“A writer – someone who is enormously taken by things anyone else would walk by.” ~ a quote found in the hallways on M.S. 223

There’s a reason why they call it the Christmas Spectacular. It truly is spectacular to see the Rockettes perform at Radio City, New York City. My biz partner, Terry, and I were invited with our families to meet and mingle with the Rockettes and Santa, of course. The show promises to dazzle (my six year old particularly loved the sparkley leotards and high kicks) and entertain (our boys loved the 3-D movie, feeling as if snowballs were being thrown their way). Did you know that many of the Rockettes are in fact mothers? We even learned that some of them time their pregnancies to fall in the off-season. So, for all of you who are between 5′6″ and 5′10 1/2″, there is still hope. Now wouldn’t that be something SPECTACULAR?! We are pleased to offer you discounted seats through MyWorkButterfly.com.

Speaking of spectacular experiences, we had the pleasure, I mean honor, of co-presenting the Women’s Future Leadership Forum with Junior Achievement of New Jersey, sponsored by Accenture. The forum paired diverse female executives with inner city, suburban and rural high school girls for a day of mentoring and inspiration, offering work/life readiness tools to succeed in a global economy. Junior Achievement of New Jersey selected these girls because of their achievements in school and their participation in the Junior Achievement High School Heroes Program, where they serve as JA volunteer role models at their local elementary school. To witness the transformation in these young girls and to see the glimmer of hope in their eyes, is to know that we all have the capability to mentor the business leaders of tomorrow.

Pamela Craig, CFO of Accenture and chair of the event, said it best, “We all need support- and today’s challenging economic environment reminds us that no one can build the skills to succeed alone. Mentoring those who will follow us is a privilege and a calling. It is also essential to how we define ourselves as leaders. By offering guidance and support, we can help young people we care about chart their paths toward successful careers- and also make sure they know they are not alone.” In addition to Ms. Craig, the panelists for the event included: Rhonda Crichlow, Executive Director, Alliance Development & Philanthropy, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Caroline Dorsa, Executive Vice President & CFO of PSEG; Yvonne Hao, CEO of D&M Holdings; Marilyn Thompson, Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion for Consumer Business Group at Johnson & Johnson and Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State, New Jersey. Can you say WOW?! Not only did we throughly enjoy being surrounded by so many accomplished women in business, we interviewed each and every one of them. While we could have stayed all day, we knew that you’d want us to hurry back to the editing room so that you could be inspired yourselves. Video coming soon to MyWorkButterfly.com and our new Moms Quick Survey for you to take NOW! By completing the survey, you can enter a valid e-mail address to be entered into one random drawing for $25 Visa Gift Card!

In the season of giving, we feel as if we’ve already unwrapped our presents. Each woman we meet, each mother we interview and each member that signs on… you all have become our gift. And for that, we say Thank You! Thank you to Dawn Schwartz, VP Development, and Catherine Milone, President, at Junior Achievement of NJ, to the panelists and the High School Heroes for leaving such an impressionable mark on our lives. And thank you, Butterflies. Enjoy your families as you put work aside this Thanksgiving.

We truly have so much to be grateful for.

Bradi
Co-founder
Mother, Wife and Worker
MyWorkButterfly.com
Follow us on twitter@Butterflymoms
Fan us on Facebook

Educators choose one union [Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader]

Rockwood won’t get more vaccine [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Eagles cross country program soaring [The Examiner of Independence, Mo.]

Linda Ronstadt makes a case for music education [The Kansas City Star]

Seventh Graders learn about decision-making through Junior Achievement [Southeast Missourian of Cape Girardeau, Mo.]

In case you get the wrong idea, I’m not talking about the November rush to the shopping malls during US Thanksgiving. This semester has been quite hectic to say the least.  With the amount of course load and accompanying homework, group projects, presentations and exams, and tack on all the extracurricular activities, it’s been a handful to manage.  However, November just kicked it up another notch: 6 final exams, 4 case reports, 3 presentations, all within the next 2.5 weeks.

However, it seems the busier things get, the more I strive to take time out to do my own things.  I’ve started regularly going to the gym (I need to get my cardio back up otherwise I’ll never make it up that 6000m mountain) and try my hardest to play badminton on a regular basis.  The timing is good as I just finished my last volunteering sessions with Junior Achievement, so I should have a bit more time on my hands.

