by AnnElise | Feb 1, 2025 | activism, life, social interest, writing
Florian is a tough little boy battling leukemia, quite a hero
By Renate Mousseux
Once upon a time there was a house named “Loretto 8,” a great three-story home to three different families.
On the first floor lived a family who had a grocery store. The family had two daughters, Uli and Margie. On the second floor, the owner of the house lived with his beautiful wife Rita and two daughters Gabi and Suzie. On the third floor lived a lady with her niece, Renate, “moi.”
Everybody got along great, all the girls were friends, and are still friends to this day! I moved to America, but we are all still in very close contact.
To my great joy, they all visited me on different occasions in the States. In the USA, I became a foreign language teacher, German and French. Usually, I traveled to Germany once a year at the end of my guided Educational Tours. I have retired since and not traveled because of my health conditions.
Uli married, moved to Switzerland, and became the owner of a successful dental laboratory. Margie took over the grocery store. Gabi graduated with a doctorate in Indology. Suzie moved and worked in another city, married, and had a wonderful son.
That great son is now an adult, successful, and has a family of his own. And low and behold, they have a beautiful son, Florian. He is lively and very intelligent, well spoken, and just an all-around great boy.
Suzie, the grandmother, is so very proud of Florian. Every long-distance phone call we had, she told me wonderful stories about her grandson. Until this one day: she called and related to me that Florian, 6 years old by now, has developed cancer, Leukemia.
We were all extremely touched and saddened by this sad news. He is in and out of the hospital and receives chemotherapy. The parents and family deal courageously with the situation. But the real hero is Florian who still smiles and submits to all treatments as required.
The nurses love Florian and are so impressed. They insisted to take a photo with him because he is such a wonderful young patient. He explained in detail to his parents and grandmother what medications he needs to take and their effects. Florian is amazing, he pays careful attention to all instructions given by the doctors. In the recreation room he has a tricycle, which he loves and uses. He races around with it so fast that the father has the hardest time following him with the transfusion stand.
There is also a girl who was also just admitted with leukemia. They befriended each other.
I thought maybe a bandana would cheer Florian up a bit, he could be a little “German Bandana Cowboy.” I live in Arizona, where I see many cowboys. I sent him a red bandana like theirs, and yes, I was right: he did like my present.
My friends sent me a great photo of Florian proudly wearing the bandana. What a joy!!!
If I win a prize for this true story I will forward the entire $ amount to little Florian to fulfill any wish of his.
My wish is also that this story will have a happy ending like all stories beginning with “once upon a time.” The great difference is: The above is a true, real-life story and not a fairy tale!
For all of you who pray, please do so.
For people with strong mental abilities, send positive energy please.
Who Is Your Hero? I bet you have a story!
Download the Call for Entries HERE
by AnnElise | Apr 18, 2024 | activism, America, Arizona, life, nature, social interest, survival & ecology
Environmental Day at the Capitol earlier this year, struck my memory chord like a gong chiming in my head. Activists from all corners had gathered on the Arizona Capitol grounds in Phoenix to lobby for water protection measures and have a word with their District reps.
Water rights are a hot topic in Arizona. All the Southwestern states’ livelihoods depend on their secure water resource, mostly the Colorado River share quotas.
The Colorado River is so dammed up that none of its waters reach the Gulf of California any more. Lake Mead, in 2023, was at its lowest since the Hoover Dam (1 of 15 Colorado River dams) was built. 2023 was another heat record year with 50+ days over 110F. It’s a damn’ dry situation. For many Native Americans, Navajos included, water has always been scarce.
My friends took me to Gallup. More precisely, a rural lot outside town on the Navajo reservation. I had been cautioned: there is no running water. So bring a pallet of bottles. For that part, there would also be no royal flush. I got it. Outhouse. No worries there. I had grown up on a farm with a Plumpsklosett.
A couple of miles on the north side of Gallup, my GPS turned me onto a dirt road. I made it across the narrow bridge, but was soon stopped by a curious horse in the middle of the road. Anyways, the rainy spring had made the road rutted, but after I got the hang of it, the tracks became quite passable.
It was a beautiful scene out here in the afternoon. The horizon started to take on an amber glow, the boulder mountains toned into a warm ochre, the blue zenith sky darkened to let the stars out, and the scarce pine trees poked their spiny arms into the fresh air. All was quiet out here, except for the dogs.
My friend’s house had a warm, cuddly, welcoming air to it. It was very much ranch-style in its decor with blankets, Native art, and the occasional antler. This was a much privileged outing for me, because a group of strong Native women shared their time and space with me. And I finally would get to see Window Rock, the Navajo capital, as well.
