Untukmu Para Pengunjung

We arrived in Canada Tuesday night to a beautiful banner and huge hugs. The journey was long (40 hours) but we got to tour Amsterdam, and I'm actually glad it took so long because this is a whole new world! It's cold here... Toronto and Harare are quite different - in every way. I must admit that I'm loving being in Toronto - eating all kinds of foods, using a bank card and wallet, seeing familiar streets, walking everywhere and feeling free, saying whatever I want, getting lots of hugs, eating mountains of food (have I mentioned this already?), hearing all the old family jokes, etc. It's amazing to see family and friends, and I am constantly happy (although crying a lot too).

Oh yeah - John is here, and we didn't even need to do a prison break. But you can keep praying for our safety.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! This is definitely going to be a memorable one for us.

A website just shut its door on France, 1938media.com. Why? See here.
(Of course I can't see it so it may be a dud link!) I can however see Techcrunch so the link to the story is here.

Now Loic Le Meur has apologised here, so can you take the country ban off please Loren?

I mean, I am English so maybe just allow my IP?!!

Here is the screen shot of 1938media site right now for me.


My take on the whole episode is that Seesmic is a great idea and is in pre-alpha which means it is there to be taken shots at but is also saying we are a work in progress so be patient. I have had similar attacks about my site.
This is what trying to create a difference brings you, normally elation and satisfaction, sometimes pain. Loic took the bait, why?, because he probably lives and breathes seesmic and is running at 200%, with not enough sleep and when you get a horrible critique under emotional pressure and tiredness, that is what happens.

A bad review feels like someone has attacked your child (I am qualified to say that!). Running a start up is hard, harder than anyone who hasn't tried will ever know especially when online 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But it is all great fun at the same time :-)

This is our last day in the office for 2007. Tonight we're having our church concert (I hope people come with despite all the thunderstorms!) tomorrow is the Thanksgiving ingathering where all Salvation Army divisions come with their financial offerings, and then Sunday is the retirement of our Territorial Commander. Monday morning we jump on a plane to Nairobi, and then catch another one to Amsterdam, and then finally a third one to our beloved Toronto. We'll be home next Tuesday afternoon - yay! I'm so excited to see family, friends, food and all of the Christmas festivities. We'll be home for 2 1/2 weeks.

In a way, it feels like betrayal that I'm so excited about going home. Everyone always says to me, "you must just love living in Africa!" And there are definitely things (and people) that I love. But Zimbabwe is a tough place to live too. I was reading a beautiful Advent devotional this morning about how only the poor can see God; and about how Christmas is really for the poor. I do believe it's true that when all else is stripped away, the Saviour shows himself more clearly. But I need to say again that there is nothing romantic or beautiful about real poverty. It is horrible. It makes you feel sub-human. It makes you live in a constant state of worry about your survival. No one here wants to talk about Christmas - it's too sad because no one can afford to go home or to get food or treats for their kids. So, is Christmas really for them? Last year we were disappointed that Christmas wasn't even mentioned at church. Surely the birth of Jesus is still important if no one has money! This year I have a better understanding of why it's avoided. It's painful. We had hoped to give away some money for Christmas, but it was impossible because when we tried to exchange money it was confiscated by the police (and John was temporarily put under arrest - now that was scary!!!)

On a more cheerful note: If you're still looking for some last-minute Christmas gifts, consider goats, sheep and school fees for people in Tshalanyemba, Zimbabwe: www.silokwethemba.org

So, there's a huge cash shortage in the country right now. There are long, snake-like queues at every bank - people waiting for hours and hours to withdraw their own money. Our friend had her salary deposited into her bank account Nov. 15 and she has gone to the bank every day since then trying to withdraw it. She is still unsuccessful, so has to beg and borrow for money to come to work every day. And what with inflation, the money has lost most of its value by now anyway. It's so sad. Everyone's looking for cash - for daily groceries never mind Christmas gifts and trips home to the village...

A friend invited us over for dinner last week. We were so touched. Then she came to my office and showed me the list of food items she needed to buy and how much each cost. So we had to fork over the money, and then the dinner ended up being canceled! Hmmm... good business opportunity (scam)! When she showed up with a new purse and hairstyle, we had to ask for it back!

This morning on the way to work there were police men (and women) with guns everywhere. The amount of resources spent on security for one man is quite remarkable. They were standing around in the rain. It has been pouring since last night. I don't know how our newly planted tomatoes are going to fare - they are drenched. I know we've been praying for rain, but this is a bit much... If only we could sell rain for cash... (uh oh, I'm starting to think like a Zimbabwean!) :)

For the past few years I have read the Bible cover-to-cover in a year. This year I read it backwards - by book, not by word (I'm not insane!) What a great book. I know the Bible has caused a lot of controversy over the years, and I don't want to get into all of that. I just want to say that it is an incredible narrative. Seriously, there's something in there for everyone - historians, cynics, poets, romantics, story tellers, those of us trying to lead a full life. Sure, there are boring parts (is that sacrilegious?) but there are also amazing parts. Can I just say that I love Jesus? It's true. I love the way he loved others, I love the way he bothered religious people, and I love the way he started a revolution. The Bible - check it out!

Yesterday I was walking the last few minutes home of my run (it's really hard to actually run when you're having digestion problems!) and I heard a loud gunshot. I ducked, looked to my left and saw 4 young guys laughing and playing with a rifle. It made me nervous, but it also reminded me of when we were first married and we moved to Regent. We would lie in bed, listening to the sounds of our neighbourhood and make guesses - firecrackers or gunshots? We'll be home for a holiday soon - we can finally say NEXT WEEK!

Yesterday was also international human rights day, and we had the day off (although I think that was more to do with the fact that most people who work at our office are officers, and they are having an officers' councils). We actually both had to work in the morning, but we took the afternoon for a movie and pizza (Bourne Ultimatum - has it come out in the theatres yet for you?) :) Then we walked home and tried to plant some tomatoes, but it started pouring.

By the way, did you read about Christopher Smith? He is a man with schizophrenia who was deported to Jamaica last month. He was found roaming the streets of Kingston, and his family in Canada were very concerned. So Canada Border Services brought him back! The world will never stop amazing me!

#1: Inflation. A man was selling tomatoes outside of our office building, and they were cheap - only $400,000/bag - so everyone was buying some. Our friend who was driving our combi home bought two bags. Then on the way home, we drove past a lady selling tomatoes outside of her house. He offered her one of his bags for $800,000 - double the price. That's inflation! Everyone is always thinking of business opportunities here.