Here’s to surviving the November rush so I can tackle higher mountains (pun intended) in December!    :)

My senior marketing class had another marathon week, with their fearless teacher leading the way.

On Tuesday, our regular Junior Achievement mentor brought along a tv news crew to tell the story of entrepreneurship and teenagers.

We were on the evening news.

The next day we spent the whole period, working feverishly to get our Red Ribbon Week door decorated for the next day’s judging:

We didn’t win.

Thursday morning we headed to our local community college, only two blocks away, for a morning of motivational speakers from Extreme Tour about being entrepreneurial.  This is great jumpstart for the kids’ business plans.

Thank goodness we get an extra hour this weekend, I need it.  I’m also taking Monday off as my body, soul, and spirit are exhausted.  I have to recharge to get ready for the next marathon.

Social media from a non-profit perspective (at least mine) is like being a five year old in a candy store with one minute to fill your goody bag. Before diving in a good 5 seconds is spent taking in the moment and realizing how many choices you have, followed by 40 seconds of filling your bag with every candy possible, 5 seconds worrying that you missed something and the last 10 seconds spent confirming everything you missed and wondering how to throw it in your bag anyway.

Familiarization changes everything and once you’ve been to one candy store you kind of know what to expect (except when it comes to Jelly Belly’s because we all know there are way more then the 50 official flavors). The world of social media is not only having to decide what candy you want, but what color Starburst, red or black licorice, Malt Balls or M&M’s (you get the point).  The possibilities are endless!

I need a list, which is humorous because anytime I’ve attempted to bring one to the supermarket I’ve left it in the car or on the kitchen table. I need to know all of the options, what audience I’m reaching and what tools are needed to maximize my efforts. I am the “social media expert” for the organization I work for and well, I’m writing this blog because I am confused and overwhelmed (after reading a dozen or so “social media guides for non-profits”).

Just when I think I do have a grasp, I realize that I haven’t checked my organization’s Facebook page or group in over a month, I still haven’t figured out the Causes feature and I don’t have a clue what Digg is (I’m serious). I am sure there is a Dummies guide to Social Media, but new and updated applications are introduced daily and by the time I actually do purchase the book – it will be outdated (I say this with the utmost respect for the Dummies series).

Socialpedia – I actually checked on this and it’s already purchased, but not being used (someone reading this should attempt to purchase the site, how’s that for sharing an idea). A Wikipedia for social media – a reference of every site, the purpose they serve, the benefits and a breakdown of every possible tool you can use on the site. For instance, Twitter – a reference of every application available (something I can only find via a Google search which I know means I’m doing something wrong). Figuring out the different applications and their purpose is like having to pick all the red skittles out from the rest (in the big tube in a candy store), finally separating them all and then dropping them on the floor. You know it’s overwhelming and tedious and you know it’s going to take a long time. Just when you get it, Twitter Lists come out and you now you have something new to figure out.

In my world, in the world of fundraising and development – the potential of social media is endless. I have introduced my organization to countless volunteers, foundations, corporate partners and similar non-profits that could lead to future collaborations. Junior Achievement of New Jersey (@jaofnj – hey, I’ve learned something) is part of a worldwide organization and through social media I am able to connect with colleagues around the world to share best practices, read articles and blogs on programs being offered and have access to endless resources related to JA’s purpose (financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship programs for today’s youth). I’m able to acknowledge, thank and praise JANJ’s supporters immediately – a development officers dream. I have “met” fascinating people, conversed with great minds and been introduced to incredible organizations while building my network and resume. And although I have accomplished a lot, I know there is so much more potential and so many more ways I could be connecting with people!

I am literally a five year old standing in front of 99 different types of chocolates trying to figure out where to start.

Por Graciliano Cândido

A idade pode ser pouca, mas a força de vontade e dedicação torna os estudantes do 2º ano do Ensino Médio empreendedores. Mais de 100 estudantes do Distrito Federal participam do programa Miniempresa da Associação Junior Achievement Distrito Federal. O objetivo do programa é despertar o espírito empreendedor dos jovens ainda na escola.

