laszlo-photo's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Access to safe and clean water is a right that should be afforded to everyone, but unfortunately pollution, climate change and privatization, among other obstacles, prevent one billion people obtaining this vital necessity.

This upcoming Thanksgiving week, SYRV, a non-profit that connects travelers with volunteer opportunities in developing countries, will be traveling to Jiquilillo, Nicaragua, one of the many places that lacks access to clean water.  There they will help build desperately needed water-purifiers as well as other community support projects.

And if you happen to be in Los Angeles this evening, you should head down to Venice to attend the SYRV fundraiser where you can learn more and help support the amazing work they do.

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Participant Media presents entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Behind these films and issues, there are thousands of people nationwide who work tirelessly on campaigns that use the films as inspiration to make a difference. As a member of the company’s Social Action team, which develops initiatives that are inspired by the films, I’m excited to announce the first posting of a weekly blog of Sarah’s Social Action Snapshot, which will offer the latest updates on our campaigns and offer specific actions and tools, from our campaigns, for people to get involved in issues in the news.

Food, Inc.
Do you want to know about rGBH dairy, issues facing small farmers or organic yogurt? If so, check out our recent online chats with some of the leading food advocacy organizations from our campaign and Stonyfield Yogurt.

We learned this week that obesity rates continue to climb with an expected 103 million Americans to be obese by 2018. Scary? Yes. Preventable? Yes. Take action by supporting menu labeling and check out our campaign’s 10 tips for healthy eating.

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Well, it’s been an interesting week for women’s health issues: earlier this week Giulia noted that a panel is recommending fewer mammograms and starting later, and now, new guidelines are suggesting that women start getting screened for cervical cancer later in life, and that Pap smears are not needed every year.

One of the reasons for the change is that overtesting can actually lead to very serious risks. Says Reuters:

The recommendations are based on scientific evidence that suggests more frequent testing leads to overtreatment, which can harm a young woman’s chances of carrying a child full term.

“Overtreatment of minor abnormal pap tests in young women and adolescents can lead to consequences such as preterm labor in some cases. It increases the risk,” said Dr. Thomas Herzog of Columbia University in New York, who is chairman of an ACOG [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists] subcommittee on gynecologic cancers.

So now, women, you’re supposed to start getting Pap smears at 21, and every two years. Read the rest of this entry >>

CREDO Mobile, a cell phone provider that donates 1% of your charges goes to progressive nonprofits, is mailing coat hangers to all the democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted in support of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in Obama’s health care reform bill.

The Credo site is asking people to sign their petition saying: “We know what happens when women are denied access to reproductive health care including abortion. And we can’t go back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions. Reconsider your vote on the Stupak amendment. Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the final health care bill that emerges from the conference committee can’t turn the clock back on women’s rights.” When you sign the petition they’ll send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats who voted to take away women’s rights.

It’s a harsh action, but it definitely sends a message. To learn more about how the healthcare reform bill is affecting reproductive rights, check out this article on the Frisky.

CREDO is also the company I wrote about earlier this year that offers those great free stickers in support of gay marriage, click here to get yours.

This week is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As TakePart’s Danny Jensen wrote back in July, the number of homeless families has been steadily increasing in the U.S. this year. Today, approximately 700,000 people in the U.S. are homeless. And as we discussed here on TakePart in June, something as unpredictable as an injury or illness can bring a person to homelessness.

Beth’s Story, which we released in conjunction with the release of The Soloist, is a case in point.

Everybody has a story. Here is Beth’s.

Beth’s Story from TakePart on Vimeo.

A defining moment in Trevor Field’s mission to provide clean water to people in Africa came when he stumbled across a simple scene: a group of women standing around a windmill-driven pump, waiting for the wind to blow so they could get water. “I just thought, ‘No, this is a pathetic situation to be in,’” said Field, who lives in South Africa. “And ever since then I’ve sort of had a mission in my head to try and help rural people to get clean drinking water.”

That mission took a fortuitous turn at an agricultural fair when he found a water pumping system driven by a children’s merry-go-round. Field saw the potential in the device, bought the rights and leveraged his advertising background to come up with the first PlayPump system, which uses a merry-go-round to pump water into an elevated tank, where billboards are sold for advertising space.

Exclusive interview with Trevor Field after the jump…

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October may have been Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the entire staff of the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland Oregon are helping to raise plenty of attention for the issue with their Pink Glove Dance video.  The hospital’s employees donned bright pink gloves, filmed themselves dancing to Jay Sean’s “Down” and posted it on YouTube.

The hilarious video is a fun way to raise awareness of such an important issue, and who knows, maybe people will start wearing pink gloves around town in addition to the pink ribbons usually worn.  Watch the staff boogie down in the video below and use the action link to find a cure for breast cancer.

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Editor’s Note: This guest post is written by Kristin Schafer, Senior Policy Analyst at the Pesticide Action Network.

I like my cranberries and pumpkin pie chemical-free.

It’s not that you can taste or smell pesticides on food–the levels are much too low for that. It’s just that I sleep better knowing I’ve done all I can to minimize the number of chemicals I put into my body and feed to my kids.

I’ve been a mom for 15 years and a pesticide reform advocate for almost as long. I’ve organized around international treaties, lobbied government officials, and cheered at a lot of swim meets and baseball games. For me, these two worlds come together most clearly around food–in our backyard garden, in the produce aisle and at the dinner table.

So I buy organic and local whenever I can manage it. This keeps pesticides off our plates and helps small organic farmers. My family’s demand for organic sweet potatoes helps spur supply, building a market for produce that doesn’t put farmers, farmworkers and rural families in harm’s way.

But sometimes organic just isn’t available, and that’s where WhatsOnMyFood? comes in. Pesticide Action Network just released a new iPhone App that makes the invisible problem of pesticides more visible to food shoppers. The tool shows which pesticides are found on what foods, and how those chemicals can harm human health. Read the rest of this entry >>

A few weeks ago Danny blogged about Organizing for America’s recent video contest concerning health reform (he showcased his favorite entries) and I am happy to report that they’ve chosen a winner!

There were nearly 1,000 submissions and 20 finalists and millions of views from supporters and judges and now the winning video is below.  The folks at OFA are working to make sure the video airs as much as possible before the final vote.  For now though watch below and spread it around! Read the rest of this entry >>

Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by Scott Fifer, Founder and Executive Director of GO Campaign, a nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for orphans and vulnerable children around the world.

With our 2nd Annual GO GO Gala to benefit orphans and vulnerable children around the world coming up in Hollywood this Friday, I find my days filled with an odd mix of conversations in Swahili, celebrity seating requests, tax receipts, Spanish lessons, ego-massaging, party planning, and trying to find a place to polish my shoes. A former attorney and screenwriter, it’s not exactly the life I would have envisioned 20, 10, or even five years ago. And I rarely give thought to how it happened. Instead of focusing on how I got here, I generally would rather focus on getting things done now that I’m here. Read the rest of this entry >>