May 10th - Stamp Out Hunger Drive

I received an e-mail a few days ago from someone involved with the Stamp Out Hunger Drive in the US. After going through the website and related sites, I decided to post this entry to support their drive. I am unfortunately not from the US, but I hope this can somehow help spread the word around. The US, though a developed and first-world country, also suffers from poverty in many areas where there are marginalized populations.

On Saturday, May 10, Campbell Soup Company will join forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to Stamp Out Hunger across America . The Event was created by the National Association of Letter Carriers in conjunction with America's Second Harvest. Now in its 16th year, the Stamp Out Hunger! effort is the nation's largest single-day food drive, having collected more than 836 million pounds of food since its inception in 1993.

To help Stamp Out Hunger! this year, residents simply ahve to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal next to your mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on May 10. Food items should be in non-breakable containers, such as boxes and cans. The nation's 230,000 letter carriers will then collect donations from homes across the country and deliver them to food bank members of America 's Second Harvest – The Nation's Food Bank Network and other hunger relief organizations in more than 10,000 local communities.

To find out more about the annual Stamp Out Hunger efforts being done in your community, ask your letter carrier, contact your local post office or visit http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/ They have also posted a site on the declaration of their assets at the URL below. Please check it out too and decide on how you want to help in the drive.

http://assets.m80im.com/resources/campbells_soh/SOH__resources_page.htm.

Criminal investigation ordered in the Anil Ambani case ...

In a talk I had with my friend from India today, he mentioned about the case he filed last Novemebr 2007 against one of the biggest and most influential people in his country. Coming from an Asian country like him and knowing how money and power can often influence the outcome of investigations, I can only wish him luck in his efforts and hope that many benefit in the end. I am sure justice will find its way where it is due....

Below is the press release on the case. I am posting this in support of his advocacy for truth and efforts against graft and corruption.

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On 29th November 2007, Honorable Justice Smt. K. K. Patil of JFMC (Anti-Corruption) Pune, ordered investigation of offences, of criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy to strip, the 13 lakh shareholders of Reliance Capital Ltd, off a valuable property. Besides Mr. Anil Ambani, the other accused are Mr. Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, Mr. Rajendra P. Chitale and Mr. C. P. Jain ( the other Directors of RCL ). Criminal complaint 4134 / 2007, has been filed by a RCL shareholder Mr. V. M. Raste. He is also the convener of Corporate Watch, a not for profit organisation. Advocate Mr. Rohan V. Nahar appeared on behalf of Mr. Raste.

Mr. Anil Ambani is the chairman of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group ( ADAG ), besides being the Chairman of Reliance Capital Ltd ( RCL ) and Reliance Energy Ltd ( REL ). RCL was holding over 1.32 crore shares of REL till 21st May 2007.

On this day RCL sold these shares to a company owned by Mr. Anil Ambani at mere Rs.512.30 per share, even though the directors knew the true value.

Companies run share buy-back schemes, when they think their shares are substantially underpriced in the markets. REL had a buy-back scheme up to a price of Rs.525 per share, during the year 2004-2005. Since then, the profit per share has gone up from Rs.26 per share to Rs.37 per share. Similarly, the book value has gone up from Rs.292per share to Rs.410 per share. These are the two important parameters, which determine the share value/price.

As per the REL price, Rs. 1662.50 on 29th November 07, the shareholders of RCL lost Rs.1,500 crores and Mr. Anil Ambani ( including his family ) gained by the same amount.

This is a very clear case of abuse of shareholder trust by the company chairman and the members of the board of directors. This is also a criminal conspiracy to strip the shareholders off their valuable property. In the days, when the corporates are playing an increasingly important role in our society, it is important that such cases are swiftly and firmly dealt with, to avoid recurrance.

More so, because RCL deals with investor money through Reliance Mutual Fund and Reliance Insurance.