Os microempresários, colocam a mão na massa literalmente. Ao longo das 15 semanas do curso, é feita pesquisa de mercado para saber o produto mais viável, preço de custo. Depois que os resultados são consolidados, os estudantes escolhem o produto a ser produzido. A partir da venda de ações, é possível comprar os materiais para a produção, pagamento de salário aos funcionários e aluguel de uma linha de produção.

No Colégio Júlia Kubitschek da Candangolândia, sete estudantes administram a Havart SA/E, miniempresa que comercializa havaiana customizada com flores de fuxico. Mesmo com sete componentes na miniempresa, os estudantes não desanimam e produzem por semana quase 10 peças. O presidente da Miniempresa, Breno Braga, 16, conta que são poucos funcionários, porém, a qualidade na produção agrada os clientes. “As pessoas gostam mais das laranjadas com duas flores, pois chamam mais atenção”, afirma Breno.

Bárbara Bueno, diz que o programa vai trazer muito retorno para seu futuro profissional e sabe que está aprendendo muita coisa no mundo corporativo. “Estou conhecendo um mundo empresarial, antes desconhecido”, destaca a estudante.

A executiva da Associação Junior Achievement, Olívia Raunter, diz que o programa Miniempresa é um dos cursos da Associação mais dinâmico e faz com que os jovens adquiram experiência em todo o processo de criação de uma empresa. “Para os alunos, com a vivência prática, além da teoria, é uma experiência que permitirá, no futuro, a possibilidade de criarem seu próprio negócio ou que possam ser bons colaboradores empresariais” avalia Olívia. A Associação Junior Achievement DF, espera atingir 12 mil estudantes nesse ano, abrangendo os programas tanto do ensino fundamental e médio.

Feira de Miniempresas

No último sábado, 24, mais de 100 jovens participaram da Feira de Miniempresas realizado pela AJA-DF. Durante o evento, os microempresários viveram a realidade do mercado dentro do Shopping Conjunto Nacional, a concorrência entre as outras miniempresas que estavam no espaço, além das lojas do Centro de compras.

Pela manhã, os estudantes assistiram três palestras de grandes empresários da cidade: Iuri Costa, Alexandre Crispi (Grupo ALUB) e Janete Vaz (Laboratório Sabin). Durante as apresentações, foram esclarecidas algumas dúvidas sobre o mercado e os desafios enfrentados pelos executivos.

No final da manhã, Alexandre Crispi, fez sorteio de duas bolsas de estudos de 45% de desconto para estudar no Grupo ALUB.

A partir das 13hs, os jovens foram para o meio do Shopping Center desenvolver as estratégicas de vendas adquiridas em sala de aula. Alguns levaram violão e muita música para chamar a atenção do público. Sandálias customizadas, marca-texto, temperos, Ecobag, camisetas personalizadas com fuxico.

O programa

Objetiva despertar o espírito empreendedor dos jovens ainda na escola. A empresa é formada com cerca de 25 alunos do 2º ano do ensino médio e os encontros acontecem semanalmente na própria escola.

A orientação é feita por meio de voluntários especializados nas áreas de  Recursos Humanos, Finanças, Marketing e Produção. A partir do terceiro encontro, os jovens definem a diretoria da empresa (Presidente e mais quatro diretores de cada área), mas todos colocam a mão na massa.

Para começar as atividades da empresa, é necessário de dinheiro. São vendidas 100 ações com valor a ser definido de acordo com as despesas de cada empresa (matéria-prima, aluguel, equipamentos, salários, dentre outras despesas). Ao final do curso, são contabilizados os lucros da miniempresa e os acionistas recebem o investimento.

A Associação, foi fundada nos Estados Unidos em 1919 e está presente em mais de 120 países. No Brasil, está em todos os estados.

Serviço:

Site: www.jadf.org.br

Telefone: 3340-6127

Matérias Relacionadas:

Jovens disputam gincana empreendedora

Jovens atuam como empresários

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Talk 2 Brazil Live Radio guest Bill Griesinger, Commercial Finance and Venture Lending Specialist, Chicago. Talks about: Ideas for funding Brazilian business, Hedge Fund projects, multi cultural children in a global world. “Brazil is a Brand”. Board Member of The Brazilian Cultural Center of Chicago www.brazilianculturalcenter.org and former Board Member of Junior Achievement .

