YouthAwareIssue10

EDITOR’S
NOTE
Dear Readers,
It’s hard to believe everything that’s
happened since the last issue of our
magazine came out. Vaccine access is expanding, but is still not
as equitable as it could be. Kids 12 and above are now eligible to
get vaccinated in the United States. Some of us graduating elementary,
middle, and high school will be able to celebrate with
our peers in the next few weeks. This issue is a testament to the
positivity we’re seeing around us, as well as some areas we’re
working to improve in as a community. Columnist Ameiya Isaac
discusses the benefits of yoga on health and well-being, while
Columist Sunehri Nog writes about advancements in the spacetravel
industry.
Youth Aware wishes all our readers a happy summer break! We
hope that you have an amazing time with your family and friends.
Happy Reading!
Mehr Grewal,
Co-Founder
Front page picture credits: cgstudio.com, homelandprepnews.com

In fact, we are feeling an excessive amount
of unhappiness these days.
This unhappiness might look like anger,
boredom, disappointment, fear, feeling inadequate,
lonely, sad, cautious, tired,
stressed, anxious, and more. These are very
challenging times and they bring incredibly
uncomfortable emotions!
Without our usual activities like clubs,
sports, and school to anchor us, this lack of
activity is taking a toll. Here are a few things
you can do today to take back some control
and begin to feel better.
1. Share your uncomfortable emotions with
a family member or
close friend. Be honest. Willingness to
share is a sign of strength, and it will improve
your relationship with that person.
2. Accept that you will have good and bad
days.
3. Persist! Hang in there, you can get
through this. You have
made it through 100% of your worst days.
I’m so proud of you!
Homework: Reach out and ask a family
member or a friend how the COVID experience
has been for them. What has been the
most difficult part? How have they managed
to get through the hard days?
Making this connection and really listening
to their responses will likely make both of
you feel better.

Picture credit:www.yogawithuliana.com

The World: A “Global Village”
for COVID-19
By Mehr Grewal
The world is literally a global village for
COVID-19. The pandemic knows no borders.
Within a year of the pandemic, we had a
vaccine authorized for emergency use in the
U.S. The world heaved a collective sigh of
relief and hope emerged on the horizon.
However, as vaccine delivery started, we
saw the emergence of another phenomenon-
an unequitable distribution of the lifesaving
serum. On one hand, countries like
the U.S. saw quick dissemination and
distribution of the vaccine to the most vulnerable,
followed quickly by everyone
above the age of 12 years, while other parts
of the world have no access.
As of June 2, 2021, nearly 63% of U.S. adults
18 years of age and older have received at
least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and
nearly 52% are fully vaccinated.
However, the picture is not so optimistic in
countries like India where the number of fully
vaccinated is merely 9%.
This disparity, a threat to global health and
the biggest challenge to curtailing this pandemic,
has the potential to shake the very
foundations of epidemiological principles
and public health.

So, what exactly is vaccine equity and why
do we care about this so much? It is
the equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide
—a global effort extending beyond geographical
boundaries, essential to ending
infectious diseases that spread rapidly between
countries. Fundamentally, we cannot
be safe as a country unless we are safe as a
world. The United Nations’ Global Goal 3
calls for good health and well-being for all,
which cannot be achieved if countries
adopt a mentality of vaccine nationalism rather
than supporting the global response.
The speedy research and approval of the
vaccine are a scientific landmark and a testament
to the brilliant minds of medicine
globally, but this is only a small victory. The
bigger battle is to get this vaccine in to the
arms of the most vulnerable populations
around the world. For example, the United
States has purchased 1.2 billion doses of
COVID-19 vaccines, enough to give each
person more than three doses; the entire
African Union has ordered just 270 million,
which amounts to one shot per person for
20% of its entire population. Wealthy countries
have excess of vaccines while poor
countries have hardly any!
This disparity has led to loss of precious
lives and created deadly COVID-19 mutants.
How can vaccine equity be ensured ?
A collective roll -out of the vaccine, in order
to protect populations universally is integral
to equity on a global scale. Wealthier countries
have to be willing to share access with
those who are economically weaker and
lack access.
Bridging economical, cultural, racial, ethnic
as well as nationalistic barriers is crucial to
optimizing access. Public health experts like
Dr. Tom Frieden emphasize global preparedness—partnerships
around the world to
end disparities, bridge gaps and make the
world (and not individual countries alone)
safer. This is a call to world leaders to come
together as advocates of equity to make this
possible
Deploying global and regional philanthropic
resources and technical assistance can be
the backbone of a movement to provide
sustainable support to countries struggling.
Vaccine manufacturers and regulatory bodies
can work together to share know how
and dramatically increase vaccine manufacturing
and distribution in a cohesive effort
to reach countries with the heaviest disease
burdens.
Health is a fundamental right and making
the world more equitable is a responsibility
we carry as global citizens. Strategies that
optimize vaccine distribution globally will
define not only how we end the COVID-19
pandemic but also how we prepare for the
next global health challenge.
Picture credit: The Associated Press

