Join the soft toy movement!

We got an apartment! And life seems a bit easier. The new place will cut my living expenses down a bit, which was necessary, but is also bigger than my old studio. And what does this mean? About a thousand trips to IKEA.

I've always been a fan of IKEA. I'm Swedish so it's sort of a given. But since I moved abroad being a fan has developed more into an actual addiction to the company. The kind of fanatism that makes me want to talk about IKEA All. The. Time. They sell Swedish food, they have pictures of Swedish landmarks on the walls, there is Swedish written everywhere. It even smells like Sweden when you walk through the doors and is greeted by that big "HEJ" sign. Oh, and then there's the nice super cheap furniture...

But now to the part of this story that makes it relavant for the blog. IKEA has a campaign going on together with Save the Children and Unicef. For every soft toy you buy 1 euro goes to helping children around the world get an education. For some of the stuffed animals this means every cent goes to this good cause, and That means money is coming straight from IKEAs pockets, and THAT means I have yet another reson to love them. Also, for about a week up until christmas they will expand the campaign to include all the products in the Children's IKEA department.

Now usally I am torn when it comes to this kind of projects. It's obvious that many companies will do this sort of thing just for commercial purposes. Also I don't like the idea that buying these items may settle the conscience of people and make them think they've donated something to charity. This when they've actually just been doing their shopping; and contributing to our crazy consuming that may even hurt children in poor countries in the long run. However, it's christmas time. You're all going to buy toys and stuffed animals for your children anyway. So why not do it at IKEA? It's cheap and the quality is good. So just do it.

Give something

This is pretty much my old life I've gotten back to. Sure I have alot of stuff going on, but then I read about the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and how much worse it has gotten since I last wrote about it. And I feel like a jerk again. This wasn't suppose to be me anymore...

I guess the least I can do is mention what's happening. 1034 people has died, and at least 16.799 are sick. There is war going on in the streets, after rumors getting out about the cholera coming from UN soldiers. It's just totally crazy. As I've said before, cholera is an easily treated disease. We can help by donating money to Doctors Without Borders. Follow this link to donate online (min. amount 5$).

Let's talk this through.

Yesterday I got some weird looks as I bought a kid something to eat. She came begging for money but when I offered food and something to drink her face lit up. It sounds all nice and in order with my thoughts on begging, doesn't it? So why did people act like what I did was strange? I would really like some answers here, because I might be missing something! Perhaps there are factors I didn't consider.

Cholera outbreak in Haiti

You would think the people in Haiti already suffered enough. You would think.



We all know that over a million people were homeless in Haiti after the earthquake in January, which also killed 250-300 thousand. Many of us made donations. But what have we been doing since then? I admit I've done nothing.

A disaster like this has a massive immediate response around the world, but it scary to see how fast compassion fades. It has only been months sice the capital Port-au-Prince was destroyed. The global relief effort meant numerous nations and volontary groups sent help. But did we fix the country? Except from the obvious fact that nothing can bring back what Haiti has lost, did we give all we can?

There are huge camps around Port-au-Prince where homeless people live in tents, with terrible sanitary conditions. Many aid organizations have warned about how fast diseases might spread in these camps, where clean water is a rarity. And now here it is, the second disaster. A cholera epidemic is spreading in Haiti, killing 135 people so far. 1500 others are sick, and waiting in the streets outside the hospitals for help. And this is the situation now, before the epidemic has reached the camps around the capital.

Why is this happening? Because the resources aren't enough. Cholera is an easily treated disease, and all that's needed are hospital beds, rehydration salts and in some cases antibiotics.

Considering everybody knows about the situation in Haiti, I find this unacceptable. We have to help out more. We CAN help out alot more.

Megi the Monster

The people in the Philippines were "lucky" this time. Even though typhoon Megi did destroy infrastructure and crops to a worth of around 30 million dollars, and thousands of houses were damaged, "only" 20 people died. Usually typhoons kill hundreds of people when they hit these areas. The difference this time is said to be the great preparations made by the government and the Red Cross, putting lots of resources in and evacuating thousands of people and giving them shelter in safe places.

Time to hold our breath and pray for the best as the typhoon heads for China right now. It looks like it is going to miss Hong Kong, so that's great news. If worst comes to worse and she then heads for Vietnam, we're all gonna have to step up. With the terrible floods killing lots of people there already, Vietnam is in no shape to make preparations of the kind that was made in the Philippines...

I feel small, don't you?

Let's make something good happen

And now it's working fine. We're up and running! You know what to, right?

How to help the families in the Philippines

The Philippine Red Cross is the organization on site doing lots of work. They accept any donations! On this site you'll find all the information you need. You may send a check or make a bank deposit. Supposedly you're also able to donate through sms, but I haven't yet figured out how. I texted "RED(space)1" to 2899 just to see if it would work, but it didn't. Maybe I'm just stupid who can't figure it out (I don't want to call the hotline as I'm sure there are people calling with more urgent questions). The great thing is that you can donate just as much as you afford. You can also send food, medicines, sanitary products and shelter materials. Check the site for all info.

Another option for us who like the work of the Red Cross is to donate locally. In most places you can choose category for your donation, like "Disaster Relief", but there's a minimum amount for what you can give.

Mother nature strikes again

A new monster typhoon has hit the Philippines. They call her Megi and she killed at least one person already this morning. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. BBC News claims: "it will re-emerge into the South China Sea and re-intensify as it heads for southern China."

It's always scary when uncontrollable forces like this hit. Especially for someone like me, who has grown up in a place where natural disasters is known almost solely from TV and American movies, it is easy to fall into the trap of letting yourself be fascinated by the idea. Type example was the horrible tsunami in 2004. As many Swedes were affected when the holiday resorts in Thailand were destroyed, people got almost obsessed with what was happening. Those who didn't know anyone that had been affected still lost focus on everything else, as if their every day life didn't matter. The bright side was that many many people donated money to help.

I will keep an eye out for ways to help the people who's homes will be hit by the typhoon. Even for us with limited resources there should be a way. Those of you who believe should pray no one else gets hurt.

Good deed of the day

This giant bag is full of clothes, shoes and bags I just cleared out of my closet. Tomorrow I'll hand it over to a charity organization. It only took me 20 minutes, and now I have space to hang some winter stuff in there. Yay for doing good!