Extreme World Poverty: Violence

This post is a book review of "The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence" by Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros.  This is the second book review blog in a series exploring extreme world poverty.  My purpose in writing these book reviews is not to give a comprehensive synopsis or critique of the book, but to try to pass along the information that is most relevant to those wanting to help with these issues.  But if the issue of violence towards the poor grabs you, then I would highly recommend reading this book. 

What's the book about?
Violence towards the poor (especially towards women, especially sexual violence) is one of the most pressing problems that needs to be solved to help those living in extreme poverty.  There are 4 big categories of violence that need to be addressed:  1) sexual violence (rape), 2) sexual violence as a business (prostitution and trafficking), 3) forced labor / slavery, and 4) violent land seizures.  In many developing countries, there is not an effective public law and order system to protect the poor - so even though there are criminal laws against violence and forced prostitution, the police are not protecting the poor and lawyers are not prosecuting on behalf of poor victims, so criminals can act without consequence.  In many places, not only are the police failing to protect the poor, but they are victimizing the poor in order to help the powerful.  This affects all kinds of things (it's a leading reason why girls in developing countries stop going to school, for example).  This also means that the billions of dollars of aid flowing in for things like hunger, education, and public health cannot be nearly as effective in lifting people out of poverty.  

What things would help most with violence towards the poor now?

• Tie development dollars to a commitment by the receiving country to transform criminal justice systems so that they also work for the poor.  Unless the country is committed to change, money will not help with criminal justice reform, and will not be as effective in addressing other problems.  
• Support local leaders who are making an intentional effort to transform their justice system.  
• Criminal justice reform is not an issue that can be fixed quickly and easily with an infusion of money and a short burst of outside support - it will take time and commitment to oppose a system that has been in place for hundreds of years, and that continues to benefit rich and powerful people.  
• The solutions will be different in each place, and will depend on the existing culture and existing strengths and weaknesses of the system - locals are best suited to understand these dynamics.  
• Certain individuals are key - Journalists, pastors, and advocacy groups can help tell the shocking stories of violence; and local businesses leaders can choose to support reform rather than the status quo.
• Improve the working conditions of the people working in the system.  The judges, the police, the social workers - pay them well, train them well, give them humane working conditions.  Give them the equipment and manpower they need to do their jobs well.  
• The two goals when transforming a criminal justice system should be 1) prevent crime, and 2) build trust with the public.  Law and order won't work well to prevent crime without the public believing that it works well, and generally acting accordingly.  
• One way you can build public trust is to fight corruption within the criminal justice system - prosecute and/or fire corrupt officials.  
• A second way is to fight crime effectively, and then do a media campaign to advertise this.

Haugen made these 3 suggestions in his conclusion:
1) Talk about it - all conversations about global poverty should include addressing violence.
2) Bring law enforcement expertise to the table - development groups and human rights groups do not traditionally work with law enforcement experts, but this will need to change if we want criminal justice systems to transform.  
3) Start by funding projects in more stable countries where reforms are likely to work more quickly - successful reform projects will create hope, will make limited dollars work most effectively, and will help reformers learn lessons as they move on to more difficult countries.

What organization is helping?
International Justice Mission

Other:   If you work in the criminal justice system, then this book will make you appreciate how well the United States criminal justice system (for all its flaws) is currently working.  When you read about problems like people being pre-trial detained for longer than the maximum sentence of the crime for which they are accused; or courts shutting down for weeks each month because they have run out of paper and can't conduct their business; or a court system that operates in English, despite less than 1% of the population speaking English, so not only the victims and accused but also the lawyers and judges can't understand key parts of the proceedings - it boggles the mind.  

Thoughts on Marriage, 11 Years In

Celebrating our first anniversary!

Kenny and I are celebrating 11 years of marriage this week!  I don't blog (or even Facebook) about marriage that much because, although I have a great partner, it's the area of my life more than any other that I am still figuring out and that I feel least worthy of giving advice and reflections.  But, eleven years into matrimony, and smack in the middle of the time of life where both career and family life are extremely busy, these are the tips that feel most helpful (some given from others, some learned the hard way, some still very much being learned):

• Effort is huge - None of us can be perfect for our partners, and none of us should expect perfection from our partners - but it means so much when you can see that they are trying.  Trying to work on weaknesses, trying to think about what your partner wants when it's always easier to think first about what you want, etc.  I think it also makes you feel more invested in the marriage when you are choosing to make an effort.  

