all about the love

status: . <none>
mood: . steady .. still waiting for inspiration

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it's been a while, i know.. super busy, *sigh*
anyways, it's catchy & inspiring LSS sharing time once again...



All About The Love Again
(Stevie Wonder for Change is Now commemorative CD)

What if someone made a soda
That caused everyone to love each other
Oooh, oh yeah, it sounds good, to me
And if just a tiny pill can make us see
That we're truly sisters and brothers
Oooh, oh yeah it sounds so nice to me

And we would have no time to waste
On trivial things like war and pain
'Cos we'd be filled with joy to know
Through love the universe we've changed

To being all about the love again
All about the love my friend
This whole world will be all about the love again
We'd be all about the love again
No need to pretend
This whole would be all about the love again

What if someone came up with a lotion
That made everybody start sharing
Oooh, oh yeah it feels so good to me, yeah yeah
And some irresistible cologne that with one spray
There'd be no second thought of caring
Oooh, oh yeah it sounds so fine to me

And gone forever would be the day
Of hunger, homelessness and shame
'Cos for every single heart
The promise of endless love will reign

We'd be all about the love again
All about the love my friend
This whole world will be all about the love again

We'd be all about the love again
No need to pretend
This whole would be all about the love again

All about the love again
All about the love my friend
This whole world will be all about the love again

We'd be all about the love again
No need to pretend
This whole world would be all about God's love again

lyrics via StevieWonder's website
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learn to live by what we say

status: .<invisible>
mood: .procrastinating as always ;))

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this seems like an interesting read:
Profiles Encourage
Ordinary Filipinos Making an Extraordinary Difference
By Anna P. Hidalgo and Alejandra Otamendi

just 128 pages but the content seems nice..

i don't have a copy yet, I'll try to start the search this weekend.. :D

excerpts from the preface:

“What is it in the DNA of a young boy from Bulacan that tells us the Filipino is worth dying for?”
.....
It points toward a multitude of others—who are among us, living simple lives with passion, consistency, and hope. Citizens who are redefining heroism and what it means to be a Filipino: with each quiet deed, one after the other, from the grassroots to overseas, all of them in our midst.
.....
we endeavored to find that deep reservoir of heroism that quietly thrives around us. Just like the idealism one tries to nurture, the criteria we forged was unstintingly simple: we chose to write about people who were living lives of concrete action, meaningful results, and enduring integrity.
.....
We have found that in a nation with few leaders and too many politicians, often the simplest forms of patriotism can be the most effective.
.....
Every time these stories were repeated and shared with others, they became even more inspiring to both listener and teller. We wanted to share that experience, that unbridled power of example.
.....
these profiles are about ordinary people making an extraordinary difference by their lives and actions. Because these range from a lifetime of random acts of kindness, to programs that are showing the way to eradicate poverty and uplift our sense of nationhood, many of us will find companions in each of these living stories.
.....
To paraphrase a poet, we are approaching a time where history and hope can rhyme. These fellow Pinoys have lifted their voices, and on their behalf we extend an invitation to join that chorus.
This book is dedicated to Raul S. Roco, who showed us that the Filipino is worth living for.

the full preface can be read here


P.S.
I found out that the profiles included are of:
Jaime Aristotle Alip
Al Asuncion
Josette Biyo
John Burtkenley Ong
India and Javier Legaspi
Jika David
CP David
Nereus Acosta
Onofre Pagsanghan
Milwida “Nene” Guevarra

this article and this article from the inquirer somewhat sums up their achievements <-- the said articles itself are a good read =D ..

amplifying peace

status: . last day of long weekend
mood: . rested :D

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i got this link from a yoopee grouppost in multiply --> http://ohwhataview.multiply.com/journal/item/24/Amplifying_Peace_Across_Borders

It's a winning entry to the seventh annual International Essay Contest for Young People, sponsored by The Goi Peace Foundation.

The Goi Peace Foundation is dedicated to promoting world peace, transcending all boundaries of race, religion, or politics, with a belief that peace begins in the mind of each individual.

(now, I didn't know that before, I just knew it because one click to a link lead to another, and so it goes....)

when I first opened the website, i saw that it had a japanese (display) option. so my first instinct was to think that the foundation had japanese origins. then i instinctively thought of what "Goi" meant, it is japanese for dictionary or more specifically the meaning of a word. so i thought maybe, the foundation's named as such because it somehows promotes the search for the meaning of peace... :D but of course, i had to find out for sure, so a few more clicks lead me to the background of the foundation. ,,, oh well, so i was a little disappointed that my theory didn't hold. of course, a foundation is oftentimes named after someone. but i find it apt and cute in a way that the person it was named after was an educator, his surname suits him. =D

The seventh annual International Essay Contest for Young People received 4,029 entries from 138 countries covering 7 continents. From among many outstanding essays on this year's theme "The role of media and information and communication technologies in building a peaceful world."
Of those numbers, 3 entries from the Philippines were included in the list of winners. Congrats to following peeps:

1st prize - Youth category (1 entrant)
Amplifying Peace Across Borders
Anna Rosario A. Elicaño (Age 24, The Philippines)

It is a relief to know that, with media and communication technologies, there are several platforms for peacemakers to speak out.