We had the most comfortable picnic with fine mattresses to sleep on. We were glamping on many things, television included. However, there was no running water. And you feel that right away. The kitchen had two large water containers by the sink, but, unlike rare wine, the water in it had not improved its taste since its delivery. It was only old and best used for washing dishes. And still, it seemed to be too precious for that as well. We used paper plates all the way through.
I learned fast: keep the hand sanitizer and wipes on the cabinet by the entrance for the bathroom trips, don’t drink too much, so you don’t have to go too often, and save your paper plate for the next meal. I learned to brush my teeth with bottled water and spit each mouthful into the desert bush. I had this urge–when preparing breakfast, making a sandwich, getting sticky fingers–to go to the sink. But the sink had no water. A long time ago, when the family still lived here, they carted in their water on a truck to fill the tank outside. But that was the old days.
Many Navajo families have no water lines going to their houses. Imagine, any and all water has to be hauled over long distances and bad roads. Imagine how hard it will be to maintain proper hygiene. Imagine how health-compromised individuals might suffer. Or what about elder and infant care? Staying well and healthy requires a reasonable amount of water.
Yes, on the second day I felt the dearth of water. My armpits got stinky. I wetted a Kleenex and went to work. But what about the long range? How would I keep clean, wash up, brush off the dust? I don’t think there was a creek nearby and many hopes for rain in the Southwest are in vain. All you can do, really, is drive to the next truck stop on IH 40 and use their public showers.
I wasn’t ready to do that just yet, but on the third day I hit the pedal to the metal to get home to my own comfort.
Back to the Environmental Day. One Native organization, Tó Nizhóní Ání (“Sacred Water Speaks”) from the Big Mountain community on the Black Mesa Plateau in NE Arizona, protested the industrial abuse (hydroelectric project) of water: The Black Mesa Pumped Storage Project.
Pumping groundwater to the top of a plateau to make it generate electricity—a questionable project. It would seriously endanger the aquifer. As of this February, three of such proposed pumped storage projects were fortunately denied. A remarkable victory for the Navajo environmentalists.
Native activists are fighting for the Earth and US ALL. Water is so precious. We think we know that. But that’s not enough. Someone needs to make us FEEL its preciousness.
Therefore I propose a universal
No-Water-Running Day
Switch off the water main in the evening and see how the next day goes. And touch no faucet at work or school either. Toilet included. Don’t flush. How will you get through the day? You will be allowed to prepare for the water emergency by your own design. But don’t forget: No water will run for you on tap. And why should it? Water needs a break too. It runs all the time.
Give Water A Break!
by AnnElise | Feb 29, 2024 | activism, America, art, lifestyle, social interest, writing
What sparks an idea? I used to think that inspirations would strike me with thunder and lightning. But, no, sparks can be quite slow at times. Think about the ketchup bottle. It’s been around for a hundred years, but only since the last twenty it’s also standing on its head. Duh! Why didn’t we think of that sooner?
Bandana Book I
The Bandana spark, which has now become a book (CLICK ON RIGHT), came with a slow glimmer too. I never go out on a hike without a neckerchief. Since my old Texas days, I have become protective of my neck. Sunburns sting! Yep, that’s why I my collection of bandanas keeps growing.
One of them was a gift from my daughter, with a Native American design. Once I went into the gas station at Star Valley, says someone behind me, “I like your bandana.” This Native American had recognized the Hopi pattern on it. It was nice to be noticed. A bandana can carry a strong message. Since then, I have also acquired a Navajo design on top of many other colorful patterns.
Bandana Stories
The older a bandana, the better the tale. Master mask maker Zarco Guerrero, here portraying a Cholo, knows all about the mysteries of Dia de los Muertos, plus the Central American bandana. When you Google for bandanas you certainly come around many Boy Scout uses, such as for a bandage, splint, tourniquet, wash cloth, trail marker, carry bag, and what not. And then, as you might imagine, all these incidents have circumstances. And the circumstances make for suspense. You can spin a gazillion yarns off of one small bandana.
Bandana Origin
Even the origin of the almighty, universal, wonderful bandana has a good story or two. I heard, the bandana was a tobacco snot wipe to begin with. Imagine, or don’t, that rag used to be white. And the tobacco stains wouldn’t come out any more. Therefore, an Irish tradesman had the fashionable idea to print his bandanas up in color. The print work was done in India, thus the pretty paisley patterns. As we all know, the cowboys came to appreciate the bandana too—duh, red neck. Bandanas trigger excellent cowboy stories.