Mr V M Raste
Dated the 30th November, 2007.
12 Maithilee, 34/5 Erandwana, Pune 411004. Phone + 91 20 2543 6648.
email : corporatewatch@hotmail.com

related entries: Samvedana Anashan ends, The Fasting Starts, Press release: Samvedana Anashan, Samvedana Anashan: Fasting for Good Governance to fight hunger, etc.

Learning to be Responsible...

My daughter asked her father yesterday what he would do if she lost the money to pay for her tuition fee. Her question did make me think of what my reaction would be. Angry maybe. And also disappointed that she still cannot be responsible enough to handle a big amount of money at her age. I didn't dwell much on it though since the possibility that she would lose such an amount is low. We almost always issue a check to pay for their tuition and their father goes to school to pay for it.

It was a hypothetical question she raised because her classmate lost the tuition money her parents gave her. Her classmate and other friends apparently hanged out at the house of another classmate and lost the money there.Though her classmate was allowed to take her final exams, she has been trying to sell personal things to raise the amount she lost so she won't have to tell her parents. Php8,000 isn't a small amount here. For some, that could already be a month's pay. And for parents who work hard to get their children through school, that could very well make tempers rise and parents cry.

The classroom Adviser spoke to the classmates who were in the house when the money was lost....no one admitted getting the money. It's sad when friendships turn sour and one's honesty is questioned because of money, especially if the suspected one is your own best friend.

My daughter can be skeptical like me though, she said losing the money was her classmate's version. And she did agree that her classmate was wrong in going out with friends when she should have been in school paying her tuition fee first. I hope she learned from her classmate's mistake...

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!!

	For those still unaware of it, there's an International Women's Day (IWD) website. Please visit it for updates on women's equal rights, events and matters concerning women. Women's groups have been using the logos below to symbolize what they stand for and emphasize their advocacies. HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY! THE IWD COLOURS Purple, green and white are the official international women's colours. The colours originated from the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), in the UK in 1908. The colours were said to represent: white for purity in public as well as private life purple for justice, dignity, self-reverence and self-respect (and representing the women's vote) green for hope and new life. The colours unified the women's movement and emphasised the femininity of the suffragettes. The tricolour of the WSPU soon became a visual cue for the women's movement in other countries. Purple, green and white were worn on International Women's Day and were used for other women's movement banners and posters. More recently, two changes have occured: the use of the colour white has more recently been rejected as 'purity' is a controversial issue and attitudes towards the role of 'purity' from women differ greatly the introduction of the colour gold representing 'a new dawn' has been commonly used to represent the second wave of feminism.
	MANY WOMEN'S GROUPS USE PURPLE Many women's groups around the world who understand, respect and chose to honour the history and progress made by the suffragettes use purple as their predominant representative colour. These websites of women's groups use the representative purple:
	Atlanta Women's Network http://www.atlantawomensnetwork.org/ Aurora Women's Network http://www.auroravoice.com/network.asp Business & Professional Women http://www.bpwusa.org/ International Business Women’s Group http://www.ibwgabudhabi.org/ Women in Business http://www.womeninbusinessnetwork.org.uk/ Women in Technoloy International http://www.witi.com/center/aboutwiti/

The New Yorkers Home for aWedding...

My kids' paternal second cousins from New York came home 2 weeks ago for a wedding. Both bride and groom are based in New York. But like most Filipino families living overseas, their heritage remains deeply rooted in their veins. Though the groom was born and bred in New York, he wanted their wedding held at their neighborhood church which I heard his father helped build. When asked by the priest why he wanted to get married in Manila, he said that whenever he was here for vacation, he felt he was always coming home.

Ex-President Cory Aquino who lives in the same neighborhood here as the groom's family, attended the wedding. I saw her laughing and amused when during the offering ceremony, the bride's New York-born and bred male cousin marched towards the altar with his 5'8" statuesque model-like sister (what a real beauty!). He sported a thick, waist-length curly hair and a beard longer than Bin Laden's (his uncle jokingly introduced him to us as Bin Laden's relative ). The ex-President interrupted the picture-taking at the altar after the wedding to greet the new bride and groom and to have a picture with them taken before she left.

