[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: The Steven Vincent Foundation

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
The Steven Vincent Foundation
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1173204556.shtml


   The website for the Steven Vincent Foundation [1]is online.

   The [2]Foundation's Mission:

     Reporting from strife- and war-torn areas would be impossible
     without local contacts, colleagues and assistance. Since the Iraq
     war began in April 2003, more than 100 journalists and
     photographers have been killed while reporting in-country, as well
     as an undetermined number of local translators and âfixersâ. Some
     were Westerners affiliated with Western media companies whose
     families would have received some kind of compensation, but those
     working for local news organizations died without health or life
     insurance, or benefits of any kind. They relied on the paychecks
     they received to support their families; when they were killed
     those paychecks stopped, leaving the family bereft of not only a
     son, brother, husband and/or father, but what was for many
     doubtless the main, if not the sole, means of support.

     The Foundation will ensure that the families of local media workers
     and their fixers and/or translators receive financial aid to help
     them through a time of shock and devastating grief. In addition to
     providing somewhat of a safety net, it will also send an important
     message to the recipient(s), namely, that the sacrifice both they
     and their loved one made has not gone unnoticed, that there are
     people in the wider world who acknowledge, mourn and honor their
     loss, and who appreciate the danger these brave men and women put
     themselves in while attempting to report the truth. Financial aid
     will not be limited to one particular country, region or conflict,
     but will be provided on a worldwide basis as needed and as is
     feasible. With that purpose in mind, the first grant made by the
     infant Foundation was a donation of one thousand dollars to the
     widow of Fakher Haider, a New York Times stringer killed in Basra,
     Iraq, in September 2005.

   More about Steven and his wife, Lisa Ramaci-Vincent's work is here at
   [3]Kesher Talk.

References

   1. http://www.stevenvincentfoundation.org/index.html
   2. http://www.stevenvincentfoundation.org/about_svf.html
   3. http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2007/03/stevenlisanour.php