Bandana Warriors
Or think about famous men. Some of the toughest cookies wear bandanas: Geronimo, Winnetou, Rambo, Hulk Hogan, John Wayne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, and other warriors. Right, the bandana takes to the street for activism.
Here is Ed Kabotie, member of the Hopi tribe, a well-known edu-activist, sharing his fight against uranium mining at the Grand Canyon. He also resents the now much in vogue “land acknowledgment” towards the Native American nations as a hindsight excuse for the colonial land grab and subsequent oppression.
Bandana Art
Independent from my instigations, Elisabeth Sherwood had made a collage series of bandana cowgirls, the mysterious types. (One of her gals to the left.) This was just perfect for the Bandana Book cover. I asked my friends, they wrote stories, I put them all in a book. The second one is on its way. It’s titled “Unusual Encounters.” The stories cover a rainbow of experiences and are deliriously good.
When I see a bandana these days, my imagination gets sparked. What’s next? An exhibition? Do you paint? Make photographs? Prints? Sculptures? How about making a bandana exhibit together?
Got Art or Ideas for a Bandana Exhibit?
I believe, all things together, his would be a great exhibit!
Never without a bandana. Yours truly posing here by Hooker Lake in front of Mt. Cook, New Zealand.
by AnnElise | Aug 27, 2014 | activism, environment, nature, survival & ecology
Lately I have been fascinated with sharks. Who wouldn’t be? I remember recently playing “shark” with a four-year-old boy, clapping my hands flat together as if jaws were gaping widely open to take a huge bite out of each other. I wasn’t very good at the shark game. So Samuel won every time, ate me alive. He had shark books, shark movies, and shark pajamas. How about shark bait and cage? Those were on his list too.
Sharks make our imagination go wild. We attribute them with a devilish insidious intention to shred every catch to pieces. Aren’t sharks bloodthirsty and intriguing, as depicted in the Spielberg movie Jaws? Aren’t they killing machines? How else can it be, since their razor sharp rows of teeth can regrow within 24 hours. Anyhow, that’s what I read. According to a pioneering Austrian ocean explorer, Hans Hass, whose books I devoured in my teenage years, sharks like to follow their acute sense of taste for blood in water and the sonic 
wrestling of a fish in distress. Often sharks like to hang out around fishing boats, similar to seagulls, in hopes to catch a bite. Or sometimes they may just be curious about what’s floating in their territory.
I read in a book titled In unberührte Tiefen that the diver (Hans Hass) was able to shoo away sharks by screaming under water or gesticulating wildly. However, that trick did not work any more where sharks had become “hard of hearing” because of dynamite fishing practices. Nowadays, shark tourism may be almost as common as swimming with the dolphins. Yeah, better go down in an iron cage, because fifty years later these sharks must be really deaf—and careless of (or annoyed with) gawking tourists.
For movies, sharks are always good. They are strong characters, and we think we have figured them out. Moby Dick wasn’t a shark but at least as sinister and cunning. But I keep thinking, wasn’t it Captain Ahab’s obsession that killed him rather than the whale? Of course Disney’s Nemo also featured sharks, by the names of Bruce, Anchor, and Chum. Now, the interesting part was that these sharks were trying to be good by becoming vegetarians. Yet they still could not resist the flavor of blood. Move on to Dreamwork’s Shark Tale. A little fish is mistakenly celebrated as a shark killer and draws the head honcho shark’s revenge on him. Yet in the course of events, a few sharks get reformed. One wayward shark did not like meat anyway. So, the truth remains, only a dead shark is a good shark?
Sharks were the topic in a recent PBS documentary. More and more sharks show up on the Australian coast and put swimmers at jeopardy. Why? Maybe this shark behavior is due to climate change, maybe the sharks were looking for new hunting grounds because they had run out of food (overfishing) in the deep ocean. The conclusion of the documentary was, sharks may be an endangered species. Those ferocious rulers of the ocean have to fear us humans more than we should fear them.
Why do we fear sharks? It’s basic instinct. Sharks can eat us. So before that happens, we try to eat all of them, just in case, if only for shark fin soup. I don’t know what this soup tastes like, but it seems like such a waste to just use only the fins (and why?), and not put the rest of shark protein at least into dog food or fertilizer. Sharks, the buffaloes of the ocean? The sad truth is: In a year sharks eat about ten humans, BUT we humans destroy some 70 millions (maybe 100 million) of these scavengers of the sea in just 365 days. 10 (ten) versus 70 million. What kind of uneven combat is that?
