Child Aid International

Millions of children around the world live in poverty.

In recent years, the Middle East has seen its share of “breaking news” from the fall of Saddam to the destruction of lives in Afghanistan due to the actions of a few groups that fight in the name of religion.

Unfortunately all of this has hurt the most vulnerable in any society – children.

A study by the University of Arizona in 2004, indicated that 14-15 per cent of US edible food is untouched or unopened, amounting to $43 billion worth of discarded, but edible, food (“US wastes half its food”).

Another survey, by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, found that 93 percent of respondents acknowledged buying foods they never used (From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can).

That is a lot of waste.

I’ve got to admit, that as a family we tend to waste and buy more than is necessary.  Just think of how much you would save if you only bought what you really needed for that week or only cooked what you needed for a few days?

There is an excellent post on the David Suzuki Foundation website that talks to these figures for Canadians.  One of the items suggest that we throw away about $600.00 worth of food per year!

As a family we support several worthwhile organizations, locally and internationally.  One organization that we were introduced to several years ago is Child Aid International.  CAI is a NGO registered in Iraq that helps feed children.

From their website:

Child Aid International is a registered NGO in Iraq (NGO #2K70812)

Child Aid International is a not-for-profit organization that respects and champions the rights of all orphan children – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or faith.

The war in Iraq has devastated thousands of lives – families have been destroyed, homes have been lost, and countless children have been orphaned. There is a serious orphan crisis in the country without thousands of recently orphaned children in dire need of aid.

Founded in 2004, Child Aid International seeks to help rebuild the lives of these orphan children.

The organization has developed its Orphan Child Sponsorship Program through which it provides donors with the opportunity to help transform the life of an orphan child in Iraq. Sponsorship covers the healthcare, food, clothing and education cost for a child.  Child Aid International currently sponsors over 400 orphan children in Iraq.

Child Aid International is a registered NGO in Iraq, and a not-for-profit society registered in the province of British Columbia, Canada.

Whether you support CAI or any of the other organizations that help bring food to families or children, as individuals living in a land of plenty we should take a few moments to appreciate what we have and donate what we can (a little, when combined with many other small donations becomes a lot which goes a long way) to help improve the lives of others.

You don’t need millions or billions to be a philanthropist – every dollar you give in causes you believe in and support is all you need.

Are You Getting Results as a Workaholic?

I have mentioned several times that I am a workaholic, and I know many others that are.  However what you may not know that being a workaholic isn’t something necessarily to be proud of.  You see it could be construed several ways.

Workaholic = Lazy, Inefficient, Lacking Time Management Skills

You’re a workaholic because you lack the time management skills to get your job done in the course of 8 or 9 hours; as a result you’re there all hours of the day always playing catch-up.

Workaholic = You’ve taken on TOO MUCH work from others!

You are a workaholic because you have taken on too much work from other people or departments.  You’re a “yes” man (or woman).  This isn’t good either, because you have to learn to say “NO” and focus on ensuring you, and your department/team is the best it can be.  How can you build a solid team if you’re busy helping everyone else build a solid team?  Answer = YOU CAN’T.

Where do you fall in these two examples?

If you are a workaholic, but can prove to those around you that the work and effort you are putting in are delivering results – then you can probably be forgiven for working crazy hours.  However if you’re not getting results then you are probably just wasting your time, ruining your health and slowly destroying your relationships with friends, and family.

Over the years I’ve worked crazy hours, but I like to think that my results speak for themselves.

Click on the link to be taken to the source of the image.

LinkedIn Spam

OK – this is getting ridiculous.  I am a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker) wich means that I will not IDK (I Don’t Know) individuals that want to connect with me.  So over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a significant increase in connection requests and naturally being a LION I have said “yes”.

The odd thing is that most of the request are from “internet marketers” and today I found out that most of these “internet marketers” are actually SPAMMERS.

I was spammed by three people from LinkedIn.

I reported all three to LinkedIn.  I also reported them to their hosting provider, and all three had their accounts terminated.

Was I being a jerk?  Probably as I normally just ignore them.  But what pissed me off was the fact that when I accepted the connection with these individuals, it was done so that we could connect professionally – it was NOT to give them the OK to spam me.

There must be some internet marketing guru out there urging people to SPAM their LinkedIn connections.  What the guru didn’t think about was the fact that most people on LinkedIn DON’T take kindly to SPAM and will report those that do.

LinkedIn is a great resource for professionals and those making their way up the ladder.  It’s just a shame that the IM crowd thinks that simply accepting a connection is the same as giving the OK to SPAM.  It’s not, and I seriously hope that LinkedIn will take a hard look at this.

They are going IPO and the last thing you want is to be a safe haven for spammers.

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