dangerous crime safety security

Uvalde, Sandy Hook, How Many More? The Never Ending Gun Violence


Hi there my lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today I am saddened, angered, outraged, and even disgusted by yet another ruthless massacre of innocent children by gun violence.

Uvalde Shooting

From NPR

On Tuesday, May 24, 2022 and lone gunman entered Robb Elementary school the in small town of Uvalde, Texas and massacred 21 people, including 19 children. When my dad broke the news to me last night, at first I didn’t believe it, then I was angered and saddened by my shockless emotion. I was angry how common massacres has to be in a country that it becomes a normal part of our lives. Just 10 days before this incident on May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets store, a supermarket in the East Side neighborhood. Ten black people were killed; three other people were injured. Really? 31 people massacred in a span of just 10 days in two different incident of gun violence? I can’t but go back to Sandy Hook massacre of December 14, 2012 when a lone gunman in Newton Connecticut massacred 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and six were adult staff members.

Gun Violence:

arms blur close up firing
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Gun violence is an epidemic in the US. What is an epidemic you ask? It’s the widespread occurrence of a disease in a community in a particular time period. Gun violence is a disease that is taking lives of so many in the US. Hence, it’s an epidemic. The rate of firearm deaths per 100,000 people in the US rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017, with 109 people dying per day or about 14,542 homicides in total, being 11.9 per 100,000 in 2018. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. Per the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the current the rate of firearm death is 13.7 per 100,000.

Goldstick JE, Cunningham RM, Carter PM. Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine. 2022;386(20):1955-1956. doi:10.1056/NEJMc220176

Let me put that into perspective. Influenza (flu) and pneumonia are the 9th leading cause of death in the US and the mortality rate from flu and pneumonia is 16.3 per 100,000. The rate of death from firearms is not that far from mortality rate of flu and pneumonia. What’s sad and outrageous at the same time is that firearm is the leading cause of death among children and adolescence. A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine this year showed that firearm was the leading cause of death among children and adolescents (19 years and younger) in the US in 2020.

What Are Doing About It?

I remember, I was in high school when Columbine happened and I was so scared of going to school because I didn’t want to die. I can’t imagine now when parents have to explain to their children why they have to hide to protect them form the bad men. This is not right. It can’t be acceptable. I am so tried of the politicians hiding behind the constitution and do nothing to protect innocent people. No one should take away one’s constitutional right but I don’t think that includes assault riffles and military grade firearms. We are not militia fight war everyday. What it’s like to live in that condition ask the people of Ukraine and other war torn countries.

My question is how stupid do they think we are? How, demonic, ruthless, and sociopathic do you have to be to not care about the loss of lives. As Dr. Maya Angelou once said, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” Then why are we are giving this maniacs the power to make ruthless decision that gun violence a norm? Close yours eyes and ask this questions to your soul. I for one can’t stop crying today.

Thank you2

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Check out my Amazon Storefront

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to mygofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front

Leave a comment
COVID 19

The Dire COVID-19 Update


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today I want to talk to you about the current dire COVI9-19 update.

COVID-19

COVID-19

Twenty-two months ago, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world and upended our lives. Our sense of normalcy has forever changed. When things couldn’t get we saw the amazing result of people working together and coming up with not one but 4 different vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, Johnson & Johson, and Astra Zeneca in less than a year from the start of the deadliest pandemic in over a century. With the increase in vaccination, we saw a decline in cases until the beginning of the delta variant.

COVID-19 Delta Variant

hands with latex gloves holding a globe with a face mask
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

According to Yale Univesity, first identified in India in late 2020, the Delta variant swept rapidly through that country and Great Britain before reaching the U.S., where it quickly surged. It was, until mid-December, the predominant SARS CoV-2 variant, accounting for more than 99% of COVID-19 cases (at the time) and leading to an overwhelming increase in hospitalizations in some states. Delta is believed to be more than twice as contagious as previous variants, and studies have shown that it may be more likely than the original virus to put infected people in the hospital. People who are not vaccinated are most at risk, and the highest spread of cases and severe outcomes are happening in places with low vaccination rates. Delta was spreading 50% faster than Alpha, which was 50% more contagious than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 Omicron Variant and Current COVID-19 Epidemiology

According to the Centers for Disease Controls (CDC), the Omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown. CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or don’t have symptoms. Currently, Omicron is the prominent variant circulating in the US. In the US, 61.9 million Americans have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. Just on January 10, 2022, there were 1.43 million new COVID-19 infections. The current 7-day average is 777k infections per day. Globally 311 million people have been infected with the virus with 5.5 million deaths. In the United States, the death toll is more than 839,000, which is more than the death toll of the Spanish flu of 1918.

