We Are All the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love

Book Description

Award-winning correspondent for ABC World News and Nightline Jim Wooten is a seasoned newsman who has covered tragedy the world over. Now he tells the story of Nkosi Johnson, an eleven-year-old South African boy born with AIDS into poverty in a shantytown and given only a few years to live. But his ailing mother managed to cross her countryÂ's divisions of race and class to bring him to Gail Johnson, who would raise him for her. Before his own death at the age of twelve, Nkosi had become, in Nelson MandelaÂ's words, Â“an icon of the struggle for lifeÂ” for millions in Africa and around the world. And he had changed WootenÂ's life in ways Wooten is still discovering. We Are All the Same is a work of Biblical simplicity and power that reveals the astonishing resilience of the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

an amazing book ever.......2007-05-31

My name is Sewon, and I am a freshman in high school. In one of my classes, I had to read a book, We Are All The Same by Jim Wooten. The cover of the book tempted me at first because it was a real story and the comments of other people were praiseful. Although I had a hard time reading this book at first because several chapters such as chapter 1 and 2 were really boring, it was a really good book to read, overall. To briefly describe the book, this book represents the life of Gail Johnson and Nkosi. Gail is a woman who adopts a boy from South Africa, a segregated country, who is living with AIDS. This book shows many important qualities that we must have in life, such as courage and equality. Since this is a real story, this is more interesting and realistic. While I was reading this book, I felt as though I was part of the book. The strength of this book is that the book is not that long. The readers may become bored when the book is too long. a majority of pages tells of life's teachings while using very eloquent language. I really think this is the best book for any of the teenagers who are interested in reading the book! I really enjoyed reading the book and I strongly recommend it for teenagers.

We Are All the Same Review.......2007-05-30

Hello. I am a freshman foreign student in high school. In my ESL class, I read the book, We Are All The Same by Jim Wooten. At the first time, it was sort of like a history book. However, I became love to read this book because it well describes mother's love and boy's courage. There is a southern African boy with AIDS, Nkosi and Gail Johnson who tries to help Nkosi with her love. Gail Johnson adopted Nkosi and fought for his illness. When Gail Johnson took care of Nkosi and gave everything for him, we can realize our insufficiency of love and acceptance. I could feel how much I am taking everything for granted. If you read this book, you can feel sadness, kindness, acceptances, deficiencies and love. This book would be the precious story to the people who want to perceive important treasures in their life.

We Are All The Same.......2007-05-29

I am a high school student. In my class, we were allowed to choose one book to read from the four books our teacher assigned. After reading the summaries of these four books, I decided to choose this book We Are All The Same by Jim Wooten. After reading this book, I realized how tiny we are as human beings yet many of us take our wonderful and normal life for granted. This book is well written especially in describing Nkosi's life. However, the first few chapters can be quite boring. The story is based on a little boy, Nkosi Johnson, and his foster mother, Gail. It is about Nkosi who was born with AIDS and how he dealt with this disease as well as how Gail protected Nkosi and what she did for him. I enjoyed reading this book and I strongly recommend this book. I believe Nkosi Johnson is unforgettable to all the people who read his story.

We're All the Same but We Write Differently.......2005-09-30

Too bad Jim Wooten couldn't get himself out of the story even tho he promised at the beginning to insert himself only where necessary. I felt like I was listening to a documentary vs. reading a memoir. He completely missed the emotional tone of the thing and instead, got lost for three pages on who the father was. He should stick to Tv or whatever he did before that made him famous.

Awareness Lit.......2005-08-27

Every child must know Nkosi's story and his courage to face his fate.

WE ARE ALL THE SAME : A STORY OF A BOY'S COURAGE AND A MOTHER'S LOVE

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WE ARE ALL THE SAME : A STORY OF A BOY'S COURAGE AND A MOTHER'S LOVE
JIM WOOTEN
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJDAMM

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book on Royal Navy.......2005-11-04

This is a very good book on the Royal Navy at the time of Nelson. The name is a bit misleading, as it concerns battles other than only Nelson's. The book starts out with the usual introduction to ships, e.g. ratings, construction, etc. However, it discusses things that I hadn't picked up in some other books. For example, there are detailed discussions on how pumps work, how the large anchor ropes were reeled in, compass headings, tacking and wearing, and so on. The section on tacking and wearing set the table for the later discussions of the battles-ships were `stuck in the mud' if a battle and the wind were behind them. The brilliance of the British tactic of attacking the middle and rear of the enemy line becomes crystal clear. I particularly enjoyed this book for several reasons. First, it was easily readable. Some things were rather technical, but for the most part, I moved quickly through the text. I also enjoyed the maps of the battles. Without those, the discussions of the movements of the ships would have been meaningless. The maps made everything understandable. In addition to chapters on the most famous battles, there is a chapter on lesser-known actions. This was icing on the cake. When I was finished reading this book I felt like I had really learned a lot about the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic period. I highly recommend this book.

