Tag Archives: Charity

Day 426

All good things must come to an end. – English proverb

It’s 7: 10 PM on day 426 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, prepare and publish my Kid of the Week feature, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself a chicken nugget sandwich for breakfast, work on this blog, feed myself chicken biryani for lunch, read the latest posts on Bird on the Street, Bringing the Sunshine and Chasing Rainbows, feed myself yoghurt for dinner, brush my teeth once more and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Anonymous made a donation of $21.54 this morning –thanks Anonymous I know who are but I won’t mention your name since you put it down as Anonymous on the website.

A few days ago I found out that Westlife – my favorite boy band of all time – were breaking up and in honour of of their fifteen years together I am going to share with you some of my favorite Westlife songs not only because it is an end of an era of innocent music –not one Westlife song is explicitly sexual– but also because I’m grateful to them for creating the soundtrack of my life. Take a look:

Best of Westlife 1998-2009

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 425

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Always follow your first instinct – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 26 PM on day 425 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself pancakes with coconut and sugar for breakfast, drink coffee by myself, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Chrissy (@ChrissyPappas) made another donation but this time it amounted to $111.11 in celebration of the 1’s (thanks Chrissy ) if anybody out there can top that I will put up a banner of their website and link to it (unless the website contains porn or violence) on my Sponsors of my Campaign page – help my brother study for his exam –did you know they now teach marketing in fifth grade as part of Economic Management Science (EMS) a lot has changed since my fifth grade days LOL :)– feed myself a chicken nugget sandwich for lunch, work on this blog, feed myself spaghetti with sauce for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday I received a message from Kurtiss (@kurtissl) which read in part thanks Nisha, this is a great concept, I won’t sign up b/c I have no idea how to accomplish something like this. – I had asked him if he would be willing to participate in Make A Difference Before Christmas – after I read that I realized that I should have given people ideas on how they could make a difference when I first wrote the post about Make A Difference Before Christmas (I thought about doing it but then I second guessed myself and decided against it) so to remedy that I have compiled a list of things you can do both with and without money to make a difference. Take a look:

10 Ways You Can Make a Difference Without Breaking the Bank

1. Click to give – there are websites on the World Wide Web (the one’s I visit daily are Bhookh and The Hunger Site) where all you have to do is log on and click (sponsors pay for your click).

2. Instead of “googling” when searching – use Good Search and these guys will make a donation to Spreading Joy. (Use the link above that will take you there)

3. Thank a Police Officer today (hopefully NOT while you are getting a ticket!)

4. Hold a yard sale and donate half of the proceeds

5. Baby sit for a friend/neighbor for free.

6. Serve a meal at a homeless shelter or women’s shelter

7. Mentor someone – have you started your own business? Are you an expert in a certain field? Share that talent!

8. Smile at everyone you come in contact with today.

9. Offer to let someone ahead of you in line.

10. Donate blood.

11. Give a handwritten note of encouragement.

12. Start a Gratitude Journal – leave it out for others to see as they visit you.

13. Call someone who is not feeling well and talk until you make them laugh.

14. Visit with the elderly or someone who can no longer get out as much as they’d like.

15. Give a thank you card to someone who has made a difference in your life.

16. Run errands for a new Mom (or someone that is sick)

17. Pick up trash you see as you are.

18. If you have money to spare donate to my campaign, the United Nations World Food Programme or Kids Caring 4 Kids.

(Note: In the list above 2-17 are courtesy of http://newsblaze.com/story/20101123103825toms.nb/topstory.html)

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 424

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You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

It’s 8: 29 PM on day 424 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself baked beans on toast for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself a chickem nugget sandwich for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more–Christian Hollingsworth over at http://smartboydesigns.com/ made a $107.69 donation and I am calling on everybody to follow in his footsteps even if you can’t donate $107 you can donate $25 and participate in my Sit for Water event which is taking place tomorrow– feed myself rice and curry for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

As you may or may not know South Africa has eleven official languages and since I like sharing what I know I have compiled a list of commonly used Xhosa words – Xhosa is an African language that is commonly spoken in the Eastern Cape (I had to learn it while in boarding school because the kids there didn’t speak any English). Take a look:

