Issues of the day

World Hunger

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Have you ever tried playing Free Rice?

Today I donated 490 grains of rice, and reached level 36 (out of 60) for English vocabulary.  I noticed just today that you can now switch subjects! Cool, more fun while donating. hehe 🙂 Wait, while I was typing this, I clicked to switch to Math and now my donation is up to 520 grains! I’ll stop for the day though because I want to take a few more minutes to nap before I have to prep for work.

Now how exactly does playing Free Rice help alleviate worl hunger? Here’s what it says on their website:

Do I really make a difference by playing FreeRice?

The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is everyone together that makes the difference. Thanks to you, FreeRice has generated enough rice to feed millions of people since it started in October 2007.

Now, let’s backtrack a bit. What is all this talk about World Hunger? For starters, you can read up some of the FAQs from the World Food Program.  Yes, we all feel hungry – that’s when our body tells us we need nourishment. Or simply, that it’s been hours since you last had a bite of anything.  But in many places all around the world, it’s not just about being hungry.  There’s malnourishment and undernourishment too.  Children of rural communities and depressed urban areas are most affected by hunger, but yes, those who are in the middle of conflict have less access to food as well.  

Every year, the number of people affected by this phenomenon is increasing at an alarming rate of 4 million per year.  It has become the number one health risk worldwide, greater than AIDS even.  I guess one of the reasons why we have not been very involved in efforts to address world hunger is that we take it for granted – specially when food is readily available for us.  Surely there’s more than enough food resources to feed the world’s population. What we forget is that equal rights to food does not mean that each person has equal access to these resources.

What can we do? You can give – time, effort, money – whatever it is you’re willing to give.  Me?  I write about it sometimes, I click the button on the Hunger site daily, and I play Free Rice whenever I could.  I won’t save the world, but we all must do what we are willing and can do to help out. Every little thing counts.

So I was totally excited to post my P365 photo for yesterday but then I remembered that I wanted to post today in keeping with the Bloggers Unite theme, Unite for Hunger and Hope.  And my photo isn’t really in keeping with the theme, if you  know what I mean?  It’s like saying I’d totally keep within my budget for this month, but seeing myself spending on too much food for just myself, or at a shoe store cashier and seeing the figure come up after my next purchase goes through the lady’s barcode scanners is just – ugh! But going back to what I reallly meant to say – please don’t kill me for talking about hunger and posting a photo of my latest guilty pleasure all in one blog post:

april-28

I’d been craving for Krispy Kreme’s Chocolate Carnival since I saw a poster somewhere a few weeks ago, I just never got around to buying any. Alfred was forced to go to Cubao yesterday morning just to buy dog food and grab a dozen of these yummies.  Thanks dear! I knew you would have been well within your rights to choose any of the three nearby grocery stores to pick up what Zune needed, but you honored your promise to get me these sinful delights anyway. Haha 🙂

I am thankful that I can eat something totally unhealthy like donuts, or anything else for that matter, it reminds me that there are people out there that don’t have that. I pray for them, and I hope that WFP gets to them too.  Not just because one is aware of these issues and want to help out doesn’t mean one has to starve right? 😉

D60 it is!

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Thanks to the boyfriend who financed 50% of my newest toy, we went out today and came back home as proud owners of a Nikon D60! Woot woot! 🙂

We had to cash out Alfred’s last NCO paycheck at Citibank Paseo de Roxas then we had lunch at Jollibee right across the bank. From there we took a cab to Quiapo. Went in to inquire for a D60 at Henry’s, left because their stocks were just arriving in the next two hours. Tried next door at Mayer’s which was packed, and got good quick service from the attendants and manong who looked like he was the owner.  We were shown a brand new D60 and we said we were taking it. Went out to the ATM right across the store, came back not 3 minutes later to find that another guy purchased the kit that was shown to us. No biggie, they had more stocks from where it came from.  Five minutes later (okay maybe more), the whole transaction was done. The box was wrapped in newspaper, then I shoved it, along with the camera bag, into my reusable shopping bag.  