#2: Stealing and consequences. Sunday at church the youth choir got up to sing their song, and while they were doing so, one of the youth had her cell phone stolen from her purse. This is quite common. You often hear of people going to pray at the mercy seat up front and finding their purse/cellphone/money/child in one case(!) missing when they come back. This particular girl had had things stolen on several occasions, and had a suspect. The officer (pastor) talked to the suspect, and the girl kept denying everything. So the police were called. When the police arrived, they asked the pastor to leave. The police recovered the cell phone within 10 minutes. The girl had been beaten and thrown in prison, and she doesn't have any family, so no one is bringing her any food in the cell.

#3: Accidents. 4 officers were driving to South Africa this week to try to find some food for officers' councils. A cow ran into the road, so they swerved to miss it. They ended up in a ditch, and before they could get back onto the road, they went onto a bridge, and then off of it at a 90 degree angle. It's a miracle that they're alive. Road accidents are unfortunately very, very common here.

Last night I went to visit friends and there were a multitude of flying ants in their living room. I was conscripted to run around trying to catch them by their wings. Then I put them in a bowl of water. They would later be stripped of their wings, fried in oil and eaten. You can't knock free protein! I have been missing the hustle and bustle of Christmas - concerts, lights, snow, caroling and hot chocolate... but I guess I'm making new traditions!

I read a very interesting book on the weekend: "When a crocodile eats the sun" by Peter Godwin - a white Zimbabwean now living in the U.S. It was strange to recognize most places in the book; to have met some of the people in the narrative. The book tells the story of his family, but also the story of Zimbabwe up to a few years ago. To be totally honest, before moving here, I didn't have much sympathy for white Africans. I got a very liberal, anti-colonial education at U of T. In reading this book, however, I was really moved to compassion reading about white farmers who had their lands taken over in the early 2000s. Of course everyone agrees that land distribution had to take place - it's obvious. But the way it was done was so... horrific. So dehumanizing. So economically devastating. Imagine - people who had legitimately bought and tilled their land, and employed hundreds or thousands of black workers had to flee and see everything they worked for just demolished and taken over by war veterans, or people who claimed to have seen war but really just wanted to take advantage of an opportunity. It was so disheartening to read of young men who had been adopted, cared for and schooled by some of these farmers then turning on them in violence. My family has joked that I'm racist against white people, and maybe I am a bit, but it's really not funny. Racism in any form is wrong. Abuse of power and oppression is wrong in any situation. One of the major themes in the national media here is that the West only cares about Zimbabwe because they are in solidarity with white farmers; and they want to punish Zimbabwe because of what happened to the whites; they are racist. For myself, I don't really feel a connection with these evicted farmers because we share similar skin tones, but because they're human beings. Just like I feel a connection with Zimbabweans who don't have a similar skin tone as me but are also fellow human beings - who are hungry and mourning and coping in miraculous and marvelous ways. Do you believe me?

Today I got a wonderful surprise in the mail - a Catholic hymn book in Acholi. One of the girls that I met in Gulu, northern Uganda, sent it to me. When I stayed with Kathy at St. Monica's we would sing with the girls in the late afternoons until the sun set. This one girl - Nivana - was very curious about me because I knew some Acholi words (which were similar to Shona) and I can also sing harmony ("are you sure you're white?") :) She was very sweet, and today she sent me the hymn book in the mail, marked the numbers that were my favourite, and said in a letter "things sound tough in Zimbabwe - I'm praying for you." She also invited me to her wedding next year. I can't tell you how touched I was! God is good. It's a wonderful thing to be remembered. My highschool friend Katherine also remembered us. We got 9 packages of Kraft Dinner and chocolate bars in the mail. She had posted them in February, but better late than never!

We have just been away for 5 days in the south of the country. It was hot, and we fought mosquitoes and runny stomach (did you need to know that?) but it was a great trip. The people of Zimbabwe are friendly, welcoming, fun and gracious. Wednesday we had a heavy 5 hours of rain in Harare, which was amazing. Zimbabwe REALLY doesn't need more drought right now... We got absolutely drenched on our lunchtime stroll, but we couldn't really complain, because we have to think of farms and food production, etc. To be honest, we tried to escape the rain by going to the country's best burger joint. Unfortunately, they didn't have any burgers. In fact they didn't have anything we tried to order. Eventually we suggested that the waiter should just tell us what they were serving rather than bring a menu!

Thursday we drove to Bulawayo with the Chief. Bulawayo is the second largest city, and about a 5 - 6 hour drive south of Harare. There was barely any traffic because of the severe fuel shortages. Friday we went to Tshelanyemba hospital. It was good to be back there. Our friend Dawn is a Canadian doctor who has been serving the rural community there for ages. Actually, she is due to retire soon, so if you know of a doctor who is willing to work for peanuts and be the only doctor for about 100kms with water and electricity restrictions, please let us know asap. We were there for the unveiling of an irrigation project, a container of supplies and "Canada house" (built and paid for by Salvationists in Newfoundland). It was sad to be there - to hear of the numbers of people dying of hunger, to hear about the difficulty in accessing basic medications, etc. but at the same time it was a hopeful place - because you see the commuity coming together despite hardship. In the late afternoon we drove through the beautiful Matopos (they say God just started throwing rocks down at the place, because the way they balance on top of each other is incredible!) and spent the night at Masiye camp - which is gorgeous. In the morning we ran to a beautiful dam, and more than once John asked why we had to have been posted in stressful Harare at THQ!! We saw some really beautiful places this weekend.

Saturday we went to Usher Institute - a Salvation Army boarding school which is infamous for the murder of a few white teachers back during the troubles, but famous for its quality education. They have about 700 female boarders - secondary and primary. The young ones were very cute - we'll have to post a photo. Usher is struggling to retain teachers, so again, if you want to teach in a rural area and get paid in tomatoes - please let us know!

Sunday we had 2 church services in Bulawayo, and we got to hang with our friend Kim. I had the chance to speak out against discrimination in the church re: HIV/AIDS (since December 1st was World AIDS Day) - and that was good. A Salvationist came up to me after saying that she's positive and thanking me for my words. HIV is still really associated with adultery, prostitution and sin and so there is still a lot of stigma in the churches. The decor in the second church was interesting - they had made centerpieces of fake flowers, spinach and carrots. I noticed there was a mad rush after the service to get the produce. We didn't shop, but we heard that there is food in stores in Bulawayo. They say the food is expensive because they get it from Botswana, but at least that's better than the bare shelves of Harare. I think it's one of those stresses that kind of goes un-talked-about - the fact that you can't buy food in shops. It's all about connections. We have a lady who can connect us with eggs, and our neighbour is now sourcing bread for us. We hear rumours about sugar or flour and then follow them up. It doesn't matter if you have money (although, obviously money helps if you're going to the blackmarket!) - you have to have connections in order to get basic commodities (which are usually found through someone doing cross-border trading). Even cash - you have to have connections to get money! Right now people are lining up for hours to withdraw the daily limit of $5million (less than $3u.s. in real money). We're all just waiting for the new currency to be announced. Oh, and did you hear that Zim made it into the Guinness book of world records again? Next year's government budget has been proposed, and it's the only in the world to be in quadrillions (12 zeroes). Ah, Zimbabwe... Unfortunately, we missed the million man march in support of the President on the weekend. Never a dull moment...