Vaccination

person getting vaccinated
Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com

As mentioned by the CDC, current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant. However, breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated are likely to occur. With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters. Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission, and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging.

This is what the CDC says about the vaccine:

  • COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death.
  • Scientists are currently investigating Omicron, including how protected fully vaccinated people will be against infection, hospitalization, and death.
  • CDC recommends that everyone 5 years and older protect themselves from COVID-19 by getting fully vaccinated.
  • CDC recommends that everyone ages 16 years and older get a booster shot after completing their primary COVID-19 vaccination series.  You are eligible for a booster at 5 months after completing Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, 6 months after completing Moderna primary series, and 2 months after the initial J&J/Janssen vaccine. Individuals ages 16-17 are only eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

My dear lovelies! The situation with the pandemic is dire right now. It has had caused a lack of an essential workforce. If we want to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, we will have to do our part by making sure that we are all vaccinated and boosted. We should not have to lose our loved ones to the horrible pandemic. I am urging you if you have not been vaccinated yet, please get the COVID-19 vaccine. If it has been more than 6 months since your 2nd mRA vaccines or 2 months since your J&J/Astra Zeneca vaccines, please get the booster if available. If you live in the US go to vaccine.gov to find a vaccine site near you. Please urge your loved ones to do the same. Finally please wear at least a surgical mask.

Please let me know in the comment below your feedback. I look forward to reading your comments and feedback.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png
Thank you2

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front with My Favorite Products

Prime Video: Sign Up for Prime Video

Leave a comment
biggest critics

Have You Been Feeling Down the Past Year? You are Not Alone


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Have you been feeling down the past year? You are now alone. COVID has made people feeling down. Today I will talk to you about the mental health impact of the pandemic.

The Pandemic and Feeling Down

Feeling Down

A year of staying home and Zooming in, teleworking, economic and social upheaval, and steady scientific progress has not been easy. Looking back to last March, we knew this would be difficult. However, what we didn’t know was how difficult. And we certainly didn’t know that the challenge of the pandemic would last this long. For many of us, this challenge has been overwhelming, affecting our mental health.

What Does Research Tell Us?

What research tell us is that in the immediate wake of a traumatic experience or event, large numbers of affected people report distress, including new or worsening symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Most of these people will recover though that recovery can take some time. However, a fraction of the people will develop a more prolonged symptom, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and will need intervention. So, was that the case during the COVID-19 pandemic? A CDC survey from last year showed that 31% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, 13% reported having started or increased substance use, 26% reported stress-related symptoms, and 11% reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days. These numbers are nearly double the rates expected before the pandemic.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health or NIMH, the pandemic affected minority communities more. Per NIMH, “the most vulnerable among us are also feeling the mental health effects most intensely. Job loss, housing instability, food insecurity, and other risk factors for poor outcomes have disproportionately hit minority communities. And while overall suicide rates may have remained steady, data from states such as Maryland and Connecticut suggest that, early in the pandemic, the number of African Americans dying by suicide increased.” Data showed that deaths due to opioid overdose rose substantially in the context of the pandemic. 

CDC Survey from last year found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. Similarly, a Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll from last year found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. Additionally, Non-Hispanic Black adults (48%) and Hispanic or Latino adults (46%) are more likely to report symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder than Non-Hispanic White adults (41%). Historically, these communities of color have faced challenges accessing mental health care.

Mental distress during the pandemic is occurring against a backdrop of high rates of mental illness and substance use that existed prior to the current crisis. Prior to the pandemic, one in ten adults reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Nearly one in five U.S. adults (47 million) reported having any mental illness. 

Am I Feeling Down?

