Water for Thailand

This past Sunday at Mt Albert Baptist Church, I manned the EFTPOS terminal, New Zealand's electronic transfer machine. Handling other people's money is stress ful to me. On Sunday, it was extremely stressful. I had a lot of business. My church was selling shares to help build a well in Thailand. We were selling token water. I was amazed that people paid above value to the share values.


http://www.cbcthailand.blogspot.co.nz/


Here is an email from my pastor, Jonathan Dove.

Dear Church



Just a reminder that this Wednesday is our ‘Water Wednesday.’



This past Sunday we explored how healthy churches engage with the needs of people on the margins through both the spoken message and strategic action. As part of our application, we launched Project Thailand, a 5-year initiative to come around a range of needs and people groups within Thailand (check it out at www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand). This year’s focus is bringing clean water, sanitation and health education to a village that (right now) has none of these.



So, what do you do on Water Wednesday (14th March)?



1. Abstain from all liquids except water for the duration of the whole day: No coffee. No tea. No milk on the weetbix. Just water. For the whole day.



2. Every time you want to have something other than water, take a moment to be grateful to God for the water you do have (and for the bountiful choices normally available to you).



3. Consider what it must be like for people in Northern Thailand (and others parts of the world) without access to safe running water. Reflect on what you can do to help.



4. If you purchased a water share bottle in Project Thailand, carry it around with you for the day. Look at the project sticker through the clean water you have and what we’re enabling others to enjoy. Speak to others about the needs and opportunity.


5. Share your reflections with your family, flat-mates, and small group. Together, reflect on the statistics at the end of this email or check out the upcoming world water day at: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/campaign.html.



This Wednesday, let’s appreciate anew what God has given each of us and consider what we can do to help those on the edges.



Journeying Together

Jonathan Dove
Lead Pastor



P.S. Here’s some figures to reflect about:

• Globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death, and 88 per cent of diarrhea deaths are due to a lack of access to sanitation facilities, together with inadequate availability of water for hygiene and unsafe drinking water. (Source: JMP).



• Today 2.5 billion people, including almost one billion children, live without even basic sanitation. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That's 1.5 million preventable deaths each year. (Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC))



• Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. (Source: WHO/UNICEF).



• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease. (Source: United Nations Development Programme).


http://www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand/


http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.co.nz





http://www.suelovescherries.blogspot.com/




http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

Scenic Sunday/Sunday Bridge: Auckland Harbour bridge

Auckland Harbour bridge started as a Tolls bridge. The people in the north complained why they were the only people who had to pay a toll to use the road. So upon pressure, the tolls were scrapped.

Just this week, The police announced instead to punishing road users who break the law, they would issue warning. The talk back radio went viral here. While the talks were going around, Two killed in overnight crashes http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10791103

Personally, I see no soft option, if you break the law, you should be puniched.


Auckland police will this weekend take a new approach to road policing - warning motorists for low-level crimes rather than ticketing them.

In his online blog today Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said from Sunday city police will trial giving out traffic warnings for less serious offences for five months.

"The idea is to find a better way of dealing with minor infringements than prosecuting people, which adds to the pressure on our already hard-pressed court system, or handing out $150 tickets."

Marshall said warnings would be a "suitable way" of dealing with motorists who don't abide by the new give-way rules when they come into force later this month "and for other occasions where driver education is more appropriate than punishment".

He said the idea had been piloted in Wellington but the results were inconclusive.

"It's hoped the new trial, which runs in Auckland City, Counties Manukau and Waitemata until August, will give us the information we need."

If the pilot is a success the initiative would extend nationwide.

Marshall said written traffic warnings were the "cousin of the pre-charge warnings" police were already issuing.

He said they had proved a "great success" with 13,802 handed out nationally in their first year.

Marshall said each warning represents about an hour of officers' time saved, and a case diverted from the courts.

He said warnings had reduced the amount of minor cases put before the courts by eight per cent.

"It should be noted that someone dealt with by way of warning hasn't "got away with it".

"Should they err again the fact that they have been warned already will be taken into account, so we hope these warnings will have the effect of reducing levels of reoffending."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/6545475/No-tickets-for-Auckland-drivers







http://bayphoto.blogspot.com/


http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

Dahlia

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae or Compositae, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. Classed as a dicotyledon, there are at least 36 species of dahlia.

Last year, Kieran and Nicole, teachers at pt Chevalier school did a"crops for Christchurch". They invited everyone, students and parents to bring their crops, flowers, fruits and baked stuff. It was a fantastic exercise. http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/skywatch-friday-crop-for-christchurch.html

This year, they are doing it again. The beneficiary is Nepal, a country close to my heart with my connection with the Con-joint twins Ganga and Jamuna. http://annkschin.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/siamese-babies.html

Among the crops for sale were dahlias. A flower grown in a house garden can just be as beautiful as a florist's flower. I bought a little bunch in a yoghurt container and gave it to my mentor. Some little kid must have brought it to school. I am also also sending by cyber mail to a friend L I met through Facebook. Her dad was my teacher. My mum used to grow this in Borneo.