I have been unable to write for the last few weeks because of the slow internet at hostels I have been staying at. However I did record a podcast with Peter Wagstaff on Marketing Today about some of the interesting advertising I have seen in South Africa and Argentina.

So click on the link and listen to the endless interruptions from doing an interview on a public phone on the streets of Buenos Aires.


Click here to listen to podcast

Here is a video of the Nike Barrio Bonito.

Last weekend we visited the beautiful city of Angouleme, it is about 1hr45mins drive from La Rochelle.

We went to the Gastronomades. This is a great example of how things differ here in France. Everywhere was free to enter and all about food!

We watched a really classy demonstration of how to produce spectacular Japanese food, by the highest rated Japanese chef in France. He prepared this freshly under the drooling gazes of 300 people. My son won the opportunity to sample the most expensive dish on any menu by winning with a raffle ticket given out on entering the hall, Sylvie also won with the next drawn ticket, you couldn't make it up!

So this post is more about photo's than words:-


This was a chocolatier demonstrating how to carve chocolate!

Sunday afternoon I took the plan home from Vic Falls. It was a small plane, so we were flying quite low, and I was marvelling at the landscape. I had several of those, "wow, I am in Africa moments" and felt awed at the privilege and honour of living here.

Monday morning I couldn't go for my run, because our compound gate was locked (the security guard hadn't showed up). I went back to work, and I was locked out of my office because my work-mate has lost his set of keys as well as the extra set, so he borrowed mine. I was also locked out of the main building, because I'm not important enough to have a security key! It took 2 hours for my computer to logon, and I can't access my email or the internet. Printing a letter took 3 hours and a lot of running around. Yesterday I was just frustrated.

I guess that's life - ups and downs, good days and bad days. I once said to my dad (full of youthful enthusiasm), "you know, you should live each day as if it were going to be your last). And he said something like, "it's a nice idea, but sometimes you just have to have ordinary days." True. (By the way, speaking of my dad, please go to my brother Joel's blog and watch his video of the week - it is HILARIOUS!)

I just got back from Victoria Falls, and John's still there. We decided we needed a mental-health weekend away, and it did just the trick. (John has a few extra holidays so he stayed on, but I'm assuming that he WILL come back to Harare on Tuesday...) :) We saw the glorious, majestic falls, we ate a lot of food, we swam in the pool, we watched movies late into the night (t.v. is such a novelty!) and we read (by the way - we both just read "The Glass Palace" by Amitav Ghosh - set in Burma - recommended!) We didn't take any photos - but we just rested, relaxed, and avoided talking about work. We've been married about 5 1/2 years, and we're still so in love - it's awesome. I hope you had a good weekend too!

Today means another early start for me. The La Rochelle Marathon, 3rd largest in France, is this morning.

In 2006 the weather was beautiful, large crowds and bands on every street corner, this year the weather is a bit grim, raining and cool, it probably suits the professionals. Will it suit the crowds?

I shall be staying at home for the first hour and half because it passes by my front door and well, I can drink my black coffee and watch in comfort. You can watch the streaming video here, I will post up photos later:-

marathon live video
Finishing between the towers

Every finisher gets their own pack of oysters!

I miss having the internet at work (something blew up...) and I can't believe we didn't get a raise this month. My monthly salary is currently worth about 26 cents. I make $3us a year! Oh well. They were having a discussion in the combi about how we're not going to receive pay slips anymore because the cost of the paper/ink/envelope is more than the actual salary. You know it's bad when...

But I shouldn't complain. I was reading the story in the Bible about the Israelites starting to complain about being sick and tired of manna. Really they should have just been thankful that God was providing something for them to eat every day. I am truly thankful for daily provision - in a way I never was in Canada. The other day a friend was saying to me, "when you go back to Canada people will try to convince you to stay. And it's true that we don't have food here, and our economy is terrible. But you just remember that people here love you. We need you here." It was sweet. Another friend just got her cast removed from her arm. She came to show me because where the cast used to be, her skin is quite white. She said it made her think of me! :)

I was just shown a great survey by Merrill Lynch on Social Networking, by @jbond on Twitter (note the link will take you to his Twitter). It offered a decent insight on how the users of Social Networks view things. I have my views but reading through the results has made me think of a few changes to Fuelmyblog.com more on that another day!

So, I have picked out the key responses and listed them below, Social Networking will be referred to as SocNet for obvious reasons:-

Firstly, of those surveyed so far, 67% are male with the average age between 22 and 25 years old. Interestingly only 5% are over 40 years old.

So, to the findings:-

59% purchase products on the net occassionally
89% use the net regularly to contact friends and colleagues.

76% of the SocNet users prefer to meet people face-to-face with the LEAST favoured form of contact being Video Chat. I wonder how this will change with increased internet speeds and technology?

36% use SocNet's daily.

53% use just one SocNet regularly, meaning that on average, a user has one favourite site, 80% use Facebook, 2nd most popular is Linkedin with 22%. Interesting is that 49% have between 100-500 connections across the sites they are members of.

The highest percentage of responses state that the user has invited between 0-10 people to join a site they use, this is a hard one to read into, if true, how do sites become viral?

The last time the majority (71%) of the SocNet users signed in to their accounts, they did so to contact a friend.

Asked the question "Which services would you use based on recommendations or offerings on a social networking site?", the highest percentage, 53%, would use/view Entertainment.

83% have never used a SocNet for professional opportunities.

And 57% would not use mobile to access a SocNet.

Finally, 82% would never pay to use a SocNet.

Any shocks in there? Some really interesting results, i'd love your views.

We found a loaf of bread and bought it. This is an event in Zim. We got home and cut it - imagining a nice chewy piece of bread with home-made (not by us) peanut butter. But the bread wasn't cooked inside. What a shame! But we're ok... We'll be in Canada for a holiday in less than a month! I hear they still have lots of bread there...

Did you miss me? I've been away from my internet life for a week. Oh, it was a stressful week, but an amazing one too. It was the final ingathering for the Zimbabwe School of Youth Leadership. I wasn't sleeping much, and marking papers almost every moment of every day (I even gave up running for a week, and trust me - this morning was painful!) But the graduation
was on Thursday night and it was SUCH a blessing. I felt like a proud mom. 12 graduated, and I think another 2 will finish (they couldn't attend because of medical reasons). The school has been challenging, in terms of finding enough money for basic food items and getting support for a new programme, but I feel like it's been a really good thing, and an accomplishment. The students have written some amazing stuff, and I'm hoping some of it will be published somewhere. The students bless me and encourage me. They're great leaders, and I know they'll become even better. And this country is crying out for good, non-corrupt, unselfish leaders.

