Veterinary services for rural dwellers.

Veterinary services make vital contributions to livestock supply chains, from farm to fork, and must be strengthened for the benefit of people, animals and the environment. Livestock play a pivotal role in income-generation, employment, food and nutrition security, transport, power and social cohesion for millions of people worldwide. Even small amounts of animal-source foods can contribute substantially to the nutritional profile of human diets, and by-products including manure, fiber and hides are used as fertilizer, building materials, fuel and clothing. 42 per cent of the world’s poor are reliant on livestock as a livelihood strategy and two thirds of the world’s poor livestock keepers are rural women, the unique multifunctionality of livestock is particularly significant to the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.continue

Autism and the app intervention.

Autism is a mental condition that is evident from early childhood and characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by restricted and repetitive behavior,although the condition is heritable some school of thought believe that environmental factors also play a role. Early detection and intervention are very important in the management of the condition,the fact that many parents dont come to terms with the diagnosis or seek help immediately complicates the condition. Parents that are ready to face the situation are often handicapped because of lack of information ,as many dont know where to turn or whom to turn to for help. This is the story of Rebecca Keysers,whose son was diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder and how this left her struggling to navigate her way and get the best help for him. The mother from regional New South Wales said after she found a path through and was able to access resources and services, she had many friends also facing a diagnosis who came to her asking, "What do I do now?" "That's when I decided there are so many families out there that get the diagnosis and are really unsure where to go and how to access therapies, early intervention, information and resources," Ms Keysers said. Despite having no former experience in creating a website or digital app, Ms Keysers decided to create what she said was an Australian-first, one-stop-shop to connect families and autism service providers. continue

A-S-P-I-R-E 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR !! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!. Welcome to a great and power-packed year.The new year ushers in another opportunity to be better than you are right now and move to the next level. What is the next level and how do you get there? well this is another step on the success ladder,which you must climb to get to the success zone. The success zone is quite different for everyone as our definition of success defers,but one thing is common you must have a plan to get there. New year new resolutions all with the sole aim to get to the success zone,so as this year begins; begin by writing out what success zone is to you ,how you want to get there and when(time). This is the time to write out the vision,keep it in your face everyday and start running with it. GET READY!!!ITS GOING TO BE TOUGH,BUT YOU ARE STRONG AND GUESS WHAT ITS WORTH IT. I am writing an out-of-the-box post,for an awesome year because my expectations are high and i got my running shoes out,success is my only option. join me,lets do this.

Delivering social services through veterinary care.

The idea of social service alongside veterinary care is a new concept that is fast gaining ground and its a great "One Health" initiative concept. A group called called WisCARES is pioneering this concept,they realized there were all these people that had pets, but that had trouble accessing the veterinary care they needed. 

There were reasons why they were having difficulty getting that care, from homelessness to poverty. The organization has taken off and is now part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. 

The focus is now a “one health” initiative, trying to support people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, and trying to keep their pets with them. In keeping in touch with these people through their pets, the school is also partnering with the school of social work and the pharmacy school as it’s looking at not only the health of animals, but also people who need help in the community. 

 People think of veterinary medicine as different from human medicine but people who might be on the fringes of society,may not trust a social worker but they’ll trust their veterinarian. This relationship will give the opportunity for them to get the care they need. Its all about the human-animal bond,after a hard day, it’s your animal at home that can make everything better.source

I-N-S-P-I-R-E 2016.

This is an out-of the-box post,but its just one of those things that grabs your attention and you cant shake off. This last day of 2016,thinking back on all that happened,hurdles scaled and opposition destroyed,the picture just sealed it for me. Today i just hooked up to the Inspire channel 109 and watched the Bishop TD JAKES talk show ,he had Tyler Perry and believe me it was so on-point.The struggles, the dark moments and the can-do it-all spirit,i sat up on my sit and said to myself, its all part of the journey. The Bishop's closing remark just nailed it,the madness,the chaos you are in right now is part of the process,actually the fertilizer that nurtures the seed in you to blossom and show fruit on the outside. Its about digging down in you and bringing forth,knowing you have what it takes. This is a toast to 2016,i rocked everyday with grace and moved up and now to 2017 WELCOME ON BOARD,as i have what it takes.This is a shout- out to all the hardworking, never-say-never people,2017 is the bomb.

