U of M News Wire
April 24, 2008
One village at a time
By Kristi Goldade
U of M News Wire
The Luhya children in Kenya are often named for the conditions in which they are born. If a child arrived during the dry season, for example, he or she would be called "came in the drought." It was on a rainy evening that University of Minnesota student Kathryn Nelson and Kenyan pastor Daniel Mukecho created the Nafula Foundation, meaning in Swahili, "came in the rain."
Nelson, a global studies major with minors in journalism and Spanish, often repeats the proverb, "A little rain each day and the river becomes overflowing." She sees her newfound Nafula Foundation not as a grand continent-saving effort, but as one project to help a single Kenyan village.
This micro approach is how she convinced her friends to spare $20 to buy hundreds of five-cent mosquito nets. The nets, which offer malaria protection, can save four lives – the number of people who can fit underneath each one during the night.
And it is how she persuaded her Minneapolis Tangletown neighborhood to donate funds from their upcoming annual garage sale to her cause and solicited donated goods from the larger community.
"One country, one village, one project," she reminds herself, mantra-like, under her breath.
Nelson's involvement with Kenya began with a stint at a large NGO (non-governmental organization). Nelson was on health duty and she and other volunteers would conduct "sweeps." They'd walk across an area, knocking on doors and ask if everybody inside was healthy or in need of food or medicine. However, Nelson felt the terms of the sweeps were determined by the organization and not by the people it served.
At the time, she was living in a village called Chebukwa with Mukecho's family. He was working to raise funds to develop Chebukwa into a healthy, safe and educated community. Nelson's favorite tactic was Mukecho's dress rental business – he rented dresses to brides and used the money to send local youth to school. Nelson and Mukecho decided to conduct their own sweep to learn what the people really needed.
They walked door to door, asking people what they could use. The conversations would be lengthy – Nelson asking, Mukecho interpreting – and would last well into the afternoon. "On a good day, we would visit three homes," Nelson said.
They learned that the villagers needed more than vaccinations and food stipends – they wanted to be self-sustainable. This required crops, livestock and clean water. And, if ever the cycle of poverty was to be broken, their children needed education and Chebukwa's many orphans needed homes.
And so she and Mukecho established the Nafula Foundation and brainstormed several projects. Each initiative was straightforward, relatively inexpensive and sustainable:
- Malaria education and prevention
- Community building projects
- Clean water initiatives
For example, one project is a women's knitting circle. The idea of the circle is not only to build good relationships between village women, but also to provide them with a product that they can sell in the market.
To raise funds, Nelson speaks in local Minneapolis schools and on radio programs, telling the story of Nafula and gaining support. "I'll talk to anyone who'll listen," she says.
In addition, there is the business side of running a foundation. "Right now, the bane of my existence is waiting for non-profit status," Nelson said.
Still, she has support. Rebecca Mitchell, university graduate, Student Project Africa Network (SPAN) founder and current Fulbright scholar acts as Nelson's advisor.
"I call her up whenever I have a question," said Nelson. "I'm so lucky to have such an amazing woman as my mentor."
Mitchell, whose SPAN organization functions to connect global volunteers with opportunities, helps Nelson with the logistics of being a first-time foundation founder.
Today, Nelson can be found studying, student reporting for the Star Tribune, and managing the Nafula Foundation. Despite the political turmoil in Kenya, she hopes to return this summer to continue the work of "one country, one village, one project."
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Keeping up with traffic
The Minnesota Traffic Observatory focuses on Twin Cities highways
By Charlie Plain
U of M News Wire
Hoping to help keep Twin Cities freeways flowing smoothly, the University of Minnesota's Department of Civil Engineering has made a move of its own. The department recently opened the doors to the new Minnesota Traffic Observatory, a world-class lab featuring innovative technologies to help researchers design roadways that are safer and easier to drive. The Observatory is a joint venture between Civil Engineering and its campus neighbor, the Center for Transportation Studies.
A new point of view
"The idea of an observatory is that it brings the universe to your eyes," said lab director John Hourdos. The Minnesota Traffic Observatory takes an alternate view of the universe by looking closely at cars on the ground instead of stars in the sky.
The new facility is designed to see vehicle traffic around Minneapolis and St. Paul as the interrelated sum of its parts. "We are looking at traffic as a system," said Hourdos. "As congestion increases, there are no isolated interchanges. The whole thing is a big unit."
Getting the big picture for local traffic will help researchers identify dangerous or inefficient sections of the network and fix them. Employing state-of-the-art technologies like computer simulators, high-speed networks and video projection equipment, the lab creates an all-encompassing sensory experience of the Twin Cities traffic system.
"Researchers, students and visitors who come here will get a more complete picture of the transportation network," said Hourdos.
It's all under control
Hourdos, along with principal investigator Gary Davis and engineers Ted Morris and Chen-Fu Liao, set up the core of the Observatory to form a working virtual traffic control center. At its heart is a cluster of computer workstations lining two long counters connected to live traffic sensors and simulation systems. The workstations sit within easy viewing of live traffic video displaying across a wall.
Lighting up the video wall is a fiber optic line connecting the observatory with the Minnesota Department of Transportation's (Mn/DOT) traffic operations center. Located in nearby Roseville, the center monitors freeways around the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The fiber optic line provides live feeds of up to 16 of Mn/DOT's 320 surveillance cameras watching the roadways.