The day after the graduation the students were doing some visitation at the men's shelter on our compound. They were moved by some of the men's stories. They came to me and asked if they could do laundry for all the men who stay in the shelter here. So they washed all their
blankets and sheets, etc. by hand and then shared their last bit of food with them. And they all said - "this time last year, we would have never noticed these men, never mind talked to them, but now we now that God is at the margins and we have to be too." Ah, it was a blessing! Leadership is influence. I'm not saying this to be arrogant, but I feel proud that they learned this message from our school (my particular interest for the marginalized and for justice!) and that this will affect their leadership for the rest of their life.

Wednesday I attended the Zimbabwe AIDS network national annual general meeting. It was sort of surreal. We were at this amazing hotel, and when they reported how much money was spent on this one day conference, I must admit that I felt angry. Think of how many people could go on ARVs for that! But anyway.... I felt privileged to be there. There were 2 other white
women, but they were with donor agencies.

Sometimes life in Zimbabwe is really tough. But sometimes I just look at where I'm sitting, and who I'm sitting with, and I feel incredibly privileged and honoured that I get to be here.

Today was one of those days where you crave fresh crisp air and clean away the internal cobwebs of life. Whilst I enjoyed Vegas, the networking and meeting great people, I really missed fresh air and fresh oysters. I am lucky that I live just ten minutes walk from the sea in La Rochelle, I say lucky, it has been hard work getting here and there is a certain amount of emotion leaving your home country but after a day like today, I have no regrets!

Oysters are everywhere in La Rochelle, and when the tide is out, the farms are revealed. The rules are that each person is allowed to scavenge 5 kilos per day but not from 20 meters of an oyster farm.


The oyster beds are about 1 mile out to sea, yes, that far. The farmers store the oysters in special sacks while they grow.


These sacks are kept on racks sunk into the ocean bed


So, we keep well clear of them! They also store mussels too..


Walking to the part we are allowed to take them from takes about ten minutes at a brisk pace! When you arrive, you see a bed of oysters, some empty, some full! While searching you must keep an eye on the tide..


My collection today in the bag

Walking back with the sun slowly setting..


Back home and after cleaning the shells


And finally, the succulent meat..wonderful.


Have you ever tried oysters? What did you think?

I will not be blogging as much over the next 3 months as I am on holidays. I am backpacking around South America (Argentina, Chile and Brazil). I will also be stopping off in South Africa for a week on the way over.

I guess the blog will be more about my learnings from these foreign places rather than new technology slant.

One of the most interesting things I have found with travelling is the feeling of yuor life being on pause. Because you are not having those day to day interactions or relationship building activities with people it feels like your life is being put on hold. It gives you time to step back and look at the where you are at and where you want to go.

Catch,
Jules

I have been a fan of Jason Calacanis for a long time and really admire Mahalo, I see it more than a search engine, more of an online encyclopedia, with some great creative reviews and to do guides.

So why am I writing about it here? Basically, I would love his guys to review my blogging community, fuelmyblog.com and write a page about it, so we have to ask for them to put us on the MahaloToDo list, maybe they will pick up on this and write one for us.

We would also like Jason to join in on our new book "the human behind the avatar" and help us promote it, every penny we would make from the sale of each book (15%) is going to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres charity, we will have this book ready for delivery by Christmas, the main aim is to show people that although we have avatars, there are real people behind them, real people that have hearts. We haven't yet started to promote the idea and Jason would be great to help us.

Why else? Well, we have recently added the new friends widget, this is in effect, a visual blog roll, it allows the fuel users to add their friends and arrange them in an easy to click voting space. Why should anyone be interested in fuelmyblog? It is a great community for new bloggers, for example, this is generally what happens when a blogger sets up a new blog, they generally go to blogger or wordpress, write a few posts, then tell their friends and family.. after a few weeks, their friends and family tend to drop off and the new blogger is alone. Fuelmyblog allows the new blogger the opportunity to find like minded bloggers, get new readers and win prizes. We would love Mahalo to write a page about fuelmyblog and hopefully help bloggers find new readers. So, please add this request to the MahaloToDo list and fingers crossed that we get a page. Thanks guys.

I had a great time meeting loads of interesting people at BlogWorld in Las Vegas. You can read more about it here. I also would like to thank Rick again for the hard work that went into it, I hope we can do something this side of the pond one day..

I also met, not mentioned on the fuel blog, iJustine, we have been talking for a while now about something coming up soon, she is very cool and is Miss Web 2.0! I'd love her to get a passport..

I wanted to show the following "gadget" I picked up. There are many things in the USA that are alien to us Brits, take the following for example, a drinking cup that is effectively a tiny envelope:-


Much more to come once the jet lag has gone!

So I was reading Time magazine over the weekend, and read a startling fact that for every 100 births in Eastern Europe (including Russia), there are 105 abortions. More babies are being aborted than being born in that part of the world. To me, that's scary. In elementary and high school I used to be a strong advocate of anti-abortion - in my writing, speechifying, etc. Then I went to university and was introduced to feminism and realized that there are lots of special circumstances, and that women's control over their own bodies and their ability to make choices is important. So, like any social issue, it's complicated. But I read a stat like that and I wonder... In the same issue I was reading about all kinds of heroes who are fighting climate change and other environmental issues. And I became so thankful for these scientists, entrepreneurs and businesspeople who are using their brains to save our earth. Reading about them made me grateful, but it also made me wonder about all these aborted babies; all of this potential life that is just gone. What if they were going to be the next brilliant minds? What if one of them was going to find the cure for cancer? What if they were going to be the next generation of great political leaders? Just wondering...

I went to my first kitchen party on Saturday afternoon. It's pretty much like a bridal shower. My friend's young sister is getting married in December, so a whole house-ful of ladies got together to celebrate with her. We ate a lot, and sat on the ground in a big circle in the living room. When the programme started, the soon-to-be-bride had to sit in the middle of the circle and be covered with a towel. She was only allowed to be "revealed" when enough money was raised for her (don't worry - I gave more than a month's salary!) Then all the advice started. The main items of advice were: always look sexy/smart, keep your house really clean, and don't talk too much! One lady suggested that you clean your house in a mini-skirt because it kills two birds with one stone! (I guess three birds if you clean the toilet in a mini skirt and don't talk while you're doing it!) I was fascinated by all of the practical sex tips, and there was a lot of advice about in-laws too. I continue to learn new things every day. I was glad I wasn't asked to give advice though. Most of the things that make our marriage really good would have taken the party in a whole new direction (i.e. sharing house-hold chores, respect for one another, communication and telling the other person you love them every day, enjoying each other...) To each her own!

