If you want more information pertaining to "Half the Sky" and the movement it has started, check out the website here. You can also watch the trailer below:
"Half the Sky" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is a fascinating book about the oppression experienced by women worldwide. It is filled with personal stories from women across the globe who have used their experiences with oppression to make a difference in the lives of other. "Half the Sky" also contains a lot of valuable information about women's rights and sex trafficking, as well as the organizations that work to combat these injustices. Filled with disheartening facts and stories of despair, "Half the Sky" is startlingly filled with the hope for a better future for the women of this world, and the joy of those women whose lives have been transformed through their own empowerment. If you want more information pertaining to "Half the Sky" and the movement it has started, check out the website here. You can also watch the trailer below:
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Yup, that's right! I finally made a twitter account for Love Anonymously. What finally inspired me to make the move to twitter was how nonprofits and other bloggers for good have been using twitter to spread the word. I have already started following many different nonprofits, and if you have a twitter it's not a bad idea! It's a great and easy way to stay up to date with what's going on in the rest of the world (especially the world of nonprofits). On my twitter I'm hoping to be posting blog updates, as well as images, videos, and quotes that I find inspiring. If you'd like to follow me, you can see my twitter page here! Looking for a way to use your twitter for good? If you see or do a good deed, tweet about it! Follow nonprofits to stay up to date on the ways that you can help others. A more concrete way to give back through twitter is by following St0pChildAbuse. They have pledged to donate 5 cents to Love Our Children USA for every person that followers their twitter account. Get tweeting!
Being a college student (and someone who loves to read), there are quite a few books in my life. Next week, I will be ordering the large stack of books I will need for my classes this year. Last year I purchased all of my books through Amazon because it seemed to me that it offered the best deals. However, this year I'd like to order at least one of my books from Better World Books. Better World Books is like any other website that you can buy new and used books from, except for one, awesome detail. For every book that is bought through their site, they make a donation so that someone else gets a book too! They partner with Books for Africa and Feed the Children to give books to those who would otherwise have no access to them. The great thing about giving books is that they contain a wealth of information and possibility, and they empower the people that read them. I have always had access to books, whether it be through my town's public library, bookstores, or even eBooks. I can read nearly anything I'd like with the click of a button, and yet there are people in the world who would feel blessed at the opportunity to own one book themselves. If you want more information on how they do this, you can learn more here. Also, just so you know, Better World Books offers free shipping! How great is that? Today, I came across an organization that I think is doing a wonderful job of loving anonymously. I can't count the number of times I've been caught in the rain without an umbrella. Unpredictable rainstorms are pretty common where I'm from, and it's never fun walking to class or sprinting to my car while trying to avoid getting drenched! That's why I love Here You Go. Here You Go is a community project that originated in Pittsburgh. During rainstorms, they hand out yellow umbrellas to anyone who needs one. In return, all they ask is that the person who receives the umbrella does something nice for someone else. What's really cool is that they attach a postcard to each umbrella, and the people that receive the umbrellas can mail back the postcard saying what good deed they paid forward! If you check out the website for Here You Go, you can read some of the postcards that have been mailed back. Doing kindness to spread kindness; such a sweet idea! You can even become a partner if you'd like! If you know any people, blogs, websites, or organizations doing good, please contact me! Right now, you can help Outnumber Hunger simply by entering a code. If you typically purchase any General Mills products, all you have to do is type in the code on the box online. Check to see if you already have some of the participating products; there are quite a few of them! You can also help fight hunger by supporting the World Food Programme. WFP has done a great job of raising money simply through advertising, with games like Freerice. However, now you can donate a free meal to someone just by taking a short quiz to test your Hunger IQ! It's only five questions long and has some interesting information about hunger. As a side note, I'm trying really hard to update this site and get back on track with the good deeds I've already posted about. I added a section on the left hand column titled "List of Good Deeds" that is a complete list of all of the "days" I've posted about so far as well as which ones I still need to complete. I'm hoping that this might make it easier for me to keep track of my deeds and for anyone else to follow along if they'd like!
It's time to celebrate because I just completed Day 106: Microloans!! What finally inspired me to complete this challenge was finishing the book Half the Sky (review to come!), which centers around the empowerment of women through health, education, and even loans to women who have become entrepreneurs! That's why I decided to make a $25 loan to Ana Ofelia, a 23 year old woman from Guatemala. She is a weaver and she also owns her own general store. She's looking for loans to buy more products that she can sell. Someday, she would like to open her own grocery business! She is currently halfway to her goal. Through Kiva, small loans can be made to men and women across the world. I chose to donate to a woman after reading about the positive impact that women are having in the fight against poverty. I also chose to donate to someone who lives in Guatemala because I will be traveling there in two weeks to volunteer! The best part of Kiva is that the loans you make are repaid, and the money you are repaid can be used to make more loans! Awesome, right? So get loaning! I'm currently reading Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, which is a book highlighting the oppression of women across the globe. The authors write about women who are abused, raped, murdered, and sold into sexual slavery, and tell stories of those who have survived the ordeal. It's a powerful book, and though I've yet to finish, it has made me think a lot about not only the plight of women sold into sexual slavery, but also human trafficking in general. The UNODC makes a "conservative estimate" that the number of people being trafficked at any one time is a startling 2.5 million. I've heard of and seen and read about different industries that are famous for their use of slave labor. There are sites across the internet that encourage consumers to do some research before they make a purchase, but I've never really paid that much attention to them. It's only now that I'm beginning to wonder and having to ask... How many slaves work for me? Slavery Footprint provides its users with a quick survey designed to give the best estimate possible toward answering this question. They also provide some interesting facts along the way. When all of my data is entered, it's estimated that 34 slaves work for me, and that an average of 38 slaves work for everyone. They also have an iPhone app that allows you to check into stores to see whether or not their brands use slavery. Hit the button below to check your slavery footprint:
Instead of asking for presents for her 9th birthday, Rachel asked her family members for $9 donations towards her goal of raising $300 to provide 15 people with clean water to drink. She fell slightly short of her goal, which she promised to reach the next year. About a month later, Rachel passed away in a terrible car accident. Rachel was raising money for Charity: Water, an organization that aims to provide safe drinking water to people in developing nations. News of her goal spread across the world, through news outlets and the internet. Inspired by her story, complete strangers began donating to her cause. How much money has been raised in her name? An incredible 1.2 million dollars. On the one year anniversary of Rachel's passing, the staff at Charity: Water brought Rachel's mother to Ethiopia to see the impact her daughter made on the lives of the people there. This little girl's story, and the video of her mother's trip are truly inspiring. Rachel's mother continues to fundraise in her daughter's name.
There's nothing better than a bit of inspiration, right? I am always inspired when I see the ways other people are trying to make the world a little brighter! I thought this was particularly creative. What if there were a store where you couldn't pay in cash, only in good deeds? Check out Anton Berg- The Generous Store in the video below! Today, I stumbled across a website called "Aaron's Wish". It was started by the family of Aaron Collins, who passed away a couple of weeks after his 30th birthday. In his will, Aaron wrote: “Third, leave an awesome tip (and I don’t mean 25%. I mean $500 on a f***ing pizza) for a waiter or waitress.” Inspired by the way he lived his life, Aaron's family set out to fulfill his last request, and they succeeded! You can see the surprised waitress in the video below. Aaron's family has pledged that if they keep receiving donations, they will keep giving substantial tips! What a wonderful way to honor someone's memory, don't you think? Check out the website here, and watch the video below! |
Grains of Rice Donated: 31,370
"I Am Malala"
By: Malala Yousafzai
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