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Brought to you by Focus MI Market Intelligence www.focusmi.com

]]> http://sonhacomigo.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/oitava-jornada-2/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:32:34 +0000 Sonha Comigo S.A./E http://sonhacomigo.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/oitava-jornada-2/

1.  Thrill the World Halloween Party

Saturday, October 24^th - Dress up as your favorite Zombie, learn the Thriller dance, and get down!  All benefitting Beach Wheelchair Project.

2.  Potowatomi’s 5th Hunting Moon Pow Wow

October 23rd – 25th - 5th Annual Hunting Moon Pow Wow is held at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. Dance & Drum Competition totaling over $95,000 in Prize money! Native American craft and food vendors along with drum competitions, dance competitions and special performances.

3.    Hollywood Bowl-A-Vard

Saturday, October 24th - Join NEWaukee in volunteering for the Hollywood Bowl-A-Vard benefitting Junior Achievement.

4.  Cinderella – Milwaukee Ballet

October 22nd – October 25th - This classic fairy tale follows a young woman’s journey from servant to princess in a story cherished by adults and children alike.

5.     Boo at the Zoo

 October 23rd – October 24th - A ghostly good time is in store for visitors to the Milwaukee County.

Talk 2 Brazil interview with Juliano Graff, CEO Master Minds, AMCHAM Campinas Bussiness Affairs committee member,an Angel investor, Mergers and Acquisitions, what foreign investors look for in Brazil?

Listen to the interview  http://bit.ly/Juliano

Apple’s CEO tops two polls in one week. Will no one rid us of these meddlesome lists?

Photo: Apple Inc.

Last Thursday, Oct. 8, an Agenda Setters panel named Steve Jobs the most influential individual in the global technology industry, ahead of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Barack Obama, President of the United States.

Four days later, a survey of 1,000 tweens and teens ages 12 to 17 picked Steve Jobs as the celebrity entrepreneur they admired most, ahead of Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg and the Olsen twins.

Is Apple’s (AAPL) CEO really more influential than Obama and more popular than Oprah, as headline writers invariably put it?

Of course not.

These lists are confections, artifacts of organizations trying to drum up publicity for themselves — in this case, a U.K.-based CBS Interactive subsidiary called Silicon.com and Junior Achievement, an American institution that’s been preparing students for the business world for more than 90 years.

I know something about how such lists are created, having had a hand for many years in selecting TIME’s Man of the Year and putting together the magazine’s Most Influential lists. One criterion for making that list was whether a particular celebrity would agree to come to the TIME 100 party. Steve Jobs never showed up, but he’s appeared on the “Builders and Titans” list many times. See, for example, here.

To keep list-making manageable, you have to limit both the group that makes the decision and the pool of nominees. Silicon.com used a panel of 12 who started with a list of 20 names each. Junior Achievement asked its survey group — chosen by Opinion Research Corp. — to vote on a pre-selected list of brand-building celebrity entrepreneurs that included Tony Hawk, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Kimora Lee Simmons and, once again, Mark Zuckerberg.

Source: Google Insights

It would be impossible to run a comprehensive poll to determine who is truly the most popular or influential person in the world at any particular time. The closest thing we have today is probably Google Insights, which can tell you whose name among a list of up to five is being searched for most frequently over time.

If it’s any comfort to Christians, Steve Jobs is barely a blip in a Google Insights bake-off with Jesus, although when you run the exercise using the search term “Jesus Christ,” there have been a few moments over the years when Steve Jobs’ name came up more frequently.

If Google had been around when John Lennon said what he said about the Beatles, maybe the Vatican wouldn’t have had to accept his apology.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Nooz.gr : Ο ιθύνων νους της Apple ξεπερνά την Oprah
Ιδιαίτερα δημοφιλής και στο νεανικό κοινό φαίνεται πως είναι ο Steve Jobs, αφού σε έρευνα που έγινε από την Junior Achievement σε παιδιά 12-17 ετών αναδείχτηκε πρώτος στις προτιμήσεις τους. Η έρευνα περιελάμβανε μία λίστα με ονόματα γνωστά από διάφορους τομείς της καθημερινότητας και η βασική ερώτηση που υπήρχε στο ερωτηματολόγιο ήταν για το ποιον θαυμάζουν περισσότερο.[next]

Today Pam and I had the privilege of teaching and moderating at the “Connecting 2 Success” conference here in Santa Clarita.  This is an annual conference established by the Valley Industrial Association (VIA) and Junior Achievement of Southern California.  This involved over eight hundred students from one of the local high schools.  We taught three sessions, with about eighty students per session.