Malibu to
Milky Way
By Sunehri Nog
What’s on your bucket list of places
to travel? Most lists may include
places like the calming beaches of
Tahiti, bright lights of Paris, or the
mysterious jungles of Indonesia.
However, the latest advancements
in space technology and innovations
may just be the key to stop
limiting your dream vacation to
Earth and think beyond our planet.
Multi-million-dollar company Axiom
Space just recently announced
that they would be launching private
citizens into space for the first
time. According to Axiom Space,
the goal of the mission is to
“inaugurate an expansive future
for humans in space” and to progress
the never-ending exploration
of the galaxy around us. The
mission is set to take off in October
of 2021 but with everchanging
circumstances, the flight may also
be postponed to 2022. As of now,
the plan is to take a private crew
and fly them to the International
Space Station (ISS) where they’ll
vacation for ten days. Presently,
only four members of the crew
have been publicly determined,
including Spanish-American former
astronaut Michael Lopez-
Alegria, American entrepreneur
and activist Larry Conner, Canadian
philanthropist Mark Pathy, and
Israeli investor Eytan Stibbe.

Picture credit: NASA.gov
If you’re wondering why more people
aren’t jumping at this once-in-alifetime
opportunity, it may be due
to the steep price tickets currently
are or the unknown results of the
mission. Tickets for this mission to
make space accessible for all, aren’t
too accessible for most considering
they are selling at the high price of
$55 million.
However, money isn’t the only factor
that is raising concerns in many citizens.
Many are worried about the
mental health of the crew members,
especially those who aren’t trained
as astronauts or other space exploration
researchers. Space flight has
been proved to cause some behavioral
changes as crew members are
isolated and confined to an extremely
tiny space. This can cause
sleep loss and many other adverse
health effects. Others, who support
the commercial flight into space,
believe that the risks are worth it
and that you have to start somewhere.
Similar to commercial aviation
in the early 1900’s, it was extremely
expensive and unsure to
start with, but over time everyday
citizens started using planes more
often, and now it is common practice
to fly somewhere for
work or vacation. Hopefully, the
same pattern will follow in space
travel and exploration.
The enormous steps that we have
taken in making space more accessible
to not only researchers and astronauts,
but to those who simply
wish to see more of our amazing
galaxy is unprecedented. While this
is only the first step in a series of
many more to come, it gives everyone
hope to be able to experience
journeys like never before.
Whether you choose to take a leap
of faith or stay close to home is up
to you, but without a doubt Axiom
Space’s decision to take private citizens
to space opens up a whole
new world of possibilities for what
our world will look like in the future.

Did you know that our gut influences the way our
brain functions and affects us psychologically as
well?
The concept of the “gut–brain axis” is not
a new one.
Trillions of bacteria reside in the human
gut and have been shown to play a crucial
role in gut–brain communication.
This happens through hormonal, neural
and immune pathways.
Gastrointestinal symptoms are often reported
in psychiatric illness. Disturbances
in appetite and weight change are
key features of major depressive disorder
(MDD), while symptoms of diarrhea
and nausea are frequent complaints in
patients with anxiety disorders.
There is no doubt that the gut microbiome
influences brain function.
Gut bacteria produce
hundreds of
neurochemicals that the
brain uses to regulate
basic physiological processes as well as
mental processes such as learning,
memory and mood. For example, gut
bacteria manufacture about 95 percent
of the body’s supply of serotonin, which
influences both mood and GI activity.
Research in animals has shown that
changes in the gut microbiome and inflammation
in the gut can affect the brain
and cause symptoms that look like Parkinson’s
disease, anxiety and depression.

