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Free Rice

From NPR:

Morning Edition, December 17, 2007 · John Breen, a computer programmer, developed the Internet game FreeRice.com to teach vocabulary and help fight hunger.

The Web site earns money from advertising and gives cash to the Word Food Programme. Some $100,000 has already gone to buy rice to feed survivors of a recent cyclone in Bangladesh.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Charity, Education No Comments » January 2008


TED

Thanks to my friend Bill I just discovered TED.  Here’s the scoop on what TED is and why it’s so cool.  This text is lifted directly from their website:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. Almost 150 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.

Our mission: Spreading ideas.

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. Over time, you’ll see us add talks and performances from other events, and solicit submissions from you, as well. This site, launched April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, and you’re an important part of it. Have an idea? We want to hear from you.

The TED Conference, held annually in Monterey, is still the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend — indeed, the event sells out a year in advance — and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

In recent years, TED has spawned some important extensions.

TEDGlobal is a sister conference held every other year, and in a different country on each occasion. The first conference was held in Oxford, England, in 2005; the second, in June 2007, was held in Arusha, Tanzania. The themes of the global conference are slightly more focused on development issues, but the basic TED format is maintained.

The TED Prize is designed to leverage the TED Community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. It is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” After several months of preparation, they unveil their wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. These wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

Today, TED is therefore best thought of as a global community. It’s a community welcoming people from every discipline and culture who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Charity, Education, God, History, Humor, News, Photography, Politics, Science, TED, Useful Info No Comments » December 2007


Give One Get One = buy 2

This seems like a good idea, but it has a few flaws.  I’m all for education for everyone but maybe we should start with basic math.

Give One Get One seems to imply that if I give someone 1 of something I should get 1 of something.  That means I only pay for 1 of that thing.  But it’s clear that “Give One Get One” actually means, “hey, buy two of these!”

For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

-quoted from OLPC

So if the fair market value is $200 and I’m giving you $400 for 2 computers…  Yep, that means I’m buying two.  What a gimmick.

I’m not opposed to giving out laptops, but I think the need for basic food and water is a little higher on the list of priorities.  How about peace?  Maybe a no-fly zone over Darfur?

“This is not just a matter of giving a laptop to each child, as if bestowing on them some magical charm. The magic lies within—within each child, within each scientist-, scholar-, or just-plain-citizen-in-the-making. This initiative is meant to bring it forth into the light of day.”—Kofi Annan

Sounds good Kofi.  Oh, by the way, Kofi is also the dude who did nothing during the genocide in Rwanda.  I base my assertion on the book (and research documented in) We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda

Do you want to make an impact?  Maybe you should take some lessons from Bill Gates.

As you probably know, Gates is aggressively tackling third world diseases. He has targeted not only high-profile scourges like AIDS but also maladies like malaria, diarrhea, and parasitic infections. These latter illnesses are the really important ones to attack, because they kill millions a year and are entirely preventable. For decades, they flew under the radar of philanthropists in the West. – Clive Thompson

Ok, don’t bash me just yet.  Go ahead and do some research and see if OLPC is the right thing for you.  Here’s some more reading:

http://www.olpcnews.com/

What the heck? The laptop is only 100 bucks?  Hmmm, shouldn’t that mean my $400 donation turns into 4 laptops?  I’m sure they have to take into account shipping, administration, etc.  Who knows?  Does anyone know where we can find out who the kids are who get the laptops and how the money is being spent??

Help me out here.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Charity, Politics No Comments » November 2007


A gift that makes a difference!

Christmas is coming and you’re running out of days to shop. And we all strugglewith the perfect gift to buy for those people who don’t really need anything.How about another idea? And one that doesn’t require you to go to the mall!

This Christmas season, don’t miss out on an opportunity to give a gift thatgives to orphans. For a donation of $40 to Shaohannah’s Hope you will receivethe 2005 Inaugural Shaohannah’s Hope Christmas ornament. More importantly, yourgift will go on to meet the needs of orphans around the world, including orphans inChina, Africa and children affected by natural disasters this past year.

Think about it, does Uncle Fred really need another tie? Isn’t Sally at theoffice going to take back that sweater anyway? And you know your friend Chris doesn’treally need another DVD he won’t ever watch more than once. Shaohannah’sHope will send you an honorary Christmas card as part of your ornament package togive to your Fred, Sally and Chris to commemorate the gift too. Limited quantitiesare available so order now!

Clickhere to make a difference.

Posted by admin Posted in: Charity No Comments » December 2005


The Triumph of Evil

For those of you who read yesterday’spost about the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and want to know more, I’ve found a valuableresource.  It’s called thetriumph of evil and it was created by PBS. This gives some insight into why the West turned it’s back as 800,000 people werekilled in just 100 days.  See how the debacle in Somalia (remember BlackHawk Down) influenced the West’s policy in Rwanda.The site has a special section just foreducators.  Teachers, use this as a resource to inform your students. They should understand how policies in the US affect the lives of millions of peopleworldwide.Clickhere to go the the triumph of evil website.

