#cipher talk

A Haitian American woman with long Covid and her daughter with cancer have both been struggling to raise funds that would help them during their illnesses. Both of them live in the Midwest, which is where a lot of the most recent fear mongering has been centered.

COJEHA is a Haitian organization that provides financial support for youth, teaches agricultural skills, helps ensure children attend school, and teaches other soft life skills. They're working on building a farm with fish and vegetable crops where teaching occurs, which will also increase local access to fresh food.

P4H Global is the organization that has been working on building the canal connected to the Massacre River, another agricultural project. They have also been working to support education in Haiti, with both teachers and students.

The Haitian Community Center in Springfield, Ohio. Springfield's food bank, community health center, and a local Catholic organization that provides aid are also accepting donations.

Richard Pierrin is a journalist who has had to flee Haiti and is trying to get a visa that will allow him to work, and that doesn't end after 3 months.

Marc Henry and his family have been dealing with food insecurity for months, and are trying to get funds so they can eat, as well as supplies like livestock and fishing equipment so they can sustain themselves even after the fundraiser is done. They're close to their goal.

An elderly couple's home was damaged multiple times over the last few years and they are trying to raise funds to finish construction. They are also very close to their goal.

A fundraiser for children in Jacmel to provide food, water, and clothes.

A fund for several families to secure plane tickets out of the country

OTRAH is an organization that helps trans Haitians and wants to expand their services to combat HIV. They don't have a gofundme, instead donations are discussed over email.

There is also this thread of Haitian gofundmes which updates fairly regularly

Funding for food at the Kassab IDP camp

The Save El Geneina initiative, which provides food and education/childcare to refugees in Chad

Evacuation fund organized by a friend of mine for 15 families trying to get out of Darfur

Food aid for Sudanese refugees in Cairo, who urgently need it as they face discrimination in Egypt

The Khartoum Aid Kitchen, a program supporting 10 kitchens that feeds thousands of people in the greater Khartoum area

The relocation and potential evacuation of an extended family consisting of at least 33 people

The Sudanese American Physician Association, which has been supporting hospitals and medical professionals in Sudan

The Darfur Women's Action Group (Darfur being a region with a higher Black Non-Arab population)

Two initiatives aimed at distributing menstrual hygiene products to people in Sudan

Hometax, a trusted on the ground org

Aid for the Gorom Refugee Camp in South Sudan, handled by a refugee led program

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue operates out of Asheville, which has been hit aggressively by storm and flood damage

The Asheville Survival Program is reaching out. They appear to actually be the ones who use the Cashapp $Streets1de, and they just got put with Appalachian Med for convenience.

Beloved Asheville is reaching out. www.PayPal.me/belovedasheville and venmo.com/beloved-asheville

Homeward Bound helps the homeless in the Asheville/Buncombe area

Theres a fund for smaller rural communities around Asheville. It's close to its goal, but I really wish they'd set it higher considering what people are gonna need. Someone make sure they surpass it!

Charlotte NC is reaching out. Charlotte Mutual Aid: Helene Disaster Relief. CashApp: MutualAid704. Venmo: MutualAid704. Open Collective: Helene.cltfnb.com

Olive Branch Ministry is reaching out from West NC

Josh Griffith is fundraising for his efforts to deliver food in WNC

Breathitt County in Kentucky is fundraising to help NC through the Rousseau Volunteer Fire Department, as well as asking for physical supply donations. Their paypal is jrousseauvfd, put "for NC flood". Jaxon Flower shop in Jackson KY will also take physical donations. They aren't looking for clothes, moreso cleaning supplies and other items.

North Durham Mutual Aid is reaching out.

Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid is also reaching out for funds. There looks like there might be two orgs with similar names, but if so both are helping. There's PayPal.me/ekymutualaid, Venmo - @ekymutualaid, or Cashapp - $ekymutualaid. There's also a Facebook group where individuals are posting requests for aid.

There's a fund for relief in Erwin, Tennessee

Helbender Harm Reduction is collecting physical supplies in Knoxville alongside First Aid Collective Knoxille, whose Cashapp/Venmo is: $firstaidcollectknox. If you're nearby they're looking for clothes, blankets, shelf stable food, rain gear, flashlights, and batteries, which is what most other groups asking for supplies are looking at too.

The TriCities Mutual Aid group is mostly asking for volunteers and supplies in the Tennessee/Virginia area. However, they may shift to donations, and you can reach out to them to see if they would be welcome either way.

Food Not Bombs Tallahassee has a cashapp: $fnbtally2022. They and Mutual Aid Athens are also boosting any community calls for funds, labor, or supplies in various states on their Instagram pages

Taylor County FL is reaching out. Paypal: [email protected] and Venmo @Mskatonic138

The Footprint project's Florida team is asking for people to support their response by texting HELENE to 44-321

Since I don't know if the post I made late last night will get traction I'll reiterate that Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a trusted org. You can send funds at the linked site, or via Paypal: [email protected] Or Venmo: @MutualAidDisasterRelief

Appalachian Med is another trusted org I shared last night. They have Venmo: @AppMedSolid. Put Flood Support in the description

Animal Disaster Relief Coalition is helping people make sure their animals are fed.