support the potential of microbiome-based
treatments for
anxiety disorders, found that
higher intake of fermented, probiotic-containing
foods by
healthy students appeared to be
protective against developing
social anxiety disorder in those
who had high baseline levels of
neuroticism
So, what can we do?
By modulating
gut microbiome composition through
proper nutrition and probiotics, we also
help decrease anxiety and depression. Lactobacilli
and inflammation are also recognized
to affect the brain pathway and when
an imbalance occurs, mood disorders develop
Many probiotic trials in healthy human
populations have included a stress or anxiety
outcome, and although results have
been inconsistent, they generate cautious
optimism.
Picture credit: American
Journal of Psychiatry
A small cross-sectional study, which would
We are literally what we eat. Probiotics
are most common in fermented
foods. That means you
can easily incorporate them just
by getting creative with your meals. Fermented
foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, lassi,
kefir, kombucha are valuable sources of
probiotics. Always try to get probiotics naturally
first. If you’re unable to get in
enough, you can take a probiotic pill. The
recommended daily dosage ranges from 1
billion to 10 billion colony forming units
(CFUs).
A growing number of researchers see a
promising alternative in microbe-based
treatments, or “psychobiotics.”—
individualized probiotic therapy for psychiatric
conditions. This has the potential of
being a powerful treatment tool against
depression, anxiety , schizophrenia and a
host of psychiatric conditions. This young
and exciting field has the potential of making
a huge impact.

Dr. Karkhanis, the recent “pause” on the Johnson and
Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine really sparked a
lot of vaccine hesitancy in the community. What would
you say to people who are feeling hesitant about receiving
this vaccine? How do we know it is still safe
and effective?
Let me give you a little background. On April 12th, the FDA
put a temporary pause on Johnson and Johnson vaccinations
in the U.S. And that was because they noticed about 6 cases
of a certain blood clotting condition called TTS, thrombosis
with thrombocytopenia syndrome. The FDA studied 15 cases
by the end of the pause. But you have to keep in mind that after
almost 7 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine
they saw 6 cases of this condition that caused headaches
and basically causes blood clots in a particular venous sinus
in the brain along with a drop in a blood cell called platelets.
This is exceedingly rare, but to be on the safe side the U.S.
FDA is so very vigilant — they put a pause and they took
about two weeks to study what was going on. And this was
what they found: in actual COVID infection, you can have the
same condition happen but at much higher rates —
over a hundred thousand cases of this every million
COVID-19 infections.

So if you're worried about getting this, you should worry
more about staying non-immunized. Because if you catch
COVID infection, your chances of getting this are 100,000
times higher than any vaccine. You can see this condition
with smokers (about 2000 in a million). We did see some
cases with the AstraZeneca vaccine, but again, four in a
million. And with the Johnson and Johnson it was six in 7
million. So very, very rare overall. When they studied them,
they found that the majority of people affected were women,
and they were in the 18 to 59 age group. So the elderly
who took the vaccine, none of them had it. There didn't
seem to be any underlying cause to specify that there's a
particular group to avoid this vaccine. And it was usually
seen about six to 15 days after that these people developed
very severe headaches. They went and looked at the
other two vaccines that we have in the U.S: the Pfizer and
Moderna, and they did not see any of this TTS, no blood
clots with low platelets after either of those mRNA vaccines.
And after looking at these numbers in the general
population, one to five in a million get it. After the vaccine,
six in 7 million got it. It was deemed that this vaccine is
safe, because it seemed that yes, there were a few rare
cases. But the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk because
if we leave the population unimmunized, then about
150-1000 people in every million might get this from

COVID infection. And that's why on April 23, they lifted the
pause because they felt confident that it was safe and effective.
So I think the main message to people who are
feeling hesitant is, it's a higher risk to stay unimmunized. If
you have a choice of taking a different vaccine that's readily
available, and you are hesitant about the J&J vaccine, at
least take the other vaccine. But if no other COVID vaccine
is readily available to you then you are taking a huge gamble
by staying unimmunized. If you catch COVID infection,
your chances of this complication or any other complications
are much higher. So don't be scared of taking this
vaccine. There is nothing that has no side effects. Infections
have side effects, medications have side effects. And
guess what, if you catch COVID, the treatments that you
will get will have way worse side effects. So don't be hesitant
about this vaccine, it is a very safe vaccine. If you already
took this vaccine and you did not have any complications,
you're in the clear, you're one of the several million
lucky people who did not get it. And I think that's my
reason to say, that don't take a risk of catching the infection,
make an informed decision because nothing in life is
risk free. And this risk seems to be very, very low. We do
know how to recognize it. We do know how to treat you.

