In Depth: Sending help to those in Haiti and Afghanistan
LOS ANGELES - Segment One - Haiti
Hal is joined by Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps, and Ann Lee, the CEO of CORE Community Organized Relief Effort. Lee is on the ground in Port-au-Prince, where personnel are working to provide assistance to survivors of the earthquake.
Both CORE and Mercy Corps have been working in Haiti since the massive earthquake in 2010. Lee says things are much better organized this time around. McKenna says that Mercy Corps has been working to support the local Haitians for years, and that they help with lifting communities out of poverty, assisting small businesses and students. They also are helping locals interface with their government officials.
If you want to help visit coreresponse.org and mercycorps.org
Segment Two - Afghanistan
Tjada D’Oyen McKenna returns to talk about Mercy Corps’ operations in Afghanistan. She says that most of the team on the ground there are local Afghan nationals. They are currently standing by until the situation is safer for them. McKenna says that Afghanistan was one of the humanitarian crisis points even before this, especially women and children. They are hoping to get back to assisting them as soon as possible. She says there are a lot of fears about what will happen to the women and girls in Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in charge.
Segment Three – #Thinktrek
The son of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, joins Hal to talk about what would have been his father’s 100th birthday, and a year-long program that is being held to celebrate the 55 years of the "Star Trek" legacy.
Rod says that he was not originally a "Star Trek" fan when he was younger, and in fact was in a "rebellious teen" stage when his father died. He says he came late to the game of realizing the power and influence the show had on both younger and older generations. The year-long celebration includes Instagram Trek images in ordinary life, a social media segment of celebrities recording Roddenberry’s quotes called #talkTrek.
Segment Four – Wrap-up
Hal promotes his podcast, and we end with several segments of the #talkTrek videos.