Again I stress the word Privilege.  Our topic for today was Ethics.  This has to be one of the most relevant, and character forming topics that a young person can experience in their education, before entering the work force.  It was an absolute pleasure, with the young men and women being very receptive and participatory – even when they had to create their own ‘skit’ to act out a challenging ethics scenario occurring in the work place.

The main point we stressed, and I pray they took away, was that today in your career, you can absolutely succeed and be profitable while being ethical.  This is not an “either or” decision.

One of Google’s points in their Philosophy statement is:

You can make money without doing evil.

What a wonderful foundation to build a company upon.  And obviously it’s working for them.

I encourage everyone to participate in events such as these – you always get back more than you put in.

Scott

Status Not Quo

My Typical Week in Google Calendar

MBA life is busy, there’s no need to sugarcoat that fact.  I think the school’s intention is to see if it can fill up your Outlook/Google calendar so much you can barely see any white space in between events/meetings/classes.  I now have to colour-code my events so I can tell them apart, otherwise my calendar just looks like one big event when you look at it from far away.

When I see my classmates, I think our end goals are all the same: Input = your life for 17 months, Output = good job with a hopefully higher salary in the field that you are aiming for.  But the activities that we choose to fill our student lives with are very different, I think it breaks down to the following core line items:

• Study, homework, projects, case studies –> so you can graduate
• Meeting people, network, share experiences –> broader perspectives, future contacts
• Getting involved with school clubs, student council, volunteer –> altruism, hate to say it but it also makes the resume look good
• Things for your health (eat, exercise, clean) –> hopefully to survive, mentally and physically, to get past this year and a half
• Party, drink, more parties and planning weekend trips to beach islands –> hookup (if you’re single), but alcohol is just a good way to de-stress

The reality which I currently face at this moment are: 2 midterms, 3 case studies, 3 networking events, 2 workshops/training sessions, and a badminton tournament – all in the next 5 days.  Mind you, a bunch of my activities are self-inflicted.  Having just organized a badminton tournament, I’ve also started to take guitar lessons up on campus, and I’m starting to volunteer for Junior Achievement of Singapore.  I just went for training this evening and will be teaching the JA Titan program during October.

It feels like 24 hours really isn’t enough for one day, but I’m having a great time trying to balance all of these activities. Reading break is coming up soon and hopefully I can catch my breath at that time.

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.

“We don’t want money, we need skills” was a comment of some of the attendees during the Ghana Competitiveness Forum that was held in Accra in August 2009.

Following the visit of President Barack Obama to Ghana the Business Council on International Understanding organized the forum. A delegation of Members of the House of Representatives of the United States and participants from the public and private sector met over a round table discussion to seek solutions to make Ghana more competitive and attractive to foreign investors.

Not only has Ghana transitioned peacefully to a new government after its recent elections but today you will find that the private sector is taking a leading position as well to drive the economy forward. A new generation of business men and women are now limited by available skills more than by venture capital or other financial impediments.

With the discovery of oil in Ghana an entire new set of skills are required and some international companies operating in Ghana have already started to train people to get ready to embark on deep sea oil exploration.

If you drive around Accra you will also see a lot of activity in the construction sector. New hotels and office buildings are under construction and houses in the residential areas are being built to accommodate the increased demand.

Tema, one of the ports of Ghana receives cargo that finds its final destination in some of its neighboring and land locked countries such as Burkina Faso for instance.

Most of this economic activity also requires information. Here lies in itself another great opportunity for improvements on productivity and efficiencies to become more competitive using today’s information technology.
Border formalities for the most part rely on paper based systems and delay a swift passage. Trucks lose a lot of time during this process. This is just an example of course to illustrate the vast amount of opportunity that exists and at the same time the challenge we face to get enough skilled labor to fulfill the demand.

Golden times for training institutes, vocational education centers, universities and business schools.
Golden times for the Diaspora as well who would like to return to their country and exploit the opportunities benefiting from the acquired international experience.

