Busing students to different schools became a major civil rights issue after the Brown v Board of Education ruling, but our guest says the effort ultimately failed to desegregate public schools. An author talks about why busing failed, and explores the current state of our nation’s schools. We also learn about the recent growth of the trumpeter swan population in Wisconsin, and we talk with a doctor whose non-profit is providing aid to Ecuadoreans affected by the recent earthquake.
Featured in this Show
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Wisconsin-Based Organization Steps Up Response To Earthquake Victims In Ecuador
A Wisconsin nonprofit with a long history of providing health care in Ecuador is ramping up efforts to meet the needs of those affected by the devastating earthquake that rocked the South American country during the weekend.
Ecuador’s northwestern corner was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, the strongest quake that the nation has experienced in decades. As of Tuesday morning, the official death toll is nearly 500, and is expected to rise as searches for survivors buried in rubble stretch into a fourth day.
Dr. David Gaus, the co-founder of the Andean Health and Development, a Wisconsin-based organization providing health care in rural Latin America since 1994, said the earthquake collapsed several hospitals, frustrating medical relief efforts. Moreover, entire networks of roads have been destroyed, making transportation temporarily impossible and isolating communities that are most impacted.
Gaus said his organization is doing everything possible to serve as many victims of the earthquake as possible, coordinating relief with the Ministry of Health and provincial governments to triage and receive critically ill surgical patients at Hesburgh Hospital.
“The needs are endless,” Gaus said. “We’re seeing a lot of the trauma that results from (being crushed by rubble), injuries of broken bones, broken limbs, chest trauma, abdominal trauma.”
Making matters worse, Gaus said the hospital is still providing regular care among the overflow of patients.
“In the midst of all the trauma patients that we were trying to take care of, a young man came in with appendicitis — just picked the wrong day to get appendicitis and had to come to our facility to get that taken care of,” he said.
Ecuador’s president estimated that rebuilding and recovery could cost billions of dollars. The country is already struggling due to historically low oil prices.
Beyond the death toll and the long-term recovery, survivors have immediate needs as well. Spain’s Red Cross said in the port city of Manta alone, as many as 5,000 people might need temporary housing because of destroyed homes and 100,000 need some sort of aid.
Gaus said responses to other natural disasters in other countries have brought lessons. He said he hopes Ecuador will recover faster than other devastating earthquakes.
“I think these are very challenging problems that require not just technical solutions, which is oftentimes I think what we get bogged down by in this country, when in fact it’s oftentimes a political solution, it’s a legal issue among other things,” he said.
He said people can make a donation to Andean Health and Development on its website to help the organization with the relief efforts in Ecuador.
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In a national effort to desegregate schools, the issue of busing students into different communities became a major controversy. An author traces the dispute, and talks about why busing became the focus of so much controversy.
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Wisconsin Non-Profit Responds To Ecuadorean Earthquake
A Wisconsin non-profit with existing programs in Ecuador is providing aid to people affected by the recent earthquake. We learn what the greatest needs are.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
- Rob Ferrett Producer
- Dr. David Gaus Guest
- Matthew Delmont Guest
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