building on the future

Published on by Helen Martin4 Comments

2014 seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. It has been a year since my last blog. A year since my friend and mentor passed away. And, almost a year since I moved back to the UK from Hong Kong.

A year which started quite apprehensively, ended up ticking all of my boxes. It has been a year of sabbatical, travel, fun, family, friends, moving, new home and a fantastic new job.

In my new role at GE Capital, I was quickly asked to be our site’s representative for community activities. One of the organisations that GE sponsors is buildOn. BuildOn is an international nonprofit organization that runs youth service afterschool programs in United States high schools, and builds schools in developing countries.

Our local activities in London, served to raise funds to build a school in Malawi; a school that 15 volunteers, from our division, will help to build. What a pleasure to see the pride and excitement of our volunteers when they heard that they had reached their goal and they would be on their way to Malawi this year. Their own one year journey of business plans and fund raising had come to an end and the new part of their journey soon begins.

Having a break in one’s career, whether it’s a sabbatical or not, can be scary for anyone but if it’s used well, it can ensure that you return with renewed energy and vigour, ready to ‘build on’ your life and career. My year has helped me reflect on how fortunate I am, what compromises I am willing to make in my life and how much I am willing to give. I am happy or be back and blogging and I promise it won’t be a year until my next blog post.

A tribute to Robert Pino

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Yesterday morning whilst reading Facebook, I learned that someone I’ve known for 12 years had died suddenly of a heart attack and during the last 24 hours, I have followed the many comments, the shock and the sadness about his sudden departure.

People come into our lives for longer or shorter periods of time. Some of these people make a real mark on how we think and how we see the world; whilst others pass fleetingly, just brushing against the fabric of our life.

I have so many people to be thankful for in my life. So many people who have ‘moulded’ me into the person I am today. So many people, without whom my life would be a very different, emptier and less colourful place.

Robert asked me on more than one occasion why I’d been to San Francisco on business and had not visited him and Adela-May in LA. I didn’t go because I didn’t have time. But, the fact is; I didn’t make the time. And, now that Robert’s no longer with us, I’ll never be given that opportunity ever, again.

A long life is not guaranteed and it can be over in the blink of an eye. Posthumous words, celebrating someone’s life, however beautifully written, remain posthumous. Let’s try to avoid writing sonnets about someone’s life after their death. Instead make time and give those wonderful people in your life the credit that’s due to them before they leave our lovely planet: give them a call, take them for a coffee, write a note, a Facebook post, tweet, have a skype date, take out an ad……the list goes on and on. Just let them know, how they’ve impacted you and your life. Be mindful.

Robert Pino, I will miss your innovative way of thinking, your inspirational workshops and discussions, your infectious smile and wicked sense of humour. Robert, RIP. Adela-May, I wish you strength!

Typhoon Haiyan and making Tacloban a safer place

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Living in Asia these past couple of years has taught me a thing or two about extreme weather conditions. I have ‘lived through’ Typhoons Kaitak and Usagi. Whether a typhoon is described as mild, violent or exceptionally powerful as was the case of Haiyan, they are all terrifying when your home and family are being ‘attacked’ by the uncontrollable forces of nature.

In Tacloban, Philippines, they received the full force of Haiyan and you can follow the death and destruction on many global TV stations. But what happens a few days, weeks or months after a disaster occurs? How much relief actually gets through?

Well, if you’re my family doctor and good friend, Dr. Sue Jamieson, you buy 500,000 Hong Kong Dollars worth of vaccines, antibiotics and medicines and get on a plane to Manilla and on a military flight from Manilla to Tacloban to start vaccinating thousands of people against airborne diseases.

But don’t take my word for it, follow the link and watch Sue tell her own story in a short 2 minutes and read her blog and website about the trip to Tacloban.

What do YOU do when there’s a disaster in the world? For starters, you can sit back and thank your lucky stars that it wasn’t you! But, you can also help the people on the ground, from the comfort of your own home, through your donation. The suffering for many, only starts AFTER a typhoon has subsided and the devastation is understood. You can help Dr. Sue Jamieson pay for vaccinations, medicine and antibiotics by making a donation to:

Dr. Sue Jamieson
HSBC Hong Kong, 1 Queens Rd Central
Account no 083-537894-833
SWIFT code (no BIC needed) HSBCHKHHHKH
OR
PAYPAL UNDER ‘drsuej@gmail.com’

Thank You!

Helping dreams come true in Africa

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It no longer surprises me when people I know and admire, send me emails about the fantastic charities they are supporting. Lisette van der Ham volunteers at Sypo, a Dutch NGO, which was started in 2003 to support entrepreneurial projects in the Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda.

Initially, Sypo worked with a Ugandan partner to give loans to women in Uganda. The non-paternalistic nature of their approach combined with their emphasis on efficiency meant that though the years the focus of the NGO shifted to microfinance; women choose what to do with their loans and repay with interest, instead of having to be thankful for Western-planned handouts.

The NGO now offers low-cost, accessible and transparent loans to rural Ugandan women, tailored to their needs. And, their ambition is to build a microfinance company with a portfolio of 3,000 loans by the end of 2015, whilst maintaining current repayments of over 99%.