Posted by admin Posted in: Charity, History, Politics No Comments » November 2004


We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families

The letter begins, “We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families.”  It was a written plea for help from 2,000 Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda.  The next day those 2,000 people were slaughtered with machetes, clubs with nails, hand grenades, and bullets. 

These are only a fraction of the 800,000+Tutsis that died in 1994 in Rwanda.  The Hutu people of Rwanda systematically clubbed, raped, and chopped these people to death, and they did it a twice the rate that the Nazis killed the Jews in World War II.  I’m ashamed to say I don’t know much about the genocide in Rwanda, or much of Africa’s history. 

While on vacation last week I read the book The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans.  One of the characters in the book, Connor Ford, spends years in Africa and the books climax is set in 1994 Rwanda during the genocide.  After reading Evans’ fictional account of the war I decided I should educate myself. I bought the book We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch.  He visited Rwanda just a short time after the genocide and interviewed survivors and killers alike.  He recounts the horrors and attempts to give a historical framework for the genocide.  But even he admits that there is no way to understand what happened.

I was surprised to find a total lack of information about African history in my local Borders bookstore.  There were about 20 books total.  Only one that had anything to do with the Rwanda Genocide.  Let me put this in perspective. In Vietnam 59,000 US soldiers died over a 10 year period.  In Rwanda over 800,000 Tutsis died in just 100 days.  The majority of US soldiers were killed by bombs, bullets, and grenades.  The overwhelming majority of Tutsis died by machete. They were killed close up, by hand.

I’m ashamed to say I knew very little of this history. Why is it that we don’t study African history in the US?  Why do we not intervene in the wars in The Dark Continent?  What’s different about these people? Are we to believe that the suffering of Africa doesn’t impact our lives, that we have no duty to respond to it? I challenge myself, and you, to learn more about Africa.  To study Her history, to find ways to involve yourself in making a change there.

Diane has already been making a change.  She sponsors a Rwandan child through Compassion International.  I’m sure there are many others who are reading this who have done similar things. Please share them with us by adding a comment to this entry.  Just click “Comments”below and enter your thoughts.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Books, Charity, History No Comments » November 2004


2004 Breast Cancer 3-Day

My friend Christy Smith will be walking in a very special event called the BreastCancer 3-Day.  She will be walking 60 miles in those three days.  This isa very worthy cause.  If you’d like to help out, please visitChristy’s web site.  She’s pledged to raise $2,000.  Let’s break thatgoal!!Clickhere to go the Christy’s website.

It is estimated that 39,800 women and 400 men will die because ofbreast cancer in 2003. One in eight women in the United States will contract the diseaseduring her lifetime. My goal is to help end these statistics.

Copied from: 2004Breast Cancer 3-Day - General Donation

Posted by admin Posted in: Charity, Events No Comments » July 2004


Give A Simple Gift This Year

Well it’s November already. We’ve officially started the “Holiday Season”. Here’san idea I’d like to share with everyone: have a simple thanksgiving so you can givean extravagant gift. By having a simple thanksgiving you will gain time and money.There are so many ways you can use those two things to make a big difference. Hereare some ideas:

Did you know that Americans spend nearly 50 times as much money on fast food as theydo on helping children in poverty? Yep, it’s true. Asurvey taken by the Barna Research Group was released on Sep 16th, 2003 that showsjust how selfish Americans can be. Let’s change that trend.  Greasy fries aren’tgood for you anyway.

What do you think?  Do you have any ideas you could add to my list?  Ifso, send them to me at: ideas@markwallace.net

[Update 11-6-03]

I got an e-mail from Diane about “My Sister’s Place”, a temporary residential abusecenter for women and children who are in need of care for their physical and mentalhealth.   It’s located in Chandler, AZ.  They are in need of afew things.  Here are the details:

In Great Need Of:

Always needed (but note, storage space is limited, so they prefer smaller quantitiesdonated more often. NO sample sizes!!) cleaning supplies, lysol. bleach, pine-sol,dish soap, garbage can liners, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dryersheets, teething rings, baby lotion, baby bottle brushes, caseline, socks, underwear,bras, hair brushes, kid’s toys (barbie, trucks, board games, children’s books in Spanish,coloring books)

Also needed: postage stamps, bus passes, journals, pre-paid calling cards,gift certificatesto Target, WalMart, Kmart, Payless or grocery stores)

You may call the shelter prior to bringing donations at 480.821.1024. clothing andother small household items can be brought to the Chandler Christian Community Centerlocated at 345 S California just off Arizona Ave and Frye. The phone there is 480.963.1423.Clients of My Sister’s Place can pick up items there at no cost.

Posted by admin Posted in: Charity No Comments » November 2003