Well, we're still making $350,000/month, but now instead of 4 tomatoes, we can only buy 2 (and one of them has to be small). Inflation is killer!

OK, don't judge me but this week I spent a year's salary on a box of Rice Krispies (well, not really Rice Krispies, but a South African version of them - the Rice Krispies were out of my league). It's not in my nature to spend all of my money as soon as I get it, or to blow a month's salary on a breakfast cereal, but this is Zim....

Under watchful eyes, we form a united front.

I remember reading "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt over the summer, getting myself pumped for my upcoming job (ironically, I didn't like the book, but whatever). There was one part where he talks about how, when an administrator walks in, the classroom dynamic instantly changes, and there's this unity between the students and teachers that forms for as long as admin stays. Students aren't dumb - they know that when admin walks in, teachers are being evaluated. Thus, it's a test of how much they like you; if they go silent and do everything you say, you're liked and respected. If they run amok, they're trying to screw you over and make you look bad.

One day I was in grade 10 science, ready to throw up an overhead on naming polyatomic compounds. I reviewed a bit on the criss-cross rule of coming up with chemical formulas, and how to name ionic compounds. As soon as I threw up the overhead, a student said "Sir, someone's at the door."

I opened, and in walks the principal. She had spoken before how she likes to randomly walk into classrooms just to see what's going on, and to not acknowledge her presence at all.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi." was the response, and she quietly took a seat by the right side of the class.

As I walked back to the front, I saw every student looking at me with a worried look on his/her face. Hard to describe, but it looked like eyes asking "What do we do???"

"OK, so continue copying the overheads and stop when you reach this point. Once you're done, think about how it links back to ionic compounds, and then we'll discuss it as a class." As I said it, I shot them all a look that said "Stay calm, we'll be alright." And we were; she left after 10 minutes.

As soon as she did, I literally saw all of them deflate. "Sir what was that about?" "Nothing, she just wanted to see our class, that's all." "Sir, are you in trouble?" "No Sara, I don't think so." Of course, I wanted to know what she thought.

After school I walked into her office and asked for her opinion. "Oh, it was good; I had been watching for about 10 seconds before you opened the door - you had complete class control, everyone was focused and engaged. And they clearly like and respect you. But I do have some suggestions for improvement." and she broke down how I need to improve my questioning abilities. I put people on the spot, and she went into great detail about how there's no safety in failing (i.e. people are set up to possibly feel humiliated if they get the question wrong). Thus, the only people who will put up their hands are those who are extremely confident. She gave me suggestions on how to improve that and get more people willing to put up their hands. I tried it, and it's worked, though I don't use it enough.

A couple of days ago, both VP's walked into my first period class (grade 12 advanced functions) and gave a little walk around. I wasn't teaching; I was merely walking around keeping students on task and helping them out, as I had given them an assignment to help them independently form the concepts of graph transformations for trig functions.

They left after 5 minutes. Same results - the classroom went quieter, people who were in and out of focus stayed on task - though there was some chatter, but focused chatter, because I had encouraged them to help each other out.

Yesterday during lunch, I was on my way to the office to check my mailbox for my attendance updates for last two periods, and the principal and two VP's motioned me over. "Oh shit...." I thought.

"Y'ello???"

"Hi, we have an opportunity for you."

"That sounds good."

"We'd like to see your first period class. It'd be just me (principal) along with Mike (department head). We want to see how your teaching has come along, and since Mike's experienced, we want his opinion on what you're doing right, and how you could improve."

"Sure, I'm in!"

Although I like professional feedback and constructive criticism, this does worry me somewhat. With the two VP's having walked into the same classroom a day earlier, I'm wondering if they saw something they didn't like. Am I being watched? Mike spoke to me during lunch and asked me about it. He said "I don't know, she said she wants my opinion on what makes a good math class. I said 'OK, whose class should we see?' and she said 'What about one of Andrew's classes?' 'Sure OK.'" I get the sense that this was just a way of getting him to watch a class of mine to evaluate me. Is there a possibility that they're looking into hiring me full-time, and this is a test of some sort? Who the heck knows? All I know are a couple of things:

1) It's happening sometime next week, and

2) Whatever happens, I'll be alright - myself and thirty-four hormonally-charged teenagers will form a united front.

My mom & dad sent us the movie "Click" which we got in the mail yesterday and watched last night (did you know that we've had power for 4 nights in a row? It's a bit eerie!) I wasn't expecting to get anything out of an Adam Sandler movie, but I was actually quite moved by the story. If you haven't heard of it (I have no idea if it's new or old) - it's about a guy who gets a magical remote control and starts fastforwarding his life (intentionally and then unintentionally) so that he can skip showers and fights with his wife and sickness and boring times at working waiting for a promotion. And he learns to absolutely dread this fastforwarding because although he is skipping over tough times, he is also missing out on amazing moments and years! I cried (and this was ALMOST as ridiculous as crying at "Jack Frost"!) but it was just really touching to remember that in all of the tough times there are good times, and I don't want to fast-forward through any of my life. I want to live it and feel it - with all the ups and downs, feasts and famines, tears and laughs, hugs and fights. Life is the great adventure.

This morning a friend was talking about her 10 year old son. At Sunday school, his teacher had asked him who created the world. He thought for a second and then answered "Mugabe." She figures it's because he is praised so much and given credit for so much in the media everyday. The propaganda machine strikes young - yikes! (John thinks the scariest part is that his parents are pastors - shouldn't the identity of God as Creator of the world have come up in conversation?)

Confidence is my favourite kid. I know you're not supposed to have favourites, but she's mine. She's just so cute, and from day one she has made us feel welcome and special in this country. She made me a card the other day and this is the inscription: "For my friend Rochelle from Confidence. I love you like a golden bus moving on a silver road." So sweet!

I was reading the Ten Commandments this morning, and the last one struck me - about not coveting/not being jealous. Yesterday we walked to the supermarket at lunchtime. The shelves are pretty much empty, but we did find some beans, corn and peaches, so we brought them to the checkout counter. The woman who was packing our bags placed a loaf of bread in our bag and quietly said to the till manager "just charge them $100,000." We haven't seen bread in shops for months! It was a real treat, and $100,000 for a loaf is a steal! When we got back to work, everyone was asking about the loaf. Some were congratulating us on our success. The 3 ladies I work with in my building were angry because they had been to that same shop and did not get any bread. They were jealous, and refused to speak to me for the rest of the afternoon. A loaf of bread. If I'm honest I'll admit that there are some days when I'm jealous of my friends who are actually making/saving money, driving cars, enjoying electricity every day, embarking on careers and families, etc. Jealousy is not good - it tears us apart rather than bringing us together. I think that's why it makes a nice 10th commandment. I guess we all have a lot to learn about just being content with what we have, instead of always wanting what others have.