A list of Mutual Aid groups can be found here

A friend of mine, Vyn, is asking for help since he'll be out of power for around a week in Southeast GA

Other physical supplies people will be looking for in flood impacted areas include:

bottled water, potentially water filters

personal hygiene items: wipes, camping showers, tampons/pads/other menstrual products, handsanitizer, mosquito spray, laundry detergent, washboards, toilet paper, diapers, and especially any products safe for sensitive skin

medications- ibuprofen, monistat and other meds for yeast infections, cold and cough meds, any diabetic meds that can be safely shared, etc

individually wrapped low or no prep food items, baby formula, and Gatorade

duffel bags, backpacks, heavy duty storage totes and trash bags, 5 gallon buckets, coolers

Fans, dehumidifiers, moisture sensors, generators, gas and gas cans, solar charging items and battery banks, first aid kits

chainsaws, crowbars, hammers, air filters, respirators, 2×4 planks, bleach, roofing nails, heavy duty gloves, and potentially waders.

and board games or other non electric activities for children

Double check if you can before you donate these items to make sure whatever local drive you're headed to wants them and can distribute the more specialized ones where they're needed

The US and the rest of the CORE group are not only continuing the invasion plan supported by the US and the Dominican Republic, they are explicitly aiming to rewrite the constitution. This has unfortunately happened multiple times in Haitian history. This article has been recommended on the subject.

The deportations of Haitians from the Dominican Republic have continued, and have had a massive negative impact on the local economy.

People are being crammed into deportation centers with terrible conditions.

In tandem, the US is also continuing to deport Haitians.

Additionally, the US ambassador to Haiti has admitted to having contact with prominent gang leaders. This not only arouses suspicion about the nature of this contact, it is a blatant example of imbalance and suppression. Haitian journalists cannot interview members of gangs without risking arrest. Many of the gangs in Haiti are also former police/military, and the discussion about "stabilizing" the country via outside intervention typically ignores that the gangs themselves have ties to the would be "stabilizers". These gangs often procure weapons and training from countries like the US, and gang violence has been increasing.

Traditionally, these were tattoos, called dakk, and were at one point fairly common among Egyptians. However, the practice of traditional tattooing has faded in Egypt, except for among the Copts, who still get tattoos for religious reasons. When you see a young woman with marks on her face today, she has drawn them on in a temporary ink or dye.

The most common forehead designs are of 6 types: this one is what I would call a palm branches, though I'm not sure what it was named when tattoos were more common.

This is what I've termed a trefoil. I actually have more examples of this, and it seems to be the most common forehead design in depictions of Egyptian tattoos.

This one is a curl; this design is uncommon, and this is the only photo I've found of it. I suspect this design was drawn on with kohl or another temporary ink.

You may also see a circle or sun. The second photo here may actually have been a trefoil when the tattoo was fresh.

The next motif I've seen is a cross (figures 10-11). The cross on the forehead was specific to Copts, and this motif was also used by Ethiopians, who Copts have a kinship with.

The Beoduins in Egypt also have a unique set of tattoos, and their forehead tattoos are usually triangular. This design is also seen in Palestine, and a similar design is used in the Maghreb.

Catch up: my car stalled out on the highway on Friday night coming home from work. I got a tow, and got a mechanic to come by Saturday morning to look at it. He claimed it was mostly just the EVAP and O2 sensors and that it was safe to drive after he fixed those, though there was an oil leak I should keep an eye on. I took it on a test drive. It was fine.

I try going to work on Saturday afternoon. It stalls out on the high way again and because it wasn't raining aggressively, I see when I stop and pop the hood that it's pouring out coolant from a radiator leak and smoking (the temperature gauge hadn't been moving up above normal). I have to get another tow, an Uber home, and I schedule a different mechanic to inspect it on Sunday morning.

It's now Sunday morning. Mechanic says he thinks I'm looking at 3k in repairs if not more, which I can't afford and might as well start looking for another car at that point.

I need some help covering the tows and ubers if anyone can spare it. My roommate can help me out some and there is a bus up to work, but it doesn't run when I get off work and only sometimes lines up with my actual clock in time (i.e. has it so I arrive 30-60 minutes before my shift instead of 3 hours). I'll probably make weekly posts about what my transit needs are as they'll vary a bit.

Proof photos

For this week with all those final costs sorted, I'm asking for help covering the tows, the hackjob, and this week's ubers up to saturday (since my roommate is out of town for a few days I'm looking at at more ubers than what I'd normally estimate based on their avaliability). I'll also be trying to scrape together money for another car, but I'll be handling that on my own and might be looking at taking out a loan to get something actually reliable.

215/640

As I've gone over my car is kind of fucked right now and not drivable or repairable at the price I can afford. I'm fundraising for next months transit costs roughly, the expense of the tows/"repair"/first week of ubers, and for some of the down-payment. Ubers on my commute average $25-30, and I have a little saved for the down-payment, so for this week the goal is $250 at least, as well as ideally the unmet goal from last week. I'm making weekly posts in hopes that this will encourage donations.

Unmet goal from last week: 291

Combined goal of last week and this week: 541