Latest news with #Sims'
Int'l Business Times
21-05-2025
- General
- Int'l Business Times
Appreciation Over Influence: The Culture Connection Project's Global Mission of Mutual Growth
International development and cultural exchange present a complex dynamic. One side arrives with ideas, resources, and well-meaning intentions, assuming it knows what's best for the other. Unknown to many, this approach can echo the problematic undertones of cultural imposition and, in some instances, white saviorism. The Culture Connection Project (The CCP) redefines what it means to create cross-cultural connections by emphasizing appreciation over influence. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit's mission is to educate, connect, and appreciate while celebrating diversity in skin color, nationality, cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, and lived experiences. Three principles guide The CCP's approach. First, everyone, regardless of background or credentials, has something to offer and learn. Second, the goal is never to change cultures but to uphold them. Last but not least, there's no place for saviorism; only for inquiry, humility, and growth. These values are embedded in The CCP's Uganda Program, a two-week immersive experience that has been over a decade in the making. The trip takes participants through four regions of Uganda, from bustling cities to remote villages. Along the way, they visit and volunteer with six Ugandan-led nonprofits, learning from local change agents already impacting their communities. Participants also design and lead activities with students in the villages of rural Bududa. This program challenges the traditional narrative of international aid by building appreciation and understanding across differences. It does so by bringing people from all over the world, each with their backgrounds, experiences, and assumptions, and facilitating their engagement with Ugandan leaders shaping their communities from within. Essentially, instead of regarding them as people being helped, they're regarded as peers, mentors, and collaborators. "We're unlike missionary groups and other international organizations. We've known these people for decades. We've watched their kids grow up, we've eaten in their homes, and we've lived life with them. That kind of trust and love means we don't have to make decisions for them. They lead, we listen," says Joshua Sims, co-founder and CEO. It's worth noting that The CCP's mission is global, and its reach is expanding. For instance, in India, participants will soon be guided through the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, immersing themselves in tribal communities and working alongside local change agents on their terms. Back in the United States, The CCP also hosts community meetups, fostering dialogue across racial, cultural, and ideological divides. The Culture Connection Project's unique approach is shaped by Sims' journey. When he first visited Uganda in 2012, he was just another well-meaning individual, arriving to teach mathematics in a rural village. "I didn't know enough to be sure I'd do more good than harm, realizing how much power I held just by my skin color and nationality," Sims shares. This led him to question, learn, and reimagine what international engagement should look like. Sims understood the unintended consequences of generous-seeming aid. For example, modernization or humanitarian efforts, when uncritical, can fracture communities, disrupt cultures, and introduce class divisions. "You think you're helping by bringing technologies like solar panels, laptops, or tablets," he explains. "But if only three families get them, you've just created inequality and greed where there was none." The answer is to do things more thoughtfully and in true partnership with the people affected. The impact of The CCP's programs, particularly the Uganda trip, is felt in the testimonies from participants, shared through the annual orientation event, the Family Circle. Each year, before the trip officially begins, participants gather in a circle and introduce themselves. During The CCP's Family Circle in 2022, co-founder and COO Deion James shared his story. He stood there, surrounded by young people from neighborhoods like the one he grew up in, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. James opened up about his journey of navigating depression, loss, rejection, and displacement, from never meeting his father and losing his mother in 2016 to losing his job, home, and car. James' old roommate from prep school, Sims, invited him to come to Uganda, changing his life. "I didn't know what to expect," James says. "We arrived in Bududa, and what I saw was strength, community, and joy. I met children with no shoes and no complaints. I came angry, and I left grateful." He told the young men and women in the circle that this journey would change them. James recalls the story of one participant, a then-18-year-old from Milwaukee, who found himself overwhelmed at a soup kitchen while feeding children in Uganda. Hugging the wall, unsure how to process the moment, he stepped away to regroup. He boarded the bus and found James waiting. He didn't have to say much. He sat down and said, "When I get rich, I'm going to help these people." "That young man later joined the Air Force," James states. "He still talks to a Ugandan student he met on that trip who became his lifelong friend." Such stories illustrate what makes The CCP different. It builds authentic, mutual relationships. The Culture Connection Project offers a new model for cross-cultural engagement. It believes that the most lasting change begins not with grand gestures but with genuine connection and a willingness to listen first.