Dr. Karkhanis, can you please walk us through potential
causes for this adverse effect caused by the J&J
vaccine and did all the people affected have a similar
underlying condition?
So basically, they noticed that it was young women 18 to
59 or so years old. But there were no common risk factors.
Some of them had obesity, some of them were on birth
control pills. But there was no common risk factor that all
of them had. So this seems to be a rare complication that
could happen. But the majority of women in that age
group, if they catch COVID, they're more likely to have
that very same complication: 1000 times more likely. So
there is not anything that anyone should particularly
avoid. In general, smoking is not a good idea. But other
than that, there is no real risk factor that we can read out.
What steps are we taking as a globe and in the United
States to ensure vaccine equity? We've heard a lot
about the vaccine sharing effort COVAX. Can you
please tell us more about that and other efforts?
COVAX is led by WHO and UNICEF and two other organizations:
GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness
Innovations. And then in January after President Biden assumed
office, United States joined COVAX and then in
February, we have donated almost $2 billion to the vaccine

efforts. And their main goal is to provide vaccines that will
be able to immunize at least 20% of the population in all
the member countries. So we have given about $2 billion
already, especially with the recent rise in cases in India that
we are seeing over the past couple of weeks where the situation
is getting really bad. The United States has donated
supplies for vaccine manufacturing, and then supplies for
treatment, including oxygen, medications like Remdesivir,
and things like that. So even outside of vaccines, we are
doing a lot to improve the world's community because
everybody is suffering from the pandemic.
It's so interesting that some sort of widespread outbreak
seems to occur about every 100 years. Do you
think that there are any potential causes for this pattern?
What similarities have we seen in viruses that
tend to cause large epidemics or outbreaks?
There doesn’t seem to be a biological cause why it happens
every 100 years or so. But it is true that in in 1918,
there was the flu pandemic, which is called the Spanish flu
pandemic. And then in 2019, 2020, and 2021, we had the
coronavirus pandemic. It seems to be that it happens after
many, many decades, which is a good thing. We don't want
this happening all the time. But there's not a biological reason
why it's every 100 years. Now, what we do know is that
these viruses share some common features.

They are highly contagious so they can spread very easily
from a pre-infected or symptomatic person to a normal
person. It doesn't take a lot to spread— just a cough or a
sneeze is enough to spread those droplets with the viral
particles. So they are all respiratory. They are not universally
fatal, so they don't kill each and every person that
they infect. And this is in a way good for the virus because
if the virus wants to survive, it needs the hosts to live long
enough to spread it to more hosts. So if we ever were to
have a viral infection that killed almost everybody that infected,
that infection would die out pretty soon, because
very soon all the infected hosts would die. And then the
virus would not be able to spread because it could die
along with its host. So those are the two common things is
that it's highly contagious, and people who get it, some of
them survive, and they spread it on to others. Now, the
third thing to keep in mind is these viruses, they have animal
reservoirs. So even if we were to immunize every human
being in this world, these viruses can live in other animals
that we cannot always immunize. So for example, flu
can live in chickens and birds and pigs. And coronavirus
can live in rodents, like ferrets and minks and pangolins. It
can also live in bats, and we are never going to be able to
eradicate it from the wild animal reservoirs in the forests
of the world.

Is there anything we as a global society can do to decrease
transmission of infection from animals to humans
to potentially avert large scale epidemics?
The one thing that has stood out very pointedly after the
coronavirus pandemic is that we need to lock down on and
decrease exotic animal hunting and sale because that is
where we think this happened. The virus came from bats to
an intermediary called a pangolin. And it happened in a
market that was known for exotic animal hunting and sale.
So that needs to be more tightly regulated and possibly
banned. It is banned in several countries, but bans are not
easy to enforce. And then we also need to improve cooperation
between countries in terms of sharing information, sharing
resources. And learning that we are truly a global community.
It's not one country that is to blame. And it's not one
country that will do well, to put it mildly that it's not ever going
to completely disappear from one single country. Because
eventually people are going to travel you cannot shut
down your borders and lock in people forever. Ultimately,
people are going to travel in and out of every country in this
world, because of globalization. You cannot keep the virus
constrained in one corner of the world and ignore those
people. We truly need to share and help each other out with
information and resources. Otherwise, it will keep spreading
every time in other parts of the world.