• Communication is huge - If this was an easy one to summarize (or to execute), then there would be very little need for marriage counselors, marriage books, etc.  And I am especially still a work in progress in this area.  But here's a small piece of the communication puzzle that's helpful to me:  don't let things like worries and annoyances build into a huge mountain in your head without talking about them.  Some things are easier to solve than others, but your partner doesn't even get the chance to offer his or her perspective, or try to change, or offer reassurance - unless the thing gets communicated in the first place.  I like to keep smooth waters above all else, so this is hard for me, but it's so important.  

• Don't compare; figure out what works for you - Have you ever had the experience where you were happy with some area of your life (it could be anything - your career, your vacation plans, your hairstyle of the day), and then you get on Facebook and see someone who's (allegedly) killing it in that area and suddenly you feel envious?  Or they are doing things differently, and it makes you feel inadequate?  If you are happy with how things are going in your relationship, don't worry about what's going on with other people.  ESPECIALLY don't worry about it as portrayed in the glossy perfection of social media.  

• Small things add up - In this stage of babies and career building and life is busy, the small things really matter - things like saying thank you, offering even short breaks from the kids (thank you Kenny!!), sending a quick text or email to show you're thinking of the other person - it's great to do them, and it's great to appreciate when the other person does them.  And this is hard, but it's good to try to remember that if a person does something every single time (like make the coffee, or pay the water bill) - that's reason to be all the more grateful, not to take it for granted.

• Manage expectations.  Are you exhausted?  So is your partner.  Cut each other some slack.  Many nights are going to look like crashing together in front of the TV rather than deep, hours long conversations.  

• But don't forget each other altogether.  Do remember that your couplehood existed before kids, and the hope is that it will continue to exist after the kids grow up, so it is vital to keep feeding into it as much as you possibly can.  Regular dates are super helpful - I know this advice is grating when you would love nothing more than a night out on the town sans kids, but it's not possible to actually get out of the house due to budget constraints and lack of babysitting / respite - as long as you're finding regular time to connect without the kids in your face, it doesn't have to look like dinner and a movie.  But if there are things you can do to facilitate the possibility of more dates (such as babysitting swap, move closer to family, restructure budget, etc.), I think they are a worthwhile investment in keeping the marriage strong.   

• Take opportunities to celebrate.  If you are married with kids, life can feel like a non-stop barrage of occasions that have to be celebrated, between birthdays and anniversary and the various holidays.  Appreciate them for the blessings they are.  It doesn't have to look like a bunch of money spent for diamond jewelry and a 5 course meal, but find ways to make the occasions special.  When I think back to my childhood, so many of my best memories are from things like birthdays, holidays, and vacations - it's harder when you're the adult, because you're the one in charge of making it special - but these milestone markers continue to be the days that generate the best memories.  

I would love to hear others weigh in on the best marriage advice you have received.  Especially from those who have been married for decades - what wisdom can you impart?  

Kindergarten: A Year in Review and A Year in Preview

Josh:  First Year of Mainstream!

Josh is about to finish his first year of kindergarten!  I'm so proud of him for making it through the year.  Although this is his fourth year in public school (after 3 years of special education preschool), this first year of a mainstream classroom setting definitely ramped up the intensity of the school experience.  Here's how it went:

The good:  In most ways, he really rose to the challenge.  He can now sight read several dozen words, his drawing skills are getting very good, and he comes home with all sorts of interesting facts about animals and storms and whatever else his class is studying.  His speech and social skills are improving and he made some friends (although kindergarten friendships seem to change from week to week, and that was sometimes a challenge - but I think that's a challenge for all kids).  (Also, on the topic of friendship -- there is one boy in the class who regularly makes extra efforts to include those who might need an invitation, and that is a really helpful thing.  I mention this because 1) it is an answer to prayer, and 2) THANK YOU to those of you who raise your kids to be includers.)  He is (mostly) following directions and meeting the behavioral expectations of the classroom.  When I think back to the hard parts of his early childhood - particularly the month when we got his genetic diagnosis and read the report of some of the severe limitations he might face - it thrills me to see where he's at now.  What a remarkable blessing.