Backtrack to while we were in the cab on our way to Quiapo… Alfred went to the BDO branch near Citibank to withdraw from the ATM there.  He said he saw Chavit Singson there. He also saw a bank employee that reminded him of when he was working at the BDO head offices.  There are many different jobs in banking but the one he held while he was there so many years ago, doesn’t really have anything to do with banking.  To tell you honestly, he sounds bitter now when he talks about that 6-month stint.  He said that when he saw that poor guy earlier, he wanted to approach to tell him to get out from that joint and find something better.  Haha.

Anyway, back to the D60.  I have to be honest, the manual isn’t helping me a lot.  Maybe I’ll just read through it again tomorrow when I’m not sleepy.

I’m naming her Maxine, because she’s Frankie’s daughter. But I might still change my mind. No photos to post yet. Maybe I’ll share a few tomorrow.

For now, I sleep.

The Media vs the Police

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That’s what seems to be happening with the tragedy of Trina Etong’s death.  Trina is the wife of broadcaster and former congressman Ted Failon, she took her life a few days ago by gunshot.  Failon and their house helpers allegedly found Trina in the comfort room where she locked herself in, and they rushed her to a nearby hospital.  She was in the critical care unit for the next day, before she died.  Failon, his sister-in-law and a brother-in-law, along with their driver and house helpers were arrested by the police for allegedly obstructing justice.  The police basis? They cleaned up the scene of the crime, and the car they used to take Trina to the hospital, and they did not report the crime to the police.

My take?  Would any family really call the police to report a suicide attempt?  Most of the time, families would like to keep this hush-hush. And they don’t know whether their family member will pull through or if they’re losing her soon.  

It’s sad, the police are probably really just trying to do their job, but in the process they’ve caused another tragedy to the Etong/Failon family on top of the tragic loss of a loved one.  The theory is that the police is acting this way because they have a lot against Failon, and ABS-CBN. Like it’s payback time. I sincerely hope not. The Commission on Human Rights is reviewing clips of the Failon family arrests to make sure that their rights were not violated in the process.

Here’s a link to the latest updates on the story, there are related links at the end of the story that are worth checking out too.

Dell Pasay is now Teleperformance

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On Friday morning, I received a call from a very agitated boyfriend – they have just been given the news that Dell has struck a partnership with Teleperformance.  Dell Pasay will soon cease to exist, and it will be fully controlled by TP.  The news was not meant with enthusiasm, on the contrary, many of Alfred’s batchmates are feeling uncertain.  They had just signed up with Dell, and it was the fifth day of new hire training.  Many, including Alfred, were wondering if there would be changes to the contract that they signed.  They were told that the new contracts should be ready this week, if I heard him right.

When I got home that day, I went crazy looking for online news articles or even gossip or speculation  revolving around the sale, but I didn’t find any.  The Internet was quiet about this new development.  I had asked Alfred to blog about it himself, because I wasn’t a first party in this event and felt I had no right to buzz about it. Yesterday, his worry was he wasn’t sure if Dell or TP allowed its employees to talk about their accounts.  Like at our office, we really shouldn’t be talking about our specific accounts.  Since I saw the news in today’s paper though, I guess he doesn’t have to use aliases for the companies anymore.  We were thinking about referring to Dell as Delta, and TP as ThePreatorians or something. Haha.

Alfred will most probably choose to stay there.  As long as the base pay stays, along with the allowance/benefits originally promised to them, there shouldn’t be a problem.  But he is disappointed that he won’t be an in-house tech, that he will once again be part of an outsourced project.  He was especially proud that he had been accepted to Dell.  After he got his ID, his bag and his Dell shirt, he was so eager to show them to me.  Soon, he will have to turn in his Dell badge, and I guess he won’t be able to brag that he supports Dell anymore.  Just like I couldn’t broadcast that I’ve been supporting so and so products.  He also has his doubts about staying on, stemming from co-workers who have previously been with TP.  I don’t think it helped that their trainer’s initial reaction to the news wasn’t very positive either.

Where am in this?  Well, my sole goal is to be the supportive partner – everything will turn out okay.

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Hmm…

And again, forgive me for the ranting post earlier.  Right after I published it, I went up and snuggled in bed with the boyfriend for another hour until he decided it was time for him to get up and get to work. In my opinion, he left too early.  But I can’t really blame him for not wanting to be late.  And I really can’t stay mad at him.

My off is completely wasted though.  Dang colds.