Like many, I too have been feeling blue since the pandemic. I have a generalized anxiety disorder. The pandemic did not make things easy. When the country lockdown, I worked from home for about two months. During that time, my mom became very sick. Being already immunocompromised and having underlying lung disease, she stayed home. My vibrant funny mom spent the next three to four months in bed, quiet and breathless. Watching her deteriorate unable to get the thorough care she needed broke me. I couldn’t sleep, had severe migraine attacks, and gaining weight. Yes, my friends, overwhelming stress made me gain weight because I wasn’t taking care of myself. I stopped going out completely because I did not want to bring any disease home with me. Even with the extra precaution we all took, I still was always afraid of making my mom sick.

However, within about a couple of months after the pandemic started, I was physically started going to work. My anxiety rose 10 folds after that, but when my mom got hospitalized with sepsis, it was too much for me. My mental health issues started to manifest in my health. I got sick and decided to take a month off from work to take care of myself. I am fortunate enough to have that benefit from work. My time off gave me the chance to really take care of myself. AfterI got the vaccine, my anxiety went down even further. When we found that my mom did not produce any antibody from the vaccine was hospitalized again with another infection, I went back to my previous level of anxiety. Now going to work full time while the delta variant running havoc on the country is a nightmare for me every day.

My friends! I do mindful-based meditation, I paint but I still feel down. It’s better than before, but it will not go down significantly until the pandemic goes away. I do sleep every night, not much, but still better than before.

My dear beautiful lovelies! Hope you find this post helpful. I would love to know how the pandemic affected you mentally. I would love to hear about your experience. Please comment with your feedback.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png
Thank you2

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front with My Favorite Products

Prime Video: Sign Up for Prime Video

2 Comments
beneficial

The Most Beneficial Thing I learned Last Year


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today, I want to talk to you about the most beneficial thing that I have learned in the past year. I mentioned this before, and I am mentioning it now, the pandemic caught us off guard and turned our lives upside down. Our view of what is normal has changed dramatically. The pandemic has taught us to rethink our lives. How has the pandemic changed your view of your life?

The Lesson of the Pandemic – Is it Beneficial?

beneficial
Photo by David Cliff/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic swept our lives apart fast and quickly. Even as a trained public health person I studied about pandemics, but did not expect to experience one during my lifetime, and that we will not be prepared to handle it at all. It turned my life upside down and I wasn’t prepared for that. However, one beneficial thing that I have learned from the pandemic has reinforced some of my core values. Let me explain what I mean.

Life is short – With the death of over 674,000 lives lost and over 42 million in the US, and 4.55 million death and over 219 million worldwide, one thing that we all learned for your is that life is short. In the pandemic, I have love ones who were infected, on the ventilator, survived, and died. People who were there last year are not here now. The pandemic has hit us without any warning. For the past year and a half, I have focused on the saying, “life is short” a lot. I believed in the saying, “yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present”. However, the pandemic reinforced that view. It made me take a step back and rethink life.

It has made me realize the most important thing in my life and make that the priority. My friends, tomorrow is not promised to everyone and I am fortunate to have had the privilege to be live my life. I will not waste that time, creating regrets and negativity. Every step I take I keep that in mind and that has made all the difference. Do I have any anxiety? Of course, I do, but I have learned to acknowledge it and treat myself with kindness. What can be more beneficial than that? The pandemic took a lot but it has given me to reinforce my values and that is the most beneficial lesson for me.

Heroes are Among Us – Another thing that we have seen during the pandemic is that there are ordinary heroes everywhere. Watching these extraordinary heroes inspires me every day. We have seen the healthcare worker, the essential workers, who worked hard every day, kept us safe. We have been ordinary people who stepped forward and do incredible, and extraordinary work to help those affecting and suffering. That lesson is nothing but beneficial.

My dear lovelies! Hope the horrible pandemic has taught you something beneficial. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png
Thank you2

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front with My Favorite Products

Prime Video: Sign Up for Prime Video

Leave a comment
COVID 19

Healthcare Lessons From The COVID-19 Pandemic


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today, I will talk to you about the lessons I have learned from the pandemic.

Mask is Good

COVID-19 Mask

Before the pandemic, I think we looked at masks as something that only the healthcare professional and sick people wore. However, what the pandemic taught us is that masks can also be a sign of being caring. Wearing a mask not only protects us but those surrounding up.

Masks are a case in point. They are a key COVID-19 prevention strategy because they provide a barrier that can keep respiratory droplets from spreading. Mask-wearing became more common across East Asia after the 2003 SARS outbreak in that part of the world. “There are many East Asian cultures where the practice is still that if you have a cold or a runny nose, you put on a mask,” according to Manisha Juthani, MD, a Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist.