We got an unexpected announcement that our office would be closed on Friday and that we all had the day off. Unfortunately, we both had to work. John went to Howard where the chief of the region was donating 100 tonnes of maize to the Howard Hospital. And I went to Kadoma with two other women to lead a grief seminar. I find the seminars really interesting - for example hearing about the myths and superstitions surrounding death (such as if a twin dies, no one should cry/mourn because it means that the other twin will die - how tough for the parents - and for that other twin!!) I also led a very interesting discussion on how men and women grieve differently. The women were all saying that men don't feel anything and get over death quickly. They believe this because men don't cry and stay outside of the house during all of the mourning. Of course, the men said that they do feel grief, but they show it in different ways (I tried to point out that society would never allow them to cry or be on the inside). The women wouldn't buy it. They're convinced that men just don't care.

Saturday John went to Mazowe high school for their prize giving day, and I stayed in Harare doing normal things - lining up for an hour to get a bag of rolls from the bakery, visiting with friends, watching "Simon Birch" with some teenagers who haven't had electricity at their house for 2 months. I cry every time I see that movie (the girls all cried too). There's just something very beautiful about true friendship. Saturday night we were planning on going to hear Fred Hammond. There are posters all over town advertising "Fred Hammond in concert." I was thrilled that one of the best gospel singers in the world was coming to Harare! We went to buy the tickets and someone admitted to us that Fred wasn't actually coming, but that members of the church would be singing his music. He admitted that they were using false advertising to try to make some money. That's corruption for you... This is Zimbabwe!

Happy Birthday today to my Grandpa - bless his heart. Saturday was John's dad's birthday, and Friday was Johnny's birthday, so we are very thankful for the lives of these 3 special men, and pray God's deepest blessings of peace and joy on all of them.

Peta Menzies interviewed me last week for an article on Politicians using Social Media. Here is the article.

Politicians mission to cyber space
By Peta Menzies

'Australian politicians are trying to win the vote of Generation Y this federal election through internet social spaces though the 18-29 age group are not convinced that the campaign websites are enough to engage young voters.


Both the major political parties have joined the campaign revolution through internet networks like Facebook Myspace and Youtube. The sites advocate party policy and are designed to promote political awareness amongst the younger generation. While it is seen as an attempt to bridge the generation gap it is being considered a fractional one.


22 year-old Julian Cole is a digital strategist for Naked Communications and says that political leaders need to be authentic when they are in these online spaces. “It rings a bit mass. I think there is a role for them there but if they are wanting to get a message out they have to access the right people, the opinion leaders,” Mr Cole said.


The Political sites act as a billboard rather than a two-way interaction that the social space intends.The sites are designed for networking and just like real-life opinionated participants emerge.“It’s a misnomer to think that everyone using this online space has an equal voice. We’ve found that some people have a louder voice and therefore have a bigger audience,” he said.


Labor candidate for Dobell Mr Craig Thomson says politicians are attempting to connect with the younger generation now more so than what has happened in the past.
“The Labor party is very much aware of the need to engage with Generation Y through the mediums that are better used to communicate with them like Youtube and Myspace,” Mr Thomson said.

Mr Thomson acknowledges the need for political parties to continually develop their use of web based social pages.“At the moment the campaign pages are not having a conversation with people, its talking at them rather than anything else,” he said.'


In other news concerning Politics and Facebook, here is a great stunt from the Chasers boys on Kevin Rudd’s Facebook Friend.

Kevin's Facebook Friends

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Following on from The Big Ad and Flashbeer comes the next Big Fosters Idea, ‘VB Stubby Symphony’

Just like the past campaigns they have housed it on a main site, thank god someone ripped it on Youtube. I think they really let themselves down by not letting people view on Youtube and embed the video on blogs.

However there are some nice consumer involvement treats in this site. They have used SuperVirals as the host site for their ‘Create Music using VB Stubbies Competition’. However again (see past post) I think that Supervirals is such a narrow channel, this should really of been done through Youtube.

I think overall this is a great idea, and as was pointed out to me, it is capitalising on the most iconic part of the VB brand, the song.

George Patterson Y&R are behind this idea with Jim Ingram and Ben Couzen cracking this big idea. Well done boys!

Ordinary thing: It's hot! October is the hottest month of the year here. It's not humid though, so I love this weather! It will be nice when the rains come though. We've planted some corn and coriander and green beans in the garden, so we want to see them grow!

Sweet thing: Yesterday John went to a grocery store and found meat! It's been over 4 months since we've seen meat in any shops, so it was quite exciting! He made this lovely lamb dinner last night - it was almost like we were back in Canada. And he found cream cheese. This morning I had a toasted bagel with cream cheese - it was heavenly. The other day John also brought home red roses for me. I have a really good husband.

Embarrassing thing: Monday morning I was to attend a workshop at the Zimbabwe Council of Churches re: HIV/AIDS and the Churches' response. The letter said to meet at the Kentucky Hotel. So I went there and waited around. It was supposed to start at 8:00am. At around 8:20 I was starting to get a bit anxious, so I went outside, and heard some singing coming from the building marked "Zimbabwe Council of Churches." I slipped in through the front door and sat down in the only available seat and started singing and clapping. It turns out that it was being reserved for the chairman of the meeting, so that was a bit embarrassing, but they went and got another chair. I sang, and listened to the devotions. And then came announcement time. And I realized this wasn't the Zimbabwe Council of Churches - but rather a board meeting for Christian Care (who had moved into the building, but hadn't changed the sign!) and then I was introduced as the special guest!!! I tried to explain that I was in the wrong place, but it wasn't translating well, so I just tried to say some encouraging words about Christian Care. It was awkward and difficult to leave, so when I finally did, I was an hour late for my own workshop that had started at the hotel!

I am often amazed by people who don't just think of doing good things, but who actually do them. My friend Gaia - who I went to high school with and got reunited with on facebook - sent us movies and Halloween candy. I must admit, I wasn't expecting Halloween candy this year! She sent candy corn, which is kind of funny, because John and I always joke that Zimbabweans like maize in any form. And maize is similar to corn - so now people can all try a whole new form of maize!

I know a lot of Christians get uptight about Halloween, but we're a very Christian family, and we always celebrated in full force. Not in the "worship evil spirits and dress up as ghosts and ghouls and have an excuse for vandalism" way. But we got dressed up and had lots of free candy, and always went to see old people in our costumes so that we could sing for them. And we always carved jack-o-lanterns with my dad and then baked the pumpkin seeds. My dad was really good at making creative faces on the pumpkins. And the 4 of us would always come home and start trading. Uh oh - I'm getting sentimental, and I just might cry.... happy halloween!

