Write me down, make me real

Most of us take our birth registration for granted: we have a name, we have a nationality – in short: we exist. More than 30 percent of the estimated births worldwide in one year are being denied that human right. Imagine it: some 48 million children born every year do not legally exist!

Why is birth registration so important? Well, it gives a person access to education, to healthcare and immunization, it enables a person to open a bank account, obtain credit, get a passport, to vote and to find employment. Things that you and I just take for granted because we happened to be born in a country where the government has a well functioning system of birth registration.

Proof of age can help protect against child labour and child marriage, proof of nationality make it easier to defend against child abuse and trafficking.

In 2005 Plan International started a global campaign for Universal Birth Registration called Write me down, make me real. It is directed at governments who signed the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, to take appropriate action to register all births in their countries. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is supporting the campaign, and Plan International is working in partnership with UNICEF.

Click here to give your support for Universal Birth Rights.

Organ donation

Have you registered to be an organ donor yet?
I registered 3 years ago when I moved back to Sweden from Canada, as I found the Swedish website and it was really quick and easy to do. Had been thinking about it for a while, and the easy registration on-line made me do it.
I think it is important to make this decision yourself and make it known, and not force your loved ones to have to consider what you would have wanted in case you end up brain dead.
When I told my mum that I had registered to be an organ donor she said “Thank you for telling me, but I would have donated your organs anyway”. Hmm, I guess my mum knows me much better than I give her credit for :-)
Here are the Swedish donor link and the Ontario donor link.
Go register today!

When it rains in October ...

... it feels good to think back and remember sunny days in June.

This is from north Öland (a Swedish island in the Baltic sea).

At 10,000 meters

I am on a plane back to Sweden from Shanghai. Realize the airline if offering internet connection from the sky so I give it a go. Registering goes well, but actually accessing the internet does not work. Or at least I cannot make it happen. Guess I am still a bit of a tehno-phobe … I check what the passengers around me do. Two men, who look like fairly savvy business travellers (even if we sit in economy seats), do not manage to connect either. That makes me feel better.

So, this blog will be written from 25 meters (the 5th floor in my apartment building) instead of 10,000 meters. Is internet access on airplanes a good thing or not? I am divided on that. It makes you even more accessible to do work – which I think is bad for your overall health, since you are never off work. On the other hand there are lots of people who cannot sleep or relax on long-haul flights and for them, maybe they might as well get some work done?

Hmm, on second thoughts, I do not think I am ready for this latest advance in technology. I will stick to my tested and true mode for surviving long-haul flights: bring a good book or two, take naps, drink lots of water, walk around the cabin and do stretches.

(PRODUCT) RED

Actually, sometimes watching CNN can give you some useful information ....
I caught Larry King Live on the weekend. Guests: Bono and Bobby Shriver. They have launched (PRODUCT) RED in the US and the UK, and I think also in Canada (to be verified). The idea is that some big successful companies (like Motorola, Gap, American Express, Emporio Armani, Converse, Apple) have created some specific (RED) products that when sold to the public, part of the profits go directly to The Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. (RED) is not a charity, it is a business model: the public buys (RED) stuff, the companies donate part of the profit to the Global Fund, the fund distributes the money to several HIV/AIDS projects in Africa (for example to Rwanda where anti-retroviral treatments are given to children and adults in a third of the country).
So, here is a way of feeling really good about consumerism - your money is doing good in Africa.
And, worth noting, some of the (RED) products also come in other colours besides red.

American records

The population of the US reached 300,000,000 this week.
The Dow Industrial index went above 12,000 today.
Wal-Mart will allow trade unions in their stores in China.

Knowledge curtesy of watching too much CNN in my hotel room ....

Friendlies or friend lies?

On the front page of Shanghai Daily yesterday, there was an article about the Beijing Olympic mascots that will no longer be called "Five Friendlies". Too many complaints had been made about the word friendlies: 1. it could be embarrasssing for the Games if people read it to mean: friend lies. 2. it's pronounciation is close to that of friendless - which is not what the mascots hope to be. 3. friendlies when referred to in a game, does not reflect the seriousness of the Olympic Games (did they forget Baron Pierre de Coubertin and The most important thing is not to win but to take part ?).
Anyway, the mascots who represents the Olympic flame, a panda, a fish, a Tibetan antelope and a swallow, will now be known collectively by their Chinese Pinyin translation: Fuwa. In Chinese, Fu means blessing and Wa means lovely children. The five mascots also have individual names: Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni. If you put the names together, they read: Beijing huanying ni = which means Beijing welcomes you.

Have you ever wanted to change the world?

If you want to change the world and you are looking for inspiration, then I can give you a very good tip: read a book called "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" by John Wood.
I picked the book up recently when I was on a business trip in Singapore and WOW - talk about an inspiring read! It makes you want to go out and start changing the world into a better place right now. And even better, the books gives you plenty of tips on how to do just that!

John Wood is the founder of Room to Read - a non-profit organisation that promotes education and litteracy for children in the developing world. He started the organisation based on the belief that world change starts with educated children - and that education is the key to to breaking the cycle of poverty. Room to Read builds libraries and donates books, builds schools, builds language and computer labs, and they also run Room to Grow girls scholarships. Educating girls is probably even more important that educating boys, since the knowledge a woman has she can easily transfer to her children. In the book, John Wood quotes a United Nation statistic that of the estimated 850 million illiterate people in the world, two-thirds are women. John and the Room to Read organisation are helping to improve that statistic.

Do you believe in synchronicity? In the book, John Wood mentions Muhammad Yusuf and Grameen Bank, and that Mr. Yusuf is a hero of his. Two weeks after I finished reading the book, Mr Yusuf and Grameen Bank are in the news, having just received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize!
It is like the universe is making me read about and learn about all these fantastic people who actually take action and make the world a better place. I find that very inspiring.

Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank

Well done, members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee!
Letting Muhammad Yunus (founder of Grameen Bank) and Grameen Bank share the 2006 prize - what a great way to show you are supporting the fight to end poverty in the world.
Grameen Bank is in the business of micro-credit, it offers loans to poor people with no collateral. Loan amounts range from $50 to $100, and they enable people (mainly women) to start their own small businesses. Women make up almost all the customers of Grameen Bank.
Muhammad Yunus had a vision and he made it happen. His actions has benefited millions of people. What an inspiration to us all!

Why blog?

Yes, why blog? That was a question I asked a friend after I found out she has a blog.
Her answer? Well, everybody else seems to be doing it ....
Not me though.
The thought had never crossed my mind.
But then again, as I started reading blogs and finding out that there are soooooo many types of blogs, maybe there is room for one more: my blog.
We'll see, once I get the hang of it, there might even be postings worth reading here ....