We've seen a lot of promise with the new mRNA technology
with the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
What diseases do you think that this technology
can be used to target in the future?
mRNA technology was already been studied and probably
will now get a huge boost to be studied for HIV, malaria,
and rabies. We have to keep in mind, we are focusing on
the pandemic now for over a year. But HIV, malaria, these
diseases still kill millions of people in parts of the world.
And that's where I see the promise of the mRNA vaccine.
We can also potentially make a very effective flu vaccine
because the flu vaccine that we have right now is not that
effective. It's good enough to prevent pandemics, but it still
is only about 50% effective. So imagine if we could have a
95% effective flu vaccine. That would be great too.
We’ve heard about monoclonal antibodies that were
approved for treatment of COVID-19. Can you please
explain their role in targeting in treating COVID-19 illness
and whether they result in long lasting immunity
or whether they can be applied to the treatment of
other diseases as well?
Monoclonal antibodies are like a ready-made super effective
antidote. In this case, they are an antidote to the spike
protein of the coronavirus.

The spike protein is the part of the virus that the virus needs
to infect us. When the virus enters our body, the spike protein
on the outside is what anchors the virus to our cells.
That’s how the virus enters our cells. So these monoclonal
antibodies in the US, they're made by two companies, Regeneron
and Lilly. They basically destroy those spike proteins.
Now, since the spike proteins help the virus early on,
during entry, that's why for these monoclonal antibodies to
help they have to be given early on, they have to be given in
the initial few days of infection. You cannot wait till you are
very sick, then it doesn't work because the virus has already
entered the cells and the spike protein is already done its
job. It does not provide long lasting immunity because it is a
protein that's ready made, and it will just fight off with a spike
protein while it lasts. So we think it lasts about four to six
weeks. And in about 90 days, most of the monoclonal antibodies
are gone from our system. So the monoclonal antibody
right now available, they help fight just COVID. We
could develop monoclonal antibodies for other diseases, but
these won't help with anything else. They have to be given
orally, and they are temporary. So even if you've got monoclonal
antibodies to target your COVID infection, you still
need to go get the vaccine so that your body can develop its
own long lasting immunity, the monoclonal antibody does
not provide that training to your system.

So many young people like me have been just feeling
discouraged about the pandemic, feeling like there isn't
any hope left. What would you say to people, especially
young people like me, who are just feeling so depressed
about everything that's going on right now, that there
isn't any hope for things to get better?
Keep hope, we still have hope. It may seem like forever.
And it's understandable. If it was your senior year, and you
missed prom, you missed your graduation party, if it was
your freshman year in college, and you couldn't live on
campus; things like that can seem very, very significant
when they're actually happening. But keep in mind, one
year, two years, even five years is a very small blip. Hopefully,
we are all going to have long, long lives. And these few
years are really nothing in the long run of our lives. One
fine day, we will look back on them and just think, “Oh, it
was just a year or two years that I could not do certain activities.”
So don't lose hope. There is hope out there. We may
find a new lifestyle, some things may be different. But there
are lots of things to look forward to. We're seeing excellent
advances in a lot of fields, because of the pandemic, because
we are trying to fight the pandemic. Not just medical,
but information technology and the whole era of virtual
work and virtual education. And we are seeing a lot of progress
in other fields too.

So there is definitely hope out there. And when you look
back on it, hopefully one day you won't even remember
much about it. And you'll be able to tell your peers and
people younger to you that you lived through these one or
two years. Don't lose hope; this will this will change and
we will get back to doing a lot of activities that we miss.
So many of us have heard about the authorization of the
Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15. Can you please tell us a
little bit more about that?
Yes, Pfizer has collected enough data in the 12 to 15 year
olds and submitted to the FDA. The FDA has extended their
authorization to give the Pfizer vaccine to 12 and above.
They saw great results. The trials basically showed that no
kids in the vaccine arm got COVID as opposed to several in
the placebo arm did get COVID and it was very safe. They
did not see any difference in the adverse effects. The common
ones were still what grownups get: the mild body
aches, the mild sore arm, maybe a little bit of chills and nausea
for a day or so. The FDA has given Pfizer the green signal
and now adolescents like you age 12 to 15 will be able
to get the vaccine as well. And hopefully that will help us go
back to school and go back to college in person and have
lots of things look different in the fall.

