The IF Campaign.

OK, by now you all should hopefully have heard about The IF Campaign. But if not, i am here to tell you all about it. 

So here goes, What even is.. The IF Campaign? 

OK the basics... Its all about getting the ball rolling towards > EVERYONE around the world having enough food. 
There you go, simples. 
Well no actually there's a lot more to it, so stay with me.
  
Now the issue of hunger is unfortunately no new thing, but there a many charities and organisations that want to put an end to it and that's where The IF Campaign rolls in. 
Let's break it down in to 4 easy peasy Big IF's. 

What IF..?

1.  We stop poor farmers being forced off their land and use their crops to feed humans, not cars.
2.  We give Enough Aid and help the poorer help themselves.
3. Governments stop big companies dodging tax in poorer countries.
4. We force Governments and companies to be open and honest about their actions that are stopping people having enough food.

Enough Food IF.

But why now? why 2013? 
Well this June, Northern Ireland will play host to G8  and so this is why the campaign have a main focus on getting a political buzz around the hunger crisis and are placing pressure on Governmental responsibility. The IF Campaign want to put Hunger on the G8 agenda and crush the crisis for good. 

Me telling you this is all well and good but, THE IF CAMPAIGN NEEDS YOU! 
So here's what you can do; 

1. Sign up and show your support here; IF
2. Watch and share this video; IF VID
3. Read and share this blog
4. Tell your Mum, Dad, Granny, Lollipop lady and Local MP about the IF campaign and point them towards actions 1-3 up above. 

Still not convinced? well here's a few home truths; 

• 1 in 8 people go without food, everyday.

I want you to think of 8 people who you love and would do anything for. Now imagine one of those people having no food. 
Would you just sit by and do nothing? 

• Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger. 

Count to 30,  8 people have just died of hunger. Count to 60, a further 16 people have just died from hunger. 

• By doing nothing, what does that say about you? That you don't care? Out of sight out of mind? 

Well let me tell you this, i have seen hunger, i have seen poverty, i have looked hunger in the face and let me tell you, it broke my heart and the fact that there are people in this world that don't have enough food should break your heart too!

There are no excuses and its never too late to help, but  it is time that we all face the hard truth, 

People die everyday because other people do nothing.

Are you going to be one of the people who does nothing? 

My Gap Year

What even is.. My Gap year.

This is a question i often ask myself. 
Even more so recently people have actually been asking me things like.. "So what are you doing now you're back from Bolivia?" or "What you doing with all this free time you have?" and there is nothing more frightening than having to try and make, "well i sleep a lot, do an online course for uni next year, sleep some more, eat, go to church, sleep again.." sound like " well i have a full time job, which i juggle with church responsibilities and i am attending college in order to resit one of my a levels so i can attend university next year, yah.. yah..yah" 
But seeing as it is the end of January i am finally starting to get back into the swing of things after coming home from Bolivia.. 
Back in September i traveled to Bolivia, South America. Where I worked as a full time volunteer for 3 months in one of Bolivia's main cities, Cochabamba... probably one of my favorite cultures and ways of life. I went away with a christian charity, tearfund. To work with one of their partners Mosoj Yan..  the work i did was with girls and teens who suffered from exploitation, which was so challenging BUT I flippin' loved my time there and learnt a fair amount of spanish.. (well, more like spanglish, but i tired!) 
When we weren't working we were able to travel on trips with our spanish school 'Conexiones entre mundos', to places like The Salt Flats (10,000 sq km of salt) and toro toro (dinosaur footprints everywhere!) 

I loved Bolivia and the people i met there and had an unforgettable time amercing myself in the culture. I wish i could have stayed longer than three months but alas i am back in sunny Northern Ireland attempting to adjust to the western way of living once more.  

Which brings me back to my original point, what to do with the rest of my year! I am currently looking into maybe travelling to Uganda with tearfund in the summer but also considering being a holiday rep for the summer too... WHO KNOWS what il be doing. In the mean time i will hopefully be doing some work with  tearfund in Northern Ireland. 
I also have the absolute pleasure of resitting my business studies A level at college,<please note some serious sarcasm> ,I was never one for school and schoolwork so you can imagine my delight at the prospect of repeating my least favourite subject.. But unfortunately it is necessary for uni next year so i will suck it up. 

But as is the way of my life, things always pop up that i will get involved in. SO i will keep you posted..
And on that note i am going to post once a week. 
Everything from reviews to current events (in my life, and worldwide) But for now,

Chau Chao x


Links and where to find me;

My Twitter.

Conexiones entre mundos

Tearfund - Learn more here

Mosoj Yan- Learn more

What even is... this blog?

What Even Is...  This blog?

I have often been told that the way I look at the world around me is quite unusual, that my perception of life is definitely .. different? I guess you could say I find just about everything hilarious in one way or another and decidedly attempt to bring others into my hilarium.

Subsequently I am going to document my different; thoughts, experiences, beliefs and inspirations over the next 6 months of my gap year, in a attempt to bring a whole new people into my hilarium. Maybe even evoke some emotion, a giggle? a tear? who knows where this could take us.

Its cool though... and i'm excited.