Famous Violinist does his part for Polio

Some facts about polio:

• Polio is a viral disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
• The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person.
• Polio is preventable by immunization.
• Since polio immunization has become widespread in the United States, cases of polio are rare. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world.

Rotary International is joining violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman and the world-renowned New York Philharmonic, led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Daniel Boico, to present the Concert to End Polio, a benefit performance supporting the global effort to eradicate this disabling childhood disease.

The Concert to End Polio will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City. Program information will be announced at a later date.

Polio eradication resonates strongly with Mr. Perlman, who contracted the disease at age four and overcame serious physical challenges to become one of the world’s most celebrated musicians. In this historic, one-night-only performance — his first with the New York Philharmonic in four years — Mr. Perlman will help Rotary in its effort to raise $200 million to match a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All of the resulting $555 million will fund critical eradication activities in developing countries where polio still threatens children.

“We are honored that an artist of Mr. Perlman’s stature and a cultural institution as revered as the New York Philharmonic are supporting Rotary in our effort to achieve a polio-free world,” says Rotary International President John Kenny. “Their participation demonstrates the importance of this unprecedented global health initiative. It will be our lasting gift to the world’s children.”

“The fact that polio is still around is ridiculous,” says Mr. Perlman, winner of 15 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. “There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to get polio. This is an issue that has to be dealt with immediately.”

Source: Happy News

Beth

Sunlight through the Clouds

Even in the wake of the most tragic events, positivity can survive, sometimes even thrive. We’ve all had experiences that floored us, only to look back and see how positive change resulted or see how people come together during a horrendous event, like September 11.

This story showcases that positivity can walk with tragedy. One does not negate the other:

Last Thursday, six cars collided on the Niagara Thruway outside of Buffalo, New York, and within moments, bystanders rushed in to save the trapped passengers from the vehicles. When one of the car’s engines caught fire, one Good Samaritan grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames; another used a saw to cut the cars’ frames apart and pull out the unconscious people trapped inside.

“There wasn’t one hero,” Michael Byham, one of the volunteer rescuers, told the Buffalo News. “There was a bunch of people who jumped in.”

Thanks to their quick and cool-headed work, several people were injured, but only one passenger, 7-year-old Asa Hill, who’d been traveling with his grandfather, seemed to be in critical condition—he was immediately rushed to a hospital and placed on life support.

Sadly, doctors soon declared the young boy brain-dead. His parents, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, said their goodbyes to their only child the next day, and gave their blessing for the staff to harvest Asa’s organs, so that he could save the lives of others.

Despite their devastating loss, Hill and Ghirmatzion are choosing to focus on the happiness that their son brought them in his short life. “He enjoyed being loved,” Amilcar Hill told the Buffalo News. “He enjoyed being our baby. He enjoyed being our son, I know that for a fact. He told us, I know it’s for real. He enjoyed his moments with everyone. That’s who he was.”

Hill and Ghirmatzion had been a couple since they were teenagers, and though they’d never gotten married, they were deeply committed to their relationship. But Asa always wanted them to celebrate their love with a real wedding, and asked them several times if they would get married. Though they told him they would, they never got around to following through.

But after Asa died, the couple decided to pay tribute to their son by honoring his request in an unusual way. Rather than using his funeral as an occasion for grief, Hill and Ghirmatzion decided to turn it into a celebration.

More than 1,100 people attended the funeral service on Monday, which was filled with tributes to Asa from family and friends, African drum performances, and dancing. And, to cap it all off, the service ended with Hill and Ghirmatzion walking down the church aisle, pledging their lifelong commitment to one another in a beautiful wedding. Asa’s parents knew their son would have loved it.

“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Hill told CNN. “We knew it would be a joyous moment. You could see how it lifted them, and we figured, why not make it a surprise at the end.”

Source: Gimundo

Beth