Required reading for all sea-lovers.......2002-09-11

Required reading for all sea-lovers
What a great book! I wish I'd read it before I started reading any naval fiction (or fact, for that matter).
Not as detailed as Dr.Roger's 'Wooden World' but much more readable, with lots of snippets of info and descriptions of procedures that are taken for granted in most books - like 'what is a messenger and how is it used?' - most buffs have a vague idea, but not in the detail that is shown here.
The text is lively, flows logically from one subject to an allied one, keeping one interested as one is taken through the construction, manning and working of the ship. Then we are treated to remarkably un-jingoistic descriptions of the famous battles of the Napoleonic era, with blow-by-blow diagrams showing the positions of the opposing fleets throughout the action.
My only complaint is that not quite enough space is given to shipboard life, and a little too much praise is heaped on Nelson (after all, that's what Nelson expects....) but not a mention of Cochrane, whose tactics, gung-ho zeal and inventiveness were the epitome of what a fighting captain should be (at least, in the eyes of the public - and Patrick O'Brien).
However, a damned good show

Book Description

"Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels" -SAMUEL JOHNSON, 1775

"a tightly reasoned, excellently written book that should be lethally effective in helping readers who aren't experts understand the contours of the crisis." -TOLEDO BLADE

Updated and revised following the 2004 elections, The Last Refuge describes the current state of American politics against the backdrop of mounting ecological and social problems, the corrosive influence of money, the corruption of language, and the misuse of terrorism as a political issue.

Setting out an agenda that transcends conventional ideological labels, David Orr contends that partisan wrangling is only a symptom of a deeper dysfunction: The whole political machinery that connects Americans' fundamentally honorable ideals with public policy is broken. The book offers a withering critique of the failings of the Bush administration, supplemented by new essays that look at the national-level dominance of the Republican Party and examine the fallacy that the evangelical right represents a Christian majority.

After analyzing the challenges of reforming the current system, Orr offers an empowering vision of a second American Revolution that peaceably achieves sustainability and charts a hopeful course for forward-looking citizens.

Customer Reviews:

Should be mandatory reading for politicians.......2005-12-27

Having read Orr's other books, I found this one to be very cynical. And whille the book is filled with prodound thoughts and suggestions, I fear that most of what he offers will, once again, be ignored. His comments on the connection between terrorism and environmental issues were enlightening.

Despite my own cynicism, however, I believe the book contains a great summary of what ails our political system (i.e. lack of courage and greed), and the book should be required reading for all students of environmental studies and politics. It should be mandatory reading for our congress as well.

The book is relatively short and is written in simple language, making it a very fast read.

Important, But Not Up to Orr's Usual Standards.......2005-03-01

There are really only a couple of dynamite essays in this book. The rest are, sad to say, fairly middle of the road. I had read two of Orr's other books, "Earth in Mind" and "Ecological Literacy," which were absolutely stunning. But this effort is uneven. There are certainly many practical and revolutionary suggestions for turning our earth's fate around, but most of them have been taken up with more conviction and detail by other authors. There is a nagging sense here that Orr is kind of late to the game in some of his ideas, like undermining the idea of corporate personhood, or amending the constitution to include ecological concerns for our descendents.

So while I do recommend this book, especially because Orr is such a graceful writer, I would suggest supplementing it with some harder hitting recent material (maybe "Unequal Protection" by Thom Hartmann, "Beyond Civilization," by Daniel Quinn, or the collection of work done by POCLAD, "Defying Corporations, Defining Democracy," available on www.poclad.org).

Best nonfiction book I've ever read.......2004-07-28

The Last Refuge is indeed the best nonfiction book I've ever read, and all I read is nonfiction, and a lot of it. I am now into my second reading of this valuable book! David Orr is my favorite environmental author. Known by some as the "sane environmentalist", Orr is not one to do anything other than tell it to us straight. With a wonderful writing style, Orr writes for the laymen. Covering everthing from campaign finance change necessities to control of corporate charters to a proposed environmental amendment to the Constitution, Orr gives a forthright, authentic, and thorough overview of the "Great Work" (Citing Thomas Berry's wonderful book)and the things that must be doone in politics to achieve a world where poverty, hunger, pollution, species extinction and more are dealt with and ended. David Orr cites our need to update our Constiitution (A living document, meaning able to be changed) to allow for the reeling in of corporate mega abuse of our world so that suceeding generations can have a world that enables the pursuit of happiness. This book is full of great ideas and wisdom and again, it is written in a way that anyone can understand it. This book needs to be read by folks all over the country!!! I would give it 10 stars if I could!