Training however is only part of what a country like Ghana needs. Some of those who are driving business in Ghana are either locally trained staff or staff trained overseas but in both cases these business leaders have enjoyed international exposure that has provided them experience to deal with complex business situations. These leaders can run businesses up to international standards. They have the capacity to compete internationally. If companies are certified to international standards they will find it easier to export their products and services. Skills and standards are key to achieving sustainable growth in today’s global business.

One of the requests to the members of the House of Representatives was to support an exchange program that will allow for talented Ghanaians to work for a period of time on overseas projects and to receive skilled labor from the US in this case, to work and transfer skills in Ghana so that both business leaders and companies become more competitive.

Of course there are areas where foreign direct investment and loans are still required to assist the development efforts that Ghana is undertaking and where the public interest is better served by a public sector owned solution rather than a private sector one.

When the business community starts asking for skills rather than for money as a first priority it means that its leaders clearly see the opportunity. The opportunity has probably been there for a long time, but today the country is enjoying the fact that democracy and private initiative have both evolved and met each other ready to execute.

Things are changing in Ghana and in Africa and for the better.

© Desi Lopez Fafié

On Friday October 16^th, 2009 South Florida will host the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization (IREO) with another Relive production, WE ARE ENERGY.  Following their successful RUN FOR OUR FUTURE summer solstice benefit for Junior Achievement in 2009, Relive co-founders Evaggelia Hatzimanolis of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Don Schneider of Relive Research & Development, Corp. are at it again with their latest creation, WE ARE ENERGY. This fall, eco-friendly business and Miami’s signature energy come together for a synergy of awareness, action, fashion and cocktails to promote conscious choices and benefit the efforts of the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization.  I.R.E.O. aims to contribute to the global battle against the environmental challenges posed by the development of human civilization through the implementation of pilot projects designed to educate, promote and expand the use of renewable energies around the globe.  It was created by the Brazilian Foundation of America, which holds consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and supports the Millennium Development Goals.

WE ARE ENERGY will attract tastemakers from all over South Florida and around the globe as it helps raise awareness for environmental concerns, inspiring action and expanding minds towards living sustainably responsible lifestyles without sacrificing style. To set the stage for a truly decadent evening, Shore Club (1901 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach)  has been chosen as the exclusive venue for the sustainably chic soiree.  The private VIP Pre-Entrance is at 7:00pm to the ocean front Sandbar pool and main event is 8pm-11pm.   Event Sponsors and supporters include Shore Club, Ketel One, Pizza Fusion, RRD Corp, 944 magazine, Front Management, and various ecofriendly fashion designers, green businesses, and proactive organizations.

Tickets for  the event ($175 VIP, $50 Genearl Admission) and more information available at www.weareenergy.org

Hey NEWaukee, we’re looking for a few more members to join our team for Junior Achievement’s Hollywood Bowl-A-Vard on Saturday October 24th at AMF Bowlero (11737 W. Burleigh St).  It’s a great opportunity to do some fundraising for a great organization and have some fun bowling as dressing up as your favorite celebrity!

The info is below.  Please e-mail Katie if you’re interested.

No dia 15 de agosto (Sábado), pela manhã, representantes da Miniempresa Pontual S.A/E se reuniram em Colombo, no Sítio Mãe Terra, a fim de cumprir o vigente desafio proposto pela Associação Junior Achievement Paraná, denominado “Desafio Dia de Fazer a Diferença”.

Lá, a proprietária Aparecida de Fátima Bianchini e seu jardineiro se dispuseram a fornecer cerca de 100 mudas (2x mais do que o previsto para cada Miniempresa) e local para o plantio das mesmas, além de acompanharem os miniempresários na plantação das mesmas.

Durante o plantio, vontade não faltou no pessoal, que vestiu a camisa e colocou a mão na massa, digo, terra.

Um passo importante para a Pontual S.A/E, que demonstrou, desta forma, o cuidado pela natureza e a vontade de realmente fazer a diferença!

Por Pedro Henrique

Green Recycle Bin Science Activity: Design and Market Inventions
Activity: students design inventions from recycled materials, market them with commericials and sell them. Use for 4H, scouts,Destination Imagination, Junior Achievement, too. Covers science, math,social studies and language arts.
Read on…

one of the reasons i love being a part of the Advertising Federation of Lincoln is that each year we adopt a local non-profit and help them with an advertising/communications campaign (gratis).