Ebola, E-heads, & Everything Else

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Today, they started work on getting rid of about 6000 pigs infected by the Ebola Reston Virus in a farm in Pandi, Bulacan. They targeted to stun and then burn about 500 pigs today but only managed 300. It’s being done to prevent the spread of the virus to other pig farms in the region, but more importantly, to prevent human transmission. One farm worker has already tested positive for antibodies for the virus, indicating that he had contracted the virus some time ago. He is healthy though, which probably reinforces the message that the virus is not deadly to humans.

I pity the farm owners, surely they are losing so much of their livelihood because of this outbreak. I wonder if the government will be able to help them out in some way?

All this talk about Ebola found in pork is not stopping Alfred from eating a lot of pork, or so his mom says. Hehe. They had invited me for lunch, and so from work I took the MRT (something I hadn’t done on my own in a long time) from Quezon Avenue, all the way to the last station at Taft. Alfred met me at the station and we walked over to their house where a hefty lunch was waiting. I had a bit of a chat with Alfred’s mom before we left.

eheads

I have slept a total of two hours since last night. Haha. I figured I’d sleep at night for a change, so I’d probably turn in some time after midnight. I only have one day off then it’s back to work Monday night. Not something I was forced to do, mind you. I had asked for this so I could take another night off on Saturday, to see the Eraserheads concert. Yes, you read that right, I am finally going to see them at what possibly would be their last big gig! Alfred let me persuade him to it and I bought the tickets online this afternoon.

I’ve been singing along to their songs from grade school all the way through college. The last time I probably saw them perform was at a UP Fair, but I’m not so sure anymore. In highschool, Pare Ko was the first ever song my kuya taught me to play on the guitar (I’m sure I’ve mentioned that at least once in this blog before).

When the Eheads tribute album came out a few years after they disbanded, I got my hands on that too! When I missed the first reunion concert in August, I was super disappointed. Last week, I was frustrated that I had no one who would go with me to the final set. Today, I am so happy because I know that I will be going. And I know I will have fun. Even if I dread the transportation nightmare we probably will encounter after the show, I am not letting that ruin the evening. Haha. 🙂

You know, sometimes when I think about concerts, I remember the ones I went to with my friends at UP. Concert tickets that don’t cost an arm and a leg. There was always something interesting to see. And sometimes I think about not being a part of organizations who sponsored such concerts, not having experienced helping put one together, you know? I don’t regret it really, I just sometimes think about what experiences like that give you. I’ve always found it exhilarating to organize trainings, specially back when we were doing it in our YP office at the ECPAT office’s aquarium, and then later when I was working at Asia ACTs. There’s just something about figuring out the logistics, getting in touch with people, mobilizing participants, making sure you’ll have everything you need. Finding venues, haggling over prices, heck, even budgeting and tallying the accounts after the event! Sounds crazy, but I miss doing stuff like that too.

Sometimes when I am reminded of my University days, I also think about the many twists of fate that have happened since. I took up a BA in Psychology. At some point it was intended as a pre-law course, until I realized I did not want to stay up to read all the materials they are required to finish in a day. Then I also thought about pursuing a career in Psychology or maybe special education. The idea of combining my passion then as a child rights advocate and what I was studying was very exciting. I had imagined being involved in healing and reintegrating child victim/survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. I had seen myself helping out in educating (or even just entertaining) children with special abilities. I thought about being part of case conferences for a child living with cerebral palsy or a survivor of abuse. Because really, whether they have a developmental condition, or they lived in vulnerable/difficult circumstances, these children deserve extra special care.

But you know what, remiscing about these things is just that – a nice trip down memory lane. Even if my life is a lot different from what I thought it would be like back then, there are no regrets. So okay, maybe I really wish I had taken business courses, or maybe computer graphics/web design classes. Haha. But even those I could take now, so there. I had lived a full life, and I’m going through some stuff now that do make me think if I’m still in the right career, still I don’t ever regret having done this you know? It may mean that I have some serious thinking to do and then make a choice – to hunker down and commit to love my job and give it my all, or to drop it and find something I can be more passionate about for the long term. I can’t drop this and do something that I’m gonna get tired of again in the next three years. Ugh. But where has this post taken me to? Talk about big time rambling…

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