Heart Travel: Travel Agency With A Heart

The three tallest buildings in Singapore are l...Image via Wikipedia

Heart Travel might look like a regular travel agency, with its colourful posters of holiday destinations and racks of vacation brochures.

But, operating from a space in a community club in Ang Mo Kio, it does not just sell holiday packages: It also trains needy Singaporeans to be travel consultants, though they may have neither prior experience in the field nor the expected educational qualifications for the job.

Heart Travel, the first ’social enterprise’ in this field, hopes these individuals can find work in other travel agencies after about six months on the job.  Read more... (135 words + 2 images, estimated 32 secs reading time)

September 1st, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: News | Leave a comment

Luntian Bags

Map of the Philippines with Batangas highlighted

Image via Wikipedia

Last April, I read this Time article and the numbers stunned me- “Every year, more than 500 billion plastic bags are distributed, and less than 3% of those bags are recycled. They are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases.”

More than the numbers, however, my main takeaway was that we (normal people and not scientists or radical activists) can do something about it- “Reducing your contribution to plastic-bag pollution is as simple as using a cloth bag (or one made of biodegradable plant-based materials) instead of wasting plastic ones. For your next trip to the grocery store, BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag).” Hmmmm, I can do that. And maybe I can get other people to do it, too.  Read more... (321 words + 1 image, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

June 25th, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Blogs, Others | Leave a comment

Kiva – Loans That Change Lives

We Let You Loan to the Working Poor

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

Rubbish picking is a common livelihood strategy for people living in poverty around the world, with many communities growing around garbage dumps, as shown here in East Cipinang, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Image via Wikipedia

The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.  Read more... (362 words + 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

May 29th, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Others | One comment

No Worries

Tom was feeling depressed. So he went to the bar to drown his sorrows. He was glad to see his good friend, John, was at the bar too.

Tom said to John, “You know what, John? Problems, problems, and more problems. Worries, worries, and more worries. That’s all I get everywhere I turn. I’ve had enough of all these. If anyone could help me put all my problems and worries away, hey, I wouldn’t mind paying him a fortune.”

“Well, Tom,” said John. “I know of this community of a few thousands. I don’t hear them complaining about anything and they have totally no worries. Maybe you’d like to meet them and move  in with them?”  Read more... (186 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

March 5th, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Stories | Leave a comment