Service: South Africa

We have a number of links in South Africa and next October one of our key projects will be based at Umzingisi School in Port Elizabeth. The Stanley boys have forged strong links with this community over a number of years and we are now opening up the opportunity for all doing Junior Social Apprentice. Umzingisi is a school of sporting excellence so getting actively involved is a must. There will also be a number of projects running in local townships and schools including work at a soup kitchen.

The challenge will be in coaching, teaching and leadership and to develop an understanding of new cultures. Planning to be done will include sourcing flights, finding out about activities, risk assessments and significant fundraising. Costs will be in the region of ?1500 per pupil; however, this will be dependent on securing flights early. Fundraising target will be to secure 30-40 long term sponsors per group each willing to make a regular charitable donation.?

Source: http://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/service/jnr-social-apprentice/south-africa

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Backpacking travel & Outdoor adventure: 2012 - Backpacking to ...

Backpacking to Perth

Cape to Cape of Margaret River Valley
07 Sep. to 18 Sep. 2012

Day 03 Sun. (09.09.2012) ? Boating at Canning River a tributary of the Swan River


Dave prepared the morning breakfast of toasted bread, eggs, noodle, baked beans and coffee. While waiting for my high school friend, Jenny Chuah to come over to meet us, Dave and Gerard took the boat out into the Canning River. We spent the day of family picnicking and boating by the Canning River together with Dave?s brother, sister-in-law, children and grandchildren.

As usual, Dave?s spirit session started at 4.30 pm and followed by wine. For another good dinner it was grilled beef and sausages. I too helped out to cook a prawn dish. Monica invited my friend Jenny Chuah and hubby Kelvin Tan for dinner. Jenny Chuah is from Teluk Intan, Perak and Kelvin Tan is from Malacca, Malaysia ? both migrated to Perth in the late seventies.

Sleeping: Seah?s Haven
Temperature: Sunny 26?C/13?C

Backpacking to Perth WA day 1, 2
Backpacking to Perth WA day 3
Backpacking to Perth WA day 4
Backpacking to Perth WA day 5
Backpacking to Perth WA day 6
Backpacking to Perth WA day 7
Backpacking to Perth WA day 8
Backpacking to Perth WA day 9
Backpacking to Perth WA day 10,11,12

click here to continue day 4

Source: http://chingnengbin.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-backpacking-to-perth-day-3.html

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Buffett's kids use dad's ideas to invest in giving

(AP) ? As they work to give away part of Warren Buffett's roughly $47 billion fortune, his three children have adopted an approach that looks remarkably similar to their father's technique for making all that money.

Like Buffett, each relies on tiny staffs. And just like their father invests only in businesses he understands, they restrict their giving to their targeted projects.

Warren Buffett doesn't direct how the foundations created by Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett spend the estimated $2.6 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock they'll receive, but his children seem to have absorbed his philosophy.

"I think the only pressure I feel from him is making sure we're smart about how we spend the money," said Howard Buffett. "He's had no influence on where we give money, but he's had a big influence on how we go about it."

Buffett's children have focused on different topics, reflecting their divergent interests.

Howard Buffett is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more to reduce world hunger. Susie Buffett is strengthening early childhood education and looking for ways to reduce teen pregnancy. And Peter Buffett wants to empower women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration and economic development to end violence against women.

"We're given this amazing opportunity to try and make change where we can," Peter Buffett said. "And being our father's children, we don't think small."

The Buffett children have all been running foundations their parents set up for them since the late 1990s, but they had to dramatically increase their giving after 2006 when Warren Buffett announced his overall giving plan and the children received their first annual gift of stock worth roughly $65 million to each of them.

They'll have to ramp up their giving again because Buffett's annual gifts of Berkshire Hathaway stock will increase to roughly $100 million to $125 million to each child next summer.

Although his children's foundations will each eventually receive stock worth about $2.6 billion, their charitable work is still overshadowed by their dad's main pledge to give the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation stock worth more than $44 billion.

Warren Buffett is also giving nearly $4.4 billion worth of stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for the investor's first wife, who died in 2004. That organization promotes women's reproductive health and tries to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.

All three younger Buffetts said they're glad their father encouraged them to take risks, so they wouldn't be afraid to tackle difficult issues.

The Buffett children also said they are glad their parents had the foresight to set up separate foundations for each of them, so they could all go their own way.

Howard Buffett regularly travels to poverty-stricken parts of the world to talk with farmers and check up on projects his foundation has funded, but the 57-year-old often doesn't tell his dad where he's going until after he returns to avoid worrying him about the dangers of destinations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Howard Buffett, who raises corn and soybeans in Illinois, likes to get a close look at the challenges those farmers he's trying to help face. He said when he's travelling he's reminded of how his mother would try to help anyone in need she encountered.