How do you see the world bouncing back from this pandemic?
And from a public health perspective, how do
you think day to day life will change?
Like I mentioned before, we will bounce back, and it may
look different. A lot of careers went remote, and will probably
stay remote because there are advantages to not having to
commute, not having to spend on gas, the employer not having
to rent out a huge office and pay huge utility bills. Some
people will find that they work better and are more productive
working from home. And that is a good thing, that is a
sign of progress. Some people will find that they have to be a
little more cautious with travel, especially international travel.
And that's not a bad thing either. Once travel opens up, if we
are able to get a tighter hold on levels worldwide, then I
think some of us will still have to exercise a little bit of caution.
COVID, the virus, is going to stick around so we will
learn to control it, keep a tight rein on it, immunize enough
people that it won't cause the large scale deaths and morbidities
and it is causing right now. I think a lot of us will find that
not only did we not catch COVID, but because we were wearing
a mask, we did not catch flu. And we did not even catch a
common cold. We may choose to wear masks every season
when respiratory infections are high. I think in some ways, the
world will look a little different. But it will bounce back. We
will find a new kind of lifestyle, a new normal, and we will still
be able to live fruitful lives.

What would you say to young people who are interested
in medicine, very passionate about public health, but
feel discouraged because of the pandemic?
My main message would be, we need youngsters like you
in medicine and public health now more than ever, because
this has shown us what we can do as a race if we really
put our minds to it. We developed vaccines, by putting
our minds to it, by putting our resources to it, quicker than
we've ever done before. We've developed drugs quicker
than we've ever done before and monoclonal antibodies.
And so we need new talent more than ever. Now, keep in
mind, don't go into medicine or public health because you
want to make money. Yes, most doctors make a decent living
and earn a decent salary. But there are other careers
where you can make decent salaries too, that are not as
demanding. It is a demanding profession. But if you enjoy
what you do, which I do very much, if you enjoy taking care
of people, interacting with people and making a difference
in their lives, then this profession is the one that will
give you the most job satisfaction. It's the one where you
will find that you can really make a difference. So don't get
discouraged. Though it may seem like it's an uphill battle,
there is a time when you will find that you enjoy what you
do. And then there is no job better than this.

In today’s world, anthropogenic climate
change has become one of
the world's leading environmental
problems. The Theory of Anthropogenic
Climate Change is that humans
are causing most of the current
changes to climate by burning
fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural
gas. There have been many
devastating effects because of climate
change. One effect climate
change has had over the years is
through the way it affected the Co2
levels. The maximum level of Co2
should always be only up to 350
ppm. During the last ice age, over
10,000 years ago, the Co2 was at
about 170 ppm (which was considerably
low compared to now.)
Later on, in the 1970s, the rate of
Co2 went all the way up to 320
ppm, which was a huge growth in
the span of those years. In 2013,
however, the rate of ppm went all
the way up to 400 ppm. The rate
went higher over the last few years,
up to 450 ppm.
(Picture credit: Matthew T Rader/CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikipedia Commons)

450 ppm meant greenhouse gases,
warming, and could even eventually
mean bouts of extreme weather and
sea level rise that would endanger
global food supplies, and do much
more.
In today’s article, I would like to talk
about the Texas climate crisis and the
effects it had on the people there, and
how we can all help pitch in to stop
climate change. A few months ago,
there was a major crisis that happened
due to anthropogenic climate
change. This was a climate crisis that
happened in Texas. At the time of the
crisis, the state failed to weatherize
(this meant the state did not have protection
and resistance with buildings
during times where there was severe
weather).
The state also got disconnected from
the national grid, which triggered a
domino effect that forced the massive
blackouts as power plants went offline.
The biggest losses of generation
came from natural gas; failing wind
power played only a minimal role.
That disaster left dozens dead, and
stranded millions in dark homes. The
result of this climate crisis in Texas
happened because of climate
change, and had a huge financial impact
for many in the state of Texas. Also,
the crisis also spread to many other
states. Minnesota utilities warned
that heating bills could spike by over
$400, and even spike natural gas prices
over the country. Colorado customers
of Xcel could also face a $7.50 surcharge
for the next 2 years, which is a
lot of money.
The Texas climate crisis shows a subtle
demonstration of the financial burden
that will fall on people in the US because
of climate change, even if people
do not realize it yet. A financial
burden is one of the many impacts climate
change will have on people over
the next 50 years or so. However, we
may all be able to help stop climate
change or at least delay it through
powering your home with renewable
energy, making sure to weatherize
your house, invest in energy-efficient
appliances, and drive a fuel efficient
vehicle. There are many more ways to
help prevent climate change, and
these small acts could have a huge
impact on climate change in the long
run if we all pitch in.

