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dwellsjournal.bsky.social

@dwellsjournal.bsky.social
170 followers 129 following 1.4K posts

After a long and rewarding IT career, I'm devoting my time to helping make the world a kinder place. I also try to encourage critical thinking and listening.

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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Its campaign against Guinea worm disease helped reduce annual cases from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to just 10 reported human cases in 2025. The Nobel Committee honored Carter’s belief in resolving conflicts through mediation, international cooperation, and human rights.
Former President Jimmy Carter holds the Nobel Peace Prize following the ceremony at Oslo City Hall, Dec. 10, 2002. (Carter Center archives), Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
After leaving office, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded the Carter Center in 1982. The Center mediated conflicts, monitored elections, and fought neglected diseases worldwide.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 11 On this day in 2002, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee cited his decades of work to resolve international conflicts peacefully, advance human rights, and promote economic and social development.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Over the next two years, the Mission reached 140 villages. It also helped farmers rebuild their livelihoods, reopened schools and established two homes for students.
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Belur Math, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Monks and volunteers provided food, clothing, medicine and other assistance to people caught in the violence. Their work continued through the upheaval surrounding the 1947 partition of India.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 10 On this day in 1946, the Ramakrishna Mission began relief work in East Bengal as communal violence spread through the region.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Each sister carried two infants. Older children helped younger ones. After walking through the night, they reached safety outside the city limits around 4 a.m. All 280 children survived.
Chicago in flames, by Currier and Ives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The sisters woke and dressed the children, carefully avoiding the word “fire” so they would not panic. Then they led them through the burning city toward safety.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
They were responsible for 280 children at St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, ranging in age from three weeks to 18 years old.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 9 On this day in 1871, as the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet faced an enormous task.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Their deed said the success of the Mayo Clinic should ultimately be measured by its contribution to the “general good of humanity.”
The Mayo brothers pictured with FDR, National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The brothers believed that money earned from caring for the sick should be used to improve medicine, train doctors, and reduce suffering.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The gift was worth more than $10 million at the time or more than $100 million today, and helped ensure that the clinic would continue beyond the Mayo family.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 8 On this day in 1919, William and Charles Mayo and their wives signed a remarkable Deed of Gift. They transferred the assets of the Mayo Clinic and most of their personal savings to a nonprofit organization.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
That's a pretty important detail! Thanks for mentioning.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Since then, the program has installed more than 3.2 million smoke alarms and made more than 1.3 million households safer. The Red Cross credits the campaign with helping save more than 2,500 lives.
American Red Cross Logo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Red Cross volunteers and local partners began visiting homes in vulnerable communities. They installed free smoke alarms, helped families make escape plans, and taught basic fire safety.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 7 On this day in 2014, the American Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign to prevent deaths from house fires before they happen.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
On October 6, they opened a hospital in a rented five-room house furnished largely with donated furniture and supplies. They cared for people regardless of their ability to pay. The little hospital eventually grew into Mission Hospital, which continues to serve western North Carolina today.
The Little Flower Mission, the founding group of what would become Mission Health. Mission Health, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
They had begun by visiting sick and poor people, bringing them flowers and small comforts. The women raised money by selling flowers on the streets of Asheville.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 6 On this day in 1885, four women opened a small hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Anna Woodfin, Fanny Patton, Rose Chapman and Lily Carmichael were part of a group known as the Flower Mission.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
More than 150 years later, his tradition of feeding the hungry continues in Vadalur.
Vallalr, See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ramalinga_Swamigal.jpg
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
His compassion extended to animals as well. He advocated vegetarianism and opposed killing animals for food or religious sacrifice. Vallalar believed that spirituality meant little unless it changed how we treated other living beings.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
He was especially troubled by hunger. He taught that feeding someone who was hungry was one of the highest forms of compassion. In 1867, Vallalar established a free community kitchen in Vadalur where people could eat without regard to caste, religion or social status.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 5 On this day in 1823, Ramalinga Swamigal, better known as Vallalar, was born in Tamil Nadu, India. Vallalar became a spiritual teacher whose central principle was Jeevakarunyam: compassion for all living beings.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