"It's very hard for me to walk into those circumstances and not try to do something," he said.

In his giving, Howard Buffett tries to focus on programs that can be continued after the initial grant ends, so he doesn't support introducing expensive hybrid seeds and irrigation in places where farmers can't afford them.

The elder Buffett manages one of the world's largest conglomerates with a tiny staff of two dozen at its Omaha headquarters, and Howard, Susie and Peter run their foundations with staffs less than half that size.

Peter Buffett, 54, said the three children also have applied their father's belief in limiting his investments to areas he understands.

"You want to be as focused on an end goal as you can be," Peter Buffett said. "In a very practical way, it helps you say no."

Peter Buffett, who is a musician and composer, is working on leveling the playing field for women and girls worldwide through a variety of programs. He hopes that if girls, particularly in impoverished areas, can get access to more resources and education they'll be ready to play a larger role in their communities and decision making.

Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation also support programs to help U.S. schools teach kids social and emotional skills and sound decision-making.

Susie Buffett said she enjoys trying to tackle messy, human problems that aren't easy to solve, much like her mom did.

"That comes directly from my childhood. It is what I watched my mother do," said Susie Buffett, 59. "She had me in the car with her at a very early age in the housing projects and deep in the community. She was very involved personally. It was not a check-writing thing. It was her being there."

Susie Buffett was always interested in education, but she decided to focus her giving on early childhood education after asking Omaha's schools superintendent where she could make the biggest difference.

Because Susie Buffett is the only one of Warren's children living in Omaha, she also uses her Sherwood Foundation to support Omaha nonprofits that help make the city a better place and help low-income neighborhoods.

Warren Buffett's decision to increase the amount of money he is giving his children's foundations indicates he supports their work, and he praised their philanthropy.

"Everything has impressed me," Buffett said "They're each doing things they have a special interest in which they have some special abilities too. And they work very hard at it."

___

Follow Josh Funk online at www.twitter.com/funkwrite

___

Online:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com

Sherwood Foundation: http://www.sherwoodfoundation.org

Howard G. Buffett Foundation: http://www.thehowardgbuffettfoundation.org

NoVo Foundation: http://novofoundation.org

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation: http://www.stbfoundation.org

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-09-29-US-Buffett's-Benevolence/id-fbf2ea7492e44add96c5725382bea612

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Madrid anti-austerity protests turn violent again

Protestors gather near Parliament against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro. Banner reads 'Hate debt, referendum'.(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

Protestors gather near Parliament against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro. Banner reads 'Hate debt, referendum'.(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

Protestors gather and shout near Parliament against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

Protestors gather near Parliament to protest against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

Protestors gather near Parliament demonstrating against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

Protestors kiss while others gather near Parliament demonstrating against austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. In Madrid, demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)

(AP) ? Tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese rallied in the streets of their countries' capitals Saturday to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity measure, and the demonstration in Madrid turned violent after Spaniards enraged over a long-lasting recession and sky-high unemployment clashed with riot police for the third time in less than a week near Parliament.

The latest violence came after thousands of Spaniards who had marched close to the Parliament building in downtown Madrid protested peacefully for hours. Police with batons later moved in just before midnight to clear out those who remained late because no permission had been obtained from authorities to hold the demonstration.

Some protesters responded by throwing bottles and rocks. An Associated Press photographer saw police severely beat one protester who was taken away in an ambulance.

Spain's state TV said early Sunday that two people were hurt and 12 detained near the barricades erected in downtown Madrid to shield the Parliament building. Television images showed police charging protesters and hitting them with their batons, but the violence did not appear as severe as a protest on Tuesday when 38 people were arrested and 64 injured.

Earlier, the boisterous crowds let off ear-splitting whistles and yelled "Fire them, fire them!" ? referring to the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and venting their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro currency.

On Friday, Rajoy's administration presented a 2013 draft budget that will cut overall spending by ?40 billion ($51.7 billion), freezing the salaries of public workers, cutting spending for unemployment benefits and even reducing spending for Spain's royal family next year by 4 percent.

Pablo Rodriguez, a 24-year-old student doing a master's in agricultural development in Denmark, said the austerity measures and bad economy mean most of his friends in Spain are unemployed or doing work they didn't train for.

He plans to work abroad after graduating and doubts he will put his education to use in Spain until he is at least 35 or 40, if ever.