Recently I visited Florida with my
family for a few weeks. I had lots of
safe, outdoor fun. I did a lot of outdoor
activities that included horseback
riding, petting zoos, gem mining.
One new experience that I had
was visit to a farm for miniature
therapy horses. The farm is located
in Winter Garden, Florida and its
name is SOUL Haven Ranch. SOUL
stands for Sharing Of Unconditional
Love. The mission statement of
this ranch is "To enrich lives by promoting
the human/animal bond exchanging
unconditional love and
healing, while advocating a standard
of excellence for animal therapy
training."
The ranch has registered and licensed
miniature therapy horses
that serve children with special
needs, geriatric, hospital/hospice
patients, and Veterans with PTSD
through Animal Therapy Program.
The owner is Ms. Susan Nastasi
who was in finance services for
over 25 years. In 2016 she started
SOUL Haven ranch with a miniature
therapy horse named Mariah. The
ranch currently has 5 trained and
registered miniature therapy horses.
There’s also a unique program
available at the ranch which I personally
experienced. Its called "My
time with a miniature horse.” It is an
hour-long leisure experience promoting
the value of the human/
animal bond. I got to spend one-on
-one time with their highly trained
miniature therapy horse. I learnt
how horses communicate with one
another and with us.

I also learned basic commands and got to practice with the horse. I
took the horse for a walk around the property and also groom and
connect with it. I also got the opportunity to handle the mini horse
through numerous obstacles in their training center. The whole experience
at the ranch was very unique and I felt a deeper connection
with nature. It definitely was a SOULful way of Sharing Unconditional
Love. Such experiences will definitely reduce stress and anxiety while
dramatically increasing joy, hope and laughter in your life.

Take a moment to recall what foods
you ate over the last two days. Pizza,
pasta, salad, maybe oatmeal?
Do you know that if there were no
bees you wouldn’t be able to eat any
of these?
If there were no bees, we wouldn’t
have tomatoes which you might use
on your pizza or pasta sauce. We
wouldn’t have any almonds which
you might put into your oatmeal. And
we wouldn’t have any cucumbers or
walnuts to put into our salad. If you’re
a coffee fan, we wouldn’t even be
able to have coffee without bees.
In some parts of China, the population
of honey bees have been greatly
reduced and people have to pollinate
plants by hand! That is because pesticides
are being sprayed on flowers
which can harm bees. Bees make
nests in trees and now the trees are
being cut down which can destroy
bees’ habitat. Weather can also harm
bees. Bees play an essential role in
the pollination of fruits and vegetables;
80% of US crops are dependent
on bees. Bees also pollinate alfalfa
which is fed to cattle and the cattle
gives milk which gives cheese on
your pizza or salad. So if there were
no bees all these foods would not exist.
What can we do to help?
We can plant bee-friendly flowers in
our garden like foxglove, birdsfoot,
trefoil and red clover.

Bees need shelter to nest in so we
can buy ready made Bee hotels. We
also should not kill Bees. If we see a
beehive in our yard we should call a
beekeeper to safely transport the
hive.
In the summer, you might spot a solitary
bee sitting unmoving on the
ground. You may think that the bee is
dead or dying, but chances are it is
actually exhausted and needs a little
boost of energy. You can help out a
tired bee by mixing two tablespoons
of white, granulated sugar with one
tablespoon of water, placing it near
the bee.