That legacy continues today. October 4 is also World Animal Day, and many churches mark Francis's feast day by blessing animals.
Saint Francis of Assisi , José de Mora, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Francis eventually gave up his wealth and devoted his life to serving the poor and promoting peace. His compassion extended to animals and the natural world, which he believed deserved our care and respect.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
His life changed after encounters with people suffering from leprosy. Feared and rejected by society, they were people Francis initially feared as well. But he overcame that fear and began visiting and caring for them.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 4 Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis was born into a wealthy Italian family around 1181 and grew up surrounded by privilege.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
For 50 years, Schulz celebrated individuality while encouraging empathy for people who were different, imperfect, or simply trying to find their place.
Charles Schulz with Charlie Brown, Roger Higgins, World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And in 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Schulz introduced Franklin, a Black child who simply became one of the gang.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
His characters rarely fit the mold. Charlie Brown was the perennial loser. Linus carried a security blanket. Peppermint Patty was a tomboy who led a baseball team of boys.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Peanuts was remarkably compassionate. Schulz wrote about loneliness, rejection, insecurity, and the need to belong.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 2 On this day in 1950, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts appeared in newspapers for the first time. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and their friends became some of the most recognizable characters in the world.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Jacobs and his wife, Mary, initially cared for the children in their own home while money was raised and the orphanage was built. The institution that opened in 1875 eventually became Thornwell, which continues to serve children and families today.
Reverend William Plumer Jacobs, courtesy of Wikipedia
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
One of the first donations came from a 10-year-old boy named Willie Anderson. Willie handed Jacobs fifty cents and told him, “This is to help build your orphanage.” Others followed his example.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The idea had begun several years earlier with Presbyterian minister William Plumer Jacobs. The Civil War had left many children across the South orphaned and impoverished, and Jacobs wanted to build a home for them.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, October 1 On this day in 1875, the Thornwell Orphanage opened its doors in Clinton, South Carolina.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
One idea ran throughout his work: indifference allows suffering to continue. When we see another person suffering, looking away is itself a choice. In 1986, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Elie Wiesel at the 2012 Time gala, David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For the rest of his life, he spoke about the Holocaust and about the responsibility to respond when other people are suffering. He advocated for victims of persecution and genocide around the world and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Wiesel survived and eventually wrote Night, his account of the Holocaust and one of the most widely read books about the experience of the concentration camps.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
As a teenager, Wiesel and his family were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister were murdered. Wiesel and his father were later sent to Buchenwald, where his father died shortly before the camp was liberated.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, September 30 On this day in 1928, Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The organization he founded continues its mission today in France and around the world.
Armand Marquiset with his grandmother, courtesy of https://littlebrothers.ca/tribute-to-the-founder-of-little-brothers-armand-marquiset/
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Marquiset believed that providing food and shelter wasn't enough. People also needed friendship, dignity, beauty, and joy. His volunteers visited lonely elderly people, shared meals with them, celebrated birthdays and holidays, and even organized vacations.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
After World War II, he became particularly concerned about elderly people living alone and in poverty. In 1946, he founded Les Petits Frères des Pauvres, the Little Brothers of the Poor.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a young man, Marquiset lived a privileged life and studied music. But after accompanying his grandmother on visits to poor families, he began devoting more and more of his life to helping others.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This Day in the History of Kindness, September 29 On this day in 1900, Armand Marquiset was born into a wealthy family in France.
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Their work helped make penicillin available on a massive scale. Penicillin is estimated to have saved more than 200 million lives worldwide.
Alexander Fleming in his lab, Official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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dwellsjournal.bsky.social @dwellsjournal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fleming published his discovery so that other scientists could build on it, and a team of Oxford researchers then focused on developing and producing penicillin rather than claiming ownership for potentially immense profit.
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