Texas man brings hope to 'forgotten' disabled Iraqi kids

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Brad Blauser lives in war-torn Baghdad, where he doesn't earn a paycheck and is thousands of miles from his family. But he has no intention of leaving anytime soon.

For the past four years, the Dallas, Texas, native has been providing hope to hundreds of disabled Iraqi children and their families through the distribution of pediatric wheelchairs.

"Disabled children -- they're really the forgotten ones in this war," said Blauser, 43. "They are often not seen in society."

Blauser arrived in Iraq as a civilian contractor in 2004, but quit that job last year to devote himself full time to his program, without compensation.

"There's no paycheck. It's not really safe here. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said.

An estimated one in seven Iraqi children ages 2 to 14 lives with a disability, according to UNICEF. Illnesses such as Spina bifida, palsy and polio leave them unable to walk.

Some parents carry their children every day. For these children and their families, limited access to health care has taken a toll.

"A number of families don't know what's wrong with their kid. There's not a doctor available for help [and] there's no pediatric wheelchair source in this country," Blauser said.

Blauser first learned about this situation in 2005 through Maj. David Brown, a battalion surgeon. His friend shared heartbreaking accounts of helpless children pulling themselves along the ground, or living motionless in back rooms, too big to be moved long distances very often.

"So I asked him, 'What do you need?' " Blauser recalled. "And he surprised me by his answer: 'I need children's wheelchairs.' "

Blauser began researching and campaigning for help from friends and family in the United States. In 30 days, 31 pediatric and small adult wheelchairs arrived in Mosul for distribution to children in need.Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids was born.

"The experience for me in the first distribution was awesome," said Blauser. "To see the smile come across their face and [to] look over at the mothers and fathers -- they've definitely been changed." Do you know someone who should be a CNN Hero? Nominations are open at CNN.com/Heroes

That's the case for 3-year-old Ali Khaled Ibrahim and his family. At 8 months old, Ali was struck by a mysterious fever that left him partially paralyzed. He cannot speak and experiences increasingly frequent and violent convulsions.

"Ali's handicap affected the family a lot," said his father.

His mother said she couldn't carry out her daily chores and her "psychological state worsened."

"When I heard the news of the distribution of these advanced wheelchairs, I was very happy deep down," she said. "I thought maybe that will ease my work as a mother in the way I deal with my son."

Today, Ali smiles at home as he sits in his new wheelchair. His siblings giggle and sprinkle his face with kisses. The toddler's parents are thankful for the relief it has brought not only to Ali, but their entire family.

The boy is among hundreds of disabled Iraqi children to benefit from Blauser's generosity. Since 2005, Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids has distributed nearly 650 pediatric wheelchairs.

To obtain the specialized chairs, Blauser partnered with Reach Out and Care Wheels, a nonprofit pediatric wheelchair organization in Montana. The organization provides wheelchairs designed for rough terrains in developing nations, making the devices "perfect for this environment," said Blauser.

Through sponsor donations, his group purchases the chairs from ROC Wheels for about $200 apiece, and USAID donates shipping. Members of the the U.S. and Iraqi armies, Iraqi police and border patrol work together to carry out the distributions.

Blauser and his group help adjust the children into their wheelchairs, which fit their bodies as they grow.

For Blauser, who provides part-time security consulting in exchange for room and board, an initial plan to stay for one year has become a dream to get wheelchairs to every Iraqi child who wants one. And he's determined to see it through.

"By providing what they need, I'm hoping to start a movement to change the way people think about disabled children," said Blauser. "They are not a curse, they are a blessing and they deserve to have their needs met."

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America's Best Little Beach Towns #5 of 11 Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz, CA

Thrill-seekers flock to the Giant Dipper roller coaster at the Beach Boardwalk amusement park, but Santa Cruz has a surfeit of other attractions: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, surfers at Pleasure Point (and the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum), and frolicsome seals at Natural Bridges State Beach.

Stay: At the Casablanca Inn, most rooms have ocean views (and a handful have fireplaces, for when those NoCal nights get chilly). The restaurant looks out on the awesome expanse of the Pacific.

Eat: Center Street Grill is the go-to restaurant for salads, pastas, homemade hollandaise sauce, ahi tuna, and freshly squeezed lemonade and orange juice on the outdoor patio.

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Mongolia’s Yokozuna Takes Nagoya Title

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - UB Post

The Mongolian 69th Yokozuna Hakuho took the Nagoya Grand Sumo Championship with a 14-1 record.

Hakuho was awarded the 11th Emperor’s Cup on the last day of the event on July 26.

“I wanted to win without falling down in the Nagoya Basho,” he said in an interview with NHK. His wish was squandered by Ozeki Kotomitsuki on the 11th day.

On the last day of the tournament, he beat Mongolian Yokozuna Asashoryu.

Mongolia’s Asasekiryu Dashnyam (9-6) won against Tochionada, and Kyoktonho Tsewehnyam ended with meager 6-9 mark.

