The Heads on Fire Community

Description of the Smart Power Conference

Just the other day my mentor Katie Rast took me to a conference focused on disaster relief. It was about getting organizations such as NIUSR, HALO, AFCEA and C4SP together to help poor people and countries get through natural disasters. Many of them suggested things like getting technology to enable communications and humanitarian assistance support.

Links and Information
http://center4softpower.blogspot.com/2009/01/smart-power-conference.html

SPEAKERS:

Dr. Eric Rasmussen:
instedd.org

Dr. Wells:
http://www.star-tides.net

Dr. Frost:
http://sdsugeology.blogspot.com/2008/02/eric-frost-honored-by-niusr.html

TOOLS:
http://www.geoplayer.com
http://www.globalincidentmap.com/map.php
InRelief.org

My Personal Response

The Smart Power conference gathers organizations together to help people in poor countries get through natural disasters by providing them support like food, technology and education.

After the conference I reflected on what I had learned from the speakers and gave my opinion on it. I was asked what would I do if I became President at this very moment and I thought of some curious questions to ask myself: I appreciate these organizations helping poor countries but what about America? Don't the poor people in our country have they same needs as they do? I would approach situations a little bit differently than previous presidents have.

America has long been a country known for helping people. We've fought in world wars, many of our citizens are philanthropists, and the world's United Nations organization was started in our country. But I still have strong feelings about our own countries needs. Sometimes it seems to me that we are quicker to react to another countries problems than are own. For example when the countries in South East Asia were destroyed by a tsunami we got there in about a week and it took us three days to get down to New Orleans, Louisiana to help the Hurricane Katrina victims. How does it take us about the same amount of time to help a problem when one of them is way across the world and the other is right on are doorstep?

In some ways America looks just as bad as these poor countries do. There are parts of the United States that almost could be mistaken as a third world country. If I were President I would take the same action that the Smart Power Conference takes on these poor countries by providing food, technology, and education. Most importantly education, if we give these poor people the proper education on how to survive in this country then that would give them the power to rise up out of their poverty. There could be a lot intelligent minds in those poor places that could be very beneficial to our nation.