Words

Last week, during our team building activity for the office, one session entailed us to reveal, through a small group discussion, some intimate things about our selves: our inspiration for doing things, what we deem our greatest professional success, what was holding us back from becoming the best version of our selves.

One question that was beauty pageant-ish that baffled me no end was the one which asked what was God’s greatest gift to me.

My first instinct was to say Words.

That words are a powerful tool could be the understatement of the millennium.

Through words, with or without bloodshed, empires have been built, revolutions sparked, dictators toppled.

Through words, across the ages, religions have been spread, ideals fueled, mythology passed on.

Through words, for whatever they are worth, achievements have been celebrated, morons
roasted, bigots berated.

Through words, in the worst of times, grief has been extinguished, fears assuaged, hope sparked.

Through words, in the best of times, love has been professed, devotion reassured, forever promised.

But in the end, I told my small group that God’s greatest gift to me was my family.

It was, is, my family, regardless of our age, who nurtured my faith, fueled my ideals, fanned the flames of my love for words- written, spoken, and even sung.

It was, is, my family, for whatever they are worth, celebrated my achievements, reminded me when I was acting moronic, and reminded me of tolerance when bigotry was the easier way to go.

In the best of times, my family extinguished my grief, assuaged my fears, stoked the embers of my hope.

In the worst of times, even sans words, my family has made me feel loved, with their perfect devotion, realistic enough to NOT promise forever but loving me here and now.

Dictionaries are filled with thousands of words, but they will never be quite as comforting as a thirty-second conversation with my sister at the end of an infernal day or a minute of parental soliloquy extolling the importance of finding a partner in life.

They will never suffice but here’s me thanking them, for everything, through words.

Blog Action Day 2011 = World Food Day

It's been a looong tiring day. The boss kept all of us in the room, stuck in a meeting that took ages to finish. Worst of all, they didn't even have the sensitivity to allow a quick lunch or coffee break to fill our tummies to get our minds working.

The meeting made us miss lunch! Such cruelty surely makes you mad, right?

But right now, 1 billion of the earth's population are suffering from involuntary hunger, not because of inhuman bosses or boardroom discussions that seem to have no end. A billion are hungry because of poverty, crop failure, drought, floods, and/or policies in their societies and from their governments that make food insufficient.

Here are some ways to stand united with them and the rest of the world to fight off the real cruelty of food insufficiency:

1- Watch the video and SIGN THE PETITION stating:

"We who support this petition find it unacceptable that close to one billion people are chronically hungry. Through the United Nations, we call upon governments to make the elimination of hunger their top priority until that goal is reached."



2- Support the TELEFOOD PROGRAM of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . By donating to the TELEFOOD PROGRAM, you can help finance small community-based enterprises which ensure food sufficiency through quality seeds, farm implements, and support mechanisms to families in vulnerable areas. Best thing about your donations, 100% goes to your partner communities, no part of the donation is used for administrative costs by the FAO.



3- In the Philippines, support the BAYAN-ANIHAN Program of Gawad Kalinga. Beyond the colorful homes, Gawad Kalinga now endeavors to support GK village residents towards self sufficiency by establishing "the first family-based,sustainable farm program in the Philippines. Each family is given a 10-squaremeter garden plot which can yield a minimum of 10 kilograms of vegetables per month, providing 30 meals per family." Be a partner and support Bayan-Anihan or "community harvest."



Other ways to respond to the food sufficiency challenge can be found in other blogs joining Blog Action Day 2011.

October 16th is Blog Action Day 2011

It's that time of the year again: BLOG ACTION DAY!

Sign up if you will dedicate a post on OCTOBER 16th to talk about a very important aspect of humanity = FOOD.

Most especially on October 16th, bloggers are enjoined to use their blogs to talk about FOOD- the lack of it in some areas, its importance in our respective cultures, the challenges of feeding the world with a population of almost seven billion, nutrition in the face of junkfood and fastfood- whatever our blogs' niche maybe.

Be part of this annual event!