Post #52 Various Good News (Human Potential)

Dear Reader:  I am back, after a break. Not sure yet how often I will be posting.

“You do not find the happy life. You make it.” — Thomas S. Monson

Once again I feel the need to absorb (& share) some Good News. Here are brief/various good news (all RE: human potential) that I have found recently. Regarding the snake bites/anti-venom story below, I am not an Immunologist nor a Biochemist. I am happy to share here the information that I have found & my own layperson thoughts or conclusions; these may save you time in your own research efforts.

Women plumbers. In Jordan. Women in any paid work there make up one of the lowest proportions (of their adult population) of any country in the World. This is due in large part to social & cultural norms. Entering the workforce *at all* can be a challenge for many — to say nothing of breaking into a male-dominated field. From an understandably challenging beginning, this unconventional career path in Jordan (in what has been a male-dominated field) has now been providing hundreds of women there with life-changing confidence. And independence. It’s a growing unconventional female occupation in Jordan. Women plumbers there are successfully challenging long-established social norms. Thanks to their perseverance, there are now hundreds of fully certified female plumbers in Jordan.

Female safari guides. In Botswana. An amazing metamorphosis: women are taking the lead to help evolve an industry that was formerly thought of as solely a man’s domain: guiding tourists through beautiful waterways via traditional mokoro canoes. One of them explained: “In the olden days, women collected grass for building materials… and now we’re breaking barriers, leading tourists on … expeditions”. Women are rewriting this occupation by leading tourists through the unspoiled environment of the Okavango Delta.

Tragically, an estimated 100,000 humans die each year from poisonous snake bites. Most of these deadly snake bites occur in remote & rural areas. And specific anti-venom treatment requires arduous sourcing & accuracy. All of which has made successful antidote (anti-venom) process very difficult. Though now, a possible better solution is being crafted. Thanks to a Wisconsin-native truck mechanic (Tim Friede) who subjected himself purposefully to many (many) snake bites over the past two decades. [N.B.:  Do Not ever “try this at home”; I am amazed that he has survived & made out so well. Do not try this.] He has been a most notable “unconventional” medical researcher. By undergoing over 200 bites from the world’s deadliest snakes. And also enduring approx. 850 venomous injections. As a result, Mr. Friede’s blood is now full of various antibodies, following his decades of strategic exposure to the neurotoxins of mambas, cobras, & other deadly snakes. “His blood is now the source material researchers are using to develop an anti-venom [potentially] capable of neutralizing a broad spectrum of snake bites” [with one single anti-venom].

The above stories all sound like progress to me.