P.S. Happy engagement to our good friend Kim and her soon-to-be-husband David!

Happy 1 year and 11 days birthday Adspace-Pioneer.

I thought now was the right time to tell the story of how I started Adspace-Pioneers.

Last year I finished my degree and joined the other 5,312 recently graduated students applying for the 17 jobs in advertising.

I did all the things they suggested for getting a job; I got an internship/part time job at an agency, went to every university networking night and begged my parents to ring their long lost friends in the industry to hook me up with a job.

All I ended up with was a stack of business cards.

I dreaded the next step the awkward phone conversation; with the pleasantries aside I would get to business.

‘So any jobs on the radar “insert business card name here”?’

…….

‘No, Julian I will keep an eye out for you, Ah that’s a client on the other line. I will give you a call if I hear of anything.’

I kept thinking there must be an easier way than this. Then one day it just clicked for me. I was asking for so much and giving them nothing back.

I could understand it though, I was asking them for a massive break and then giving them nothing back.

Around this I was working at Sputnik Agency, I was working one day a week preparing a trend report which went out to all the employees. 4 or 5 new trends that people were talking about.

Then it just clicked.

I should be emailing this out to my contacts. This was valuable information; people are time poor and want condensed information. I sent an email out to my contacts telling them I have set up a trend report blog that I will email you every week with updates.

It just made so much sense. I was able to stay top of mind with all my contacts, they were receiving valuable information. I had something to talk to them about. No longer did I feel bad about asking for a job, I just put a note on the end of my email saying I am still looking for a job.

A year on the blog has become more of a tool to make sure that I am keeping up to date with what is happening in the digital environment.

It is great to see other students following this path as well, notably Zac Martin a Monash Student who has started the blog Making Marketing.

And another birthday card

I think I have spent too much time online this year.

3 years of internet memes in a four minute video.

Hilarious video of Eva Pascoe showing how entertaining the Internet was back in 95.

On Sunday we celebrated 1 and a half years in Zimbabwe. So now we're over halfway through our 3 year term here. I'm tempted to say, "my the time has flown" but if truth be told, it's felt like we've been here 10 years already!! Of course (geek that I am) I had to evaluate myself and the past year and a half. There are things I could have done better at (i.e. learning Shona or visiting people more) but there are things we've done well too. We've made some good friends, and done some good work, and shared life with people.

For example... Saturday I went to my friend Alice's baptism at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was eventful. I was sitting with Gogo and Melissa. Gogo is quite old and doesn't know how to whisper, so she was making all her comments to me in quite a loud voice (like when someone was testifying and she said "I have no idea what she's going on about, but she looks sweet!") Melissa has down syndrome. She would say random things to me (like "I don't want to go to Afghanistan") and at one point she was enjoying the singing and so got up and started dancing. We were in the front row, and this caused quite a stir. I refused to ask her to sit down even though everyone behind us was sneering! Sunday night we took some friends out to celebrate birthdays - and it was just fun to eat together and share jokes. That's what we came here for - to share life.

I am currently spending ten days in the UK en route to Las Vegas for blogworldexpo. I took my kids shopping in the various superstores and saw the following in TK Maxx. You could not make it up, what happened to running around?

An interesting video debate about the impact that technology plays on education.

As my dad said 'You could not pay for this sort of PR'

Great Article by Katie Cincotta

Inside word is that Tequila are behind this campaign and if their Tenacious D online campaign is anything to go by this should be a good campaign. Will be interesting to see what they do with this one. Cannot say it has grabbed me with the same anticipation of the Man Cans but I will look on with interest.

My guess is for Ebay or Playstation. They seem like the two brands that fit best from their current clients.

Do you often start explaining something that you are really passionate about and get blank looks from the people you are with?

You are probably suffering from the Curse of Knowledge.

I am reading a really cool book at the moment ‘Made to Stick’. It suggests why some ideas stick and other fail. Check out the videos for more information.

One of the interesting concepts that is brought up is the idea of ‘The Curse of Knowledge’. It suggests that your knowledge on a subject is a curse because you struggle to remember what it is like to not remember something. This happens with me with Social Media/Web2.0. My knowledge about the subject is a curse because I cannot remember what it is like to not know anything and assume everyone has the same knowledge as me.

Therefore I have found this good resource for myself. it is a Whitepaper on Advertising 2.0. and explains Social Media Advertising in a really simple way.

Good Bloggers Summary of main points of the book


Speech with Chip Heath from ForaTV


Interview on the Today Show with Chip and Dan Heath

Mike Smith from the soon to be World Renowned Smith Communications takes us on a tour of Naked Communications, Melbourne Office.



As Faris would say; Talent Imitates Genius Steals

And we're back! It's so marvelous to have electricity/internet/phones at work again. John's bagels are so yummy too. I've got an amazing husband. Oh, from last time - Amai Shumba: it means Mrs. Lion (John's totem is lion, and a lot of people here men by their totems).

We continue to learn new and interesting things in Zimbabwe. I was reading an article in the paper last night that caught my attention. It was entitled, "Employees adopt survival plans" and it was about how employees are using their businesses/government offices/places of employment to run their own business. For example, Moses works in a garage. Customers come in to the well-known establishment, and he tells them the prices for service but then in a hushed tone says, "but if you come to my place after work, I'll do the service for cheaper." Or Thomas works in a bar and stocks half of the fridge with his own beer to sell and make personal profits on top of his salary. Blessing works in a government office which registers companies. But he ends up referring most of them to his friends/partners who operate a company registration firm and give him a share of the profits for recruiting so many customers. People use company vehicles/phones/time for personal business transactions. Would you call this unorthodox? Corrupt? Survival?

I remember when we moved here, everyone asked me what my business was going to be. I explained that I had a full time job with The Salvation Army, and they were like, "no, outside of your work." EVERYONE here has a business - whether they're unemployed or working full-time as church pastors or government ministers or business people. It just gets a bit tricky when there's corruption involved, or when this business takes up all of the time you are supposed to spend on your "real" job. But I guess it's survival. By the way - want to buy some onions? :)

I am up in Naked's Sydney office for the week. They have a really cool office space. Here is a video tour of the office.

You are looking at (ok, well reading the words of) the newest Secretary to the Executive council of the Zimbabwe AIDS Network - Harare chapter. Yep, I won the election today. The funny part is that no one even knows my real name - I ran as Amai Shumba, because I knew no one would be able to understand spell either my first or last (real) name. It will be a lot of work - but great exposure.

In other news, we're still without power at work - it's been over a week now. It makes you realize how dependent you are on computers! The Pritchetts are visiting Zimbabwe, and it's wonderful to have faces from home - they brought us chocolate and Pringles too - God is good. And our friends the Wards are heading to Pakistan to lead The Salvation Army there - which is huge! There's a short little update. 2 months til we land in Toronto for Christmas....

