Day: October 11, 2010

Walking at last

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Walking to the gym tonight for a session of stretching I passed a family of five or so idly standing across the footpath. A little toddler, eyes fixed ahead, started unsteadily walking toward his father from his sister across the path I was to pass.

I tried to sidestep the child, but instead seemed to be like a magnet and for a few seconds it was as though we were doing some strange dance together. I stood and watched, the child reached his father, then staggered off in the direction of more adventure.

The father and I exchanged a few remarks. It turns out this child had been walking only less than a week. Everything was before him now. The family encouraging his every move- doting in wonder.

How remarkable a young child is, and how wrong that so many children particularly in Sub-Sarahan Africa never reach the age to take their first steps. This should be a sobering reflection for us all.

What if it were you instead?

This entry was posted in Awareness, Children, Inspiration and tagged , , .

Half the world’s population is at risk of malaria (3 Days to Go) : 8 MDG.

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Today with three days to go, the focus is on Millennium Development Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Disease. The United Nations has set three targets for this Millennium Development Goal:

  • Halt and begin to reverse, by 2015, the spread of HIV/AIDS
  • Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
  • Halt and begin to reverse, by 2015, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

One of the Outcomes for the 10 City Bridge Run is to invest $24,000 in anti-malaria technology through the distribution of 10,000 mosquito nets. The ability to create leverage in order to achieve this will only come with the participation of sponsorship. Only with sponsorship is it possible to achieve the 10 City Bridge Run.

Remarks from the UN are sobering and need no further explanation. This is a serious and tragic situation through the prevalence of these infectious diseases.

  • Every day over 7,400 people are infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS- related illnesses. HIV remains the leading cause of death among reproductive-age women worldwide.
  • An estimated 33.4 million people were living with HIV in 2008, two thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Access to HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries increased ten-fold over a span of just five years.
  • Malaria kills a child in the world every 45 seconds. Close to 90 per cent of malaria deaths occur in Africa, where it accounts for a fifth of childhood mortality.
  • 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis in 2008, about 500,000 of whom were HIV-positive.

 

 

 

This entry was posted in HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Millennium Development Goals and tagged , , .

Six Bridges of Separation: Kyle Sandilands

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Kyle, Kyle, Kyle! When will you realise there is more to this world than yourself!

Now I don’t know Kyle- I only know what I read in the media. I think he is a likeable fellow. Good humour, or at least well-intentioned. Always ready with a smile and few gags.

Sometimes I feel sorry for Kyle. He has been through a rough patch recently. Many of us have been down the same road ourselves, so I can empathise.

I saw a report today in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph that Kyle “vows to take down Clover Moore” over increased regulation of opening hours for licensed venues. Living in Kings Cross myself, I know what a loss to the city cutting back drinking hours would bring. For a start, the zoo that visits Kings Cross from about 11 pm toward the end of the week would disappear. That would be a loss.

Sandilands has a personal interest in fighting the proposed changes to the legislation, having bought into the Kings Cross nightclubs Piano Room and Trademark alongside his business manager Andrew Hawkins just two months ago.

I would like to challenge Kyle on this issue. I think he could better spend his time talking about the needs of those in extreme poverty. But here’s the rub: I don’t know him, and I am only in town until Friday. I would need to speak to him this week, and on air.

So please help out. Build the bridge to Kyle Sandilands (can we prove that we really are all connected by six bridges of separation?), and lets make not only Sydney but the world a better place.

 

This entry was posted in Awareness, Breakfast, Kyle Sandilands and tagged , , .

What is charity?

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When I mention what I am doing through the 10 City Bridge Run to many people, often the response is “are you doing that for charity?”

We have corrupted and confused the meaning of the word charity by have too much emphasis toward a consumer focus. We have confused the word (verb) charity for the description (noun) of ‘a charity’. But does this really matter?

I think it does. We have made ‘doing good’ a commodity. Philanthropy has become for many a means of finding reward and status. Brand and agency now define how we understand value and trust. I think that is all wrong.

Are these things right?

  • ‘Charities’ ambushing people on the street and signing them up onto monthly direct debit forms to their credit cards.
  • Corporate events seeking sponsorship to the right ‘charity’ because of the reputation gained.
  • Treating those who give larger sums of money with extra-special care because of their ‘philanthropy’.

What happened to the neighbourly culture of helping out your mate in Australia? The proverbial cup of sugar when it was asked. Helping out when someone is in need.

Where I live in Kings Cross there are many people who stop and ask you for ‘change’. Is the right thing just to give them what they ask- a few bucks- or is it more appropriate to ask how we can help them? All too often the stereotype (and often the reality) is that these people will just go and drink the money away, or worse score and shoot up. Surely if we really cared we would look to their needs beyond just throwing them a couple of coins so they were off our conscience.

I believe we need to be bridges to help those in need. We can’t meet everyones need, and neither will we want to all of the time. We have our own concerns to look to as well.

10 City Bridge Run presents a new approach to philanthropy. Philanthropy doesn’t mean ‘not-for-profit’. It means doing good in the interest of others.

In the 10 City Bridge Run sponsorship received supports the production of a book, “Above the Line” using a social enterprise business model. Proceeds enable the 10 City Bridge Run to occur and to meet the Six Outcomes. Sponsorship is received by Social Alchemy, a social business as defined by Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Muhammad Yunus. Please join us on the journey and become a sponsor.

This is a participative and altruistic initiative. It is charity in action.

This entry was posted in Charity, Greed, Philanthropy and tagged , , .