Telehealth Works

COVID-19 Telehealth

While there are still problems for which you need to see a doctor in person, the pandemic introduced a new urgency to what had been a gradual switchover to platforms like Zoom for remote patient visits. Telehealth has been particularly helpful for my mom. She is severely immunocompromised with many conditions. She has been hospitalized a few times over the past year due to worsening of simple infections. Hence, a virtual appointment is a form of protection for her, removing exposure to other patients.

Vaccine is Powerful

Vaccine

One thing that we have learned from the pandemic is how important vaccine is. After the initial surge in vaccination, the number of new cases and death due to COVID decreased dramatically, showing the effectiveness of the vaccine. However, after the decline of vaccination, and the surge of the delta variant, cases of hospitalization, and death from COVID spike dramatically. The current spike is adversely affected the unvaccinated. Unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to become sick from COVID.

Collaboration is Key

Collaboration

Before touting the success of the COVID vaccine let us talk about why the vaccine worked. It is because this time we saw unprecedented collaboration in the scientific community. Instead of working in silos, the scientific community around the world came together and use the weight of the talent pool to come up with a vaccine that is over 90% effective.

My dear lovelies, usually, I would like to describe research as 6 blind scientists touching various parts of an elephant and coming up with different conclusions. The success of any translational research program lies in the elimination of silos segregating scientists, doctors, and industry professionals from each other. Imagine there where no red tape hindering collaboration and was instead incentivized much life can be saved for breakthrough research.

Racial Inequalities Are Real

Racial Equality

What this pandemic has shown us is that everyone is not treated equally, especially in a pandemic. Racial and ethnic minority groups especially have had disproportionately higher rates of hospitalization for COVID-19 than non-Hispanic white people in every age group, and many other groups faced higher levels of risk or stress. These groups ranged from working mothers who also have primary responsibility for children, to people who have essential jobs, to those who live in rural areas where there is less access to health care. If we want to be the most successful and powerful nation in the world, we have to address this issue of inequalities.

We Need To Take Mental Health Seriously

A behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist believe the number of mental health disorders that were on the rise before the pandemic is surging as people grapple with such matters as juggling work and childcare, job loss, isolation, and losing a loved one to COVID-19.

According to the CDC, the percentage of adults who reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in the past 7 days increased from 36.4 to 41.5 % from August 2020 to February 2021. Other reports show that having COVID-19 may contribute, too, with its lingering or long COVID symptoms, which can include “foggy mind,” anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

My dear lovelies! I would love to know what you have learned from the pandemic. I look forward to your feedback.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png
Thank you2

Email Address

SUBSCRIBE

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front with My Favorite Products

Prime Video: Sign Up for Prime Video

Leave a comment

Medium Post


[display_medium_posts handle=”@allaboutme3181″ display=1 offset=1 total=1 list=false title_tag=”h2″]

Leave a comment

COVID-19 and Children


COVID-19-Card-3.jpg

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. As a public health person, I constantly try my best to keep me updated about the latest research and findings in public health. That’s why when I saw the latest article by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital on COVID-19 and children, I was really concerned.

download (3)

The article, “Pediatric SARS-CoV-2: Clinical Presentation, Infectivity, and Immune Responses” has been published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study looked at 192 children between the age of 0 to 22, with an average age of 10.2 years. This is the most comprehensive study of COVID-19 pediatric patients to date.  In this study, 49 children tested positive for COVID-19, and an additional 18 children had late-onset, COVID-19-related illness. The infected children were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment, according to Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC).

Transmissibility or risk of contagion is greater with a high viral load. And even when children exhibit symptoms typical of COVID-19, like fever, runny nose and cough, they often overlap with common childhood illnesses, including influenza and the common cold. One of the interesting finding from the study is that half of the children with COVID did not have fever. Hence, contact less temperature check as a mean of screening children in school may not be effective.

According to the lead author of the study:

“… the viral loads of these hospitalized patients are significantly lower than a ‘healthy child’ who is walking around with a high SARS-CoV-2 viral load.”

