Rebuilding the Ark

Today is International Women’s Day

To celebrate we have have released our music video Mum’s Song

The end of polio

My friends at the Global Poverty Project have put together this great campaign calling for the end polio.

Polio is a disease which has disabled millions and pulled people further into poverty – has been reduced by 99% over the past 30 years.

Global efforts have delivered incredible progress: immunising more than 2 billion children and saving more than 5 million children from life-long paralysis or death.

But right now the critical work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is constrained by a US$590 million funding gap.

Ending polio is the right thing to do – we should take steps to reduce and eliminate debilitating diseases wherever they are.

But beyond that, we need to end polio because:

• It’s a generation defining achievement.
• It’s part of a global movement for justice, and the end of extreme poverty.
• Polio anywhere is a threat everywhere.
• Eradication is cheaper than containment.

Check out this great animation they have put together and sign your name to rid polio off the face of the earth at www.theendofpolio.com

Malaria: We are making progress

How is this for some Living Proof – MORE THAN 500 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN REACHED WITH ANTIMALARIAL BEDNETS IN THE PAST 2 YEARS ALONE.

It’s easy to read, but here is a nice little interactive map by the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation that visually represents the statistics. It shows how far the international community has come, for example saving 580,547 lives in Nigeria, and how much work we still need to do to completely eradicate this deadly yet preventable disease.

There are 3 main components to this infographic: you can view the progress of individual countries, an explanation of the life saving methods that are used, and a comparison of the number of global lives saved with and without increased interventions such as bed nets, case management and anti-malarial drugs.

You can find the interactive infographic here. Please take a look and pass it on to everyone you know..

This Blog can also be found one the ONE website

Facebook profile Hack – A New Way to Campaign

Facebook recently changed the way profile pages look, usually the whole web goes in uproar on facebook changes and demands it to go back. Facebook never does. This time I actually like the new changes.

Now Facebook users are coming up with some seriously creative ways on pimping out their facebook profile pages.

French Artist Alexandre Oudin  has been credited as the creater of the craze. Check out some very cool examples on Mashable.com

So what does this mean for campaigning? I created in my very limited graphic design knowledge a simple message on Malaria

My Facebook Profile

This is a very creative way of grabbing attention on a cause that you care about to your facebook friends. Why not give it a try and send me the links and I will post them up here on the blog.

Happy New Year

Every year I attritbute a year to something.

2009 was my year of the adventurer.

2010 was the year of inspirer.

2011 is going to be the year of believer.

Mosaic Talent Award 2010

Talent Award Winner

On November 23rd 2010 it was a great honour for me to win the Mosaic Talent award 2010 for the interfaith category.

Mosaic is one of Prince Charles charities to empower young people and and harness the power of positive thinking.

The Mosaic Talent Awards 2010 were held at the iconic Battersea Power Station, to recognise, celebrate and nurture the amazing talent of young Muslims, from all over the country and beyond.  Over 550 guests attended the event in the presence of Guest of Honour, HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest Blog – Chasing Justice and Equality down the Corridors of Power – By Matt Youde

Matt and I with the rest of the Copenhagen delegation from the CMYF

I met Matt last year as we took an ‘environmental pilgrimage’ to Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change summit as part of the Christian Muslim Youth Forum. Matt is a catholic and a real interfaith hero for me on a real grass roots level, every time I meet him he inspires me in a new way.

Last week at MADE in Europe we has our Politics of Poverty Event with Platform2 (Christian Aid) and Tzedek (Jewish Faith based NGO). Matt was in attendace and below his blog of the event. As always this blog can also be found on the MADE in Europe website.

It is good to live in a country where there are plenty of opportunities to engage with important issues and causes in a meaningful way. It is even better that our democratic society affords us the freedom to engage in deep debate about the core issues that matter within the very chambers that policies and laws are discussed and written, policies and laws that can have a great impact on those issues we hold dear. Read the rest of this entry »

Stand Up Make Noise for the MDGs

This week leaders of the world are gathering to discuss progress on the Millenium Development Goals On Saturday 18th September 2010 we gathered together outside of Parliament in Westminster London to stand up and make noise for the MDGs – No longer will we sit in silence. World leaders hear our call and keep to your promises on fighting global poverty. Check out the video below

Big shout out to Bond for organising the protest and much love to MADE in Europe who are awesome is every single way.

Guest Blog – Maternal Health – A Father’s Perspective – By Joey Shapiro

Last Year Joey Shapiro lead a group of Faiths Act Fellows to Ifakara in Tanzania. We spent a lot of time at the St Francis Hospital meeting patients and hearing their stories.

Joey has just recently become a father – he writes on Maternal health in the USA and in Africa and reflects on his faith as a Jew on being thankful to what we have. This blog can also be found on the MADE in Europe website

My son Simon came early. Over a month, in fact. Born on the 21st of August 2010, we had not finished preparing for his arrival, emotionally or logistically.

He came on a Friday night, quite unexpectedly. My wife woke me at 1.30am and knew something wasn’t right. In the back of our heads, we knew Simon was on his way, but a month early? It was frightening. Though I did not say it out loud, I knew a premature birth could be a recipe for disaster and needed to steady myself for whatever potential pitfalls lay ahead for all of us.

St Francis Hospital Ifakara

The birth was easy (as easy as a natural birth can be…easy is not the right word; ask any labouring mother and she will assure you that labour is beyond difficult). My amazing wife laboured for less than seven hours, and out he came, beautiful and bellowing to announce to the world his arrival.

But he was early and he was small and the doctors didn’t want to take any chances. So he was put in the intensive care unit, just to make certain he was fully developed. Precautionary, they told us, but still. I was frightened the first time we entered the intensive care unit to see him. I had expected a morbid place, with the chill of parents expecting the worst for their underdeveloped neonates hooked up to blinking and beeping machines, tubes everywhere.

Read the rest of this entry »

East London Mosque 100 years old neighbouring with a synagogue

East London mosque celebrates it’s 100th anniversary on the weekend of Eid ul fitr 2010. It is also the weekend of the Jewish New Year. The East London Field St synagogue opened its doors to the Muslim community.

Sorry about the sound quality I was in the middle of a street party. Will add subtitles.