What leads to success?

According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of ‘SUCCESS’ is as follows:

• noun 1 the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. 2 the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status. 3 a person or thing that achieves success.

Another definition found on the internet: (n) The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.

So what is success for you?

This post came out after talking to a friend who decided to leave her HR job to follow her passion of working with microfinance. She said: I don’t feel fulfilled with my current job and I have been doing it only because I did not have an opportunity like this.

Sometimes you might have to abdicate from your dreams to achieve other priorities, but try to think for how long more you can stand this position and if the time has not arrived to follow your dreams.

Have you ever watched the video “What leads to success?” from TED ?

SUCCESS: PASSION – WORK – GOOD – FOCUS – PUSH – SERVE – IDEAS – PERSIST

“Do it for LOVE. Not MONEY” – “If you do it for love, the money comes anyway”

Steve Olson wrote:

• Success means knowing I do the right things for the right reasons.
• Success means not compromising integrity.
• Success means I share with those who need my help.
• Success means I give my time to my family.
• Success means providing value to others.
• Success means living up to my commitments.
• Success means building a community – not a network.
• Success means looking in the mirror and liking what you see.

He believes that money is the by-product of living a successful life – not the measure.

Try to list everything you looove doing. Now, can you think of a way to do what you love and get the SUCCESS that YOU want to achieve? If you said yes! Lucky you! Go for it!

Finally, there are only a few more days to 2010 and there is not a better time to think about it. Try to make your own definition of success and share it by adding to the comments! Good luck!

A social enterprise in India delivering possibilities for deaf youth

“Mirakle Courier Company is courier company with a difference in Mumbai. We hire underprivileged deaf boys for pick-ups and drops and the sorting is done by deaf girls. In India people with different abilities have been discouraged for a long time as a result of this discrimination there is a strong sense in the minds that they are useless and not worthy of anything. I am just using the word “they” for reference, we are one team and there are no differences.

we will prove them wrong…” watch Mirakle’s website.

Source: Mirakle Curriers’s website

It is a for-profit organisation aiming to integrate deaf youth into the job market. Allocating the right person in the right place the company has been creating jobs and generating profit which will allow the business to expand and employ more people. A sustainable business that uses deaf’s skills which are often rejected by companies.

Digital inclusion for social inclusion. From Brazil to the world.

Founded in 1995, pioneer of the digital inclusion movement in Latin America, CDI (Center for Digital Inclusion) is one of the leading social enterprises in the world with a unique socio-educational approach. CDI Founder and Ashoka Fellow Rodrigo Baggio and our work at CDI have been recognized with more than 60 international awards. Today, we are a network of 753 self-managed and self-sustaining CDI Community Centers throughout Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay – monitored and coordinated by our 31 regional offices.

In addition to low-income communities, our schools are also present in indigenous communities, psychiatric clinics, hospitals for the mentally and physically disabled, as well as youth & adult detention facilities.  CDI is an international NGO with US 501c3 status, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. CDI has operations in the USA, UK, and and Latin America.  With the support of James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank and the Wolfensohn Institute, CDI is in the process of expanding to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, to be followed by India and other parts of Africa. (CDI Global)

THE PROBLEM

“Computers and computer-based communications and information systems are opening up new opportunities in virtually every field of human endeavor. Distances of many kinds are being erased, and the “global village” is becoming more of a reality with each passing day. In education, in the workplace, and in many leisure pursuits, the computer embodies the fundamental difference between yesterday and today.

Unfortunately, however, the benefits of this remarkable tool are not being evenly shared. In countries like Brazil, where poverty is widespread and public education systems are extremely deficient, both the high cost of computer hardware and limited opportunities for training in computer skills deny access to those benefits to most people of modest economic means. As a result, in several important respects the gulf between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is widening, and with that widening, the opportunities open to economically disadvantaged groups are correspondingly curtailed.

The essence of the challenge that Rodrigo and his colleagues are addressing, therefore, is the urgent need to broaden access to computer and information science skills and, through those skills, to improve economic opportunities and more fruitful participation in virtually every dimension of modern life. The campaign in which Rodrigo and his associates are engaged is at the forefront of the continuing battle for social justice. It is also of central relevance for the future of democratic governance in Brazil.” (Ashoka.org)

THE SOLUTION

“We use knowledge to stimulate local economic development and job creation.  Technology is one of the most powerful catalysts of change at hand today. But technology, in itself, is just a tool. The true challenge is making technology relevant and useful in the context of marginalized populations. For 14 years CDI has empowered disadvantaged groups to use Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) as tools to exercise their full capacities as citizens and tackle the issues that affect their communities. CDI Community Centers are technology and learning centers in impoverished communities. Each CDI Community Center is a partnership with an existing leading grassroots organization.  The community based organizations provide the infrastructure and CDI provides free computers and software, implements educational methods, trains instructors and monitors the schools.” (Ashoka)

THE RELEVANCE

“The Committee for Democracy in Information Technology, founded by Baggio, was chosen as one of the world’s top three Principal Voices in the field of Economic Development. (Ashoka Fellow)

THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

“The Brazilian social entrepreneur, 40, has worked tirelessly to overcome what he calls “digital apartheid”, explaining that “79 per cent of the population of our planet is excluded from accessing technical development.” (Digg)

THE RESULTS

CDI website – Brazil CDI global website

Source of picture: GenPolicy

What is a social entrepreneur ?

