Daily Archives: Tuesday, 5 December, 2006

Ghana: Children with goat.
Photo: Darcy Kiefel ©Heifer International

You might have noticed I’ve added an ugly banner to the right of this blog. It’s the holiday season and people are giving each-other a lot of stuff. And that when almost everybody is complaining that they already have too much stuff.

So a couple of years ago I decided to stop giving stuff for Christmas, but instead to make donations to good causes. One of them, and a nice one in my opinion, is Heifer International. They have a great ‘modus operandi’: They buy animals, give them to poor families around the globe, and decrease hunger and poverty because these animals provide milk, cheese, eggs, wool and other useful products. The families are also taught how to breed the animals and they have to give away the offspring of their animals so a gift really spreads in their community. If you want to know more, please go to the Heifer website.

Please contribute to my goal of raising $US 333, please click on the banner to the right and donate some money. It doesn’t have to be much, every little bit helps.

(O, and if you’re not in the US, just ignore the “required” field where you have to select your state, it will work anyway.)

Tonight it is Sinterklaas-evening, a Dutch holiday were people (especially kids) get presents from Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas was the inspiration for Santa Claus but it is of course a much nicer holiday.

Grown-ups give each-other also presents, but they are usually accompanied by a poem or rhyme that makes remarks about the (usually bad) behaviour of the receiver. An excellent opportunity to get even.

This morning, very much on cue, a big box was brought by Canada Post, with an enormous amount of postage affixed. The box contained a dozen of small presents, a drawing and a poem. I have no idea who the sender was (I didn’t read the name on the box) but I bet it was Sinterklaas himself. Tonight, while singing Sinterklaas-songs (MIDI alert), we will open the presents.
Thank you Sinterklaas!

(Update:
The loot: poem, drawing of Black Peter, bag of chocolate money, marzipan fruit, a very useful magnifying glass/tweezer contraption, a reading light, a muchy letter for the dogs (they loved it), a chocolate letter, tree ornaments for the X-mas tree, an oil sprayer, a candle, apple cookies, soap and bath foam, and a bag full of confetti! Christmas came early this year!)