The impact of land use and landscaping on disease spread.

Disease spread has been linked to land use,landscaping and agricultural practices as the aggressive use of land for various purposes is extending the reach of infectious agents,allowing colonization in new areas thus increasing spread of infection. Deforestation is not only contributing to climate change but creating an avenue for movement of more wild animals into contact with man and domestic animals and livestock,thus creating a cycle of infection which is shorter and also of economic importance. A recent research shows buttress this fact , In China the progress fighting schistosomiasisis recorded for over a century is being jeopardized by land-use patterns and landscape connectivity, which are expanding the range of the snails that host Schistosoma japonicum parasites as villages with more irrigation channels were more likely to both attract new and retain native Oncomelania snails. Justin V. Remais, PhD, MS, associate professor of environmental health services in the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases that distances traveled by snails over a few generations in this study are comparable to the dispersal of other vectors, such as the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, and the dengue vector Aedes aegypti. According to Remais and colleagues, control measures have led to a decline in the number of cases of schistosomiasis in China from 11 million in the 1950s to approximately 115,000 today.However, they noted that the range of Oncomelania snails has expanded and the disease has re-emerged in some areas of the country. Oncomelania snails release larval forms of S. japonicum parasites into fresh water, where humans can be infected. Remais and colleagues sampled 833 Oncomelania hupensis robertsoni snails from 29 villages in Sichuan Province and used gene sequencing to determine their migration patterns.Between 14.4% and 32.8% of the snails sampled from the sites were new to their location within one or two generations — snails infected with S. japonicum have an average estimated lifespan of 171 days — and there was evidence of migration between sites up to 44 km apart, Remais and colleagues said. Snail populations in 20 of the 29 sites contained more than 20% migrants. Analyzing the results with different models findings showed a significant correlation between land use patterns and snail populations. The researchers found that irrigation channels made villages more likely to both attract migrant snails and retain native snails, and villages that used more land for agriculture were more conducive to migrant snails.

Energy 4 impact empowering women with solar energy.

In a remote village in Tanzania's northern Shinyanga region, Elizabeth Julius switches on her solar lantern to finish sewing clothes for her customers. Not long ago, nightfall would have forced her to close her tailoring shop, or use a smoky kerosene lamp but with the solar-powered lamp, Julius can now sew for as long as she wants. "Solar energy has entirely changed my life. I use it at work and at home, yet it doesn't cost me anything," said the 29-year-old entrepreneur and mother of two. With help from nonprofit organization Energy 4 Impact, Julius is using solar power to grow her business and launch new ventures — and it’s benefiting her whole community. But three years ago, Julius secured a $500 bank loan to buy solar lanterns, which she sold to customers. With the additional income earned, she then sought another larger loan to expand her tailoring business to include a barber shop, mobile phone charging facility and a consumer goods shop, all powered with solar energy. Julius success story started after training from Energy 4 Impact, a London-based non-profit group that works in East and West Africa to improve access to energy. One focus of the group's work is lifting rural women from poverty through clean-energy entrepreneurship. The group's new WIRE (Women Integration into Renewable Energy) value chain project aims to assist 400 women solar entrepreneurs by 2020 with training and finance, and help some of them provide 360,000 people in Kenya and Tanzania with access to clean cooking and solar lighting products. The programme is part of the Partnership on Women's Entrepreneurship in Renewables (wPOWER) launched by the U.S. State Department in 2013. Julius said business management and technology training through the project was key to helping her scale up her business and her income,with nothing to complain about. She said virtually everybody in the village is happy with what they are doing and their services are exclusively solar. Source