Category: Issues

Clothing with a Conscience

If you like design, and particularly if you are into T-shirts, then you’ll probably know about ‘Threadless‘ – an awesome brand/outlet for all things ‘T-shirt’. While checking out the site the other day I stumbled upon something I haven’t seen before – the “Atrium”.

Something which is pretty obvious when you think about it, but I’ve only really just come to realise in recent months, is that the T-shirt is one of the most powerful mediums to communicate and distribute a message. I recently did some work with renown T-shirt connoisseur Eddie Zammitt (founder of T-world journal), and quickly came to realise the impact and importance of T-shirt culture. If you think about it, most, if not everyone, wears T-shirts. Generally people will only wear T-shirts if they like the style, and probably more importantly, if they support the message that the tee communicates. So by someone wearing a tee by a certain brand or with a certain message, then they are basically endorsing that brand or message. Continue reading “Clothing with a Conscience” →

750,000 Memories Making a Difference

I love photography and capturing precious or beautiful moments in time, so I really like this unique project which started organically as part of the clean-up mission after the Japan Tsunami. Basically thousands of photo’s where collected, restored and digitised with the aim of returning these precious memories to those who they belong to.

The aim of the ‘Lost And Found’ Project is to connect people who are willing to help, however small, and the people of the town of Yamamoto who were devastated by the tsunami, by providing opportunities for people in different places to experience the disaster through seeing the photos which were damaged beyond recognition.

“There are still 1,000 families having to live in temporary shelters today.”

Through what started out as the the ‘Memory Salvage Project‘, people collected over 750,000 photos that had been swept away in the tsunami, and now through the ‘Lost & Found Project’, these photos are shown at exhibitions and sold as posters, with all the funds going back into the local towns to help with housing and rebuilding left completely devestated by the disaster back in 2011. Yamamoto was one of the worst hit towns with over 50% of the town flooded, thousands of buildings ruined and over 600 people who died from the town. Continue reading “750,000 Memories Making a Difference” →

What do we learn from death?

No one really likes funerals, because no one likes what they represent – death. A bit of a morbid subject indeed, but we had our Nanny’s funeral earlier this week so I have been reflecting on these things a little more lately. There are so many things that death exposes and stuff we learn about ourselves and others that we might never have been known before.

Nanny

Nanny’s funeral was beautiful; sad, but also joyful and comforting. We heard stories about Nanny that we’d never heard, learnt things about the family we’d never known. We cried, we remembered, and we certainly laughed. One thing that particularly stuck in my mind from one of the speeches was that Nanny was a very contented person, never one to complain of not having enough, or fussy about having the latest and greatest, the biggest and best. On reflection this was clearly evident in her life. I think it was definitely part of her beautiful character, and also a product of her generation and upbringing. Most people have no idea what hardship is like… those, like Nanny, who went through the great depression know exactly what it’s like – it shaped their life and taught them to be frugal, wise and not wanting, but appreciative of the basic things in life. This is something we really have no concept of in today’s western culture of ‘never enough’. Continue reading “What do we learn from death?” →

“Micro-Generosity”

There’s always lots to read and write about global poverty, “Third World problems” and the massive efforts taking place by international aid organisations, but sometimes it’s good to hear about local action taking place – you could call it “Micro-Generosity” (similar to micro finance) – not ‘micro’ as in a small amount of generosity, but in terms of generosity taking place on a smaller scale, by individuals or small organisations or groups.

These days there are some great tools around that allow people to raise money for just about any cause. Everyday Hero is a great Aussie website that does just this – build your own fundraising page to raise money for over 1200 charities. It’s very popular with over 20,000 ‘heroes’ in action today! Another big one is Causes where “anyone can change the world” as they say. And it’s true – they’ve raised over $40 million for 27,000 non-profits! Continue reading ““Micro-Generosity”” →

The single biggest solvable problem facing the world today

Here’s a bunch of interesting facts that I just learnt from WFP (World Food Programme). As part of the article they make a big claim that “hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today” – the remarkable thing about this claim is that they say that hunger is “solvable”. You don’t really hear that too often, but it is exciting to hear this positive spin on the state of world, rather than the ‘doom and gloom’ that we often hear.

