Global conflict - local focus

 Below is a map showing ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States, from the Council on Foreign Relations website. 

Click on any dot on the map and you can learn more about the conflict in that area. In Europe the conflict is the attack on the Ukraine that started in late February 2022.  While this one is dominating much of the news, we need to focus on all of these in efforts to reduce or end them.

At the same time we need to continue to work daily to help youth living in high poverty areas of Chicago and other cities have the extra support needed to help them move from birth to work. 

I've used this blog since 2005 to focus attention on the challenges facing youth living in high poverty areas and the potential help that can be offered by volunteers who connect with them in on-going,  tutor, mentor and learning programs.

Yet at the same time, I also have shared graphics that focus on surrounding issues that affect these kids, and others around the world.  The graphic below is from a Nov. 2020 article. 

As we start a new week, and continue to follow the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine and in other places I encourage you to create your own maps and blueprints, to help you keep track of all the different issues that you need to focus on daily, for this week, and many weeks to come.

If we can do this we can help kids in Chicago and US poverty areas move through school and through the journey of their adult lives.

And, we can build networks of support for kids and families who are being driven from their homes by man-made and natural disasters. 

While the graphic above shows me in 1974 with Leo Hall, and again in 2014 at his 50th birthday, it could also picture kids from any of today's conflicts, with adults who are helping them rebuild their lives and their futures. 

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