I know it’s the time of year when we’re  bombarded with requests for donations, and I know how hard it is to not have enough to contribute to everything you’d like. But these are two book projects that I feel strongly about and so I have contributed to both on Kickstarter. I urge you to follow suit.

“War Is Not The Only Story, Vol.6” is a yearly publication from the Aftermath Project started by photographer/filmmaker Sara Terry. It’s a compendium of the work of 2012 grant winner Andrew Lichtenstein (“American Memory“/United States), and 2012 finalists Christopher Capozziello (“For God, Race and Country“/United States); Michelle Frankfurter (“Destino“/Central America); Simon Thorpe (“Toy Soldiers“/Western Sahara) and Michael Zumstein (“Bon Amis“/The Ivory Coast).

Now we hear (and see) lots and lots about war; about what’s happening on the ground. But how much time to do we really spend on wondering what happens after? How much attention do we give to that? This is what the Aftermath Project is all about. Maybe if we spent more time focused on the AFTER, we would stop war  BEFORE.

One of the most important issues in the world (for me) is the slaughter of wild animals. I cannot imagine a time when elephants and rhinos no longer live in the wild, even though I’ve never been lucky enough to see either. Photojournalist and cinematographer Kate Brooks is working to raise money to produce a documentary, “The Last Animals.”

As Brooks says, “Over the past two years, the slaughter of African elephants and rhinoceros has skyrocketed to supply international markets with their tusks and horns. Ivory has been dubbed the white gold of jihad and rhino horn now has a higher market value than cocaine and gold. With the expansion of radical Islamist and independent militias in Africa, along with criminal syndicates, the daring groups carrying out these bloody “harvests” are killing these animals at unprecedented rates.”