Timely Book.......2004-04-22

This book echoed my feelings exactly. Issues about the environment should be brought to the forefront of the national discussion...give this book to anyone influential you know and make them read it!

its a good book.......2004-04-16

In stark contrast to his earlier book, "Earth in Mind", Orr rids himself of any hesitancy to appease, and states the true state of American politics from an environmentalist perspectives. The essays are clear and lucid. It is a good book.

Citizen, Heal Thyself.(The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror)(Ecological Medicine: Healing the Earth, Healing ... Review): An article from: World Watch

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Citizen, Heal Thyself.(The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror)(Ecological Medicine: Healing the Earth, Healing ... Review): An article from: World Watch
Ed Ayres
Manufacturer: Worldwatch Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Watch, published by Worldwatch Institute on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1662 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Citizen, Heal Thyself.(The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror)(Ecological Medicine: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves)(The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late)(Book Review)
Author: Ed Ayres
Publication: World Watch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Worldwatch Institute
Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Page: 30(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

For ecologist John Terborgh, Manu National Park in the rainforest of Peru is a second home; he has spent half of each of the past twenty-five years there conducting research. Like all parks, Manu is assumed to provide inviolate protection to nature. Yet even there, in one of the most remote corners of the planet, Terborgh has been witness to the relentless onslaught of civilization.

Seeing the steady destruction of irreplaceable habitat has been a startling and disturbing experience for Terborgh, one that has raised urgent questions: Is enough being done to protect nature? Are current conservation efforts succeeding? What could be done differently? What should be done differently? In Requiem for Nature, he offers brutally honest answers to those difficult questions, and appraises the prospects for the future of tropical conservation. His book is a clarion call for anyone who cares about the quality of the natural world we will leave our children.

Terborgh examines current conservation strategies and considers the shortcomings of parks and protected areas both from ecological and institutional perspectives. He explains how seemingly pristine environments can gradually degrade, and describes the difficult social context ?a debilitating combination of poverty, corruption, abuses of power, political instability, and a frenzied scramble for quick riches ?in which tropical conservation must take place. He considers the significant challenges facing existing parks and examines problems inherent in alternative approaches, such as ecotourism, the exploitation of nontimber forest products, "sustainable use," and "sustainable development.

Throughout, Terborgh argues that the greatest challenges of conservation are not scientific, but are social, economic, and political, and that success will require simultaneous progress on all fronts. He makes a compelling case that nature can be saved, but only if good science and strong institutions can be thoughtfully combined.

Amazon.com

How do we save the tropical rainforests of the world, answering the clarion call of so many environmental groups? For John Terborgh, a tropical biologist, the answer is dark and sobering: despite our best intentions, we may not be able to, for we lack both a coherent plan and, starkly put, the political will to do so. Sustainable development, "the mantra of the conservation movement," is of small help, Terborgh believes, because the realities of economic development are such that where the needs of humans are weighed against the needs of the natural world, nature always loses. Ecotourism, heralded as a model of economic possibility, is not much better because the novelty of seeing giant trees soon wears off and the chances of seeing wildlife are few ("restricted visibility means that most animals are not detected until the visitor is already well within the animal's flight distance, the distance at which a creature flees in the presence of a human"). If we're to save old-growth forests, Terborgh suggests, we'll have to suspend all economic activity in them, ending logging, prospecting, and recreation; only if we leave them alone do they have much of a chance. It's a grim view, and one that is unlikely to take much sway, no matter how correct it might be. Terborgh notes as much himself in his well-argued polemic, writing, "Whether we like it or not, tropical forests are worth more dead than alive. Nothing can save them short of a sea change in public opinion that registers not only in politicians' statements but also in their actions. Saving biodiversity will have to become a global obsession, not merely a pastime." --Gregory McNamee

Customer Reviews:

Cod Liver Oil for the Biodiversity Protection Movement.......2007-10-15

John Terborgh has written a book that is a must read for anyone involved or interested in the protection of biodiversity through reserves and parks in the tropics. This book contains content that is tough to swallow but like a prescribed bitter pill hopefully it will have a salubrious effect.

I am not a biologist or professional park administrator but as a member of a board of directors on a regional land conservation organization. I will be recommending this book to all on the board. Through my travels in Africa, Central America, and South America I can understand the plight of the parks that Terborgh describes. His experience and his passion for biodiversity show in the book and as I read it I found it hard to put down. Reading this was like attending an excellent lecture knowing that the speaker was presenting a clear assesment of the situation and a novel and important directive to solve the problems.

