Full Steam Ahead
December 3, 2009 on 4:45 am
Filed Under:Other Stuff
2010 and 2011 are looking to be epic years for PALA with the final planning stages of Bad Altitude being sorted and Part Two of Operation Yak Hat for July 2010 in preliminary stages.
Operation Bad Altitude’s Kilimanjaro trip will now include visits to some of the orphanages around Moshi and Arusha and contact has been established with 4 shelters within the region so far. Additional funding provided by Synergy and PALA now means we can make a huge difference not only in our own back yard, but leave some positive footprints in Tanzania as well. Almost 10% of the population in Tanzania is affected by AIDS. As pregnancy accelerates the effects of the virus, this means many children are left orphaned at very early stages of their lives. NPOs such as Cradle Of Love in Arusha provide shelter for orphaned and HIV infected babies. From the website: “Since it responds to those found HIV positive, there will be times when a baby dies; however, that infant will feel loved and secure until its last breath.”
This hit me pretty hard when I read it, and after the PALA visit I will be sponsoring a child at this place. For $100 per month, you can as well, this provides all the care needed for an infant within the shelter. As with any developing country, please wait until after the PALA official visit and report before making donations on our advice, although most of these websites are genuine, there are scam sites that do collect money and in fact do not exist. PALA ensures all of it’s resources and advice given to others is targeted directly to where it is needed.
Part 2 of Operation Yak Hat begins mid-year 2010 with a short visit back to Nah Trang, then up through the mountain region of Sapa and down through into Laos where it will concentrate efforts at the Luang Prabang Orphanage. Fundraising events including a Thundercat or two will go toward supplying the school with clothing for over 500 children currently at the school. Again please wait for the PALA visit before committing to our advice but more can be read about the school here.
Thanks for visiting us, keep checking back for more news and thank you for your support.
Scotty.
Here’s a video from our last trip:
Where does the money go for Bad Altitude?
November 6, 2009 on 7:15 pm
Filed Under:Other Stuff
There’s been a few questions for this, so let me tell you.
Team Kilimanjaro is made up of 12 people who are each, individually and fully paying for their own flights, park and trek fees to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. Each and every one of us are taking on the costs to do this ourselves.
Why then? Because we all want to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, and at the same time have the opportunity to use this epic experience to promote a cause that is worth more than we could do if we shook a tin at you.
Whether or not we raise money for Aboriginal Children’s Advancement Society climbing this mountain or not, we would be climbing it anyway and the question you should ask yourself isn’t “why don’t we just give all that money we are spending on our trip for the cause?” the question you should ask yourself is “What am I doing about it?”, because we’re pretty sure of what we do.
So in short, none of the money you donate goes to anything except Aboriginal Children’s Advancement Society. Feel free to email them and ask.
Regards,
Scotty Assassin
Director
Positive Action League Australia
The Bit Torrent Effect
October 22, 2009 on 10:39 am
Filed Under:Other Stuff
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” – H.E. Luccock
The year 2000 was around 10 years ago which means you are familiar with torrents on the internet, if you are not it means the kettle needs to be taken off your stove, your insulin injection is due in 5 mins and you forgot to turn off the sprinklers in the back rose garden OR the house in which you live, has a large stone upon it. If neither of the latter two applies to you, you will probably feel patronised in the next paragraph. Torrents are a way of sending, say, licence-free open-source and trial software and Paris Hilton media over the internet. It does this by making every computer that has a copy of said item give a little piece of the item to the computer downloading it. When you have millions of computers on the internet that have the item giving our poor little computer lots of little bits of the item, eventually our poor little computer has enough bits to put together that item. This concept is called “sharing”. Do you see where this is going?
According to Reuters.com, the number of personal computers on the internet recently surpassed 1 billion. Thing is, computers are more than happy to share stuff with each other. According to the World Bank, there are 1.4 billion people in the world living on under US$2 per day. They also say the poverty line is drawn at people living on under US$1.25 per day. I don’t know about you, but that’s not even enough for me to get a coffee from Starbucks on the way to work in the morning and if you gave that to a homeless guy where I’m from, he would probably throw it back at you. By these calculations that means they should not be below the poverty line if they live on US$3 per day, or US$1095 per year. Now I’m not saying this is ideal, but stick with me here.
