An experiment in trust

Just how strong is trust in a modern society. That is something I discussed in one of the chapters of “Gentle Action: Bringing creative change to a turbulent world”. My conclusions was that while there are some exceptions where certain vested interests have an influence, in general trust is fairly healthy.

This is something that Paul Bellis Jones, a student from Wales, believed and in order to test this out he left a disposable camera on Tryfan mountain with a note asking walkers to take photographs of themselves and giving his address. His motive was to see if anyone would make off with the camera. All in all thirty different climbers took photographs and when the film had run out the camera was left there and returned to Jones by a National Park warden.

You can see the photographs at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209877/Camera-abandoned-student-mountain-returned-snaps-fellow-walkers.html

$25 incubator!

What happens to a premature baby that is born in a rural area some distance from a hospital? How to keep an at-risk baby warm without a $25,000 incubator? The answer is a $25 incubator pouch that can be heated in boiling water, made of materials that maintain warmth for a longer time. To see a presentation go to http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/21/a-25-baby-incubator.html.

Solar Power

30 year old Bashonti, resident of Noorgunj, a tiny village in the rural recesses of Bangladesh, probably has one of the greenest jobs in the world. She makes a living out of trapping and selling solar power. She knows little about the ongoing global debate on sustainable development and will probably stare blankly if someone tells her that governments across the planet are investing billions and billions of dollars to promote renewable energy production. But she will confidently rattle off the details of the 120 watt solar panel (including a battery!) installed at home, and how she earns more than 5000 takas every month assembling cooking stoves and mobile chargers that are powered by the sun. Once famous for its juicy jackfruits, Noorgunj, is now known in the region for its solar panel-dotted rooftops and solar entrepreneurs who are using sunlight as their core capital. – (names changed)

Plastic bags

Some supermarkets ask “Paper or Plastic” at the check out. Better still some shoppers take their own reusable bags with them. When Clare Hopkins encountered the www.morsbags.com site she learned that all over the world 1 millions plastic bags are used per minute. Many are concerned with the environmental impact, particularly on marine animals who ingest these bags and die.

And so 18 months ago Clare formed a group of people who meet regularly to make fabric bags from fabric given to them by the local charity shop. So far they have made and given away over 1000 bags. Their aim is to make their village plastic-bag free this year and they are well on track.

Lots of other benefits have come about, as Clare writes “we’ve met women we never would have come into contact with, shared stories, taught women to sew and learned sewing and general life skills and tips from each other. We’ve raised awareness about the sad dumping of fabric into landfill and the endless misuse of resources to make ‘new’ things….water, chemicals, power to weave new fabrics etc etc”

Frisbees for Africa

Francie White has written with a suggestion and a question.

Some time ago she and her 17 year old saw a documentary about saw a documentary about an African refugee and recalled vividly the unbelievable boredom of the hundreds of youths with absolutely nothing to do.

Her son has been playing with a newer type of frisbee, one that is extremely easy to throw accurately, called an Aerobie. He is interested in buying a slew of them (through fundraising) to send to such a refugee camp. If that sounds acceptable, we are looking for
a camp to begin with, and refugee international did not respond to our
question, despite the donation we sent. Anyone have a thought?

Thank you,
Francie White