Some of these facts are a bit ‘doom and gloom’, but some definitely give hope that hunger is in fact solvable – like the fact that I can make a difference with only 25 CENTS a day – that’s around $7.50 per month to give a child a chance at a healthy life. And maybe something surprising for all us relatively comfortable Aussies – most of the world’s hungry people live on our door step – in the South Pacific (not Africa as most may think). Continue reading “The single biggest solvable problem facing the world today” →

Not a Drop To Drink [Infographic]

According to the United Nations, unsanitary water kills more people worldwide than war. As the precious water supply dwindles, it may prove to be more than just a crisis for developing countries. Click the image below to learn more…

“Every 20 seconds a child dies from water borne illness”

Source: GOOD and Column Five Media

DO SOMETHING:

There are tons of organisations doing great work to improve access and supply of clean water to those who need it most, but here is one that I like:

Water For Water’s heart is for those in need, those who find themselves without access to safe drinking water for themselves and their families. http://www.waterforwater.com

How did you ‘spend’ your Christmas?

Just before Christmas this year I went down to our local bargin store ‘L.A Variety’ with my 2yr old Isy and we bought 2 sets of Christmas lights for a total of $12.95 – gotta love bargin stores! I found myself wondering if we really need 2 sets, and where we’d even put the second set, but then I thought… what’s another $5.00… why not! Our local newspaper, The Manly Daily, recently ran a story on the Richards family who have spent $250k on christmas lights…yep you read correct $250,000! Read the full story.

$250k on chrissie lights Continue reading “How did you ‘spend’ your Christmas?” →

Countdown to a Miracle

Scans of "Button"

Baby #2 (affectionately known as ‘Button’) is due anytime now. I’ve finally just started to get into the ‘baby-having’ mindset and think about the amazing but intense experience we are about to go through. As I reflect on the whole pregnancy and birth experience, I can’t help but be drawn to the bigger picture by recent experiences of friends, and also what I know about some sad experiences of pregnancy and birth that happen in the third world.

I feel so blessed to have one beautiful child, and to be on the verge of having another – if you have kids, stop for a moment and give thanks for them (even though they may drive you up the wall at times!), because it is a miracle that you were blessed with them. Speaking with my mate who recently lost his baby girl an hour after birth, we were reflecting on how the whole birthing and pregnancy experience is something that is seriously out of our control, and very much in the hands of God. Even amazing doctors, with access to the best medical resources, are sometimes powerless – they couldn’t save his little treasure. Continue reading “Countdown to a Miracle” →

Celebrate Progress and Never Stop Asking for Change

MDGThere’s a lot of power in shocking statistics that portray the ‘doom and gloom’ of poverty and other big issues – they can help us to come to terms with the reailty of what others are going through in this world and can often move us to action. I see heaps of these ‘shocking stats’, but not so often do I come across more ‘positive stats’ – stats that highlight the encouraging progress that is being made and celebrating the change that has been achieved over the years.

I recently came across a great video that showed some great stats on the progress that has been made on the Millenium Development Goals (MDG):

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals. (from UNDP website).

MDGThere’s some big goals here and it’s so encouraging to see the progress that has been made so far – here’s a snapshot of some awesome ‘positive stats’ from the video: Continue reading “Celebrate Progress and Never Stop Asking for Change” →

Fact: The 2 biggest killers of children under the age of 5

!

“The 2 biggest killers of children under the age of 5 are pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases.”

* UNICEF / World Health Organisation / World Bank / UNFPA

TAKE ACTION: “I believe it shouldn’t end at the beginning” – check out the great campaign by Compassion called ‘I Believe‘. The sadest thing about the above fact is that these are entirely preventable and treatable diseases. Forty-three per cent of under-five deaths are attributed to the five diseases: pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, HIV/AIDS and measles – in Australia, these diseases account for just two per cent of deaths of children under five. Visit the I Believe website to learn more about child mortality and find out how you can help.