The difficult:  J is having to work hard to keep up with his peers.  Everything that is expected in school - holding a pencil with a correct grip, looking people in the eye, transitioning quickly and smoothly from one thing to the next, and everything else - is more of a challenge for him.  There have been many mornings where it's been extremely hard to get him out the door because it's so much easier for him to stay home, where he can do what he wants to do and where we have things set up in a way that's more comfortable for him - and these difficult morning transitions are hard on all of us.  It's made me wonder, at times: should we homeschool?  Do we need to get more accommodations or services in place, or a different classroom setting?  We've decided to keep him where he is for now, because we're seeing so much good progress and because he always seems to be happy at the end of the day (and anytime we pick him up in the middle as well) so it really might just be a transition thing.

[Note:  This highlights a struggle that all special needs parents have -- how to balance your child's comfort and happiness with helping them grow and progress, in light of their disability.  This affects so many things -- how you set up school, how you set up the home routine, how many therapies you attend and home exercises you do, whether and how you do discipline, and how much you design the rest of the family's life around all these decisions.  There's no right answer, and every family has to do what works best for them and their child, but there's the constant wondering of whether you should be doing more or less, and how that would affect your child, and guilt either way (for pushing too hard or for not pushing hard enough).]

Overall, I would call the kindergarten year a success.  I'm so, so proud of Joshua for pushing through on those hard morning transitions and for learning and growing so much.  And I'm more than a little relieved that we have a solid 2 months of down time coming up for all of us to catch a breath :).

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Zoey:  To Redshirt or Not?

Since Zoey turns 5 this August, we are planning to start her in kindergarten this coming fall.  I blogged last year about how it was hard to prepare to send Josh to kindergarten.  With Zoey, I'm having the struggle to let go for much more typical reasons:  how did she get to be school aged so fast?  Is she ready for all day school?  Am I ready for her to be in all day school?

Among the group of us who have kids with summer birthdays and the privileged circumstances to be able to choose whether to send them to kindergarten as a young 5 year old or a young 6 year old, many opt to wait the extra year.  Some research supports redshirting.  Some research shows that it might be beneficial to be one of the young ones.  And yet more research shows that there is no effect beyond 3rd grade, either positive or negative, of waiting until age 6 to start kids in school, with the exception of varsity football.  (I also want to mention that two of my best friends have August birthdays and their parents both started them on the young side, and they both had extremely successful academic performances and have gone on to stellar careers.)

What all this tells me is that you should follow your gut as to what's best for your child, and you probably won't go wrong.  We are leaning towards starting Zoey because she is eager to go to school, she loves to learn and do projects, she is able to sit still and follow directions, and she's academically ready.  She prefers being around older peers rather than younger peers, and she rises to academic challenges.  I'm hesitant because she's shy and her speech is sometimes difficult to understand, but I think her shyness is a function of personality rather than development, and being in school is the best way to work on social skills.  She already receives speech therapy to work on articulation, and will likely qualify for more minutes per week once she is enrolled in school.

I'm nervous about sending my sweet girl off to school, but it helps a LOT that I know exactly what kindergarten consists of, and what her teacher and classroom and school are like (since Josh just went through the very same program).

As always, I'm interested to hear people's thoughts about any of this long, rambling post!

Special Needs Thank you post

We've had lots of stuff going on with Joshua this week, and almost all of the interactions with the various providers have been really good.  It doesn't magically solve everything, but it makes a huge difference when you can see that people 1) care and 2) are doing their best.  I know that I have a tendency to jump on social media and complain if something goes wrong, so this is my attempt to do the opposite - to jump online and show some gratitude.  So here's my list of special needs thank yous:

• To the pediatrician who does 10 times as much work for my special needs kid as compared to your typical patients in referrals and phone calls and questions, most of it unpaid...thank you.
• To the nurse who goes the extra mile in making sure my child is physically and emotionally comfortable, whether he's doing an office well-check or an in-patient hospital stay...thank you.
• To the taxpayers who help fund my child's supplemental health insurance and school services, and to those who vote for these programs to stay strong...thank you.
• To the teachers who give extra help and extra care to my son, beyond what's strictly required in his IEP...thank you.
• To the principals and school psychologists and other school team members who actively seek out ways to help my kid rather than just trying to save the school district money...thank you.
• To the pediatric specialist doctors who have a real conversation with the parents, and who have taken on their specialty knowing that they will be dealing with at least two people (parent and child) for less pay...thank you.
• To the therapists who get to know my kid's interests and temperament and really strive to make therapy sessions be individualized to my child (and this is most of you!!)...thank you.
• To every provider / school / insurance company that does not make me jump through 10,000 hoops so that my kid can get the care he needs...thank you.
• To the doctors who do their job with excellence, reading the chart thoroughly, diagnosing and treating thoughtfully, performing surgeries with care, finding and solving the problems that others would have missed...thank you.  
• To the politicians at every level of government who hear the story of a special needs kid and take helpful action, especially when it's not primarily motivated by political gain (and heck, even if it is)...thank you.  
• To the friends, family, and churches who have learned about our situation, cooked us meals, checked in with us, prayed for us...thank you.