Hindustan Times
14-05-2025
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Virginia boy dead, 200 evacuated as heavy rains and flooding hit several states; ‘This is a heartbreaking'
The body of a 12-year-old boy has been found after he was swept away by rushing water on a Virginia roadway, while a dozen students stayed overnight at a Maryland high school as heavy rains led to flooding in several states, officials said. A 911 caller reported Tuesday night that the boy was walking outside when he was swept away by water that overtook the roadway from a nearby creek, Albemarle County Fire Rescue said in a social media post. The body of what is believed to be Jordan Sims was found by crews searching for him about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, the county agency stated. The body will be taken a medical examiner's office in Richmond for positive identification. 'This is a heartbreaking outcome, and our hearts are with the Sims' family and loved ones,' Albemarle County Fire Rescue Chief Dan Eggleston said in statement. 'We are incredibly grateful to our local and regional partners who supported this search effort with urgency, professionalism, and care.' In Maryland's Allegany County, officials said about 150 students and 50 adults were evacuated Tuesday afternoon from Westernport Elementary School, one of three county schools that were evacuated. Allegany County Public Schools said 12 students stayed overnight at Mountain Ridge High School before being picked up Wednesday morning. County schools were closed Wednesday. There were no reports of injuries or missing persons, the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services said in a Wednesday morning update. Officials urged residents to stay home, warning that several secondary roads have been washed out. Emergency crews from surrounding counties in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were helping, officials said. The Potomac River remained within its banks, with only minor flooding reported in the Mexico Farms area, and conditions were generally improving, officials said. Crews were assessing damage after water receded in the Georges Creek area. Maryland's Department of Emergency Management activated its emergency operations center to coordinate the state's response. Roads in both Allegany and Garrett counties were closed because of flooding, according to state officials. Allegany County officials reported that floodwaters have caused washouts and gas line leaks. 'We remain in close contact with local officials and continue to coordinate resources as the rain continues to fall,' Gov. Wes Moore said in a press release. "I urge all Marylanders to remain vigilant, heed warnings from local officials, and prioritize safety during this time.' In West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency Tuesday night in Mineral County, near Maryland, because of heavy rains and flash flooding, allowing the state to send resources.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Her murder case lay cold for 48 years. Then a thumbprint on a cigarette carton finally got a hit
The victim was found in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle in the parking lot of an apartment complex she didn't live in, a few minutes away from a bar where her friends had last seen her alive on the night of January 31, 1977. She had been stuffed in the back of the Beetle, wedged tightly in the small crevice of the backseat. Detectives determined she had been strangled with the sleeve of her own shirt and had been sexually assaulted. The killer tried to light her car on fire, but it didn't ignite. For 49 years, since 24-year-old Jeanette Ralston, a San Mateo resident, was found dead, her case lay cold, save for a sketch of an unknown man her friends saw her leave the bar with the night before she was found. Her friend told detectives that upon leaving, Ralston said she would be 'back in 10 minutes,' but never came back. But a critical piece of evidence, a carton of 'Eve' cigarettes found on her floorboard, and the rapid advancement of forensic science, has changed everything. This week, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office charged a 69-year-old man in her killing, Ohio resident Willie Eugene Sims, then a 21-year-old Army private assigned to Fort Ord in Monterey Bay. He was extradited to San Jose, where he was scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Friday afternoon. Police collected many latent fingerprints in the case, but all of them had been searched several times before using the FBI's fingerprint database, said Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker, who heads the cold-case unit. But last summer, after investigators decided to search the database again, they got a hit. 'It was an old-school solve,' Baker told the Chronicle. 'It all started with a thumbprint, and that thumbprint led our investigators across the country to Mr. Sims' front door in Jefferson, Ohio.' Investigators flew out to Ohio to collect Sims' DNA. That, combined with other pieces of evidence, including the sketch they had of the suspect and DNA found on Ralston's fingernails as well as the sleeve used as a ligature to kill her, helped them build the case. Sims had been convicted of assault to commit murder and robbery of a woman using a knife in Monterey County just a year after Ralston's killing. He spent four years in state prison, officials said. But his criminal record after that was clean and he moved out of the state before his DNA could be entered into CODIS, the federal DNA database. 'Every day, forensic science grows better, and every day criminals are closer to being caught,' said Jeff Rosen, District Attorney for the county. 'Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public. We don't forget and we don't give up.' If convicted, Sims faces 25 years to life in prison, officials said. The county's cold case unit was established when Rosen took office in 2011. Since then, the department has solved more than 30 homicides, and over half of them were solved in the past five years, in part due to a $500,000 federal grant it received to investigate cold cases, said Baker. Last month, San Jose police identified a suspect in the killing of 28-year-old Karen Gevorkov in 1997, who died from blunt-force trauma after an attack in a park. The suspect, Victor Lamong Ferguson, a Kansas resident, died in 2022 at the age of 47. Ralston's son did not respond to multiple requests for interviews but wrote about the break in the case on social media, saying that he lost his mother shortly before his 7th birthday. He thanked law enforcement and the district attorney's office for their work in the case, even if, he said, he was not clear on how to 'actually move forward or navigate this shocking news.' 'Your persistence, dedication and devotion to me in my family is unquestionably some of the greatest form of respect and love for my mother,' he said. 'You have undoubtedly made a 6-year-old kid happy after all of these years.'