"I would love to work here, but there is nothing for me here," Rodriguez said. "By the time the economy improves it will be too late. I will be settled somewhere else with a family. One of the disasters in Spain is they spent so much to educate me and so many others and they will lose us."

Madrid authorities put the number of protesters at 4,500 ? though demonstrators said the crowd was larger. In neighboring Portugal, tens of thousands took to the streets of Lisbon Saturday afternoon to peacefully protest against even deeper austerity cutbacks than Spain has imposed.

Retired banker Antonio Trinidade said the budget cuts Portugal is locked into in return for the nation's ?78 billion ($101 billion) bailout are making the country's economy the worst he has seen in his lifetime. His pension has been cut, and he said countless young Portuguese are increasingly heading abroad because they can't make a living at home.

"The government and the troika controlling what we do because of the bailout just want to cut more and more and rob from us," Trinidade said, referring to the troika of creditors ?the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "The young don't have any future, and the country is on the edge of an abyss. I'm getting toward the end of my life, but these people in their 20s or 30s don't have jobs, or a future."

In Spain, Rajoy has an absolute majority and has pushed through waves of austerity measures over the last nine months ? trying to prevent Spain from being forced into the same kind of bailouts taken by Portugal, Ireland and Greece. But the country has an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent, and the jobless rate is more than 50 percent for those under age 25.

Investors worried about Spain's economic viability have forced up the interest rate they are willing to pay to buy Spanish bonds. The country's banks hurting from a property boom that went bust are set to get help soon from a ?100 billion ($129 billion) financial lifeline from the eurozone, and Rajoy is pondering whether to ask for help from the ECB to buy Spanish bonds.

Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said Saturday that the budget cuts for next year were necessary to ease market tensions and try to bring down high interest rates Spain must pay to get investors to buy its bonds.

___

Associated Press photographer Andres Kudacki in Madrid and television producer Yesica Fisch in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-09-29-Europe-Austerity%20Protests/id-721147ae8cce488bb963b24c750f75f2

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Malaysia: Private developers must join government in building ...

It is projected that by 2020 the Greater Kuala Lumpur area population will rise from 4.5 million people to 10 million. The Business Times reports developers are signing on in support of participating in affordable housing building programs in order to create enough for middle-income families.

If the average household in the country has four people, this will mean there is a need to build 150,000 new houses a year, and this is compared to the only 200,000 new and old homes combined sold nationwide last year. In addition, recently the Selangor state government imposed a 30 percent development charge on all improvements that it has allowed on any development land. This, in combination with increasing costs in materials and labour, is also driving up the cost of what housing is being built across the country.

Real Estate and Housing Developers? Association (Rehda) deputy president Datuk FD Iskandar told the Business Times he sees a lot of support by developers to meet the demand for quality affordable housing and that the 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA) established by the government ?cannot do it alone.?

?We are willing to cooperate with them,? he says.

Iskander also points to the Selangor State Economic Development Corporation (PKNS), established in the 1970s, and calls on them to meet what he says was their initial goal to build affordable housing.

?Sadly today, PKNS is selling houses that are priced at more than RM1 million (US$326,370),? says Iskander. ?Where is their social responsibility? They get cheap land while private developers pay at market rate. On top of that, PKNS gets other benefits, yet they are building expensive houses.?

Iskandar, who is also Glomac Bhd group managing director, says PR1MA can be the facilitator of projects to build affordable homes by private developers, ?as it has the list of first-time home buyers.?

He further says the federal and state governments could also identify pockets of land in their respective areas to be tasked to private developers to build affordable homes.

?The authorities can even stipulate that these developments must have as high as 50 percent affordable units,? Iskander adds.

In this respect, the Business Times says PKNS has a ?crucial role to play? as it still has plenty of land to be developed.

?The state must do its part in solving the housing woes of the rakyat, especially the middle-income,? writes columnist Khaidir A Majid.

This perception is supported by Iskander.

?The high-income earner has no problems buying houses. So too for the lower-income earners who are entitled for low-cost houses,? Iskander explains. ?It is the middle-income group which is feeling the pinch.?

However, Iskandar says buyers must also change their mindset in choosing housing location.

?You cannot expect to buy an affordable unit in Bangsar (Kuala Lumpur) at RM300,000. An affordable unit there might be RM1 million, while those in Shah Alam RM400,000 and Rawang RM300,000,? he says.

The Business Times says private developers are already building affordable houses in some areas, but many of these developments are remote from Kuala Lumpur where land is cheaper. However, public transit is being extended with the federal government currently building multi-billion ringgit Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Mass Rail Transit (MRT) systems.

Source: http://www.property-report.com/malaysia-private-developers-must-join-government-in-building-affordable-housing-25108

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