Without taking into account the fact that 1.4 billion people leaves us with 5.3 billion people living above this poverty line, at least 1 billion of these “non-poverty line” people are sitting behind a personal computer that costs just on average around, say, US$1095. Now I cannot afford to pay that outright, but over a year, sure, no problem. I could break my US$1095 torrent into little bits, and send them around the world along with another one billion people. Right? Have we saved the world now? No.
Now there’s not just one licence-free open-source program on the internet, there are lots. Our poor little computer needs plenty of things to be a fully fledged productive member of the 1 billion computers on the internet so, easily enough; it gets lots of little bits, of lots of little programs. I think I’ve patronised you enough now, so here’s my point…
The power of many is enormously underestimated or at least ignored in today’s developed societies when it comes to issues that don’t involve personal gain. I admit it is hard to be constantly aware that someone is watching their child starve to death halfway across the globe in Africa while you are hard at work behind your US$1095 computer coding open-source applications, or relaxing at night downloading Paris Hilton torrents. But it shouldn’t be hard. If everyone could be aware of these things more often, and do something small, more often, then the BitTorrent Effect will start making changes, indeed it already has as awareness has risen in the past few decades.
This is not a new concept, and many people are now swapping the traditional overseas vacation with “eco-tourism” and “meaningful travel”, but you don’t have to spend a month at a Rwandan orphanage bottle feeding a baby you named “The little fella with all the syllables” to help combat child welfare. Every day you can do something small and simple to help and be part the solution to these huge and complex problems.
When you see a Red Cross or other charity collection tin, it takes you less than 20 seconds to put something in it. Are you reading this book at home? Is there a light on in the house you aren’t using? Turn it off. Buy coffee that is Fair Trade branded. Go buy your mother something from Oxfam, and stop biting your fingernails. Better still visit Michael Norton’s www.365act.com and get your daily “thing to do” to help change the world. The main point is, be active, be infectious about it, and help spread the torrent.
Best Mates.
Kiva: Help give someone you don’t know a fair go.
October 6, 2009 on 4:24 pm
Filed Under:News
Junrey Alamin fixes electronics and appliances in his village Dalacon, Phillipines. On June 4th this year, Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a lending company funded by private lenders via Kiva.org, lent Junrey US$150 to buy equipment and materials for his business. Although Junrey lives below the poverty line, he had paid the money back in full by August, 4 months early.
Here’s some more info from the site:
“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 around the globe.”
“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.”
“ Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.”
“Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, we are using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.”
What an awesome idea, infact Time Magazine voted it one of the World’s best websites for 2009.
Operation Kick Your Butt
September 25, 2009 on 4:07 pm
Filed Under:Other Stuff
ATTEEEEEYUN HUT!
Soldier! Do you want to give up smoking?
SIR YES SIR
Want to get really fit and raise money for cancer research?
SIR YES SIR
Want to compete against others in some awesome weekend challenges?
SIR YES SIR
Want to win a frecking cool prize?
SIR YES SIR
Then you better watch this space or email scotty@positiveactionleague.org for a SITREP. Operation Kick Your Butt will be recruiting for January 2010.
At ease, soldier.
Operation Buddy Walk 2009!
September 24, 2009 on 1:57 pm
Filed Under:Current Operations, Operation Buddy Walk
I fail to see how people with Downs Syndrome are classed as having a disability, because they have qualities that many people don’t.
Positive Action League is taking part in Buddy Walk Australia to raise funds to support children and adults with Down syndrome and their families.
Your sponsorship will help people with Down syndrome fulfil their potential and lead confident, rewarding lives.