My dear lovelies, the reason I am mentioning this study is due the current debate about the reopening of schools, daycare centers and other locations with a high density of children and close interaction with teachers and staff members. According to Alessio Fasano, director of the Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center at MGH and senior author of the manuscript. “During this COVID-19 pandemic, we have mainly screened symptomatic subjects, so we have reached the erroneous conclusion that the vast majority of people infected are adults. However, our results show that kids are not protected against this virus. We should not discount children as potential spreaders for this virus.”

Many-children-with-COVID-19-do-not-have-a-cough-or

Children has higher level of viral load, meaning they are more contagious, regardless of their susceptibility to developing COVID-19 infection. According to Harvard Medical School, As MGHfC pediatricians, both Yonker and Fasano are constantly getting questions from parents about the safe return of their children to school and daycare. They agree that the most critical question is what steps the schools will implement “to keep the kids, teachers, and personnel safe.” Recommendations from their study, which includes 30 co-authors from MGHfC, MGH, HMS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, include not relying on body temperature or symptom monitoring to identify SARS-CoV-2 infection in the school setting.

pexels-photo-4261251

Additionally, the researchers emphasized the relevance of infection control measures, including social distancing, universal mask use (when implementable), effective hand-washing protocols and a combination of remote and in-person learning. They consider routine and continued screening of all students for COVID infection with timely reporting of the results an imperative part of a safe return-to-school policy.

pexels-photo-4145249

As we debate about school reopening, our leaders should take this study into consideration. This is the most comprehensive study to date. We should all question our state representatives and leaders. Our children are not immune from coronavirus. Just today a six year old child has become the youngest victim of COVID in Florida. Let’s not put any more children and educators’ lives at risk. I urge you to demand your lawmakers to do the right thing. Let do this for the children who don’t have a voice of their own.

pexels-photo-4144097

In the meantime don’t forget to checkout my Facebook Page, YouTube channel, and bloglovin page, My Amazon recommendations. Please follow me.

————————Happy Reading ———————————–

Leave a comment

Another Car Accident


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you all are doing well and staying safe. I wish I could say the same for myself. It’s hard for me to tell you that I have been in a car accident. I am grateful that I am alive but I just wanted to make everyone aware of safe driving.

You may have heard it many many times about the important of safe driving. However, what my accident has taught me is that you can never be too careful. The first one happened a year ago, when I was driving to work. I was turning left when a left turn sign turned green and a young woman with probationary licensed t-boned me at a high speed. What was sad is that I was driving my sister’s brand new car, with less than 300 miles on it. It ended up costing more than $7,000 to fix the car and I had to take short term disability from work and go through physical therapy. I am was in so much pain.

Last week, I was driving to work again early in the morning before 5 am. I was driving in the highway when a white pick-up came towards me at what felt like at least over 90 miles per hour. My lovelies! When you change lane you try to change lane far away from the car behind you, but the pick up was driving towards me at high speed. In order to avoid collision, I want on the HOV-2 lane. I truck did the same thing again. I again tried to move the shoulder lane. As soon as I moved to the shoulder lane, I don’t remember anything else. I guess I lost control and collided with the divider.

My cousin came to pick me up and my co-worker called, and they both said that my speech was slurred and I was incoherent. He cousin took me to his car, where I passed out for few minutes. My dear beautiful lovelies! Driving safe is very important to me. I lost a cousin to drunk driver. He was only 24 and had his whole life ahead of him. The drunk driver who killed him was driving with a suspended license.

I am writing about this because, I am passionate about any public health related cause. Average number of car accidents in the U.S. every year is 6 million. That’s more than 90 death everyday in car accidents.  Three million people in the U.S. are injured every year in car accidents, and around 2 million drivers in car accidents experience permanent injuries every year. Imagine the healthcare and human cost burden this create. My cousin was among the dead, and my parents, sisters (who were injured last year), and I are among the injured. The past two accident had a long term impact on my life.

My dear lovelies! I urge the following to every drivers out there. Please wear your seatbelt, drive sober, and within the speed limit. These small actions will save thousands of lives each year.  I will end to today with a simple quote.

“Some car accidents are caused by the ignorance or disbelief of the fact that a driver’s eyes and mind can be thousands of kilometres apart.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

My dear lovelies! Please stay safe and I know together will overcome these tough times, because together we can do and overcome anything.

In the meantime don’t forget to checkout my Facebook Page, YouTube channel, and bloglovin page, My Amazon recommendations. Please follow me.

————————Happy Reading ———————————–


3 Comments