Last year, we worked with Junior Achievement of Lincoln – which is near and dear to my heart.

now, in my presidential year (eek!) we will be working with Clinic With a Heart – a very deserving and growing organization within the Lincoln community. We will be putting together an awareness campaign focused on increasing the donor base. In our effort to do this, members of the AFL Board participated in a tour of one of the Clinic’s facilities.

This happened to coincide with the food distribution program at the Center for People in Need, a very great and necessary program for many Lincolnites.

Picture if you will, a handful of Lincoln’s advertising professionals, traipsing into this organized chaos in their classy work duds, many carrying designer purses and pushing their designer sunglasses onto their heads. we all felt immediately humbled. no longer do those trivial things such as, “oh shucks, i missed Sonic’s Happy Hour, now i must pay full price for my drink” matter – when these people are standing in line for a jar of peanut-butter.

but, it does make you want to help in any way you can. Yea for doing good things.

ps: i find it highly ironic that the Center for People in Need shares a parking lot with what i like to call, “The Trough” = Golden Corral. i kid you not. AJ and i once made the uninformed choice to have sunday brunch there. not only can you get pizza and bbq on the same plate as your scrambled eggs… you can have an omelet made ’specially for you by a stoner kid who, halfway through cooking two individual omelets for you and lovely elderly woman next to you, says, “ooh, ha! for a second there, i forgot which was which. dude, that’d be crazy!” oh, and then after i sat down, with said omelet, i over hear the two ladies adjacent to us tell the bus-girl, “you know, our husbands said they have had enough, and they left us… but we’re not done yet, are we Mable?”

oy!

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.

Do you like spicy food?
Do you plan to go to Nairobi ?

I recommend Handhi’s to you. It means “clay pot” in one of the Indian languages and the restaurant serves a number of dishes using these clay pots. The variety and quality of the food is superb and among the Indian restaurants in Africa that I know I rank it within the top 5.

Those of you who chose to sit inside the restaurant instead of at their terrace, can see the cookes at work through a hugh glass wall that separates the kitchen from the main restaurant dining area.

In East Africa it is mostly the Indian cuisine that offer some very spicy dishes.  The African dishes in this part of the continent are generally mildly spiced. In West and Central Africa however the African dishes can be extremely spicy.

In Senegal you can order Poulet Yassa, stuffed chicken with lemon and onions served with rice and you have a choice to have some yellow chillies on the side and mix these with the food.

Africans enjoy their food most when sharing a dish with their family or friends.

In Nigeria,  Pepper Soup can be made of any kind of fish or meat depending on your preference.  If you are a Non African Adult with strong taste buts you may try it, but I recommend you take a very small sip first to see how you respond before going for the big spoons.

These are just a few examples since spicy food is very common in the West- and Central African cuisine.

Those of you who are not used to chillies should start carefully.  It is an acquired taste that you develop over time and gradually you can deal with larger quantities of chillies or use stronger varieties of chillies.
The Naga Jolokia and the Red Savina Habanero are the strongest versions and contain the highest levels of capsaicin 800.000 – 1000.000 and  350.000 – 570.000 respectively. The Naga Jolokia originates from North Eastern India and holds the Guinness World record. Compare this to white pepper that has 500 units of capsaicin or green tabasco sauce that has about 600 to 800 units.
The Scoville scale measures the heat levels in food by measuring the amount of capsaicin present.

One of my colleagues from Europe asked me if she could have a sip of my crab soup I was having at a restaurant in Dubai that had made some special orders on our request. Four of us were living in or originated from Africa while we had  two Europeans with us that evening ,my colleague being one.
We had ordered two separate bowls of crab soup, one hot one not. I warned my colleague and told her that this was seriously hot. She insisted.
The next 10 minutes or so all the waitresses were running back and forth to calm the effect of the chillies.
When she recovered somewhat and regained her ability to speak she started to call me names and asked me how someone could enjoy something like that ? We felt sorry for her but at the same time we could not stop laughing either. When she ran to catch her flight she was smiling again.