Terborgh brings up startling facts in the book such as the entire funding for tropical conservation by all conservation organizations in the United States totals $200 million per year. This again is for every country, every continent, all the tropical parks. Yet within the United States the National Park Service has funding of 1.7 billion per year and is underfunded.

If you consider the difference in species diversity in one park such as Manu National Park in Peru with a possible 1,000 species of birds compared to all of North America north of Mexico with about 700 species
you can understand the significance of protecting these sites.

I hope that many people will read this and that many more will take action to rectify the problems that Terborgh has written about.

Current Challenges in Biodiversity Conservation.......2007-08-13

This is a very interesting book. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the author presents his ideas openly, with a strong passion for wildness that can be felt page after page. The most outstanding feature of the book was the author's holistic approach to describing current environmental problems. He was able to articulate specific details without losing the book's overall "big picture" perspective. Written in a simple language, it is easily understood, and technical terms are kept to a minimum. His discussion of the environmental degradation processes all over the world allows readers to get a deeper understanding of looming threats to biodiversity, and the struggle of the different species for survival. Population growth and increasing competition for scarce resources are addressed as the main causes of today's environmental problems.

His policy recommendations call for a top-down approach, which the author regards as the only alternative that could bring positive results in the long run. In his scheme, local population surrounding protected areas are only small players on the ground, powerless to influence conservation processes. I cannot but disagree with these statements. Having worked for several years with indigenous peoples and local communities in the Peruvian rainforest, my research has evidenced that local people are key stakeholders in this process, and their engaged participation is critical in conservation efforts. At the policy level, I would call for a nutcracker approach instead, where efforts at the top level are matched with bottom-up initiatives, as a more effective way of achieving conservation in the tropics.

In my opinion, the biggest shortcoming of the book is the series of oversimplistic statements regarding the social dimensions of conservation. The author's arguments are basically explained from an anecdotal perspective, lacking a systematic analysis about the human potential for conservation. The book gives little credit to current sustainable development efforts, addressing them as merely "wishful thinking". For example, Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) are discarded upfront, based exclusively on assumptions about what ICDPs "frequently do", without single mention of concrete situations to back up his statements.

In practice, however, sustainable development projects have been getting results on the ground. In the surrounding area of Manu National Park (1), the Pro-Manu Project (2) promoted different activities, including (3) a successfully land-titling process, enhancement of health care services including family planning education and responsible parenthood, environmental education, institutional strengthening of the parks' management system, besides small projects aimed to increase food security among local communities. After project completion, national NGOs (4) continued to support the local people, allowing certain continuity in the accompaniment process. Thus, it reduced significantly the amount of land available "up for grabs by the first comer", acted to reduce birth rates and population growth, contributed to developing environmental awareness, and helped improve people's life conditions. At the same time, it strengthened the institutional capacity of the government agency responsible for park protection. In sum, a brief analysis of a single sustainable development project directly contradicts the assumptions regarding ICDPs presented in the book.

Overall, the book provides an important contribution to the current debate about conservation, especially if read from a critical perspective. It is a recommended material for an informed discussion on biodiversity conservation and sustainability at different levels.

(1) The Manu National Park in Peru is the place where the author leads a biological research station
(2) Pro-Manu was a Peru-European Union Agreement for a sustainable development project in the surrounding areas of Manu National Park
(3) In these cases, Pro-Manu acted by subscribing and financing the implementation of formal agreements with the government agencies responsible for conducting the required actions
(4) Civil society organizations like CEDIA, DRIS-Peru, and ACCA aimed to implement projects in the area after the activities of the Pro-Manu Project concluded.

Nature versus People.......2000-07-30

When John Terborgh publishes a book, anyone interested in the conservation of nature should read it. One of the world's foremost tropical ecologists, Terborgh writes in an unusually pleasing and, at the same time, provocative style. If the reader is only seeking entertainment or if a rigorously researched documentary of the context of personal experiences is sought, s/he will be disappointed; but, if the interest is in stimulating thought about the problems of nature conservation, the reward will be extraordinary. "Requiem for Nature" surpasses even Terborgh's own "Where Have All the Birds Gone?" as a intellectually challenging treatise.

For me, the richest passages in "Requiem for Nature" are those in Chapter 2 that describe the ecological relationships that must be maintained if nature is to be conserved and the need for a coherent, long-term strategy to meet the challenges.

