Emma from Glorious Googies and her 1,200 free-range chooks. And this winter it'll undergo a facelift with 37ha of the property revegetated with nearly 30,000 native trees. Emma said "The area we’ve chosen is steep and rugged – and should never have been cleared in the first place. Working with Greenfleet provides us with a great opportunity to leave a legacy beyond what the two of us and our chooks could ever hope to do."

Find out more about how Glorious Googies is working with Greenfleet to turn these hills into a beautiful native forest: www.greenfleet.com.au/News/TabId/264/artmid/2986/articlei...

#GreenfleetForests #Forestinthemaking

A cadre of dedicated volunteers celebrated National Public Lands Day with a day of service and outdoor fun on the Green River and at the Price Canyon Recreation Area. Approximately two dozen volunteers from Carbon County Recreation, Sheri Griffith Outfitting, and Fort Lewis College greeted a sunny morning at Swasey’s Boat Ramp. The group spent the day rafting and hiking as they gathered trash and groomed trails along the Green River river corridor. This scenic stretch of the Green River is well-known to locals and tourists as the final leg of the Desolation and Gray Canyons River adventure. The project wrapped up at the Nefertiti Recreation Area, where the volunteers relaxed and enjoyed an autumn picnic.

Photo by BLM Utah.

Sister Virgini prepares the charcoal stove. Earlier I gave her FR300 to buy the bag of charcoal you see here. 56 cents buys enough charcoal for two days.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Remera, Kigali.

Rwanda. Central Africa.

October 9, 2006.

There are thousands of street children in Butare. Everyday they scavenge for food. Some make their home in trash heaps boardering the streets. At night, these children burrow beneath blankets of rotted refuse, heads at odd angles to the highway.

Some of these children are orphans, others come from broken or abusive homes, a sobering fact which can turn street life into near sanctuary.

Butare, Rwanda.

Afrika.

July 8, 2006.

Ajdabiya, Libya. An ICRC delegate and a Libyan Red Crescent volunteer talk to stranded Bangladeshis who had been working for a road cleaning firm before fighting broke out in Libya.

© ICRC / J. Björgvinsson / v-p-ly-e-00046h / www.icrc.org

INDIAN OCEAN (June 14, 2019) - San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), right, steams alongside Rajput-class destroyer INS Ranvijay (D55) during a photo exercise. John P. Murtha is currently on its first deployment and part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) team and is deployed to the 7th Fleet area of operation to support regional stability, reassure partners and allies, and maintain a presence postured to respond to any crisis ranging from humanitarian assistance to contingency operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer) 190614-N-MT581-1178

** Interested in following U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? Engage and connect with us at www.facebook.com/indopacom | twitter.com/INDOPACOM |

www.instagram.com/indopacom | www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command; | www.youtube.com/user/USPacificCommand | www.pacom.mil/ **

PEARL HARBOR (July 15, 2021) Engineman 2nd Class Mason Bee, from Akron, Ohio, assigned to amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), tightens a bolt on a fuel pump prior to the ship taking on fuel, July 15. John P. Murtha is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship homeported in San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)

Tate and Beth Mason with daughter Maybelle at Saturday's annual California condor release hosted on the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in celebration of National Public Lands Day. Tate Mason, Education Coordinator for the Peregrine Fund works at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. The Mason family made the long, multi-day trip to northern Arizona to watch the condors fly free.

Photo by Rachel Carnahan, Public Affairs Officer for the BLM Arizona Strip District.

The 2009 gathering coincided with the Solferino Youth Declaration signed that same year on behalf of all Red Cross Red Crescent young volunteers worldwide. The Youth Declaration was prepared with input from almost 500 young people from 150 countries. They agreed to do more, do better and reach further.

Solferino, Italy. Algerian and Afghani young people proudly parade to the opening ceremony of the 2009 Red Cross Red Crescent youth gathering.

© M. Morgan, American Red Cross / www.icrc.org

PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 9, 2021) Chief Boatswain’s Mate Michael Standridge, from Norwalk, Iowa, assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 1, directs the approach of a Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) attached to ACU 1 toward amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) for recovery during exercise Freedom Banner 2021. Freedom Banner is an annual exercise that involves strategic projection of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) and associated combat forces. This year’s iteration supports Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021, which is designed to refine how we synchronize maritime operation across multiple Fleets in support of the joint force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)

My friend Egide, 16.

I'm looking for sponsors for the children of Gisimba Memorial Center. Please email me at camera_rwanda@yahoo.com if you are interested. You can also contact www.orphansofrwanda.org

Gisimba Memorial Center.

The water tank.

An orphanage on the outskirts of Kigali, in Nyamirambo.

Rwanda. Afrika.

July 31, 2006.

Peace sings along with gospels on the transistor as her little sister Diana looks on.

Gisimba Memorial Center

An orphanage on the outskirts of Kigali in Nyamirambo.

Kigali, Rwanda. Afrika.

July 15, 2006.

Down a long narrow cement corridor, around the corner from where the sisters are washing and cooking, you'll find their children.

This image was taken for a not-for-profit that has changed its named, focus, and mission to KEZA.

Remera, Kigali.

Rwanda. Central Africa.

October 4, 2006.

SAIPAN (Aug.9, 2021) Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Mason Hicken, from Parker, Colorado, assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 1, front, lowers a fender between a Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) attached ACU 1 and the pier in Saipan during exercise Freedom Banner 2021. Freedom Banner is an annual exercise that involves strategic projection of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) and associated combat forces. This year’s iteration supports Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021, which is designed to refine how we synchronize maritime operation across multiple Fleets in support of the joint force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)

Named to honour people from Gloucestershire who made a difference, including Martin Heath and Emma Hurrell. Gloucester station 2022-03-04

She's holding a ball fashioned from plastic bags and string--

a homemade toy typical of Afrika.

Gisimba Memorial Center.

Nyamirambo, Kigali. Rwanda. Afrika.

June 27, 2006.

SAN DIEGO (April 25, 2020) Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Vilma Rodriguez from San Diego, attached to USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), right, gives nebulizer training during a simulated mass casualty drill in the ship’s medical department. John P. Murtha is currently in its homeport at Naval Base San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)

PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 10, 2021) Quartermaster 2nd Class Jaric Andaya, from San Diego, assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 1, contacts Tinian Port Operations from aboard a Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) carrying vehicles and supplies ashore during exercise Freedom Banner 2021. Freedom Banner is an annual exercise that involves strategic projection of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) and associated combat forces. This year’s iteration supports Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021, which is designed to refine how we synchronize maritime operation across multiple Fleets in support of the joint force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Curtis D. Spencer)