Youth spirit! After 106 years he decided to go to school

What an inspirational story!

Ubaldo Dias de Oliveira was born in 1903, worked his whole life on the farm, and formed a big family. Today he lives alone with a bird in a simple house in Mascote, Bahia, Brazil.

He doesn’t even remember how many years he has worked on the farm. He cooks his own food. He had 14 childrem and doesn’t know how many grandchildren he has today.

With his umbrella he goes out to do what he likes the most now: to study. He has decided to go to the school for the first time to learn how to read and write.

See the video.

Photography as a tool for social change? How?

PhotoVoice is an organisation that encourages “the use of documentary photography by enabling those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator – to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives.” (PhotoVoice’s website)

Take a look at the PhotoVoice film and galleries.

How does PhotoVoice projects bring positive social change ?????

- Promoting SELF-DEVELOPMENT through:

• “Providing a unique means for expression and creativity;
• Enabling vulnerable groups to work through difficulties or trauma that they may have experienced, in a safe and secure workshop environment;
• Encouraging participants to gain confidence in their capabilities and their role in civil society.”

- Promoting ADVOCACY through:

• “Enabling those who are traditionally the subjects of photography to become its creator;
• Giving a voice to those who are too often ignored or silenced;
• Enabling participants to become advocates for change;
• Enabling participants to inform and affect policy on local and international levels.”

- Promoting A BETTER STANDARD OF LIVING for PhotoVoice participants through:

• “Providing training in vocational photography and media skills;
• Supporting particularly talented individuals in pursuing further studies in photography;
• Setting up apprenticeship schemes and work placements in conjunction with other media and training bodies in the project countries;
• Selling and marketing images produced by PhotoVoice participants on their behalf.”

PhotoVoice’s projects have been running “since 1999 [...] working in over 12 different countries with over 1000 beneficiaries, pioneering the use of photography with refugee groups, street children, orphans, the homeless, HIV/ AIDS sufferers and special need groups. Countries that PhotoVoice has worked in include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.”

PhotoVoice changing communities:

PhotoVoice: childrem in Toronto capturing their environment:

PhotoVoice in Kenya:

PhotoVoice in the lives of participants with spinal cord injury:

Other videos:

- PhotoVoice process

- PhotoVoice at the Youth Action Institute

Picture in this post: www.freedigitalphotos.net

Microfinance. What is it ??

“The microfinance sector is one of the fastest growing multiple bottom-line arenas in the world: an inclusive financial space that brings together social and financial returns within an atmosphere of innovation.” (Microfinance Insights)

“Grameen Bank has reversed the conventional banking wisdom by removing collateral requirement and created a banking system which is based on mutual trust, strict supervision, accountability, participation and creativity. At GB, credit is the entry point and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development process. GB sees credit as an empowering agent, an enabling element in the development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the simple ground that they are poor and hence not bankable.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and its Managing Director reasoned that if financial resources can be made available to the poor people at terms and conditions which are appropriate and reasonable, “these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder”. This conviction of Professor Yunus had its root in the traditional bank’s structure which has been designed in a way that would never help the poor who constitute the largest segment of the society and the ones who are desperately in need of credit.” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

“Microfinance offers poor people access to basic financial services such as loans, savings, money transfer services and microinsurance. People living in poverty, like everyone else, need a diverse range of financial services to run their businesses, build assets, smooth consumption, and manage risks.

Poor people usually address their need for financial services through a variety of financial relationships, mostly informal. Credit is available from informal moneylenders, but usually at a very high cost to borrowers. Savings services are available through a variety of informal relationships like savings clubs, rotating savings and credit associations, and other mutual savings societies. But these tend to be erratic and somewhat insecure. Traditionally, banks have not considered poor people to be a viable market.

Different types of financial services providers for poor people have emerged – non-government organizations (NGOs); cooperatives; community-based development institutions like self-help groups and credit unions; commercial and state banks; insurance and credit card companies; telecommunications and wire services; post offices; and other points of sale – offering new possibilities.