Still, I don’t want any human to fall prey to a hungry shark. When it comes to being eaten, I would rather choose being gulped up by a tiger, not a muscular projectile from the deep with triple rows of meat grinder teeth. What do you think? Because tigers are 
more like us. These furry mammals breathe the same air as we do. And aren’t kittens cute? Not so little sharks. Tiger or shark, I don’t want to be eaten by either one. Luckily, my chances for such an encounter are slim, unless I fall into a tiger cage or a really big aquarium. But I don’t go to the zoo so often any more. People who have been injured and mutilated by sharks carry that trauma as nightmares forward for the rest of their lives. Close your eyes, imagine you are swimming in the ocean, a torpedo takes aim at your silhouette from the depths below towards the middle of your gut. Keep on paddling. Easy catch.
Sharks have almost surround vision, a real wide-angle horizon view, especially towards what floats above them. Duh, they are really good swimmers too. Now imagine you are professional surfer Bethany Hamilton. She survived such a shark attack in Hawaii. The shark devoured her arm and half of her surfboard. Miraculously she survived the life-threatening injury and took up surf-boarding again. She wrote a book called Soul Surfer about her experience. Later, a movie was made. I heard it is quite heart and gut wrenching. Good for the girl, she got on the surfboard again. Would she want to see 10 million sharks dead in exchange for her gruesome experience? The “real criminal” man-eater shark that attacked her apparently was caught the next day.
Now back to beginning. Why Sharks Attack was the title of a NOVA PBS documentary I watched in May. Naturally, the NOVA programs are always well done and informative. However, I had two especially defining moments. One was the fact that Peter Benchley’s (the author of Jaws) widow had become a driving activist for shark preservation. She seemed to resent and atone for the vilification of the ocean “tigers” in her husband’s famous thriller. Sharks are important for the natural balance in the oceans. The other moment was the shock of numbers. Somewhere between 70 million and 100 million sharks are killed every year. I can’t even imagine that this many sharks are out there. Despite a lot of shark tourism lately, I heard somewhere that sharks don’t make such good pets. So I would say, we leave most of them where they are and don’t swim too close to them. Or do we want to accomplish another extinction along such greats as the buffalo? Hasta la vista, Baby!
Shark Savers
Shark Project
Shark Fishing Numbers
Shark Sucks Video
by AnnElise | Jun 15, 2014 | activism, education, social interest
UP Deserves Your Support
Because I just went to the Unlimited Potential graduation party, and I saw that the programs are effective and have changed lives. Ask Maria Angeles (below).
I don’t ever want to miss Unlimited Potential’s End-of-the-Year Celebration. Why? I have never seen any happier people than at that party. The sweet taste of learning success produces grand smiles on these graduates’ faces. More than sixty women and men, and about 20 preschool children, rejoiced in their education awards.
Brooks’ School’s multipurpose room teemed with festively dressed graduates and their families. They were not the typical students—poverty-level moms, day-laborer fathers, or low-income Latinos from many walks—but they stuck through one year of English and Life Skills instructions.
For the happy occasion, the women had chosen to color-coordinate their outfits: The first-year students dressed in teal tops and black bottoms, the second-year class in blue tops, and the evening students in all-black. The littlest of the Unlimited Potential program wore costumes in yellow, like little chicks just hatched. Performing their songs, rhymes, and dances, they stole everybody’s heart.
This celebration was a concerted effort. Participants had put their planning and cooking skills together and provided all of the catering themselves. Enchiladas, posole, rice, you name it, this party stimulated the senses with tasty aromas.
Sandra Amarillas, the first-year teacher, shared: Daytime classes had excellent attendance, but evening course students struggled after a hard day’s work. Struggles are surrounding many of these participants: making ends meet, at a loss about children’s school progress, rejection on the job quest, medical challenges, and many other obstacles. Yet Unlimited Potential’s equal opportunity education, support, and resources were an invaluable experience to them. As in previous years, participants were seriously committed and eager to learn.
What does Unlimited Potential do, what does it mean? Education is a basic human right, but too many individuals are excluded from this privilege. So UP’s program reaches out to a segment of the working-poor, predominantly Latino population in Phoenix to provide them access to knowledge and life skills.
It takes a whole village to raise a child. Yes, but it also takes parents with a keen awareness about how to guide their children to build a better future for themselves and all of us. Education makes individuals more productive and societies better.
“Thank you, thank you, for helping my mom!” a man spontaneously addressed me. He came up to me because he noticed that I was taking my volunteer photographer pictures. It felt good to be thanked, but I said, “Not me, thank these teachers here. They made it all happen.”
The man dressed in a guyabera shirt was Ivan Valdez. “My mom learned English so well and many other things. She was able to get a job. She is now working in manufacturing.” Maria Angeles felt very accomplished about her change in life.
And that made me feel good as well.