Before the addition of the fiber optic line, researchers relied on day-old recorded and compressed video. The low-resolution footage wasn't ideal for close inspection by engineers.
"With high-quality video, we can use machine vision detection systems to analyze traffic," Hourdos said. Such systems can count how many vehicles pass a specific point as well as measure their speed, length and the separation between them.
But Mn/DOT isn't providing the observatory with the only sights to be seen. High above downtown Minneapolis, the lab has exclusive access to a view unlike any other in the world.
Mounted to the rooftops of three high-rise buildings are an array of cameras maintaining a close watch on the most accident-prone intersection in the state: the I-94/35W commons.
"The setup doesn't exist anywhere else in the world at such a convenient location," said Hourdos. "The fact that people are crashing is bad, but as researchers, we're delighted."
The platform communicates wirelessly with the Observatory, transmitting data from video cameras and a special instrument called the "Autoscope." A sort of smart camera, the Autoscope was invented by Professor Panos Michalopoulos and is manufactured by Image Sensing Systems, Inc. of St. Paul.
Behind the traffic control consoles is what the lab's staff calls the "DEN," which is short for "Digital Environment." The DEN works like a personal 3D theater where test volunteers and engineers use virtual reality technology to evaluate intersection designs or driving situations.
The system is made up of three large projection screens that are used to surround a person standing inside the DEN. A bank of six computers control what the user sees, while a traffic simulator feeds the system with realistic traffic conditions.
Inside the DEN, test subjects and any equipment they use are wired with sensors to relay their movements to computers. The digital visualization tools then alter the computer-generated scene in response to their movements, allowing the subjects to interact with their virtual traffic environments.
According to Hourdos, the 3-D environment can be programmed to create scenes designed to be driven through or walked on foot. The final innovation of the MN Traffic Observatory is perhaps the most revolutionary. "A brand new thing we have in this lab is another way of visualizing the system. It's what I call the GIS/MAP Table," said Hourdos.
Approximately the size of a large conference room table, the GIS/MAP Table projects maps onto its surface.Hourdos wanted to marry the spaciousness of a traditional drafting table with today's modern GIS and computing technology. Hourdos wanted a way to examine maps in detail without giving up a wide perspective. The GIS/MAP table affords both advantages with a few additional tricks thrown in.
Users of the table control it with a stylus, just like with a personal organizer or Palm Pilot device. The stylus acts as both a pen and input device, allowing researchers to write notes on the maps as well as manipulate them. The electronic table then saves any notes or changes for later access. With all of its clever engineering and new technology, the Minnesota Traffic Observatory provides a fresh perspective on some of highway transportation's biggest problems.
As traffic around the Twin Cities increases, it's getting hard enough for drivers to keep an eye on traffic on their own. Thankfully, the University of Minnesota will be along for the ride.
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Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota
Question: We've recently purchased a new home in a nearby suburb and will move a few weeks before school begins in the fall. Our kids (ages 6, 8 and 10) seem very worried – and even angry – about moving. Are there any special steps we should take to make it easier for them?
Answer: A move entails meeting new people and adjusting to new surroundings, both of which can be frightening for children. It is natural for a child to feel shy or uneasy about entering a new social group, especially one in which many of the other children already know each other and view him or her as the “new kid on the block.” Children often wonder, “Will they like me? Will they accept me?” The fear of the unknown sometimes exceeds the fear of what is known; your children may be imagining the worst-case scenario as they anticipate their new neighborhood and school.
At the same time, a move also means the loss of many of the familiar things that give children a feeling of security. Children may feel sad about leaving their school, their own cozy bedroom in the old house, and of course their friends. They may worry that they will never see their friends again, just at an age when friendships have assumed great importance. Since adults generally are the ones making the decision about a move, children also feel a lack of control over their circumstances, which can magnify any negative feelings they have about moving. On top of all that, parents often are caught up in the details of the move, so children may feel less support from the family than usual – at a time when they need even more.
Here are a few steps that may help your children through this big change:
• Take the kids exploring in the new neighborhood before the move. Visit their new school, the church you plan to attend, a local park, or recreation center. You may want to explore the possibility of enrolling the children in a day camp or recreational sports program in the new neighborhood so they can begin to become a part of the social network even before school begins.
• Engage your children in planning their own space in the new house. They may get caught up in the excitement of creating a new kind of bedroom or play area that reflects their special interests. Or they may find comfort in creating a feeling of sameness as they decide how to rearrange their favorite objects in the new home. Whatever they choose, the key is to give them some control in planning and preparing for the move.
• Once you are in the new house, reach out personally to parents and children in the neighborhood (unless, of course, they beat you to it). If there are other children in the homes nearby, consider hosting a simple Saturday morning picnic for parents and children. You and your children may even want to include a friend or two from your old neighborhood. That can be a good reminder that the old friends are not lost forever, and it can ease your children’s entry into the new peer group.
• Make extra, special times for you and your children to do things together, especially right after the move. Understand that they may need time and extra support while they adjust to their new surroundings.
• Finally, it usually backfires to try to talk children out of their worries or anger about a big change. Simply listen respectfully to their concerns and reassure them that you know this is a big change and you will help make it go as smoothly as possible. Both for children and adults, feelings usually become much easier to manage once you know you have been heard.
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com
