In Search of the Human Spirit

Woody Arai of Hayward has lead a double life. The 78 year old carried books with him wherever he went, but it wasn’t because he loved books. He couldn’t read.

Arai was born and raised in Oakland. His parents owned a restaurant and things were going pretty good. Then World War II crashed down around them. Japanese internment laws interrupted his childhood. He was sent to the Tule Lake camp for 3 years. He went to school in the camp but somehow got through without reading or writing.

He was 16 when he got back home to Oregon. School just wasn’t in the plans. His family needed money so he worked in the tomato fields instead of cracking open books.

Arai went on with his life, hiding his illiteracy. When he retired, he wanted to fill that void in his life. He decided it was time to learn to read.

The gift of learning has changes his life. Not only have books opened up worlds for him, but the ability to read has given him opportunities. He serves in community organizations and is proud that the books he once carried for looks he can count as books he’s read.

Chad and Keri McCartney were having the times of their lives. They had four beautiful kids and they were expecting their fifth child.

During Keri’s 23rd week, they got devastating news. The baby had a tumor growing out of it’s tailbone. The tumor would eventually cut off the blood supply and kill the baby if they didn’t act.

Surgeons would have to remove the tumor if the baby was to survive. It would involved a risky procedure which had only been performed successefully about 20 times. That’s world wide. The chance of success was fewer than 10 percent. But what choice did they have?

The procedure was done at Texas Children’s Hospital when the baby was just 6 months old. It involved removing part of the baby’s body from the womb. This was risky as they could not disturb the placenta. Though the head would remain in the womb, the body could only be expose to air for a few minutes. The tumor was removed and the baby was returned to the womb.

On May 3rd, little Macie Hope was born a couple of weeks early. However, she was healthy and tumor free. On June 6th, Macie Hope went home.

Kevin Connolly was born without legs. The Montana native is healthy otherwise. He skateboards and has done things the rest of us born with legs only dream of.

But, his appearance causes others discomfort. He has lived his life with the stares of strangers. Though he has lived a normal life, he can’t get around those looks of pity and anxiety.

On a trip to Europe, Connolly took a photograph of one gawker. That one photograph has turned into 32,000. The photographic is exhibit is called the “Rolling Exhibition”.

The photographs capture the range of emotions people experience when they see something out of the ordinary. They don’t realize that while they are staring they’ve been observed. It’s an interest mix of expressions that he has captured.

You can view some of the shots on his website: http://www.therollingexhibition.com/gallery.php

It appears that stem cells have affected a cure in 5 year old Nate Liao of a deadly disease. If this is true and the results are replicated, others suffering the rare disease will be able to live normal lives.

Liao was born with a fatal disease knwon as “recessive epidermolysis bullosa”. The body lacks a certain protein necessary to skin development (known as collagen type VII). This missing collegen causes blistering and cuts when just a minor bump is involved. It becomes so severe that the stomach cannot digest food and the person afflicted must bandage their skin at all times.

Stem cells from blood marrow and umbilical cord blood were used in a process known as “circulating stem cells”. The procedure was performed at Columbia University.

Liao’s body now makes collagen type VII. He’s beginning to look and feel like a normal 5 year old.

The medical procedure will be attempted next on a 9 month old baby. Sara Rose from Folsom, CA will be treated and if all goes well, she won’t know the suffering that Nate Liao has known.

In honor of farmworker and labor leader, Cesar Chavez, organizations have gotten together to build parks in poor neighborhoods. They donated a beautiful skateboard park in Oakland. Only problem–most of the kids in the area don’t have skateboards.

Quentin Favia of San Francisco heard about their plight. When he learned that the kids at Rainbow Recreation Center’s Rainbow Skate Park had to share six skateboards, the 12 year old decided to do something about it.

He had more skateboards than he really needed. He cleaned up 16 of them and made sure they were in good shape. Then he and his family drove over to the recreation center in Oakland where he made his donation.

The regulars were estatic. Instead of getting 30 minutes to ride 6 boards. They now had 22 to spread around.

Favia isn’t done giving. He has several boards that need new trucks. He’s asking for donations of used wheels and trucks. If he gets enough donations, he can rebuild the boards and donate them too.

Leo is one of the dogs taken from Michael Vick’s despicable dog fighting ring. With a loving trainer, Leo has been rehabilitated (in just 5 weeks!) He’s now helping cancer patients and teens in jail.

Check out Leo’s story and prepare to shed a tear:
Michael Vick Dog’s New Life

Major League Baseball Player, Ken Griffey Jr., is the newest member of the 600 club. He now has 600 home runs over his career. The record blast was hit off the Florida Marlins Sunday.

Griffey started playing baseball at 19 with the Seattle Mariners. Many thought he would be the one to challenge Hank Aaron’s home record. But, a string of season ending injuries put those dreams on hold.

Griffey is now 38 years old. He’s in an exclusive club. Only five other players in Major League history have hit more homeruns than Griffey. He’ll pass number six on the list, Sammy Sosa, with ease. He only has 609. But, can he make it passed Willie Mays at 660? That will depend on how Griffey’s body holds out and how many more years he can play.

Way to go Griffey!

This has been a year of broken barriers. The Democrats had a fine field of candidates and had the opportunity to nominate the first woman, the first African American, or the first Latino for President.

Tuesday night it all came to fruition. And, many American’s people thought they’d never see in their lifetime. The Democratic party nominated an African American, Barack Obama, as it’s Presidential candidate.

On the 35th anniversary (to the day) of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Obama took the stage in Minnesota. People of all colors and ages crowded around to see the young, charismatic political phenom with a message of hope and change. Obama has managed to break down the racial barrier and get himself nominated. He did it with support from all age groups and races–and he even drew in a few supporters from the other side of the aisle.

I was born in 1964, so I’m very much a child of the 1960s. I knew that sometime in my life we would see this day. Some day it won’t matter what your are, whether you’re male, female, Black, White, Asian, or whatever. It will only matter that you are qualified. We’ll get there eventually. It just feels great to be an American at this moment in time and be a part of it all.

Listen to Obama’s speech:
Part One: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ffLducDlLck
Part Two: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7we4wrx6usE