If you like spicy food I advice you to learn the traditional name of chilly for each country you visit. If you go to a local restaurant as
a Mzungu (white man)  and ask for very spicy food, you may otherwise not get what you ask for. Since not every European or American that visits Africa can handle the intensity of some of the dishes, waiters are careful and will bring you a very mild version of what you requested.
In Nigeria I asked for red chillies and got sweet red peppers instead. So I asked the waiter the name of red chillies in Yoruba. Now I got my “atta rodo”, as they call it and  every time I visit a restaurant in Nigeria and ask for fresh chopped atta rodo I am in business.

An Indian friend of mine once advised me to have some raw onion on the side whenever you are not sure of the food you are about to have. This simple addition will keep you out of trouble in most cases. I realized the effect of it when on another occasion I had dinner with four of my colleagues in a nice restaurant in Ghana. We all ordered shrimps and lobster, the specialty of the house. I was the only one who ordered a salad on the side with some raw onion because I happen to like salads not so much because I questioned the restaurant or its food.  Our host, a Ghanaian did not approve of my addition to this dish, since he felt you should not mix the taste of the fresh seafood with anything else.
The next day all four of my colleagues, including our Ghanaian host were not feeling well and had to run to the bathroom a few times for a couple of days. I was very happy to have ordered my salad on the side and remembered the advise of my Indian friend.
Since then I have made it a habit to order some raw onion every time I doubt the quality of the food.
If you think about it, the Dutch dip their raw herring in chopped raw onion. If you order a steak tartare the cook will propose raw onion as one of the spices to mix the meat with.
I don’t have the scientific proof to back my story but in all the years of my travels all over the world I have hardly ever had food problems and I am grateful for the advice of my Indian friend.

Back at Handhi’s one evening we had ordered more food than we could finish and before we left one of the guests asked the waiter to wrap the food.  I was a bit surprised since all of us were very satisfied and unable to finish but I was soon to learn another lesson of the African way of live.
We walked out of the restaurant and the guest who was carrying the bags with wrapped food saw a poor person walking by.
Without even thinking twice he gave some of the bags to this person.  Before we reached the car he had distributed the remaining bags to a few other poor people that we came across.

Have you ever considered asking to wrap the food to give it to a total stranger in the street on your way home?
I admit I had never done so before but I suggest you try this and I am sure you will enjoy the  experience…

© Desi Lopez Fafié

There is something about seeing old friends from High School after many years that somehow brings life to a full circle. One of the many positive parts about returning to Guam even under the difficult circumstances was meeting up with my best friends from High School, Mel and Joe.

I have known Mel since Elementary School. In fact, his family was my second family. I would ride my bicycle to his home on weekends to spend the day there.  Mel loves to raise fish and has always had several aquariums and ponds. At one time he wanted be an Ichthyologist.

I met Joe through Mel in High School, after I transferred in from Catholic School. Joe and I are actually related; Joe was our comedy central and brought more laughs to our little triad of friendship.

In High School, we were inseparable.  We were involved in Student Government, AFJROTC, Junior Achievement, Chamorro Club, Youth Week, and the list went on and on.  We had so many adventures and we had our dramas.  We laughed together, we argued, we worked on projects together, and we also grew in our different ways.

Life happened after graduation.  We all moved on our different paths.  I left Guam for BYU and became a Mormon.  Mel and Joe followed divergent paths.

Joe was the first to come out.   Then a few years later Mel came out.  I was the straggler that finally came out last.  So we were all gay.  Duh?!!?  Anyone who knew us in High School would not be that surprised.

Mel directs the retail operations of the exclusive LeSportsac and Joe is an accomplished florist and event designer.

Mel

Now here we were in the Hyatt Hotel being hosted by Mel at the wonderful Niji Restaurant enjoying a great Japanese Brunch Buffet with all you can drink Champagne.  We talked for hours. It was like we were continuing our conversation so naturally from years ago, Yes we were older, Yes we have experienced so much of life. However, there was enough of those High School boys still left in us to still laugh and gab the hours away.

We even left for the local Haagen Dazs for coffee and the guys wanted some ice cream but it was mostly to continue to talk.

Time may aged the body but it only magnifies and matures the wonderful taste of great friendships.  It was nice spending time with you, Mel and Joe.