Day 355 – December 21st – Famine In Niger

Above is a photograph taken by Canadian photographer Finbarr O’Reilly in 2005. It depicts the malnourished fingers of a one year-old child, Alassa Galisou, pressed against the lips of his mother, Fatou Ousseini. They were at an emergency feeding station in Niger.

The photo was taken during the the worst drought in the country for decades, which resulted in millions of people being without food. When heavy rain finally came, it hindered the efforts of aid workers in the region, slowing down the arrival of essential supplies. As a result, various organisations and Western governments were criticised for failing to respond early enough to the imminent disaster.

The image was said to have “beauty, horror and despair” and was declared the World Press Photo of the Year for 2005. It highlights well the crisis that was taking place in Niger at the time, and serves as a reminder of the importance of emergency aid and relief.

Day 354 – December 20th – Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger (also known as ACF International) is an international humanitarian organisation that works towards ending world hunger. In particular, they respond to emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disaster, running life-saving programmes in over 40 countries worldwide, helping around five million people every year. They are recognised as a leader in the fight against malnutrition.

The organisation’s vision is “of a world without hunger. A world in which all children and adults have sufficient food and water, equitable access to the resources that sustain life, and are able to attain these with dignity.”

Their mission statement is “to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations of conflict, war and natural disaster. From crisis to sustainability, we tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition and its effects. By integrating our programmes with local and national systems we further ensure that short-term interventions become long-term solutions.“

Their main programme areas are in Nutrition & Health, Water and Sanitation, and Food Security. However, they also work to raise awareness about hunger and work with international communities to try and ensure that some of the most important issues get recognised and responded to appropriately.

To find out more general information about Action Against Hunger, click here. To learn about their values and principles, you can go here. For more on what they do, including details regarding where they work, go here. For a lsit of ways in which you can get involved with the organisation, click here. If you would like to make a donation to Action Against Hunger, please click here.

Day 353 – December 19th – Inspirational Quotes (Looking Forward)

The year is coming to an end, which means that a new one is just around the corner. It acts as an opportunity to not only look back over the past year, but also to look forward to what is to come in the future. The latter is what I really want to focus on with the following quotes, which are all about looking forward:

• ‘We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths‘ – Walt Disney
• ‘Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like‘ – Lao Tzu
• ‘If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself‘ – Henry Ford
• ‘Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer‘ – Denis Waitley
• ‘I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past‘ – Thomas Jefferson
• ‘An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves‘ – Bill Vaughn
• ‘If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else’ – Yogi Berra
• ‘When you feel that you have reached the end and that you cannot go one step further, when life seems to be drained of all purpose; what a wonderful opportunity to start all over again, to turn over a new page‘ – Eileen Caddy
• ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it, Begin it now’ – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/forward.html#ixzz18bHhT8yO

Day 352 – December 18th – War Child

War Child is a non-profit organisation that was founded in the UK in 1993 upon a fundamental goal: “to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war.” In essence, what they do is work in many different areas around the world where conflict is occurring, helping children by supporting them and by actively working in communities in areas of war.

Their stated vision is: “We look forward to a world in which the lives of children are no longer torn apart by war“

And their mission is “to support and strengthen the protective environment for children who, as a result of conflict, live with a combination of insecurity, poverty and exclusion.“

War Child UK was where the charity originated from, but two further independent offices – War Child Canada and War Child Holland – help to make up War Child International. Although sharing the same aims and goals, the offices work autonomously, each with different specialisations when it comes to offering help and aid. For example, War Child Holland focusses on helping the psychological needs of children who have suffered from war or conflict.

To find out a little more about War Child International, you can go here. To learn about the many ways in which you can help, go here. To contact the charity, click here. To find out more about War Child UK, go here. For a variety of ways in which you can take action, click here. To visit their online store, go here. Lastly, to make a direct donation to War Child, please click here.

Day 351 – December 17th – Project For Awesome

Project For Awesome (P4A) is an annual event held on December 17th each year, during which the YouTube community comes together to promote various charities and worthwhile causes. It is basically a day where YouTubers post videos talking about charities in an effort to promote causes and make the world in general a better place.

YouTube is very much a community, but what P4A achieves is to focus the communal effort and passion to do something constructive and help many different people as a result. The ultimate aim of the project is to effectively ‘take over’ YouTube by gaining valuable support and further promoting the videos to make them the most-discussed an top-rated on the site.

To find out a bit more about Project For Awesome, click here. To find out how you can get involved and make your own video promoting a charity, go here. To take part in the various raffles that are going on, you can go here. To go to the P4A YouTube channel, click here. Lastly, to learn about some of the charities being supported this year, please go here.