Please sponsor us here: Operation Buddy Walk Sponsorship Page
Read more about it here: Operation Buddy Walk
Operation Bad Altitude: Team Kilimanjaro 2011 News
September 8, 2009 on 6:18 pm
Filed Under:Current Operations
The Bad Altitude snowball is gaining momentum with over 30 Tanzanian operators responding to tender requests to guide Team Kili up 19,331 feet of inactive volcano, the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro.
Tour outfitters have been asked to meet strict assesment criteria to comply with PALA’s budget, beliefs and ethical responsibilities. Some of these include:
- Membership to both IMEC and KPAP to ensure porters and other staff are properly equipped, fed the same meals we are fed and paid to, or above, the standards set by The Kilimanjaro National Park and the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators. Porters are the heart and soul of Kilimanjaro’s tourist industry and have suffered less than ideal wages and treatment through the years. PALA intends to support them in every way possible during this trip, even if it means helping carry stuff or washing dishes with them after meals. These trips would not be possible without them.
- First aid equipped and trained guides: A priority of Operation Bad Altitude is to ensure the safety and health of all staff and team members during the expedition. Team members will have “descent buddies” and there must be enough guides and assistant guides provided to escort altitude affected team members or staff safely to the bottom without compromising the summit attempt.
- Highly competitive cost: As all Team Kili members will be paying for everything themselves, cost is of high importance. This doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest as we must take into consideration the previous criteria.
- Commitment to local community: A preference will be given to local operators that contribute back to their community. All operators have been chosen because they are Tanzanian owned, local companies in both Moshi and Arusha which are the main gateway towns to Kilimanjaro. PALA wishes to help toward promoting a responsible tourism culture in this region. Many of the respondents have charity ties, close community relationships and some even run schools.
All the respondants to date have been of the highest calibre, putting to shame most international operators with staff treatment standards, community. As you can see, Bad Altitude’s impact encompasses much more than our own back yard and is contributing toward positive change in two completely different countries… please help by donating to the cause!
Read more about Bad Altitude
What happened to Thundercat Events?
September 4, 2009 on 7:00 am
Filed Under:News
For those that remember www.thundercatevents.com and have ended up here, don’t worry we’re still the same people. We’ve just expanded and developed our vision.
Firstly, Thundercats and it’s logo are registered trademarks of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. This stopped Thundercat Events from becoming a legal entity and therefore restricted it’s activities. As an incorporated association, Positive Action League of Australia can issue memberships, run a comittee, hold a fundraising licence and much more, enabling us to be a fully-fledged Non-Profit Organization.
Apart from the legal indentity, this change also positions us as a pass holder in the global fight for basic human, animal and environmental justice. To grow and flourish means to be adaptive to change, and this is just what we intend to do.
We will still be holding events, and much more. The organisational scope has changed and no longer exclusively, but still includes, underpriveleged children. It now has 4 distinct divisions. These are Earth, Humanity, Animalia and Science. All of these divisions have their own specific goals yet all share the same ultimate goal: to improve our world with positive change.
R.I.P. Thundercatevents
Long live P.A.L.A.
Welcome to the headquarters of the Positive Action League Australia (PALA)
September 3, 2009 on 9:13 pm
Filed Under:News
The Positive Action League is a league of activists. It is designed for people who want to stop talking about improving the world we live in and do something about it. Our mission statement is “To promote and facilitate fun, responsible, positive activism in the world community with focus on improving the progress of Earth, Humanity, Animalia and Science.”
We want to invite you to join in our activities and will be offering memberships in the next few weeks. We have four groups dedicated to the 3 Elements of PALA, these groups are Earth, Humanity, Animalia and Future. Each group has defined goals both long and short term which will be outlined in each group section. You can find these group sections in the top menu.
Thundercat 1
June 28, 2009 on 4:56 pm
Filed Under:Past Operations
Thundercat 1: Frankie Says Relax
“Thundercat Events” was the original idea that gave rise to the Positive Action League. It began as themed dance parties raising money for underpriveleged children at home and abroad. Working with underpriveleged children is still a major focus for PALA.
Thundercat 1: Frankie Says Relax was an 80’s themed dance party held at Perth’s Rosemount Hotel. Photos and more soon.