Be the Change

Hunger is a feeling experienced when one has a desire to eat. Although an average nourished individual can survive weeks without food intake,the sensation of hunger typically begins after a couple of hours without eating and is generally considered quite uncomfortable. The sensation of hunger can often be alleviated and even mitigated entirely with the consumption of food. Hunger is also the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience, or live with the threat of experiencing, the physical sensation of hunger.

There are three main effects of hunger:

* Malnutrition is a general term for a condition caused by improper diet or nutrition.
* Famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality.
* Starvation describes a "state of exhaustion of the body caused by lack of food." This state may precede death.

Photo is of a Child victim of the Holodomor. 1933 archive photo made in Ukraine, public domain.

As the owner of Planet Voodoo, I decided to launch a fundraising campaign for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. I wanted to have a place where you can find information and updates about our efforts. As you know, we have partnered with Mercy Corps to raise as much money as we can with the help of our patrons to act as agents of change in response to such a devastating crisis. Together, I know we can make a difference.

Why Mercy Corps? Well, I am in no position to handle the funds raised for our humanitarian efforts, but Mercy Corps is. They have a proven track record consisting of three decades of experience helping disaster-struck communities transition from receiving aid to carrying out their own recovery, and are ready to respond immediately to all kinds of crises. They are transparent, which means they are accountable for all of the money received and anyone can see their financial statements. Certainly, this is always a concern when human crises occur and donations are being made. We want to make sure that the money that is being donated is going where it is supposed to go.

Planet Voodoo has partnered with MercyCorps to help raise funds and rebuild lives. Please visit Planet Voodoo's Haiti Response Fundraiser at MercyCorps to make your donation today. There is power in numbers; find your power today and be the change.

My daughter is quite the agent of change. She was dealt a raw hand, to say the least in her childhood, yet has managed to come out of it all, moving beyond survivor to thriver.

Sarah describes herself as "a mother bear, survivor-thriver advocate, artist, writer. When I was growing up, horses were my saving grace, until I gave birth to my first child. My children actuated and emboldened me to choose conscious healing. They are the honor of a lifetime.

I paint, create intuitive greeting cards, Bella Boheme, that express the seemingly inexpressible, and collage like a madwoman. I like to run, live healthfully, read,
write, do yoga, and groove to music."

You can read more about her transformation and contribution to a better world by visiting her blogs and lenses.

Native American wellness embodies the world of the spirit as much if not more, than the world of the physical body. Not only is wellness a mostly metaphysical construct, the restoration of health usually incorporates an element of spirit into healing modalities. Native American wellness reflects a relational view of well-being that considers the delicate balance between body, mind, spirit, and emotions, harmonious relationships with self, others, the Creator, and the environment, and the moral, spiritual, and physical repercussions of disease-causing behavior and activity (Alvarado, 2005; Cohen, 1998; Garrett & Garrett, 1994; Locust, 1988).

Purpose of the Study

The present study intends to report the development and validation of a scale to measure overall wellness in Native American and indigenous populations, called the Native American Wellness Scale (NAWS). The NAWS is a self-report measure designed to enable investigators to obtain easily sensitive measures of the degree of wellness experienced by individuals in six domains: (a) psychological well-being, (b) emotional well-being, (c) spiritual well-being, (d) physical well-being, (e) cultural well-being, and (f) historical trauma symptoms. The purpose of the study is to fill a void with respect to standardized quality of life and wellness measures appropriate for use with Native American populations.

Native Americans and indigenous people from all nations and tribal affiliations were invited to participate.