A few people have inspired me in my life but perhaps none more than Harold.

Many years back when I was in my early thirties I went to work as a sales representative for a major publisher of children's books. We sold books direct to schools and I was their high school rep for Sydney. At the time we didn't have a Sydney office and each of the Sydney reps worked from home. This meant we were mostly working on our own. So, from time to time we would get together socially without our partners so we could talk about work. We would have fun together but also had the opportunity to discuss work issues.

Most of us were in the same age bracket—late twenties to mid thirties. Harold was about 70 but somehow it never mattered. He was as young as we were and joined in with everything we did.

Harold had been a highly respected primary school principal in Sydney and had a reputation for his progressive approach to education. At 65 He was required to retire from the Education Department but ...Read more

To anyone who might be interested - My friend and I are setting up an online social network to match volunteers (individuals and corporate) to charities all over the world who need help. It seeks to create a community of sharing and helping and transparency in the work that gets done. Go to www.worldkey.org and have a look.
The prototype software will be ready for beta testing in 2 - 3 months. In the meantime, we welcome any feedback from individuals/companies/NGOs etc that may help us make Worldkey a better network.
I hope at least one or 2 of you out there will be interested enuf to check this out. email me (LiLi) with any questions. or leave a comment here.
Have a nice ...Read more

:(

i was so sad for the simple words "i love you" was left unspoken..

i have a sister named Dolly..we were not that close because of our age gap, she was 38 and i'm 20. She had a happy family, 3 children and a loving husband. But unfortunately, her life ended last month, February of 2009. She may be gone but she will always be loved and remember for the rest of my life..

the moment i received the call from my sister who is a nurse and on duty on that day at the hospital, i was so shocked and i didn't know what to do. Ate Doll was at the intensive care unit for 2 days and all of us were hopeless because her blood clot was located in the brain stem. And then they decided to transfer Ate Doll at the private room and it was almost midnight when Ate Doll was transferred. On her first hours Ate Doll was pale but later that morning they were all screaming and shouting for joy when they saw Ate Doll's arm raised. We had our hopes back again, all of us were hoping and praying for her ...Read more

Living in India all my life, and working with deprived children for some years,child labour is not something that i am a stranger too...
but a pitiful sight wrenched my heart and i wanted to share it with those who may be able to do more than me...i could only talk to them,take their pictures and silently wipe the solitary tear that crept out of the corner of my eyes...

They were 6 to 12yrs old...
they are recruited especially because they have tiny fingers and smaller their fingers, more intricate the designs they can weave with wool or silk or rayon...more vivid will be the carpet they make!
I was on a dream tour...always wanted to go to Egypt.Always wanted to see the pyramids...on my way back from the oldest pyramid in Saqqarah, my driver suggested a peep into a carpet factory. Colourful carpets telling stories of Rameses II and his journey into afterlife...or tranquil landscapes of the nile delta...or birds of paradise frozen in midflight greeted us in the quiet darkness of the ...Read more

The following are just my thoughts and opinions. Respectful dialogue or debate is welcome.

I've been thinking about the phrase "the Path of Least Resistance."

Does this carry a positive or a negative connotation for you? Sometimes the phrase has been applied to those who are considered too lazy or undisciplined to carry through a task that requires more effort than they are willing to invest. Sometimes the phrase refers to the fastest and most efficient way to accomplish a particular goal.

How to make sense of this? I believe the critical element is the definition of "resistance." In my opinion, there are two kinds of resistance: external resistance, and internal resistance:

- EXTERNAL RESISTANCE refers to difficulty regarding resources and circumstances: money, contacts, time, opportunities.
- INTERNAL RESISTANCE refers to a person's motivation and mindset when these are out of sync with the goal that one is supposedly trying to achieve.
- INTERNAL COMMITMENT refers to ...Read more

Well the worldwide web seems to make it easier for us to share the most secret and intimate emotions without actually having to look somebody in the eye and tell them...not that I shy away from looking people in the eye and telling them....
indeed i fear that half the problem of todays soeciety is that we are too afraid to reveal our emotions whether they be positive or negative....people were made to talk and interact, and i hope i can do that to the best of my ability. anyway back to the issue of a broken heart, most of us have experienced it, although each in our own and distinctly personal ways.i am not sure whether those that have not are lucky or not, because I, and this is merely in my own opinion, feel that in order to truly understand joy and beauty we must truly experience unhappiness and ugliness. surely there is nothing more ugly and miserable then the plague of a broken heart. nothing more embodies a british rainy day than a broken heart, the empitness of the sky, the ...Read more

Having worked on a programme on sustainable recovery and resilience building, incorporating risks, livelihood and vulnerability. Some of my colleagues have tried to draw lessons from previous disasters to the post-cyclone situation in Burma.

In recognition of the dire situtation that is unfolding due to the inaction by the current regime, and the massive suffering that this is causing, these additional thoughts occur to me

On reducing overall vulnerability in Burma

Given the political manifestation in Burma, how does talking about overall reduction of vulnerability inform the current situation?

What are the underlying causes of vulnerablity prior to the cyclone, which civil society could have addressed in order to reduced the number of lives lost, regardless of the incompetance of the current regime?

On lessons learnt
Can lessons be learnt from previous disasters?

Does Burma present a unique case?

Waht are the other disasters that have ...Read more

Okay, so I totally made that up... "Primus Entricus"?! I meant to say, "This is my first blog entry in Humanitarian Dating".

I don't know how many people will notice me.
I'm not sure if I will continue to keep posting and checking for feedbacks.
Heck, I can't even say to myself, "You'll find someone special here!".

But I do know one thing : Take a chance!

What do I have to lose, anyway?
Peace and love to ...Read more

SOY MADRE DE UN ANGEL

Ella es un ser completamente puro y tiene una personalidad muy bella y feliz.
Tuve un citomegalovirus en el embarazo y
Megan (Mi hija) que ahora tiene 12 años
nació prematura y con calcificaciones ventriculares;
es como un bebé de 1 mes o talvez menor, se conoce como “Pillow Baby” .
Su diagnóstico médico es retardo psicomotor profundo.

Yo la amo mucho como es, me comunico con ella “telepáticamente”
Los médicos le dieron menos de un año de vida, pero Megan se quedó a mostrar lo que puede lograr el Amor.

La tuve a los 19 años, siendo madre soltera y mi madre me ayuda mucho porque Megan requiere todo el cuidado y depende para todo de mí, yo la cuido 24/7.

En Colombia NO existe ninguna ayuda económica ni de salud para quienes tenemos a nuestro cargo un hijo especial, sobretodo con retardo profundo y no podemos estar en el mercado laboral clásico.

A lo largo de la vida de Megan he aprendido a hacerle
las terapias que necesita
Hacer su vida ...Read more

Ayer fue 17, me gustaba este día, un poco lleno de alteraciones antes, pero me sentí feliz, este 17 fue triste, o quizas un poco extraño, estuve junto a mi cell y checando mi correo una y otra vez, tenía esperanzas de que alguien más se acordara que ayer era 17, parese que no se acordó, y sólo me reafirma que quizas se olvidó.

Existen palabras en la vida que son cortas para escribir, o para pronunciarlas son muy fáciles, pero tener una experiencia que la describas con esa palabra es dificil.

Aún me pregunto si la distancia puede hacer que las personas se olviden o es que es un complemento del ...Read more