These providers have increased their product offerings and improved their methodologies and services over time, as poor people proved their ability to repay loans, and their desire to save. In many institutions, there are multiple loan products providing working capital for small businesses, larger loans for durable goods, loans for children’s education and to cover emergencies. Safe, secure deposit services have been particularly well received by poor clients, but in some countries NGO microfinance institutions are not permitted to collect deposits.

Remittances and money transfers are used by many poor people as a safe way to send money home. Banking through mobile phones (mobile banking) makes financial services even more convenient, and safer, and enables greater outreach to more people living in isolated areas.Financial services for poor people have proven to be a powerful instrument for reducing poverty, enabling them to build assets, increase incomes, and reduce their vulnerability to economic stress.” (CGAP)

You might be asking yourself…

… Aren’t poor people too poor to save?

… Who Are the Clients of Microfinance?

… Does Microfinance Help Poor People?

… When Is Microcredit Not the Answer?

Check out the links on the right side of this blog for more resources.

Corruption around the world

“Corruption not only affects business relationships but poses a considerable risk inside an enterprise. This report documents many cases of managers, majority shareholders and other actors inside corporations who abuse their entrusted powers for personal gain, to the detriment of owners, investors, employees and society at large. Executives, for example, may focus opportunistically on securing generous payouts to themselves, rather than on long-term profi tability and sustainability – a phenomenon that has been identifi ed as an important factor in the current fi nancial crisis. Majority owners may try to leverage their infl uence on corporate strategy to expropriate smaller shareholders through ’self-dealing’ and similar practices. The benefits of majority control are estimated to exceed 30 per cent of equity value in countries such as Austria, Italy, Mexico and Turkey. They amount to as much as 60 per cent or so of equity value in the Czech Republic and Brazil, raising serious concerns about checks on the powers of these actors.”

(Global Corruption Report 2009, p.17)

“Countries such as Brazil, China and India already boast some of the world’s largest markets, and their companies play an increasingly active and important role in global business. As this report documents, encouraging efforts are under way to update many aspects of regulatory and governance standards in these countries. Nevertheless, these efforts need to be deepened and extended beyond the ‘first in class’ companies. Firms from India, China and Brazil are regarded by their peers as among the most corrupt when doing business abroad.“

(Global Corruption Report 2009, p.29)

Would you like to increase your awareness about corruption in the world ? Access Transparency International – the global coalition against corruption.

Check out the Integrity Awards Winners from past years.

Read the Global Corruption Barometer 2009.

If you know other interesting sources about this topic, please leave a comment sharing it.

Playing for Change – Peace though music

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.

“We can do a lot more for this world if we work together, than we ever can apart.”

Did you like it? Check out the website for more information and songs!

…………!…!!…!!!…!!!!…!!!!!…!!!!!!…!!!!!!!…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How rich are you?

Where do you stand globally ??? How RICH  are you ???

Yes! How rich is the question because if you can read it and access the internet you might be richer than maaaaaaany people in this world. Do you want to know HOW MUCH ??? I invite you to check this website:

“The Global Rich List calculations are based on figures from the World Bank Development Research Group. “

If you have not seen the video posted on October 26th, check it out as well.

Pro-Poor Tourism. Do you know what it is?

One of the modules I have been taking at the University of Nottingham is “Managing and Marketing Tourism”. The lecturer is the Prof. Scott McCabe who has just launched the book “Marketing Communications in Tourism and Hospitality”. During one of the lectures he presented the following video which made me to research about this topic.

Feel free to navigate and read more on the links on the right side of this blog.

What is pro-poor tourism?

“Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people. PPT is not a specific product or niche sector but an approach to tourism development and management. It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction is increased and poor people are able to participate more effectively in product development. Links with many different types of ‘the poor’ need to be considered: staff, neighbouring communities, land-holders, producers of food, fuel and other suppliers, operators of micro tourism businesses, craft-makers, other users of tourism infrastructure (roads) and resources (water) etc. There are many types of pro poor tourism strategies, ranging from increasing local employment to building mechanisms for consultation. Any type of company can be involved in pro-poor tourism – a small lodge, an urban hotel, a tour operator, an infrastructure developer. The critical factor is not the type of company or the type of tourism, but that an increase in the net benefits that go to poor people can be demonstrated.” (www.propoortourism.org.uk)

International Day of Climate Action – Oct 24th 2009

350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.

Accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe zone at our current 390ppm, and that unless we are able to rapidly return to 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.

On October 24, join people all over the world to take a stand for a safe climate future.

There is still time. Visit 350.org to take part in one of the actions around the world. Fore sure one it very close to you!

Source: Think Green Resources Blog

Small actions, big changes

How organized consumer purchasing can change business ???

Check it out!

Watch the full video:

Source: CarrotMob.org

Do you believe you can change the world ??