All 3 families from the bride's side came home for the wedding. A cousin who was last here in 1975 requested that we attend the wedding because she wanted to meet me (and I thought, ohhh ok...) The wedding somehow softened the bride's family's mourning for the 5 relatives who perished in a New York fire last December. The lone surviver from the fire also had his 22nd birthday yesterday. He seemed to enjoy himself as he and his cousins tried to outdo each other on the dance floor doing the typical New York streetdances. Maybe it was just as well that my kids hadn't been there. My daughter looking so much like his late 11-year old sister could have affected him last night. Too bad though that they weren't able to enjoy the night with their second cousins.

The flower girl at my wedding is now 22 and such a tomboy with very short boyish haircut. She even wore a man's Barong instead of a dress. I didn't recognize her when I saw her for the first time after more than 15 years. She didn't look female, lol.

Somehow I enjoyed the celebration, too. The food was really good ( but I couldn't jump in and swim on the chocolate fountain like someone suggested since it was just a fondue ) .The relatives were nice to me. But since I have future plans, I couldn't help keeping my distance....

The Men, Women and Children Who Suffer...

As militia attacks continue to happen in villages in Sudan’s West Darfur region, dozens of children 12 to 18 are reported missing, especially boys.

UNICEF and its UN partners sent an assessment mission to the towns of Sirba and Abu Surouj following government-backed militia attacks in West Darfur’s northern corridor earlier this month. The team found that thousands of residents had fled their homes in the towns after multiple buildings were burned in the attacks.

The UN has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and warned that the region needs many more peacekeepers as the security situation in the region deteriorated sharply in the past two months.

As the violence continues and remains unabated, people's lives...men, women and innocent children's lives are even more at risk. In these situations, the innnocent children so unfortunately become part of the many lost and unaccounted victims of war.

In Congo, the World Vision reported that men, women, and children continue to lose their lives from rebel attacks. There is, however, a glimmer of hope for this nation with the news that a peace agreement was forged between the government and several rebel groups.

This is indeed welcome news for a country besieged for the past 15 months, with armed conflict that resulted in the massive displacement of people — more than 400,000 in North Kivu province, increased gender-based violence, malnutrition among children, school dropout rates, and rising numbers of wounded civilians.

I once posed the question "When will this ever end?" when I posted an entry on Darfur several months ago. I don't think it will...not for as long as there are people who are selfish and greedy for power. All peace-loving people can do is to try and aid the victims the best way they can and this can only go far with powerful organizations and nations taking action and putting pressure on the warring groups and nations to achieve some peace.

Flooding in Bolivia...

I just read that there was heavy flooding in Bolivia recently and about 57,000 families were affected. Meteorologists blame the La Niña phenomenon for fueling torrential rains and massive flooding across Bolivia's Amazon region during recent weeks. Last year, a similar flooding also happened that displaced thousands of families from their homes. Prior to that, there was also political upheaval that took place causing some establishments to temporarily close down and people to stay home for days for safety reasons.

The World Vision there is now working with the World Food Program to distribute 5,000tons of food aid to feed 27,000 flood-devastated families during the next three months. Most of the families hit hardest there are among the poorest of the poor in South America's most destitute nation. Some 10,600 families also have lost their crops — their main source of livelihood. Because of damaged roads, delivering aid to survivors is fraught with challenges. Meanwhile, concerns are building about disease outbreaks caused by standing water.


News like these always worry me a bit. My sister has been residing there for over 10 years doing her missionary work. I still have to hear news from her. I hope she's doing well....

RHETT'S JOURNEY....

I read this very touching story of Rhett, a baby with down syndrome, from Matt's blog who also read about it from another friend's. I'd like to share Rhett's Journey too, and I hope it touches your hearts as it has mine. Rhett's father can't work because he has a back problem and needed surgery. And his mom can't work because she needs to take care of Rhett full-time, his eldest brother who has aspergers syndrome and two other siblings.