Hakuryu Anand ended with 5-10 mark and Harumafuji finished with a record of 9-6.

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At Camp Twitch and Shout, Tourette kids can be themselves

By Leslie Wade - CNN Medical Producer - 7/27/09

(CNN) -- For Brad Cohen, the barking and squealing noises he could not control began in the fifth grade.

"I remember eating lunch at school all by myself and the mean kids would parade around me and mock my noises. My teacher made me get up in front of the class and apologize to everybody for the noises I was making," Cohen recalls.

More than 20 years later, Cohen is a camp director, celebrating the first year of Camp Twitch and Shout, a place for youngsters, who like Cohen, have Tourette syndrome.

"Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder which causes people to make noises and tics that they can't control," Cohen says.

Fifty campers, between the ages of 7 and 18, came from all over the country to spend a week in Winder, Georgia, about 45 miles east of Atlanta. They have plenty to do, from swimming and fishing to music and arts and crafts. Most have been teased or harassed in school, and the camp is a place just to have fun.

"It's very nice to be able to let it all out and just not have to worry and not have people stare at you and think that you're weird and think -- what's wrong with that person?" says 16-year-old camper and black belt Tinsley Birchfield of Atlanta.

For other campers, such as Jacob McGee of Savannah, Georgia, just being outdoors is magical. "My favorite part was when we climbed the tree. That was pretty awesome. I went as high as I could go. It was really fun," says the 11-year-old.

According to experts, Twitch and Shout is one of only five weeklong camps in the country for children with Tourette syndrome. Atlanta-based child neurologist Howard Schub says such camps help children better cope with their condition. Some campers have never met another kid with Tourette syndrome.

"A child goes to camp, they see that they're not the worst. ... There are others that are functioning pretty well with worse tics than they," Schub says.

Cohen adds, "They see that wow, 'There are other kids that are like me.' They laugh, they tell the same jokes, they have the same interests. And what we hope is that their self-esteem goes up."

Twitch and Shout campers display motor tics common to most kids with Tourette syndrome such as eye blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, head jerking, and -- in a few rare cases -- cursing. Camp activities are filled with the sounds of typical vocal tics: sniffing, throat clearing, hooting, barking, hissing and squealing.

But campers such as teenager Kevin Kardon of Athens, Georgia, say they've just gotten used to it.

"It's just kind of like you're listening to music, and you hear something in the background and you don't really hear it," Kevin says.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three out of every 1,000 school-age children are believed to have Tourette syndrome. The cause is unknown, but genetics appear to play a role. Most children develop the condition between 7 and 10, and if their tics are mild to moderate, they usually require no medicine to control them. Symptoms usually peak during the late teens or early 20s.

"Many children, as they get older, the tics become either much less prominent or certainly reduced to a single or just a few tics that are not as disabling," Schub says.

That was certainly the case with Cohen. Barking is still his dominant tic, but when he was the age of his campers, he wrestled to control several others, including eye blinking, teeth chomping and arm twitching. In middle school, when his tics were at the height of their intensity, the principal approached him and asked if he'd like to educate the student body about his condition. Cohen says this move changed his life.

"They gave me a standing ovation, and it was on that day that I realized the power of education. I wanted to be that teacher that I never had. And that was my dream. I wanted to be the teacher that focused on kids' strengths, not weaknesses," he says.

And that's what he's been trying to do in the classroom for more than 13 years. At 35, Cohen is an elementary school teacher, the author of a book on Tourette syndrome and now a camp director. He says he hopes his campers find strength in knowing they are not alone and will carry this new confidence home with them to face the challenges of the upcoming school year.

"When they have tough times and they think they can't find success, it's our goal that they will think back to their experience at Camp Twitch and Shout and say, 'You know what? I can do it; I can be successful because I did it at camp,' " Cohen says.

Next summer, Cohen says he plans to recruit twice as many campers and hopes the experience will be as worthwhile for them as it was this year for 15-year-old Chris Wall of Athens.

"This camp was awesome because it had people just like me," says Chris, beaming.

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Your morning adorable: Asian small-clawed otters at Australia's Taronga Zoo

LA Times - July 25, 2009

Australia's Taronga Zoo is home to a host of animals, but we think the resident Asian small-clawed otter family may rival them all for the title of cutest animal.

Asian small-clawed otters are freshwater otters, different from the sea otters that are more familiar to most Americans. In the wild, they can be found in rivers and streams in southeast Asia. (Closer to home for California residents, they can also be found at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.)

Their claws aren't the only thing small about Asian small-clawed otters: they're the smallest of all otter species. They're known for their manual dexterity, which led Monterey Bay Aquarium staff to devise a unique enrichment activity for an Asian small-clawed otter named Dua. They gave Dua his own keyboard (and, thankfully, captured him playing it on video).

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Mark Baker / Reuters

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