Wednesday World Changers: No diving here please

There is a story from Tasmania that has attracted a lot of interest this week.

Last Saturday, after Taste, a very big waterside festival in Hobart, Tasmania, 13 volunteer divers began collecting rubbish from the river floor. These divers were all members of the Tasmanian University Diver's Club which runs dives all over Tasmania. Some of these dives are training, some recreational and some as this one was combines diving with conservation.

On Saturday, in an hour, the group had retrieved 300kg (660lbs) of rubbish ranging from bottles to tyres from the river. One octopus was rescued from a bottle.

Thats when the trouble started. Security hired by the Festival removed them from the site because they were not wearing high visibility vests or closed in shoes. In organising permits to do the dive (from two government authorities), the group had not been told what they had to wear to dive.

One would think that a volunteer diving group would know what to wear to protect themselves especially as they are responsible for their safety. So we have a dirty river floor, 13 disappointed divers and no one injured.

Surely divers know what to wear under the water? They were covering their own insurances. People have said they could have cut their feet walking on the river floor. Um, divers are usually floating in the water not walking on the floor.  If they needed high visibility vests to get to and from the dive point, could security not have escorted the group of 13 to the point?


Some questions:
Wise protection or over reaction?
How many World Changers are we blocking because of bureaucracy?


Comments about the situation can be found on a facebook discussion here or you can add them here.

Facebook is NOT as evil and scary as you think!

There is a lot of paranoia and fear about Facebook. I accept that Facebook makes some dumb mistakes but Facebook has been blamed for so much and given so much more power than it has.

I see people who get  get angry at things that Facebook has shared that they themselves have inputted into the site!

 The one that amuses me is when people say "Facebook stole my password ..that is why I have sent junkmail, spam or viruses".

How about you clicked on a link that took you OUT of Facebook and you entered your own password on that link.

What also amuses me about the paranoia is that I can find out lots of information about you OUTSIDE Facebook.

You are not invisible anywhere..

Join a Yahoo group- then you have an online presence
Post a complaint on Trip Adviser?
Post your pic on your family web page?
Be interviewed by your local TV/Radio station/newspaper?

All of those things will put you online.

Protect yourself:

• Don't share anything online, you dont want to see repeated. Anything, anywhere.
• Be real
• Don't post when angry, drunk or frustrated
• Don't share your password
• If you are ever asked for your Facebook password by any other program, page or individual, check it is legitimate.
• Log out of your Facebook account when on shared computers

Monday Motivation

Have courage this year.....

"We have not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies, because we are made of sugar candy."

Winston Churchill talking about Hitler in a WWII speech

Marathoning in Tasmania

I have just run a half marathon in Hobart, Tasmania. One of my 2012 steps toward my fitness goal is 12 major runs of 12km (7miles) or more. Of those I aim to do six half marathons. A half marathon is 21km (almost 13 miles).
I am aiming to do a half marathon in Paris in March. Anyone want to join me?  Or for any of them?

Today's race was relatively well organised. I would have liked one more drink station, more signage along the course and better public transportation. There were very helpful officials along the way and plenty of encouraging crowds.

The morning started with rain but turned sunny with a gentle breeze. Perfect running weather through a stunning course.  I ran the first 15km (9 miles) well and was in fact five minutes ahead of my target time. The last six k was more problematic and I blew my time target. I ran the whole thing in a time that was somewhere between 2hours 15 minutes and 2 hours 20 minutes.

We were all given a sample bag at the end. As the race is sponsored by a Chocolate company it contained a big block of chocolate and a small candy bar size choc. I have eaten the smaller one but will give the bigger one to my neighbour for watching my house! This also helps me watch my weight (remember my fitness goal!)

Recovery Juice (Beetroot, Carrot, Apple, ginger and something else)

2012 Goals

I have set three Master Goals for 2012. While I am not going to share them specifically here- they are focussed around three main areas:

1. Fitness
2. Finance
3. Family and friends

I have set some sub goals that I believe, will help me achieve those Master goals.

At work, I have been working on our goals for People First-Total Solutions. There are some things we got really right in 2011 and a couple of things we need to improve on. Thank you for those who feedback to me about the good and the bad!

Happy to take suggestions for personal or professional goals.

What have you decided to achieve in 2012?

Let me know how I can help you reach your goals! 

Heres to a great year (I was not a fan of 2011)

Friday Facts: Social Cohesion Survey Shows Drop in Voluntary Work

The number of Australians giving their time as volunteers has fallen, according to the 2011 Scanlon Foundation /Mapping Social Cohesion Report .

The / found that involvement in regular unpaid voluntary work fell by almost 10 per cent over two years.

In 2009, 38 per cent of more than 2000 respondents said they participated in voluntary work defined as "any unpaid help you give to the community in which you live, or to an organisation or group to which
you belong" including a school, sporting club, the elderly, a religious group or recent arrivals in Australia.

2010: 32 per cent
2011: 31 per cent said they volunteered,


A majority of Australians (93 per cent) said they had a strong sense of belonging; 94 per cent take great pride in the Australians way of life and 92 per cent believe that maintaining it is important, which the
report says are strong indicators of a cohesive society.

The survey showed a negative trend in confidence in the future and levels of trust and community involvement.

My question: statistical blip or a downward trend. If a downward trend, is it being caused by societal attitudes or is it being caused by something wrong with volunteer opportunities today?



The Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements and the
Australian Multicultural Foundation, with funding from the Scanlon
Foundation, commissioned Monash Professor Andrew Markus to conduct the
research.

http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mapping-population/

The Cowling Report: Best of 2011!

When I started this blog in October, 2009, I had no idea of what it might do.

17 358 page views and 251 comments later, the number of readers continues to climb every month.

The top ten blog posts of 2011 were:

1. Friday Facts: No follow through  Apr 15, 2011, about the lack of follow up by spontaneous volunteers- we got 13 comments
2. Friday Facts: Aussie Volunteer Conference Reaction..., this was my most controversial blog post. It was not intended to be. I was reporting on feelings regarding the 2011 Australian volunteering conference. Sadly, Volunteering Australia failed to respond to the blog post. I sadly suspect, they saw it as an attack. I remain committed to supporting Volunteering Australia but like many feel locked out by the agency. Published Oct 28, 2011 we had a massive 33 comments.
3. Thunderbirds and the Aussie Floods/Haiti earthquak...2011 was a dreadful year for disasters. I speculated on what would happen if we really did have the thunderbirds! Three comments - published Jan 16, 2011
4. No More Free Training?  contained my observations on what happens when people provide training for free. Got a lot of readers but only five comments on September 8, 2011.
5. Completely Unqualified Trainer? You're Hired. was one of my early posts published Dec 19, 2010. I was lamenting the attitude of the not for profit sector that aims for lowest common denominator. This one has generated 13 comments
6. Volunteer Australia Conference Report back  after my post published Oct 28, 201 with people's concerns re the Volunteer Australia conference, I sought feedback on Dec 1, 2011. Sadly, Volunteering Australia didn't even use the opportunity and we had a mere 3 comments (still time folks)
7. Power to Change? For International Volunteers Day in December, 2011, Rob Jackson blogged his thoughts regarding the day. Lots of readers but no comments!
8. Meeting People @ NCVS published through the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in the USA, in Jun 2011...lots of interesting people met, lots of page views but alas only three comments
9. But What does it Mean? asked the meaning behind the Volunteer Week slogan in Australia. Published Feb 8, 2011- I got eight comments
10. Friday Facts: Behind the US Volunteering numbers  I am very concerned at the direction, US Volunteering numbers are taking but wonder if I am the only one worried? Fewer people are volunteering despite a recession, and a higher emphasis on volunteering. Published: Aug 12, 2011 I got 7 comments. I would love more debate on this.

Thats 2011.....I look forward to 2012. 

I also publish a second blog: Wild about Travel exploring my travel experiences. Love you to follow me there as well!

Heres to a great 2012. Thank you for reading with me.....and commenting!! Thank you to the 40 people who follow this blog. Its great to have that support.

Monday Motivation:Nelson Mandela: Inaugural Address, May 10, 1994

Something to think about in 2012......Happy New Year to you and your family, colleagues and community.

Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends:

Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty.

Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.

Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.

All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today.

To my compatriots, I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld.

Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change.

We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.

That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression.

We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.

We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racialism and democracy.

We deeply appreciate the role that the masses of our people and their political mass democratic, religious, women, youth, business, traditional and other leaders have played to bring about this conclusion. Not least among them is my Second Deputy President, the Honorable F.W. de Klerk.

We would also like to pay tribute to our security forces, in all their ranks, for the distinguished role they have played in securing our first democratic elections and the transition to democracy, from blood-thirsty forces which still refuse to see the light.

The time for the healing of the wounds has come.

The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.

The time to build is upon us.

We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.

We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace.

We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity--a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

As a token of its commitment to the renewal of our country, the new Interim Government of National Unity will, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of amnesty for various categories of our people who are currently serving terms of imprisonment.

We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free.

Their dreams have become reality. Freedom is their reward.

We are both humbled and elevated by the honor and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa, to lead our country out of the valley of darkness.

We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom.

We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.

We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.

Let there be justice for all.

Let there be peace for all.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.

Let freedom reign.

The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!

God bless Africa!

Thank you.

Blog Figures

Thank you for joining me as a reader. Readership has grown significantly through December- again. I appreciate everyone who reads- and comments.

Look forward to a big year in 2012

Feliz Navidad

Had a nice day today which started with picking my sister out of hospital today. She is boasting an edgy new haircut courtesy of Chemotherapy. Its been a hell of a year and we are thankful she is still with us for Christmas. Thank you everyone for your support.

Seeing four of my nephews and nieces was marvellous. Emily, my two year old niece would not leave my side! It was very sweet.

This is her holding my hand.