As an anthropologist who has worked in areas near Manu National Park since 1971 --even before Terborgh arrived there-- I have long been following his work and thinking on tropical forest conservation issues. And I have many, many disagreements with his perspectives. However, no one can deny the value of his contributions in challenging current fashions in thinking about nature and its conservation.

The weaknesses of "Requiem for Nature" include serious inaccuracies in Terborgh's information about the historical and political contexts of the places he describes on the basis of his own and others' work, particularly in Chapters 3 and 4.

For example, the Summer Institute of Linguistics is said to have brought the Machiguenga into the Manu Park in the 1960s (p. 29); the Manu Park has been a Machiguenga homeland since at least Inka times and probably much longer. The purpose of Belgian linguist Marcel d'Ans's work is inaccurately described as "to open communication with uncontacted indigenous groups as a prelude to luring them out of the park" (p. 42).; d'Ans was there to develop policies for incorporating the indigenous peoples into park strategies, not to contact isolated Indians. There are numerous references to Amahuaca Indians in the Manu National Park (pp. 42-45). There are no Amahuaca in the Manu Park; they live along tributaries of the Urubamba and Ucayali Rivers farther north. The people referred to are Yora, a Yaminahua sub-group, in voluntary isolation until 1984.

Terborgh attributes many of the Manu Park's problems to regionalization (p. 35). But the regional governments in Peru only existed between late 1990 and April 1992, when they were closed by the Fujimori government. The inept Park officials accurately described by Terborgh, although designated and with administration from Cusco, were representatives of the central government, like those who served during "the halcyon days of the park's early period" (p. 31). The inspired Agrarian University professors of that time were in Lima, not in the Manu Park. The Park's director until July 2000, Ada Castillo Ordinola, accurately described as "competent and committed" (p. 38), worked closely, from an NGO, with the Inka Regional Government in planning for more satisfactory Park administration, while that Government lasted. Terborgh praises the policies of the Fujimori Government as enlightened (p.38), but he fails to recognize the failure of that Government to involve local peoples and institutions in planning for and administering the Park in a more effective manner. Democratic processes are clearly not one of Fujimori's strengths.

In Chapter 10, Terborgh makes convincing arguments regarding the limitations of most conservation efforts in recent decades, although he inaccurately describes USAID's role as promoting sustainable development in a manner opposed to conservation (pp. 164-165). Moreover, in chapter 11, he raises important points about the illusions of continuous economic expansion at the expense of nature.

Terborgh correctly calls for "a new paradigm" (Chapter 10) and a coherent public strategy to safeguard nature and its beseiged ecosystems, forests, and biological diversity. However, such a paradigm and strategy are more likely to be successful if they involve people and entire national territories, rather than exclude people from a few unique protected areas that justify, in the public mind, the destruction of natural wealth everywhere outside these areas. Local communities, especially indigenous peoples, are unlikely to accept relocation, as Terborgh advocates, and there is little reason to expect support for the massive public effort that Terborgh calls for on behalf of theoretically pristine natural areas unless they may serve people, including their indigenous inhabitants and other communities in surrounding areas, or even national populations, not just a few privileged scientists from northern hemisphere countires with large research budgets.

In short, "Requiem for Nature" is must reading even for those, like myself, who will be infuriated at the arrogance of some of its proposals. The debate it is inspiring cannot fail to be useful to our understanding of nature and conservation needs.

Thomas Moore; Lima, Peru; moore@terra.com.pe

Nature versus People.......2000-07-30

Customer Reviews:

Requiem for a People.......2000-05-18

Professor Beckham's presents a terse and lucid account of the displacement of the natives of the Rogue Valley and surrounding areas. I grew up in the Rogue Valley and in fact my family homesteaded there, although they began a couple of decades after the natives had been displaced to reservations. I wish very much that this book had been required reading in my high school, because we were raised to be essentially blind to the melancholy history of our area.

The book is essentially a scholarly memoir, with extensive footnoting for anyone wanting to find more detail in the historical record. Yet, the writing is accessible and vivid. This is a highly recommended read.

Workmanlike review of little known history.......2000-04-05

Beckham has done more to understand the history of the Indian people of the Oregon coast than any other author. As a member of the Coos tribe, I am grateful for his attention to a history which not only very few non-Indians but also Indian people are aware.

However, mostly missing in this book is the Indian voice, or a discussion of the motivation and understanding of the Indian people who were being uprooted and systematically killed. While Beckham is clearly sympathetic to Indians, this is still a book written from the dominant culture's perspective; even so, the discussion of the motivations of the non-Indian settlers is somewhat superficial.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1220 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: John Terborgh. Requiem for Nature.(Book review)
Author: James N. Gladden
Publication: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Page: 146(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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