Picture credits: beingbess.blogspot.com, wikipedia

By Mehr Grewal
Due to rising sea levels on Earth coastal
countries such as the Maldives are becoming
increasingly vulnerable to flooding.
As scientists and leaders prepare for this
potential crisis, the Maldives government
recently announced plans for the world’s
first floating island-city. The city, named
Maldives Floating City has been in the
process of development for over 10
years by Dutch Docklands, a Netherlands
company. The city’s estimated size will be
about three quarters of a square mile,
and will be easily accessible by boat from
the Maldives capital.
Picture credit: www.maldivesfloatingcity.com
The initial plan is for the city to be comprised
of a thousand residences arranged
in a honeycomb-like pattern. The
company chose this shape to be similar
to that of a coral reef. However, in the future,
the company hopes to add shops,
restaurants, a hospital, and other buildings.
The floating island community is an effort
to appeal to the international community
and raise awareness about the impact of
climate change.
The city will also be environmentallyfriendly
and nearly carbon-neutral, running
on solar energy.
Hopefully, construction of this incredible,
new hi-tech city will begin as planned in
2022 and will stay on schedule to be
completed in the next five years.

DR. LOUISE IVERS
As the executive director of Massachusetts
General Hospital Center for Global Health, Dr.
Louise Ivers has not only spearheaded the
movement promoting global healthcare equity
but has also worked to improve the rollout
of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.
Dr. Ivers grew up in Dublin, Ireland and went
to medical school there at University College
Dublin, aspiring to become the first doctor in
her family. She later traveled to the United
States where she completed her residency in
internal medicine at Massachusetts General
Hospital, a fellowship in infectious diseases at
Harvard University, and a master’s degree in
public health from the Harvard School of Public
Health.
In 2003, Dr. Ivers joined
Partners in Health, a
nonprofit organization
dedicated to
providing access
to healthcare in
developing
countries, as a
clinical director.
At the
time, Partners
in Health was
working with
the Haitian
government.
Dr. Ivers was instrumental
in expanding
the reach of
the organization to several
clinics across Haiti. When the country was
devastated by an earthquake and cholera outbreak,
she stepped into her new role of Chief
of Mission for Partners in Health. She was at
the forefront of a major response team and
worked to expand access to medical treatment
and to reach as many communities as
possible.
From 2015 to 2017, Dr. Ivers served as a technical
advisor to the World Health Organization
and to the Haitian Ministry of Health.
During the pandemic, Dr. Ivers led efforts to
address weaknesses in the U.S. health system
and create a more efficient framework for responding
to COVID-19 and other public
health emergencies.
She also hopes to inspire young people to be
involved with medicine and global health.
“It’s pretty much the best job in the world,” Dr.
Ivers said. “It’s a huge privilege to be in a…
position to put [someone] at ease, to help
them, to explain what’s going on. It’s brought
me here and allowed me to bring something
to this project.”
Picture credit: elms.edu

The first Indian-American woman to run for
Congress. Founder of the nonprofit organization
Girls Who Code. A lawyer dedicated to
empowering young women to enter STEM
fields. All of these describe Reshma Saujani,
who has been working for the past 9 years to
spread one simple, powerful message to people
around the world: “Brave, not perfect.”
Reshma Saujani was born in Chicago, Illinois in
1975. In 1997, she graduated from the University
of Illinois where she studied political science
and speech communication. In 1999, she
attended Yale Law school and went on to work
as a lawyer at a New York City law firm.
In 2010, she decided she wanted to use her
unique perspective as a lawyer to help her
community, so she challenged incumbent U.S.
Representative Carolyn Maloney in the 2010
House elections. Saujani didn’t win the election,
but she wanted to shift her focus to address
a major problem she had seen firsthand.
On her campaign trail, Saujani visited local
schools and noticed the same thing repeatedly:
few, if any girls in computer science classrooms.
Inspired to combat this disparity, she founded
Girls Who Code, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging
girls to pursue STEM careers. She believed
that if more girls learned to code, they
would gain the confidence to pursue careers
in which they were historically underrepresented,
such as politics,
medicine, and technology.
"I won't be satisfied until I get every company
in America to sign up and until I reach every
girl in America,” Saujani said.
In addition to promoting STEM among young
girls, Saujani gave a viral TED talk to advance
her mission and share her story.
“Don’t be afraid of failure,” she said as a message
to young girls. “That’s not an easy lesson
for teenagers – especially teenage girls – to
learn. Our society sends us a lot of messages
that imply we’re supposed to be ashamed
when we fall short. But I think we should be
throwing each other failure parties!”