Xhosa 101: Words and daily conversation you need to know to survive in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Xhosa words translated into English for beginners. The accuracy of these words is not guaranteed, but care has been taken to provide an accurate or closest translation
SIFUNDA ISIXHOSA			WE ARE LEARNING XHOSA
Amagama esiXhosa			English words
Mama			Mother
Bawo/Tata			Father
Molo			Hi
Kunjani			How are you/How are things?
Sikhona			We are fine/We are here
Igama			Name
Mna			Me
Yena			him/her
Wena			You
Bona			Them
Dadewethu			my sister
Mfowethu			my brother
intombi/intombazane				unmarried woman/girl
Inkwenkwe					boy
Umfazi		married woman
Indoda		Man
uxolo/ixolo	forgiveness/peel
Enkosi			Thank you

Daily Conversation
Ndifuna ukudla	I want food
Ndifuna ukutya okunesondlo	I want food with nourishment
Ndicela undibonise umzi ka…	Please show me the house of …
Iphi imbizo?	Where is the meeting?
Ndifuna ukukhwela uduladula	I want to ride in/on a bus
Baphi abantu abadala/abakhulu	Where are the older people of the house
Lumkela inja	Beware of the dog
Imini nobususku	Day and night
Waphukelwe yintliziyo	He/She has a broken heart
Uvelemva	One who appears last
Inja phandle	Dogs out!

(Note: The information above is courtesy of IsiXhosa Dictionary)

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 423

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Small Actions X Lots of People = BIG CHANGE ~ Unknown

It’s 6: 23 PM on day 423 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink coffee by myself, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, give our housekeeper computer lessons–she told me a few weeks ago that she would love to learn how to use a computer so I offered to teach her although I hadn’t had the time to do it until today – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music – I LOVE The Script their songs are about things we all go through – and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck.

Last night I was watching the 7 o’clock News on which they showed the Make A Wish Foundation handing out teddy bears to kids in the oncology unit as part of their Show You Care initiative ahead of the festive season and a few hours later with that as inspiration I came up with Make A Difference Before Christmas –an event in which everybody participating has to do one good deed a day until Christmas Day – Tiffany (@TyphannieBieber) and Cindy (@notjustagranny) already agreed to participate (thanks guys) if you’d like to join them fill in the following form:

[form form-2]

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 422

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You probably won’t reach your goals exactly when you thought you would but you’ll get there eventually – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 6: 28 PM on day 422 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself baked beans for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, work on this blog– I ruined the sidebar and had to start all over again – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, feed myself yoghurt for dinner, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Chrissy (@ChrissyPappas) made another donation – thanks Chrissy :)– brush my teeth once more.

Today I saw the date –11/9/2011– on the bottom-right of my laptop’s screen and I just started to panic because I only had almost a month left before we left for India and I still had three things to achieve on my ‘Short-Term Goals’ list (see below) but then I realized that there was still a lot of time left before we had to leave in which I could achieve my short-term goals leaving my long term goals for next year. Are you the kind of person who sets goals and then gives up because you didn’t achieve them exactly when you thought you would?

Short-Term Goals

 To brush my teeth – partially achieved – I can brush my teeth just fine but I need someone to help me lean over the sink so that the toothpaste ends up in the sink and not all over my shirt ‘[MUST BE achieved two Sunday’s from now (October 2, 2011)]

 To sign my name on a document (I never write anything out I always use a computer/laptop) – achieved

 To type with both hands – needs more practice – I have been typing with only my left hand so long that it’s hard to break [MUST BE achieved two Sunday’s from now (October 2, 2011)]

 To eat and drink by myself – partially achieved/needs more practice – I can feed myself with a spoon and drink from a mug and glass but feeding myself with a fork and knife is still difficult [MUST BE achieved two Sunday’s from now (October 2, 2011)]

(Note: This list was created on September 11, 2011 and edited today)

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 421

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Trying to change people’s perception of you is impossible – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 7: 25 PM on day 421 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a boiled egg for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – work on this blog, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, continue working on this blog, feed myself spaghetti
with sauce for dinner and finish working on this blog.