I have watched this clip many times now. I still do not see how it was disallowed? I know Australian TV referee Stuart Dickinson has now totally defended his controversial decision to disallow a try by England winger Mark Cueto in the Rugby World Cup final.

Many England and some neutral rugby fans claim the decision probably cost the defending champions the chance to beat South Africa. Jake White even privately told Lawrence Dallaglio (mentioned on the BBC's Inside Sport last night) that he thought it was a try.

But Dickinson told The Guardian newspaper in London that he was certain he made the right decision.

"I'm 100 percent happy with the decision,"

"We looked at some footage of it late last night and factually the decision is indisputable."

"Of course the players are disappointed."

"If they weren't, you would be disappointed in them as elite athletes."

I have got the clip below, you tell me..

I live in a small city called La Rochelle in South West France.

For the past year and a bit, I have walked past a shop that sells possibly the best cakes (to look at) on Earth! I have always promised to treat myself one day to the one that looked like a small plate of spaghetti. That day was yesterday.

Guess what flavour it was..I had no idea before I bought it. It was delicious!

The shop is called D'Jolly and it is near Place Verdun in the centre. If you ever visit La Rochelle, you must have a cup of tea or coffee and a cake there!

Consumer Generated Content - Axis of Awesome : Howard vs. Rudd, by mWboo6

Online is my future; I have invested a year studying the phenomena with my thesis on Online Social Networks and am going into a full time job working in it.

Therefore I have decided that my vote in the up coming Australian election will be based solely on the party that is best able to communicate with the Australian public online.

However I will not be passing judgement, I am leaving the choice up to the readers of Adspace-Pioneers. I will ask readers to vote for which party they believe joins the conversation, has the best grass roots online community and gives the best back to basic information needed to make the decision. As I am going away the decision will be made on November 11th.

The following are definitions of the three items that I want people to vote on and the information that they need to pass judgement on;

Joining the Conversation – Which party is best at joining the conversation, social media is giving politicians the chance to have a conversation with

Labor
Kevin Rudd’s Facebook Page

Australian Labor Youtube Channel

Kevin Rudd’s Myspace Page

Liberal
John Howards Facebook Page


John Howard 2007 Youtube Channel



Greens

Bob Brown’s Facebook Page

Senator Bob Brown Youtube Channel


Democrats
Lyn Allison Facebook Page

Lyn Allison Youtube Channel


Grass Roots Online Community – What party has got the best online community working for them, which groups has the most active facebook groups, bloggers, causing the most noise.

Labor

Facebook Group – I want to be Kevin Rudd’s friend too


Prominent Blogger
Polemica
Connect Through Values
Politc0
John Quiggin
Anonymous Lefty
Newz4world
Bolt Watch
Possum Comitatus
Fair news

Liberal
Facebook Group – Kevin Rudd Will Ruin Australia

Prominent Blogger
Auspundits
Andrew Norton
Oz Conservative
Catallaxy Files
Tim Blair

Greens
Facebook Group – Bob Brown for PM

Prominent Blogger
Greens Blog


Back to basic Information – What party gives the individual the information that they need, to make an informed decisions.

Labor
Home Site-
Kevin 07

Liberal
Home Site

Greens
Home Site


Democrats
Home Site

Please put your votes for the four categories in the comments below

Sorry I've been out of commission for a while. We haven't had electricity/phones/internet at work this week. We're on the same power grid as the main public hospital, so we think they're rewiring cables to make the hospital a separate grid (so that they can keep their power on while giving the rest of us in the city centre our fair share of load-shedding). Fun! Although, obviously I'm thankful that they're interested in keeping power on at the hospital. I'm writing you from an internet cafe in town - and it only took 20 minutes for me to load up this page. I shouldn't really complain. It's just that I thought we were going to get a raise this week, and we didn't (so with inflation, now John and I each make 50 cents each a month!) It's so hard to know what to do with our monthly salary - buy 4 tomatoes or combine our salaries and get an ice cream cone (it's hot in Harare these days!) I'm just kidding of course. As soon as we get paid, we give the money away. I wonder if there's a way to store electricity in our suitcases when we go home at Christmas....

Last Sunday I gave a presentation on sexual trafficking at one of the churches here, and as a thank you, they gave me $2million (what can I say? I'm a good speaker!!) Anyway, John and I agreed that we should give this money straight away, so when we got home, we brought it to one of our neighbours. As it turns out, she had been very sick, and was heading out the door to buy medication. She was dressed and ready to go, but did not have any money, so she had been praying that God would send her some. And He did - $2 million; right on time. Saturday she was marveling about how God always takes care of her. Whenever there isn't a morsel of food in the house, she prays, and then someone comes by with a little something. Every time. She and her husband had been arguing over giving money in the offering plate at church. He was saying that they have so little, and she was saying that if they gave it, God would continue to bless them. When I came by yesterday with a small gift, she said to her husband, "see? now you have to admit that I was right!" I'm not a fan of the prosperity gospel - the whole idea that you can become rich if you give to God; televangelists asking people to put money in the offering plate, or send money via a cheque so that God can bless them threefold. It just doesn't ring true to me because I know too many people who are poor economically but very faithful to God. But my friend made me think twice. There's definitely something very special about trusting in God and listening to God and sharing. There's something wonderful about giving to God - not because you expect to become rich, but because you expect that He will use your family members and friends and neighbours to take care of you and bless you. My friend's faith humbles me and astounds me. She (and so many of our friends here) are literally relying on God for their daily bread - and trusting in a good God who will continue to take care of them. It's a simple, beautiful faith that I admire and desire. Our friend got tears in her eyes when she said to me, "I thank God every day for you and John. All of the time I was crying because all of my family is gone, and then God sent you - in an airplane - all the way from Canada. I know that you are a gift to me, because God always answers my prayers." What an honour - to be part of a miracle; part of the answer to someone's prayers. I see miracles every single day. I love God.

I really like this approach by RSVP.com.au, I think Love Communication (the agency behind it) has done a really neat job at communicating a cleaner image for the brand. As picked up by information aesthetics blog it is very similar to the opening of Stranger than Fiction.



However for me Online Dating Sites are on the way out with people now choosing Facebook over dating sites. There is more security, going on a date with a friend’s friend rather than a complete random.

As my research has shown people are more likely to portray an accurate image of the person they are offline in Facebook as there offline friend’s are viewing the material they put up and will ‘call them out’ if they start expanding the truth.

However on RSVP, I could of just done AIDS work in Africa for the last 5 years and now am going back to University to study Medicine/Law, even know I don’t have to because I am inheriting my parents multi billion dollar business. Enough rambling here is the male version for RSVP




And another clever ad by Love for Ricoh Printers.