Black, white, yellow, brown and all the colours in between; women around the world all have dreams and want similar things; to improve the lives of their families; get an education; enjoy life, often by starting or expanding a simple business.

You can help make a dream come true.

Watch the video
Learn how it works
Review the loans and choose a project to sponsor

Thanks for sharing Lisette!

Heroes

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Recently, my twenty year old nephew started work at the RSL in Castle Hill, Sydney. The RSL in Australia was founded as a direct result of the camaraderie, concern and mateship shown for the welfare of returning veterans during and after the 1914 – 1918 War. That ethos of compassion and service remains the motivating influence of the League today.

Cameron is a regular university student who needs extra cash to fund his ‘party-going lifestyle’. It took Cameron quite some time to be noticed by the RSL HR department. So, when he was finally offered a job there, he was ecstatic and while I was visiting Sydney in February this year, he was doing an entire traineeship, learning everything there is to know about the RSL.

Heroes are born every minute but I don’t necessarily think of heroes  and family in the same sentence. Yesterday however, that changed. Whilst scanning my Facebook page, I read Cameron’s latest post . While, he was at work, his quick thinking and his knowledge of CPR, saved a man’s life.

Cameron really wanted a part-time job at the RSL and as he describes it, became a ‘habitual applicant’ to finally get a job there. He was thankfully in the right place, at the right time and with the state of mind to act quickly and calmly. The world works in mysterious ways but we definitely need more heroes in it. I’m proud of you. Well done Cam!

Finding the good inside little boxes

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Throughout our lives, we put people into little boxes, often deciding in advance in which box people belong. In the past, I would have described myself as a product of the eighties. We valued large salaries, big cars, even larger homes and a fantastic career path. We gave no thought to philanthropy, the environment, doing business sustainably or giving back in any way whatsoever. Anyone that knows me today however, will know that the box that I fit into today is quite different from when I started my career many years ago.

I made the same incorrect assumption of an ex-colleague, Niels Hovestad. Niels is driven by marketing, ensuring that the company’s he works for are successful, profitable and represented well in the market. Whilst this is probably a correct description of Niels as a businessman, he is also driven by doing good and giving back.

Four years ago Niels worked on a project in Ethiopia with AMREF. This year, Niels has entered the Kenya Classic, to collect money for AMREF Flying Doctors (African Medical and Research Foundation). AMREF’s vision is for long lasting health change in Africa. They believe in the inherent power within African communities – that the power for lasting transformation of Africa’s health lies within its communities. They work with some of the poorest and most marginalised people in Africa; those living in remote rural areas, urban slums, nomadic populations and areas affected by conflict.

Niels has rallied 11 of his colleagues to cycle the 375 kilometers along with him, through the Kenyan heat. I fear he’ll encounter much more than just “Dutch mountains” in Kenya (since the Netherlands is flat, a Dutch mountain is any slight inclination e.g. a bridge), much like when he cycled for charity through Ethiopia a year ago. “The things I saw in Ethiopia four years ago, made me realise just how privileged I am. That’s why I decided to cycle along with 11 of my colleagues through Kenya this year, to collect money for AMREF”, said Niels.

Niels and his colleagues only want to collect a meager €60,000. Let’s help him. Every penny collected will go directly to AMREF, to help fund their many initiatives. If you’re based in the Netherlands, you’ll be able to sponsor through this site with ease, however if you want to sponsor and you’re outside of the Netherlands, please use the following details, which can be found on the Kenyaclassic.com website:
If you are using a foreign bank account while donating, you can use the following IBAN or BIC code and transfer the money to EMO Foundation/KenyaClassic in the Netherlands:
IBAN: NL36INGB0651986036
BIC: INGBNL2A
Please clearly state the name of the team or participant you are sponsoring – in this case Niels Hovestad.

So, before you assume (making an ass out of u and me) or place someone you’ve just met into a little box, ask a few more questions. You may be amazed to realise that people are far more interesting than you’d dare to believe.

Namasté

Be the change you want to see in the world

Published on by Helen Martin1 Comment

Every year on March 8th, people around the world celebrate International Women’s Day. This is a day to recognize the plight of many women around the world, still struggling for some basic rights, but also to celebrate how far many women and countries have come.

It’s sad that young women are still being shot, trying to protect just one of their fundamental rights; the right to Education. 14 year old Malala Yousafzai from Pakistani is living proof of this, but too many people still lose their lives in this struggle.
 
In Europe, Australasia and the Americas, Cisco women arrange events and share their own personal success stories to celebrate this day. Their hope: to educate young women to stand up for what they believe in, to talk about their past experiences, their diverse cultures, backgrounds and languages and to dare to dream. 
 
So, you may be wondering why I’m writing about this activity now, almost 2 months later. We need to understand that International Women’s Day is not just about one day in a year. It’s about continually sharing knowledge, sharing ideals and dreams and empowering women and men, young and old, to believe in themselves and ‘to be the change they want to see in the world’.