This morning my mother walked into the dining room, saw that I had eaten the boiled egg that was on the table and asked who handed it to you to which I replied I took it myself my legs may not work…but your stomach sure does she finished I was SO offended especially since I was going to say before she interrupted me I took it myself my legs may not work but my hands do but now I realize that it’s not worth being offended over because no matter what I say or do my parents will always believe that all I do is wake up, watch TV, eat and sleep. Do you waste your life trying to get people to see you the way you see yourself?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 420

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Don’t judge something you know nothing about – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 19 PM on day 420 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, drink coffee by myself – I drank it from a glass and almost dropped it because it didn’t have a handle I could hold onto but somehow I managed to hold onto it – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, work on this blog and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday my brother turned on the TV and Miss World 2011 was on my first thought was to tell him to switch it off because I thought all you had to do to become Miss World was stand there and look pretty but just then the Beauty With A Purpose – an event established in 2001 that is celebrated during the activities prior to the Miss World pageant. It awards the contestant with the most relevant and important charity project in her nation – segment aired (congratulations to Miss Ghana and Miss Indonesia for being the joint winners of the Beauty With A Purpose category) and I realized I was totally wrong about what it takes to become Miss World why am I telling you all this to remind you that ignorance is not merely lack of knowledge it is also an unwillingness to keep an open mind. Do you judge something knowing absolutely nothing about it?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 419

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Each one of us has a sixth sense– that’s what I learned today.

It’s 8: 29 PM on day 419 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, brush my teeth, feed myself baked beans for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – work on this blog–the videos that were linked to my old blog were not in the correct format for this blog so I had to fix all the videos one by one – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, finish working on this blog, feed myself pancakes with coconut and sugar for dinner, brush my teeth once more and pray with my family.

This morning the phone rang and just instinctively I knew it was going to bad news I was right it was my uncle calling to say my grandma had another seizure (it was minor and although weak she’s fine) it just goes to show that we as human beings are capable of more than we can explain. Do you strengthen your intuition by tuning into it on a daily bases?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 418

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Experience not used is punishment – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 10 PM on day 418 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself chicken biryani for lunch, work on this blog – as you can see I’ve moved from http://nisha360.wordpress.com/ to http://nishav360.com/ hopefully this is the start of bigger and better things (a special thanks to Ramon Thomas for helping me move– and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday evening I was doing something and my mom asked do you want to go to the bathroom to which I said no but she took me anyway because she wanted to get that chore over with (I absolutely understand that it was a long day and she was tired) while in the bathroom I felt so powerless which was the ‘Sit for Water’ – a fundraising event in which those participating will be required to donate $25 and sit in a particular spot for as much time as they pledged to – if you pledged to sit for an hour you should not get up for an hour for any other reason than to go to the bathroom (if you need something ask someone to get it for you or get it when your hour is up) – idea came to me (Note: The event will take place on 12 November 2011 and I will create a Facebook event page of the same name on which I would love for all those participating to upload pictures/videos of themselves participating). Are you punishing yourself every day?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 417

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Sir Winston Churchill

It’s 7: 09 PM on day 417 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself baked beans on toast for breakfast, listen to music, go to physiotherapy–my physiotherapist was not impressed at all my lets were so stiff because I only exercised 3/14 days– watch TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

For the past few weeks I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of ways to keep this blog going while I’m in India with my family and yesterday when I met Jenelle Ramsami – a South Africa model who just happens to have a hearing impairment (see her picture and more about her below)– through Ramon Thomas via Twitter I knew that she would be the perfect person – inspiring, determined, confident – to write on this blog – I will be creating a ‘Guest Posts’ page just for her so that there is no confusion as to who is writing – while I was away so today I asked her if she would and she said yes the reason I’m SO excited that she agreed to do it is because she takes the dis right out of disabled by doing everything she does which is what I aim to do every day of my life. Do you see the opportunity in every difficulty or the difficulty in every opportunity?

Determined, intelligent and confident – these are all attributes that make Durban’s Jenelle who is an inspiration to those around her. Despite the fact that Jenelle was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of 12, this has not stopped her from successfully becoming one of South Africa’s most inspiring up and coming models. In the last two years she has been a finalist in the Miss Deaf South Africa pageant, was awarded the ‘Fresh Look’ title at Miss India South Africa KZN 2010 contest, and recently made the Top 5 and ‘Miss photogenic’ for the Xtreme Models Search competition in February 2011. “I have always believed that modelling is a stepping stone to something greater for me. I want to motivate those who are both ably hearing and hearing impaired,” explains Jenelle. Achieving her goals is definitely not a foreign concept to this budding model. She was the first hearing impaired person in her school to pass her Matric with a merit and distinctions, thus enabling her to attend a mainstream college where she passed a national diploma in Business Management. It was this need to inspire and to show people that being hearing impaired is merely an obstacle that led Jenelle to becoming LifeSound’s newest ambassador & ambassador for House Of Tai Tei Lija (cosmestic)

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!