Each generation has its peacemakers. What this generation will see are peacemakers who will not only sow peace but amplify it across borders, empowered by media and communication technologies. Some will speak about specific advocacies. Others, by simply sharing aspects of themselves and their cultures, will foster connection and understanding.

In the information age, the new batch of peacemakers will say that it chooses the Internet, blogs, and television over guns, bombs, and tanks.

3rd prize - Children's category (5 entrants)
Peace Begins with Love
Wendyll Ermac Mejia (Age 12, The Philippines)

When there's no war in the world, there is peace. Peace is very important because it helps countries to progress.
I know a little about Muslims. They also believe in a God whom they call Allah and his prophet Mohammad. Their religion is Islam. When they pray, they bend their knees and bow to their God, Allah. Their Bible is called QURAN. They also believe in one God, and worship on Friday's in a mosque.
Peace begins with me.

honorable mention - Children's category (25 entrants)
Building a Culture of Peace
Denise Anne Castro (Age 11, The Philippines)

Nobody wants to live in a world with a culture of violence and conflict. It's about time we act as globally responsive citizens and do our own little share of building a peaceful world through the proper use of media and information and communication technologies. It's time we make our world a better and safer place.

you can click on their names to view their full entries...
[ beaming with pinoy pride :D ]
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you give a little love and it all comes back to you

status: .everytime you do good, the world changes
mood: .procrastinating at a very bad time


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my current lss is because of this TVC :D



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then i did a bit of a googling,, found this cute video and the full lyrics of the song and the movie where it came from :D

You Give A Little Love
(from the film Bugsy Malone)

We could've been anything that we wanted to be
And it's not too late to change
I'd be delighted to give it some thought
Maybe you'll agree that we really ought

two, three, four

We could've been anything that we wanted to be
Yes, that decision is ours
It's been decided we're weaker divided
Let friendship double up our powers

We could've been anything that we wanted to be
And I'm not saying that we should
But if we try it, we'd learn to abide it
We could be the best at bein' good guys

Flowers of the earth
Who can even guess how much a real friend is worth?
Good guys

Shake an open hand
May we'd be trusting if we try to understand

No doubt about it It must be worthwhile
Good friends do tend to make you smile

We could've been anything that we wanted to be
Yes, that decision is ours
It's been decided we're weaker divided
Let friendship double up our powers

You give a little love
And it all comes back to you
da da da ra da da da
You know you gonna be remembered
For the things that you say and do
da da da ra da da da

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a bit of trivia...
In 2007 during the Super Bowl XLI, an animated Coca-Cola commercial was based around the song You Give a Little Love from Bugsy Malone. It was animated to look like the action computer game Grand Theft Auto. But they replaced the character's normal actions of anger and crime with opposite redeeming actions. The song, You Give a Little Love starts when our character throws some money in the guitar case of a street musician and he starts singing it. It builds from there to a loud musical chorus with an animated cast of hundreds all dancing in the street and singing the words from the song. <--- referring to the TVC above. ..

Make Change Work For You

status: .in a trance
mood: .disoriented

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September 10, 2007
Useful Transformation
Make Change Work For You Transformation is a universal constant that affects our lives from the moment we are born until we leave earthly existence behind. At the root of all growth, we find change. Occasionally, change and the circumstances leading up to it are a source of extraordinary joy, but more often than not they provoke feelings of discomfort, fear, or pain. Though many changes are unavoidable, we should not believe that we are subject to the whims of an unpredictable universe. It is our response to those circumstances that will dictate the nature of our experiences. At the heart of every transformation, no matter how chaotic, there is substance. When we no longer resist change and instead regard it as an opportunity to grow, we find that we are far from helpless in the face of it.

read more

Change can hurt in the short term but, if you are willing to embrace it proactively, its lasting impact will nearly always be physically, spiritually, and intellectually transformative.

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a story I too, hesitate to share , , ,

status: .long weekend.
mood: .resting.

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i'm posting this verbatim from a letter from unicef that I received a few days ago.
I scanned it, used OCR, and here it goes:
- - - - - - - -

A story I hesitate to share . . .

Dear ,

You will forgive my dismay when I first heard this story, and my apprehension now as I share it with you. But in my years of traveling around the world, this is one story that has broken my heart, and yet left me with a firm determination to continue with the work we are doing.

It started, you see, with a six-year-old boy, hiding with his parents, his cousins, his brothers, his sisters, his playmates, his uncles, his aunts—pretty much everyone in their small community.

All of them had been herded into a holy place, a place made sacred by prayer and fasting, a place that was home to God's message of peace as taught in the Holy Koran. It was in the middle of the hilly, fertile fields of Carmen, North Cotabato, surrounded by the huts of hard-working farmers who tilled the land.

Inside the mosque, all of them were uncertain of what would happen. Surely, the armed men surrounding them outside were just making threats, just showing off. Surely, the armed men with their rifles and their bolos had no reason to fear the elderly men, frightened women and confused children all huddled together in this place of Allah.