What would you add to the list?

Political Posts and Facebook

I've been thinking about what standards to use when deciding whether to post a political thing on Facebook.  I've seen lots of people asking for the political posting to stop, and I've thought about ceasing to post political stuff on Facebook altogether.

Why stop?  (And why not?):

• Because I don't want to lose friendships with people who feel differently than me.  This is the most compelling.  Maintaining friendships is way more important to me than the ability to post about political things on Facebook.  However -- assuming you use some moderation in both amount and tone of political posting - I have to believe that most real life friendships aren't going to end based on a Facebook posting.  If people are willing to end a friendship based on politics (and here I'm talking about ending a real life friendship, not just blocking or unfriending a person on social media), then that person feels differently about the idea that friendship is more important than politics, and that friendship was in danger with or without political posting.  I haven't actually lost any friendships yet, and I definitely have friends and family with different political positions than me.  
• Because it feels like it doesn't make a difference - no one changes their mind based on a Facebook post.  I think this is often, but not always, true.  If people see a flood of posts on the same topic, it might lead them to consider the issue more closely.  If people see that a news story connects to a friend's life personally, it might cause them to think about it in a different way.  
• Because it discourages other, "real" kinds of activism.  There are all kinds of things, good and bad, that discourage me from engaging in more political activism, but I have never once thought "well I posted on Facebook, so I've done my civic duty".  If anything, it's the opposite - if I'm going to portray to my whole friends list that this issue is important to me, then I better find a real world way to back up this bluster with action.
• Because this is not what Facebook is for.  Facebook is for whatever users make it to be, and it's evolving all the time.  Someday, historians will be able to look at the contents of Facebook and get a good composite picture of what was important to us as a society (and also, how we wanted to be seen by others).  Right now, politics is important to a lot of people, and I think it's perfectly appropriate to post about what's important to you.  For those users who don't want their Newsfeed to be full of political posts, there are lots of options to filter / block / unfollow people and pages who are too political for their taste.  

So I plan to keep posting political stuff.  I'm still using mega filtering of all the things it occurs to me to post about politics.  As a friend put it this week, trying to reflect before I react.

Here are my rules.  I post on --

1.  Things that directly affect my family (such as Affordable Care Act and special education).

2.  Things that are pressing on my conscience (such as the travel ban and the abortion blog).

3.  Things that are useful in helping people take a position or take direct action (ie phone numbers to politicians who will be voting on a matter soon)

I will try to avoid these kind of political posts (often i fail - please call me out if i do):

1.  Things that are judgmental towards voters -  the reasons people vote the way they do are complex and neither party's positions are going to be a perfect match to any voter in a two party system.  Especially in this last election, which had two really flawed candidates.

2.  Things that mock politicians rather than focusing on the policy or action that is objectionable.  For example, describing Donald Trump as tiny hands or orange or anything like that.  (But not including things that relate job performance, such as clear instances of lying.)

3.  Things I haven't read up on and fact checked at least a little bit.

4.  Things I don't intend to take some other kind of action on, such as a phone call to my legislator.  If it's not worth a phone call, it's not worth annoying my whole friends list.  (I've failed on this a number of times, but I'm going to try to make this my policy going forward.  Even though one of my Senators has a voicemail box that is perpetually full.)

What do you all think about politics and Facebook?  How do you decide what to post and what not to post?