Crops for Charity is starting again this Friday morning...lots of spare crops from everyones gardens! Cheers, Keren


http://wildflowers.colormagicphotography.com/

Macro Flower Saturday
Macro Flower Saturday Macro Flower Saturday ">
http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.com/p/join-my-photo-challenge-flowers-on.html


http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/

skywatch friday: Full moon

The moon was awesome tonight. The clouds around it was brightly lit. It is no common full moon. We have spectacular aurora lights tonight as the largest solar flare in five years reaches Earth.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10790652
Those in the south of New Zealand should be able to see spectacular aurora lights tonight as the largest solar flare in five years reaches Earth.

Astronomer Dr Grant Christie from the Stardome Observatory said the particles from the solar flare should reach the earth around midday, New Zealand time.

"The actual flare occurred yesterday. It blew off quite a lot of material off the sun. That's called a coronal mass ejection. Typically they weigh about 10 billion tonnes of material. That goes out into space with a lot of force like a shotgun blast and satellites up there now monitoring the sun can monitor its trajectory in three dimensions.

"It's going to be a glancing blow to the earth."

Dr Christie said it is a class X5.4 flare, the strongest in more than five years.

An X1.3 flare occurred soon after the yesterday's X5.4. A solar flare on January 27 was a X1.7 flare.

"This one is quite a lot stronger than the one in January," he said.

"Any class X flare has got potential hazard to satellites, power grids, and aircraft navigation near the poles. So there are alerts out for that."

He said satellite operators will be rotating their satellites so that the hard back-end of the satellite is facing the sun to shield the electronics from the particles.

Dr Christie said the flare will only have an effect on flights over either of the poles.

"I understand airlines simply redirect those flights to avoid the hazard. The impact it has is not so much the radiation on passengers, it's the possibility of electronic disruptions to communications and navigations."

"Because the earth's magnetic field channels high energy particles onto the polar regions, which is why you see the aurora at the poles, there is much more intense electrical disruption at the polar regions than there are in our regions.

"Therefore the polar regions are where you expect to see more activity and therefore increased hazard."

Anywhere south of Auckland people should be able to see enhanced aurora over the next couple of nights.

"To actually get a good view anywhere in south Otago, Southland, Canterbury ... the further south you are the better. In Auckland you see the very top of the aurora, it's so far south a strong one will just peak over the horizon, it will look like a red glow in the south. As you get further south you will see colours like green appearing.

"It is a full moon as well so that will dim the impact."

Dr Christie said a big sun spot group, named AR1429, was the source of the solar flares.

"It's large, it's something like 10 times the size the earth would project ... nearly the size of Jupiter.

"You should be able to see it if you have the right sort of filter. I wouldn't encourage people to do it, but you can get safe solar viewers, from places like Stardome and the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand."

"It's not to say this will be the last flare, it's still possible there will be another eruption."




http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Ruby red/rednesday: important words.

The weather is Auckland is warm, and when it rains, it pours. People joke that you can hear the lawn growing. Many people mow their own lawn, and some employ men to mow their lawn. Besides the grass clippings, there are hedges and trees to be trimmed.

What do you do with your green rubbish/ organic waste?

The organic waste stream is a mix of garden or green waste and food waste (putrescibles) that can be composted and used as a soil conditioner.

Compost is the end result of controlled aerobic decomposition or a mix of green waste (rich in nitrogen) and brown waste (rich in carbon).

A number of private companies provide a garden bag and bin collection service. All bags and bins vary in size and you can choose how often they are collected.

I was walking along Pt Chevalier Road when I saw this truck. I looked around and saw no one around so I whipped out my camera. But I was spotted by two friendly and good looking guys. One of them asked me why I was talking photos of his truck. I told him, I was blogging, and he said don't take the name of his truck. I am sure his employer won't sack him.

In fact, they were very good PR person for this company which is doing a great job for the environment. They collect our green waste and recycle and reuse to help grow healthy plants in our city. Ka Pai and Paki Paki.

For today's Red theme, The Garden Bag Company is very responsible to have the words, CAUTION, WE STOP OFTEN. printed in RED.

If you are in Auckland, you can find them at 0800 307346 mobile: (027) 478 9420



http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.co.nz





http://www.suelovescherries.blogspot.com/




http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

sunday bridge in Mulu in Borneo

In Borneo, the heavy monsoon rain swells the river, and Rejang River, where my grandparents lived, motor launches ply along and pick up passengers who board from jetties similar to these. I saw this when I was up in the Mulu mountians.







http://bayphoto.blogspot.com/

Scenic Sunday: Henderson

Last Sunday, we went out West to Henderson. In the Mall, I saw a big crowd outside a T-shirt printing store. There were security guards, and load of self appointed paparazzi. I was out of place as most of them were young people. I thought they were giving out freebies. LOL.

I asked some young men, and they told me it was Rapper House visiting. I said thanks. I asked my student Dawit if he knew a rapper House, and he said yes.

This blog is for my current students that rapping is their scene. For janeva, Aom, Oam and Army.
http://scenicsunday.blogspot.chttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifom/