Tag Archives: Charity

Day 2468: 50 New Feet – a fundraising campaign for MiracleFeet #50NewFeet

“Help one another; there’s no time like the present and no present like the time.”— James Durst

 

It’s 12 : 47 PM on day 2468 of my journey towards independence and I managed to pray, have breakfast, read Acts 3: 6  and donate  to and promote my 50 New Feet Campaign benefiting MiracleFeet – my parents allowed me to donate $50 on their  behalf and B and Gaynor donated $50 (thanks guys) my goal is to raise $12 500 in a year to provide treatment for 50 kids with clubfoot

This morning I started 50 New Feet– a fundraising campaign benefiting MiracleFeet, an international non-profit organization increasing access to free treatment for clubfoot in developing countries using the Ponseti Method, a non-surgical treatment that involves a series of plaster casts that are changed weekly followed by the wearing of a feet brace for a few years to prevent relapse – because I believe that all children deserve the opportunity to live to their fullest potential without the hindrance of clubfoot. My goal is to raise $12 500 in 12 months (which is enough money to pay for 50 clubfoot treatments).For more information about 50 New Feet or to make a donation please visit www.crowdrise.com/50newfeet  and use #50NewFeet  when tweeting about this campaign.

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$250  Donation to MiracleFeet = A new life for a child born with clubfoot. Could we get 50 people to donate 50 clubfoot treatments. Alternatively, 250 of could donate $50 each.

Did you know:  A 100 million dollar investment in clubfoot treatment will equal 2.5 BILLION dollars in additional earnings per year.

Help transform lives by treating clubfoot.

This campaign will end on June 17, 2018
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Day 2301: 2017 Goals

“Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” – Les Brown

 

It’s 12: 05 PM on day 2301 of my journey towards independence and I managed to  pray, read     Revelation 21:5 and work on my  25 Smiles Campaign    –raised $9 625.04 only  $2 875.96 more to raise to reach my second goal of raising $12 500 for Smile Train before Jan 10 2017 (SO SO SO GRATEFUL to everyone who has supported this campaign so far ).

 

Today is the first day of the year and as per usual I’ve written down my 2017 Goals which I am sharing because I know that once I tell people I plan to do something I generally follow through. Take a look:

2017 Goals

  1. Continue to be kind, honest and generous [i’m trying]
  2. Raise at least $250 more for my 25 Smiles Campaign before it ends 9 days from today (January 10, 2017)  [final total raised $10 317.04]
  3. Publish my book Defying the odds: Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way [editing is almost done]
  4. Keep in touch with my aunties, uncles and grandmother [I did this month (June) – spoke to my gran]
  5. Call at least one person a month just to hi or thank you [I did this month (June) – called two people
  6. Read 10 + books [read 4 book so far]
  7. Donate to or raise money for Miss Earth South Africa – it’s a leadership programme that empowers young South African women to combat climate change (they put in food gardens in schools and communities, organize  beach clean-ups, do talks in schools and collect stationary for school kids….. truly phenomenal work)
  8. Donate to or raise money for Jumping Kids – a South African NPO that provides prosthetics to disadvantaged kids across the country
  9. Donate to or raise money for the Sunshine Children’s Home – a children’s home in my town doing phenomenal work (I went there last year and I was so touched to see how well taken care of the kids were – the adults there are family to those kids they do everything possible to make sure the kids have everything they need)
  10. Donate to the Panda Crew – the Panda Crew are basically a group of friends who go around doing good in their spare time (love my Panda brothers they are everything that’s good and right about our world)
  11. Go paragliding in Cape Town (people are going to think I’m crazy but I’ve ziplined (if  I can get my parents, my physiotherapist and a paragliding company to go along with it) I know I can paraglide (in tandem with a skilled pilot)) (NOBODY can tell me I can’t do something I KNOW I can do I BELIEVE in my own unlimited human potential) [Update : We made the booking to go paragliding on April 8, 2017 -health and weather permitting on the day I will paraglIde with  Fly Cape Town Paragliding on April 8, 2017]
  12. Try painting
  13. Meet Ella Constantinides-Leite
  14. Meet Brent Lindeque
  15. Meet Kerri Stein
  16. Meet Sebastian Schütte  and the Panda Crew
  17. Meet Yusuf Abramjee
  18. Meet Phuti Mahanyele
  19. Diarize at least one good moment of every day [doing it]
  20. Learn a new word every day [doing it]
  21. Learn Sesotho [learned most of the vocabulary and recorded the whole thing not just have to practice]
  22. Go to Paris, Rome, Athens and London

 

Updates were made on June 27, 2017

Day 2135: “A rich life with less stuff” by The Minimalists

“We live in a world in which many people have different beliefs, different faiths. But God or no God, we can all live more deliberately.” – The Minimalists

 

It’s 12 : 14  PM on day 2135 of my journey towards independence and I managed to pray, read Proverbs 3: 5-6 ,    have breakfast, learn one new thing – While General Electric built the first electric toaster for the home in 1909, it was 10 years later when Minnesota mechanic Charles Strite created an easy-to-use toaster designed for restaurants. He received his patent for the slice toaster in 1921 and formed the Waters-Genter Company to manufacture his product.- and work on my  25 Smiles Campaign    –  raised $6 990 only  $5 510 more to raise to reach my second goal of raising $12 500 for Smile Train before Jan 10 2017 (SO SO SO GRATEFUL to everyone who has supported this campaign so far 🙂 ) .

 

Two days ago I watched “A rich life with less stuff” – a ted talk by two best friends about how minimalism has changed  their lives for the better – I agree with The Minimalist money, things and a fancy job titles won’t make you happy the contribution you make, health, growth, passion and the quality of your relationships are the keys to a truly rich life. Watch “A rich life with less stuff” below:

 

Day 1820: A Story of Two Halves

My life is a story of two halves– that’s what I keep realizing.

 

It’s 12: 47 PM on day 1820  of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, read Luke 10,    publish my Disability of the Day feature,    have breakfast,  learn one new thing –The largest specie of tarantula is the Goliath Birdeater –   and promote my Educate Generations campaign – $4 710 raised  so far I have to figure out a way to raise $290 more before 3 October (by the end of this campaign I probably won’t have any family or friends left oh well I’m not here to be liked by all I’m here to make a difference and change perceptions 🙂 )   .

 

This morning I was thinking about how my life is a story of two halves I can’t feed myself a sandwich without making a mess (try eating a sandwich using only one hand) but I helped build a well in Kenya and I’m standing up (figuratively speaking) for girls’ education worldwide it’s actually funny if you think about it sometimes I wish the world could see what a day in my life was like because then everybody would know that anybody can make a difference.

 

Day 1347: I’m going to be fine

I’m going to be fine – that’s what I know.

 

It’s 12  : 55 PM on day 1347 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Psalm 34,   publish my Disability of the Day feature,  feed myself peanut butter sandwiches and a banana for breakfast,    practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings, spend time outside and  promote my Eradicate AIDS campaign – still on 80% I’ll keep talking even though I feel like nobody’s listening I refuse to fail and I know I won’t because God is with me.

 

This morning I was thinking about my future I’m on a new career path and I still need a lot of help in terms of caring for myself right now everything’s really up in the air I don’t know what’s going to happen to me five years from now but somehow I know that no matter what happens I’m going to be fine.   Do you know that you’re going to be fine no matter what happens?

Day 838

I don’t fit and it has nothing to do with the fact that I have Cerebral Palsy– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s  4 : 04 PM on day 838 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a baked bean sandwich for breakfast, go to the mall, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice typing with both hands and  make sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run.

Today my sister invited me to go to the mall with her and her friends I thought what the heck Kevin (my brother) is going to be annoying for a while after he comes from his sleepover and went along we spent two hours going from shop to shop not buying much the whole time I was there I felt the hours ticking off my life and thought I could be helping so many people right now I’ve always felt different and I’ve always thought it was because I had Cerebral Palsy but after today I realize I am different in that I am not into clothes and make-up like other girls are I would rather be all messy making sandwiches for hungry kids I believe that every waking moment of my life should be spent serving others or improving myself. Do you blame everything on a specific challenge that you have?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 559

What happens on your birthday is a reflection of what has happened your whole life – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 7: 30 PM on day 559 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to prepare and  publish my Disability of the Day feature,prepare and publish my Kid of the Week feature,   feed myself a  uzhunnu vada–a savory Indian doughnut – and chutney  for breakfast,   brush my teeth,   tweet about my 21 For 21 Campaign – no luck  –    feed myself rice and curry for lunch,  watch This Means War – a raunchy romantic comedy starring  Reese WitherspoonChris Pine and Tom Hardy it was basically about two CIA agents who fall for the same girl I really liked it was really funny and the ending was refreshing nobody ended up being the loser 🙂 – at the Hemingways Mall and feed myself a McDonald’s vegetable burger for dinner – I have switched from being vegan to being  a vagetarian for  lent (being vegan is just to extreme for me when you’re vegan you basically give up everything you eat meat, eggs yogurt, cheese ect) – continue to tweet about my campaign – Justina (@justinav) made a donation (thanks Justina I really appreciate it)  (21 x 9 = 189 x 4 = 756 cups of food for the hungry = a very happy twenty-one-year-old) (Note: I extended my campaign to midnight to give more people a chance to donate I will donate all the money raised to the  United Nations World Food Programme  first thing tomorrow morning).

As you know today is my 21st  birthday and you would think my whole family is with me right now  but you know where my father, sister and brother are right now…. they are at the gym – my dad just bought a cake said Happy Birthday and left with my sister and brother   – I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different it’s pretty much always just been my mom and I although my sister and I are going to the movies this afternoon that’s something I guess, what really makes me sad is that people on Twitter seem to care more about my birthday than my family does (see some of the tweets sent to me below). Do you see the truth of your life every year on your birthday?

 

margot ‏ @jollydots1

 

@Nisha360 happy birthday, I hope you have an amazing day!!!!!!!!  Love Margot

 

 

 

Michelle ‏ @michelmme

 

@Nisha360 happy birthday nisha! Hope you have a great day and may all your dreams come true! Hip hip horaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiii xx

 

 

 

 

 

Care-Aware™ Calendar ‏ @Care_Aware

 

#HappyBirthday to awesome @Nisha360: 1 young woman w/cp who shows, each day, that each of us can #makeadifference!☼ #water

 

 

 

Chrissy Pappas ‏ @ChrissyPappas

 

Hey @Nisha360, wishing you a wonderful birthday! All the best!

 

 

 

Betsy Cross ‏ @BetsyKCross

 

Happy Birthday @Nisha360!

 

 

 

Michael Carr ‏ @USMMariner

 

@Nisha360 @polipaca @BetsyKCross @notjustagranny@steelerbrian @pfellas @HappyOddGirl @wonderoftech > HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nisha !

 

 

Day 558

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. – Ralph Waldo Emerson 

It’s 6 : 27  PM on day 558 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my 21 For 21 Campaign – no luck – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my campaign – no luck –   feed myself a  Batura and potato curry  for breakfast, tweet about my campaign some more –  no luck – drink tea by myself, tweet about my campaign some more –  no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch and continue to tweet about my campaign – Michael Carr made a donation (thanks Michael I really appreciate it)  (21 x 8 = 168 x 4 = 672 cups of food for the hungry = a very happy almost twenty-one-year-old).

As you know I’m turning 21 tomorrow and in honour of that I’m going to share with you a list of things I want to do during the course of my life. Take a look:

Bucket List 2: Realistic goals

  • I want to learn to take care of myself so my mother can take it easy
  • I want to publish my book The Accidental Philanthropist
  • I want to be able to pay for everything I need so I don’t have to rely on my parents financially
  • I want to stop lying by omission (I don’t correct people’s incorrect assumptions for example someone  heard that I planned to do a writing course so he asked how are your exams going and I’ll replied fine because firstly the truth takes a long time to explain and secondly  I don’t want to hear the condescension in peoples voices when I tell them that I spend my days working as a social media manager, helping people and blogging)
  • I want to go to Europe to see the sights
  • I want to go to a Taylor Swift concert
  • I want to go to a Jason Derulo concert
  • I want to go to The Script concert
  • I want to show the world that people who are “disabled” are normal people with hopes, dreams and feelings
  • I want to use my experiences as a disabled person to help parents of kids who have “disabilities”
  • I want to continue making a difference in the world

 

Day 557

Extraordinary things can happen when ‘ordinary people’ came together with a common purpose – that’s what I was reminded of today 🙂

It’s 5 : 57  PM on day 557 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature,  work,  tweet about my 21 For 21 Campaign,  drink tea by myself,  feed myself a vegetable burger for breakfast, tweet some more about my campaign –  Chrissy (@ChrissyPappas) made a donation yesterday (thanks again Chrissy I really appreciate it)  (21 x 7 = 147 x 4 = 588 cups of food for the hungry = a very happy almost twenty-one-year-old) –  feed myself rice and curry  for lunch and brush my teeth once more.

A couple of days ago my brother came from school raving about this video he watched in school called Kony 2012 and upon his recommendation I watched the whole documentary today what surprised me the most was that Jason Russell – the co-founder of Invisible Children Inc and creator of the Kony 2012 video –and I actually had a lot in common we both believe that ‘ordinary people’ who come together with a common purpose can achieve extraordinary things only he is working to save children in Uganda from Joseph Kony – one of the world’s worst war criminals – and I’m working – through various campaigns – to make sure that children all over the world have food, water and everything else they need. Take a look at the video below and you’ll see what I mean about Jason and I having the same message for the world:

Day 556

Sometimes you’ve got to do something for someone without worrying how it will be perceived – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 1 : 43  PM on day 556 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature,   work, tweet about my 21 For 21 Campaign – thanks to Panos Fellas (@pfellas) of Children’s Ark UK who made a donation yesterday afternoon and Wayne (@WayneMansfield) of    Jindalee Foundation who made a donation this morning  (21 x 6 = 126 x 4 = 504 cups of food for the hungry = a very happy almost twenty-one-year-old) –    feed myself a vegetable burger for breakfast  and watch TV (Note: In case your wondering why I published this post so early today it’s because I have to go to the dentist this afternoon and don’t know what kind of condition I’ll be in when I return (wish me luck)).

As those of you over fifteen may know sometimes you can do something with the best of intentions and it can get taken completely the wrong way which is what I hope will not happen when Mrs. T opens her Facebook inbox to find my message – I suggested to her that she buy her daughter an Ipad and install Proloquo2Go app on it (her youngest daughter has a speech impairment and this app would make it easier for her to communicate) (watch the video below you’ll understand what I mean) – but if it does I will be okay because I will know that I did it to better the life of that girl who nobody in our community even attempts to talk to when we are at community gatherings (at parties and stuff some people would come over and talk to me while totally ignoring her even if she’s sitting two seats away from me and I would think why don’t you talk to her). Do you worry about the outcome of your good deed more than you do about the intention behind it?