Day 350 – December 16th – Uprising

‘Uprising‘ is a song by Muse from their album ‘The Resistance‘. I believe that the title, and the lyrics themselves, are pretty self-explanatory. It’s a song about resistance; about revolution; about rising up against oppression and not allowing others to control your life and your actions. In that regard, I find the song quite inspirational.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy, who also wrote the song, said: “I sort of wanted to write a song that summed up that feeling like you’ve been done over by people you’re supposed to trust. That’s kind of where the song’s coming from really.” The focus of the song, therefore, is on the government, who do their best to control the people, but reduce freedom and liberty in the process. It covers a lot of controversial territory, but overall holds a message that seems to be especially relevant at the moment.

Day 349 – December 15th – Show How Much You Care

My message today is pretty simple. There are people in this world who are good to you; who look after you and look out for you. Whether they are friends or family members, they are people that you care about. What is always nice, however, is that you show them your appreciation; you show them that you care about them as well.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to show your gratitude to somebody. Whether you simple acknowledge what they have done for you by saying thank you, or are kind to them and return favours, it all helps. The nicer you are to other people, the nicer that they’re going to continue being to you. You shouldn’t just take people for granted, even if they are close friends. In fact, a strong relationship is an even better reason to to be kind and considerate, as these are people that you want to keep a hold of; that you don’t want to lose because they can be invaluable. I’m not saying that everything has to come at a price, but rather that it is always nice to be thanked for things that you have done.

Of course, it doesn’t all have to be about returning favours. You can go out and do something for somebody else. You don’t have to wait for them to make the first move; if you have something that you want to do or want to say, then go and do it or say it. Selfless, seemingly unmotivated gestures take people pleasantly by surprise. What is your motive? The fact that you care. That’s all. There doesn’t have to be any sort of deeper meaning to it. Add to the good in the world by making somebody’s day that little bit brighter. You won’t regret it.

Day 348 – December 14th – The Will To Win

‘The Will To Win‘ is a motivational poem by American poet Berton Braley. The message he tries to convey is that, if you want something enough, and are willing to work hard and make sacrifices for it, then you will achieve it in the end; it is the will and determination to succeed that truly spurs us on and keeps us going. The poem also acts as a reminder not to simply give up if a task seems difficult, but to instead apply yourself and, if you really want to achieve, to try your very best. If you do, you’ll get there in the end.

‘If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and
your sleep for it

If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry
and cheap for it

If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,

If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,

If you’ll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,

If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,

If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it!’

Day 347 – December 13th – Crisis

Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people in the UK. The organisation was founded in 1968 when a small group of volunteers used a derelict church in London to house and feed homeless people over the Christmas period. Since then, it has grown to provide support in a range of areas, such as education, housing, employment, and health & well-being.

Their main goal is to end homelessness, and they hope to achieve this through two key areas:

• By transforming the lives of homeless people
• By preventing people becoming homeless

They also have a set of targets for the next five years or so. These are:

• Thriving inspirational centres in cities round the UK engaging and up-skilling homeless people
• People who are homeless gaining self-esteem and motivation, progressing to education and secure employment and out of homelessness
• Bringing volunteers and our clients to the centre of the organisation
• Permanent housing solutions which sustain and maintain formerly homeless people in homes they can call their own
• A reputation as an organisation challenging the circumstances that lead to homelessness, providing and advocating influential, innovative, and cost-effective solutions for single homeless people

To find out a bit more about Crisis, you can go here. For a breakdown of what the charity does, go here. To leanr more about the impact that they are having, you can click here. For information on homelessness, click here. To find out how you can get involved with the charity and help, please go here. Christmas is still a very important time for the charity; you can learn more here. For a range of donation options, please click here.

Day 346 – December 12th – Big, Fun, Scary Adventure Challenge

The ‘Big, Fun, Scary Adventure Challenge‘ is something that was started by The Office of Letters and Light back at the end of 2006. The challenge involves coming up with a list of things that you want to do/achieve over the coming year and then go out and complete those goals. It’s very much like New Year’s Resolutions, except much more exciting. And, of course, there are plenty of people out there to support you and help you on your way to succeeding.

This is something that I’ve taken part in for the last couple of years. In 2009 I came up with a list of daily goals that I tracked every day. This year I chose to do something slightly different, though. For 2010, my challenge was this blog: to create it and post something inspirational, motivational or influential every single day. It’s an excellent challenge to take part in, especially for somebody like me. Upon setting myself a goal, I don’t give up or give in; I don’t stop until I’ve completed that goal.

To find out a little more about the BFS Adventure this year, check out this forum post. You can find out what other people are doing, as well as posting your own goals, on the NaNoWriMo forums here. If you’re interested in what the staff at The Office of Letters and Light are planning to achieve in 2011, you can go here.