Genetics 2017 Week 2: Studying Genetic Variation

Studying Genetic Variation - Notes

• Autosomal dominant - the disease carries in one of the 22 chromosomes that's not a sex chromosome, and because it's dominant having one copy is sufficient to produce the disease phenotype.  
• In this type of inheritance pattern, half the offspring would get the disease.
• Variable penetrance - not every person who has the genetic abnormality will get the disease.
• Autosomal recessive -
• With diseases carried on recessive genes, both parents have to carry the gene with disease and both have to pass it on, so this would affect about 25% of offspring.  
• This mostly happens when parents are related, or when the gene that carries disease is common in the entire population.  
• Why children's DNA varies from parents:
• To start, you get one chromosome from each parent
• Then, each of us has about 100 De Novo mutations (usually 1 in coding regions).
• Over generations, the DNA looks less and less like ancestors.

Genome Wide Association

• 30 million base pairs - lots to cover.  But now you can get it done for a couple hundred dollars.
• This is a way to study genetic variance with large population rather than family history - you find the phenotype first and then check their genes.
• He gave examples of different phenotypes located on different chromosomes, and one of the examples was that variations on the 4th chromosome are 3 times more likely to cause atrial fibrillation.  (But it's still unusual.)
• Uses for Genome wide association studies:
• Analyze heritability
• Identify new drug targets
• Predict risk (single or multiple variants)
• Subclassify disease
• Understand and maybe prevent adverse drug reactions

Feminism and Pro-Lifers

I waited a few days after the Women's Marches to post this because I don't want to take away from what was a really positive event.  I loved seeing pictures of friends across the country marching for reasons that I (largely) agree with.  I love seeing democracy in action, and I especially loved seeing multiple generations marching together.  (I've blogged about something along these lines!)

Having said that -- the bee that I can't get out of my bonnet is the way that pro-life feminists have been rejected by many this week.  This combination of beliefs (pro-life + feminist) was in the news because there was a group of pro-life feminists that were added, and then removed, as partners in the Women's March.  I'm not so concerned about this (because the leaders of the march made it clear that individual pro-lifers could march) as I am about all the conversation that followed this incident (on social media and in articles), showing that many feel that pro-lifers have no place in the feminist movement.  I think pro-lifers should be included in the feminist movement - here's why, and here's what I think that looks like.

Why should feminists include / embrace pro-lifers?

1.  Strength in numbers.  The number of people who identify with with both feminism and pro-life beliefs is not marginal.  According to this article, "more than half of millennial women who identify as feminists consider themselves pro-life (18 percent) or both pro-life and pro-choice (37 percent)."  Of course, numbers alone are not enough - half the population is wrong about things all the time - but big numbers should be a reason to take an issue under consideration.

2.  Because so many of our causes overlap.  Some might wonder why pro-lifers would even want to be part of a group that promotes women's rights.  It's because we (well, speaking only for myself, but i'm sure many others too) agree on TONS of things, including (but not limited to):  equal pay for equal work; better maternity and family leave; robust public assistance programs (especially for child care and health care); better availability of birth control; and that our leaders should have respectful words, attitudes, and policies towards women.

3.  Because some of our causes overlap not just despite, but because of, our different position on abortion.  I am pro-life because I believe that life believes at conception -- but I do understand (particularly as a recently pregnant woman and a special needs mom) that asking a woman to carry a pregnancy to term and then care for the child who is born is a huge responsibility that can affect every single thing about her life and that she will not necessarily get help from anyone.  And it is because of this that I support better access to birth control, and better supporting policies after birth for everything - maternity leave, child care, health care, etc.  I (and probably most pro-life feminists) support these things both because they are pro-woman and because they will likely reduce the number of abortions.  Even if we can't agree on the abortion question, we can work together productively on all these other things.

So what exactly do I, as a pro-lifer, want from the feminist movement?

I would like to be treated with respect rather than contempt - that even though we deeply disagree on the abortion issue, an acknowledgement that I'm not coming from a hateful place.  A focus on how we can work together on the issues we agree on, rather than continued ugly argument about the thing we disagree on.  I would love to never see another Internet comments section that generalizes about what all pro-lifers are like, and particularly that accuses all of us of being pro-birth rather than pro-life, but then does everything possible to exclude those of us who try to be pro-life from cradle to grave.

I would like to hear what you all think of this issue, but I also want to ask everyone to please be kind since this is a sensitive topic (disagreement is fine, of course).  Everyone who's ever commented on my blog has been respectful, but in case this is the one time things go south, I want to put out the caveat that I will delete rude comments.