I admire parents like Pam who have so much strength and courage in going through all these trials, and have a very positive attitude.

Maybe it's the fact that my eldest son with learning difficulty had to go through a special school and I found myself exposed to special children with autism, down syndrome or other kind of disability, that I have such a soft spot for these children. It opened my eyes at how special these children really are and that despite their disabilities, many have such amazing talents. We only need to understand them and how they express themselves.

"My Neighbors and Me" - An Update

After brothers Herbert and Ashman Wiltshire – then ages 18 and 13 started 'My Neighbours and Me’ in their neighborhood in Belize, the group has since then provided kids in their neighborhood, an alternative to drugs and crime.

Andrea Diaz, an ll-year old, is one who has benefitted a lot from this movement. She said there was really nothing to do after school and ‘My Neighbours and Me’ has given her the opportunity to make use of her time wisely by joining activities there like dancing or taking care of the smaller children.

The group also offers art and theatre, and children are taught practical skills such as how to use a computer, how to combat sexual violence and how to avoid HIV/AIDS. Educational outings give them a chance to explore Belize’s rich natural and political history.

Andrea's principal, Ms. Pollard, has seen a marked improvement in the kids who joined ‘My Neighbours and Me.’ They have taken on responsibility and have learned to develop their self-control and self-discipline. She said, “They are able to work with their assignments, whether they do them correctly or incorrectly, so they know they have a responsibility – that’s the bottom line.”

Herbert and Ashman Wiltshire's parents must be so proud at what their young kids had accomplished at so short a time and such young ages....I know I would be, I am, even if they aren't my kids. :)

Charities...

While reading the World Vision website, I came across the Charity Navigator link and decided to know more about how charities are evaluated and rated. I took note of those I found most interesting and posted them here with links. There are of course many other charity evaluators, and as much as we should be careful about what charities to donate to and support, we should also be able to determine how much we can rely on the charity evaluator's information.

The Charity Navigator is an independent charity evaluator that aims to "advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of over 5,300 of America's largest charities." Estbalished in 2001, it has come up with tips and guidelines on how one can determine reliable charities.

How to choose a reliable Charity:

When choosing the charities to donate to, one should consider several factors. Ask yourself these questions before donating:

1. Can your charity clearly communicate who they are and what they do?
If a charity struggles in articulating its mission and its programs, it will probably struggle in delivering those programs. If a charity can't explain who it is and what it does, and why it is needed, find one that can. Many good organizations exist who know exactly who they are, what they do, and why they are needed.

2. Can your charity define their short-term and long-term goals?
Organizations without quantifiable goals have no way to measure success. Be sure your charity can tell you what it is trying to do.
Can your charity tell you the progress it has made (or is making) toward its goal?
Ask your organization what it has done to make the issue it confronts better. What are its results? Find out.

3. Do your charity's programs make sense to you?
If you support the mission of an organization, ask yourself if its programs also make sense. If you know you want to support the outcome the charity aims to deliver, ask yourself if its method of arriving at that outcome makes sense to you.

4. Can you trust your charity?
Don't support a charity until you feel comfortable with it. Ask the questions you need answered from the organizers before you can be assured this is a good use of your money. Do whatever it takes to put your mind at ease.

5. Are you willing to make a long-term commitment to your organization?
Ask yourself if your charity is the type of organization to which you're willing to make a long-term commitment.

The Charity Navigator has also come up with the top 10 charities based on set criteria and methodology. In rating these charities, they evaluated the organization's financial health, their organizational efficiency and their organizational capacity. Based on financial ratios or performance categories to rate each of these two areas, the Navigator issues an overall rating that combines the charity's performance in both areas. It guides donors on how efficiently a charity will use their support today, and to what extent the charities are growing their programs and services over time .

The TOP 10 CHARITIES (source: Charity Navigator)

10 Super-Sized Charities

10 Slam-Dunk Charities

10 Celebrity-Related Charities

10 Charities Drowning in Administrative Costs

10 Charities Worth Watching

10 Inefficient Fundraisers