http://juliaritchey.com New Media Journalist Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:15:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 New Media Journalist Julia Ritchey no New Media Journalist new media, international, news, politics, dc, middle east, asia, africa, national http://juliaritchey.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://juliaritchey.com http://juliaritchey.com/how-obama-reaches-overseas-audiences/ http://juliaritchey.com/how-obama-reaches-overseas-audiences/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:31:10 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1689 http://juliaritchey.com/how-obama-reaches-overseas-audiences/feed/ 0 http://juliaritchey.com/multimedia-timbuktu-to-tibet/ http://juliaritchey.com/multimedia-timbuktu-to-tibet/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:55:34 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1670 http://juliaritchey.com/multimedia-timbuktu-to-tibet/feed/ 0 http://juliaritchey.com/army-suicide-on-the-rise/ http://juliaritchey.com/army-suicide-on-the-rise/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:19:57 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1658 http://juliaritchey.com/army-suicide-on-the-rise/feed/ 1 army,ptsd,suicide The U.S. Army has recorded an increasing number of suicides over the last five years, a result of fighting two unconventional wars for almost a decade with an all-volunteer army stretched thin. I spoke to a soldier at the beginning of 2009 who served w... The U.S. Army has recorded an increasing number of suicides over the last five years, a result of fighting two unconventional wars for almost a decade with an all-volunteer army stretched thin. I spoke to a soldier at the beginning of 2009 who served w... Julia Ritchey no 3:47 http://juliaritchey.com/global-protests-take-aim-at-iran/ http://juliaritchey.com/global-protests-take-aim-at-iran/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:37:31 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1627 http://juliaritchey.com/global-protests-take-aim-at-iran/feed/ 0 elections,iran,london,protests While in London this past summer, I covered a protest outside the Iranian Embassy. Hundreds of Iranians gathered in major cities to call for an end to Tehran's post-election crackdown. Listen to the radio report. While in London this past summer, I covered a protest outside the Iranian Embassy. Hundreds of Iranians gathered in major cities to call for an end to Tehran's post-election crackdown. Listen to the radio report. About 200 people gathered along a sidewalk opposite the Iranian embassy in London, chanting, waving green flags, and showing support for Iranians seeking democracy. Drewery Dyke works with Amnesty International, one of the organizations that helped sponsor the day's event. He says the point of these protests is to show support for the people of Iran. "Events all over the world, they're not going to change what's happening on in Iran on a day-to-day basis, they just won't. What it will do, and what it does count as being very important, at least for us as Amnesty International, is the act of solidarity," he said. The protesters are calling for Iranian authorities to end their crackdown on citizens who claim the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fraudulent. Many of the protesters in London were originally from Iran. And Several wore masks and sunglasses so as not to imperil family members back home. One woman, who would only give her name as Sara, said she does not believe her vote for the opposition candidate would have dramatically changed Iran, but that it was more important for her to know her vote was counted. "There is a long, long process for democracy in Iran, but it was the first step to see that who voted for him [opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi] as a basic level of democracy [it] was going to happen," she said. A man named Kian said he wanted all Iranians to be allowed the freedom of expression and assembly. "We just want to support the human rights for everyone. It doesn't matter what they believe in, doesn't matter what their background is -- human rights for everybody in Iran," he said. The organizers say they want the following: the release of all political prisoners, for the U.N. Secretary General to investigate allegations of torture and abuse in Iran's prisons, and an end to state-sponsored violence. Originally aired July 25, 2009 Link to story on the Voice of America's Web site Julia Ritchey no 2:02 http://juliaritchey.com/coal-country-environmentalist/ http://juliaritchey.com/coal-country-environmentalist/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:14:55 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1608 http://juliaritchey.com/coal-country-environmentalist/feed/ 0 http://juliaritchey.com/termite-technology/ http://juliaritchey.com/termite-technology/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:00:01 +0000 Julia http://juliaritchey.com/?p=1636 http://juliaritchey.com/termite-technology/feed/ 0 africa,mounds,mozambique,sustainability,termites A group of American engineering students traveled to Mozambique where they found a unique solution to help villagers create a no-cost sustainable building material. Listen to the report or read about it. - - They burrow and they build. A group of American engineering students traveled to Mozambique where they found a unique solution to help villagers create a no-cost sustainable building material. Listen to the report or read about it. They burrow and they build. African termites and the sturdy, vertical mounds they construct became the basis for a building project for a handful of engineering students from Brigham Young University, BYU, in Utah. “What happened is Care for Life, the humanitarian aid organization based in Beira, Mozambique, actually came to BYU and were looking for a team of engineers who could help them develop a better building material," said Jonathan Wright, a BYU senior. "Because with the towns they were working with, most of the people would build their structures out of mud," he explains, "and when the rainy season would hit every year, the structures would collapse." The runoff from the village's latrines, essentially open pits, would often contaminate their drinking water. The catch was that Wright and his team had to develop a building material for these latrines, wells, and houses from resources readily available – and free. Wright’s team decided water resistant bricks would be ideal. But because they were in a coastal village, there was more sand than clay. Then they had a breakthrough. Termites Mine for Clay "As we looked at all the pictures they sent us from Mozambique of structures, we noticed all these big termite mounds," Wright said. "Some of them are 20 feet tall, they’re just these huge mounds of dirt. And as we saw some of these pictures we’re like, well, why aren’t those mounds washing away when the rainy season hits? What’s different about these mounds than the houses they’re building?” Wright’s team discovered that the termites would burrow down beneath the sand and bring up clay or silt particles, perfect for making bricks. The students took the soil with high clay content from around the termite mounds and fired them in a rudimentary kiln. A Better Sanitation System The resulting adobe bricks were then used to redesign the latrines, the root of many sanitation problems. They started by creating two pit latrines, which villagers could alternate between every year. "So the first thing is we keep them only a meter deep, so we keep the well above the water table, which does stop contamination," Wright said. "You also have to place them far enough away from wells, so that as the waste filters through the sand enough, microorganisms will be there and actually break it down so it’s clean by the time any liquid gets to the well water.” Each latrine will service about 10 people, or two or three families. Now it’s up to Care For Life members to continue teaching other villages in Mozambique how termites can help build toilets. Originally aired July 17, 2009 Link to story on the Voice of America's Web site Photo courtesy of Hans Hillewaert under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic License. Julia Ritchey no 2:10