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Answering the call

04 Oct 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Book of Genesis tells us that when the wild animals and birds of the air were brought before man, he had a name for each of them. Remote villagers in Uganda don't always have the answers they need in their daily encounters with the natural elements. Now, though, they have Question Box, a free, nonprofit telephone hotline that provides information to people in remote areas who lack access to computers. The premise behind Question Box is that a host of barriers keeps most of the developing world from taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge available through Web search engines, said Rose Shuman, the service's creator. That could be a drag on economic development. "So I was thinking, why not bring the information to them in a way that's most convenient and useful to them?" said Shuman, who is based in Santa Monica, California. People in two rural agricultural communities in Uganda can turn to 40 Question Box workers who have cell phones. The workers dial into the call center and ask questions on behalf of the locals, or they put the call on speakerphone so the locals can ask for themselves. The operators then look up the requested information in a database and convey it to the workers, who pass it along to the villagers. The workers are compensated with cell phone airtime. The service is a joint effort of Open Mind, a nonprofit group founded by Shuman, and the Grameen Foundation, which is best known for promoting small loans for the poor. It has received financial backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In June Google introduced a similar effort in Uganda, also involving Grameen, which allows people to find information on topics like health and agriculture via text messaging. Source: An article by Ron Nixon for the New York Times

internet bill and melinda gates foundation grameen foundation open mind rose shuman question box uganda cell phones google text messaging
Texting while driving is dangerous and shortsighted

20 Dec 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved," says this Sunday's psalm response. The issue with teens texting messages while they drive is quite the contrary: They have their faces turned toward their cell phones instead of the road. A nationwide ban of the practice would save many lives, advocates said. One study found texting drivers were 23 times more likely to be in an accident. But with momentum building in Washington for a federal ban, there is evidence that teen drivers might not pay much attention to it. One study found that where such laws already exist, young people often ignore them. In October, during a three-day conference in Washington on distracted driving, President Obama signed an executive order barring federal employees from texting behind the wheel. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he would seek to expand that rule to bus drivers and truckers who cross state lines and called the conference "probably the most important meeting in the history of the Department of Transportation." The safety issue is not likely to go away soon. Nationwide the number of text messages was up tenfold in the past three years, and Americans sent an estimated 1 trillion messages in 2009. Among teens texting has supplanted phone calls as the preferred way to communicate. "We are seeing a clear trend of huge increases in text messaging," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. "If teens are a leader for America, then we are moving to a text-based communication system. For them, there is less interest in talking." Texting has even come in for criticism from the National Eye Institute, which this week blamed the practice for contributing to a 66 percent increase in the prevalence of nearsightedness, or myopia, since the 1970s. Source: Articles by Dan Whitcomb for Reuters, Hope Yen for the Associated Press, and Ellen Gibson for Bloomberg.com

teenagers nearsightedness national eye institute pew internet and american life project amanda lenhart ray lahood driving texting teens text messaging myopia
Sign of the times: Digital prayer requests

20 Jan 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Give to the Lord glory and praise,” the psalmist urges this Sunday. Prayers of praise as well as of petition are coming to the largest group of Franciscan friars in the U.S. in a novel way: via text messages.The Friars of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Province, who staff 40 parishes, colleges, soup kitchens, and food centers along the Eastern seaboard as well as supporting groups in Peru and Tokyo, are among a small but growing number of religious groups offering this type of digital service.Their “Text a Prayer Intention to a Franciscan Friar” initiative, described as “faith at your fingertips,” offers a novel way for Catholics to connect with those in religious life. “People are always saying to friars, ‘Can you say a prayer for me?’ or ‘can you remember my mother who has cancer?’ ” said Father David Convertino, the New York-based executive director of development for the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province."A lot of people text everything now, even more than email, so why not have people have the ability to ask us to pray for them by texting," Convertino said. The intentions are received on a website and are included collectively in the friars' prayers twice a day and at Mass.Most of the 325 friars, whose average age is about 60, are comfortable with the technology, said Convertino. "If the pope can tweet, friars can text. We have a friar who is 80 who was texting today.”Homily hint: What to make of the growing dominance of text messages and online communications in social interaction? Is it a trend to be resisted? Embraced? Is there a middle road we can navigate, adopting and adapting technologies to serve real human needs—without letting them replace real human interaction? Food for thought and perhaps conversation this Sunday. Source: An article by Patricia Reaney for Reuters

prayer requests text messaging texting franciscan friars most holy name of jesus province david convertino