But then it started. One shot. Then two. Then all together, a storm of noise and smoke. And blood.

Blood was everywhere. On the floor. On the clothes. Seeping out of women and children and old men.

It was the blood that saved him, the six-year-old boy who had been hiding with his loving mother and his devout father. The blood of his family was splattered all over his arms, his hair, his clothes, his face. There was so much blood, the armed men did not bother to shoot again. He did not hide, he said, he just stayed where he was and waited for the men to leave.

Once the men had gone, he stood up slowly and looked around. The only person left breathing was his half-sister, and together they left — away from the holy place that had been fouled by the armed men, away from the bodies and the loving family whose blood had covered them and protected them from being shot again and again and again.

It would be years before he could come back to the village he considered home, years of walking, hiding, and fending for himself. A year after the massacre, the child was working the fields for food, and the year after, and the year after that. He had no thoughts of school or play or anything that children 6 or 7 or 8 years old would normally have had. It was all about the fields, the sun, the walking from one town to another to avoid the bullets, the artillery, the blood.

You might ask how I came to know this story. After all, the incident happened in June 1971, in a rural, isolated part of Mindanao.

You see, the man who told me the story was the 6-year-old boy who had seen his family die in front of him.

He is now the leader of the same village he had left that night, more than 30 years ago. We were talking in his house, with his teenage sons around him. His daughter served us glasses of water. At the yard in front of his house, the government midwife who came with us, went about vaccinating children brought in by parents from nearby houses.

"I want my children to finish school. Nobody wants to fight anymore, because we are tired of fighting. And no one ends up winning, and we never get to stop. My children must have a better life than mine," said the former, blood-splattered six-year-old boy who had grown to become a father.

I asked him about the name of his community. I had heard that it was called Sitio Masaker, a name it acquired in 1971 after that fateful day.

"Yes," he confirmed with a hint of a sad smile, "we used to call this Sitio Masaker. But now we call it Sitio Buntod." Never has a name been more apt or full of hope. As the "bunted" the town has come to be called denotes "spring" or rebirth, the community now rises anew from its unfortunate past. "However, some people still call it Sitio Masaker. Some call it Sitio Masaker-Buntod. But I prefer that we be known as Sitio Buntod, because there really is no need to remind people of what happened here."

I do not know if, given the same fate, I would have behaved the same way. I am thankful that, in the hilly, fertile fields of Mindanao, the people have tired of fighting and of remembering the violent past.

It is inspiring to see that people are starting to think of a future where their children can lead better lives, where parents can look after sons and daughters and help them finish school and start careers and families of their own. Lives of peace.

There comes a rare moment in history when people tire of revenge, and start thinking that days of peace can become lives of peace. Now is such a moment. Your previous help to UNICEF was instrumental in helping us develop programs to help children all over the Philippines, including the Days of Peace program launched in Mindanao this year.

I hope you can spare at least P500 per month, so that we can continue providing the families in Mindanao the tools needed for a life of peace. It doesn't take much — schools, daycare centers, an environment where children can learn that problems can be solved without using guns and spilling blood. Your donation and continued support will help them to not only rewrite their lives, but also to change the course of their people's history.

It's a critical moment - and the momentum for peace is building. Your P500 monthly pledge isn't lust going to help children, but will also help to create a new world of peace in a part of the Philippines that has not known it for centuries.

We have made arrangements for UNICEF staff to contact you within the month to answer possible queries you may have in making a pledge. However, should you wish not to hear from us, please indicate this in the Business Reply Envelope included in this mailer.

Sincerely Yours,
(signed) Dr. Nicholas K. Alipui
Country Representative

P.S. The price of peace doesn't have to be paid in blood - a small monthly donation of P500 can bring about lasting change in Mindanao. The donation you give will suppor not only schools, day care centers, and healthcare programs for children. It will also give the families in war-torn areas the gift of hop for a new, better future. We can all play a significant part in making sure that this future will come to pass, by helping them rewrite the course of their history today.
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. I really don't have money to spare right now, so I figured posting this for others to read is the least I can do. I'm hoping to inspire others. I'm skipping the offer to help. But maybe do and you'd like to. *wink*

If you're interested, I can give you the business reply envelope that came with this letter. Or you could use the details below:
Address: UNICEF, 31/F Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza,
6819 Ayala Avenue corner Gil. Puyat Avenue, Makati CIty
Tel. No: (02) 758-1000; Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm
Fax No: (02) 901-0195
Website: www. unicef.org/philippines

http://www.unicef.org/philippines/support/index.html

life's buoys

status: . long weekend.
mood: .resting.

.I have thought of sharing stuff I encounter (be it from another site or from day to day experience) that inspire me, which I hope can inspire others, too. I'll still have my blurry blog for my musings and adventures. This is just to make things a bit more organized. hehe


A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes, which determine whether the buoy is anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift.

A lifebuoy is used as a life saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in the water to provide buoyancy. Usually has a connecting line allowing the casualty to be pulled to the rescuer.

The word "buoyed" can also be used figuratively. For example, a person could buoy ('lift up') up his partner's spirits by providing help and empathy.
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