When my agency was pitching the California Avocado business this past May, I surfed around other retailer sites for inspiration on how to connect with consumers. I came across this great promotion on the Sunkist website. They have a program where they send out some huge number of lemonade stands for free to children who want to run them for charity.

I thought, "Hey! What a great way to get the kids involved in Raising Malawi!" And then I got a call from my sister-in-law Nancy who told me a really decent little cardboard stand arrived at the house.

Actually, I'm jumping ahead. I waited till my trip to Atlanta to talk to Luke and Matt about it. I sat with Luke on my lap to type in a request. I had just shown him and Matt my video from my trip to Africa. I explained that a lot of the kids I met are orphans -- their moms and dads died because they couldn't get medicine.

And now the kids are left to fend for themselves -- maybe go live with their nana. But they don't get much food or water and sometimes can't even afford to go to school. Luke, age 8, was quiet. Thoughtful. I went on, "It's actually pretty bad, Luke. A lot of children die from malaria. And you know, all they need is a net to put over their beds at night and they won't get sick like that."

He sat on my lap to answer the lemonade stand application. It asked, "Why do you want a lemonade stand? What is your charitable cause?" He wrote, "so the kids don't have to die from mosquito bites anymore."

It's really that simple.

And let me add, I love my sister-in-law so much!! She's got four kids on her hands and promised me she'd help get this thing running. She told the kids to go knocking on doors, asking peole to come out and have some lemonade to help the orphans in Malawi. The kids had it priced at 10 cents a glass! (ugh!). Lots of kids came, but ... well...at 10 cents a person, we made about 2 bucks for the cause.

Won't you PLEASE buy a BIG glass of lemonade from these children so they can make a nice donation to the orphanage in Malawi? Just click on the link at the top that says "Donate" and let me know how much and I'll pass on the good word to Luke, Matt, Jacob and Lauren.

Thank you!

Bill Clinton and team from the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative are in Malawi today -- one stop on a six day trip.

Clinton is doing amazing work throughout Africa. Here's a clip of him with Paul Farmer from Partners in Health-- the other genius in the movement to provide care to the forgotten majority and help slash the cost of Rx drugs for the poor and impoverished. Actually, most of the credit for ruthless tenacity on that last front goes to Paul's longtime partner and friend, Jim Yong Kim.

Nelson Mandela is also featured. He turned 89 yesterday. Happy Bday!

The clip is 2 mins.

In it, Clinton says, "...life wouldn't be worth living if we had to watch our children fall like flies to a demon we could all defeat."

Think about that for one second. That statement put an immediate golf ball in my throat. Because it's exactly what's happening now. It doesn't have to be this way. We can beat this - TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS are all totally preventable.

If only we pony up.

I can tell they made this video after Clinton's trip to Africa last year, given that tablecloth-of-a-shirt he's wearing...unless it's his lucky Africa shirt or something. Who knows?



Here's what they're up to in Malawi since launching their work last year:

1. Helped register and finance the Neno Hills Farmers’ Association (NHFA), through which 1,200 Malawian farmers have been able to procure improved wheat seed and fertilizer, most of them for the first time.

2. Joined with Partners In Health and the Government on construction of Neno District Hospital and 23 adjacent houses for hospital staff.

3. Helping to manage the HIV/AIDS pandemic that perpetuates conditions of poverty.
(We have one of the stronger scale-up efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, and there has been a tenfold increase in the number of people receiving care and treatment since 2003. In addition, we already have helped 1,500 children start the treatment they need to survive. Still, half the people who need treatment can’t access it. So there is good progress in this area but there remain some major challenges.)

Godspeed, Clinton Foundation!

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY LUKE SILKA!

I'm in LA. Have been for one month now. I like to move -- force myself into the unknown so I can grow. Funny thing about moving is that you think you have your act all together before you move. You're like, "Hell, bring on the adventure! I can handle anything. Be damned this illusion I call 'home'. My soul needs to fly!"

So I totally uproot myself. And then about 5 minutes later I want to crawl in a hole. I feel totally exposed and vulnerable and inadequate and silly for attempting to live out the big dream. I don't know anyone. And it's hard to make new friends, even though everyone seems so friendly. It's just not my thing. It stresses me out. I hope the anxiety will settle down a bit once I find a more permanent residence.

But I really can't complain. Ogilvy's got me in corporate housing on the beach in Santa Monica. So overall, like the shirt says....


Here's the view from my balcony. Just behind the tennis courts is the beach. It's huge!


Plus, I bought a mini cooper s convertible, which has been lots of fun.


And LA mani/pedis are even cheaper than New York! We're talking $20 for both. For an extra $5, you can get a flower on your toes. It's an LA thing, I'm told. How cool is that?!


That was last week. Here's this week's:


You really can't tell, but they stuck a green emerald in the center of the flower.

Anyway, I'm making friends. I got invited to go hiking a couple weeks ago with a woman named Tali from Carry On, a PR agency consulting with Nature Made, one of the clients I'm working with. We went not too far from her house on the other side of the Hollywood Hills.

I really like her! I can't recall the name of the trail exactly, but we saw Alex Trebek's house --from Jeopardy (HUGE!) -- Cuba Gooding Jr.'s house and George Clooney's house on our walk.

I hope she calls me again, because...as everyone knows, I'm terrible about initiating.

I made a couple new friends at work. One is named Minnie -- just like my car -- although she drives a mini-VAN!! Still, you'd never know it b/c she is cool and very real and seems to have a very happy family life. I have a good feeling we were meant to be friends.

And my other work friend is John Dullaghan. He made a film called, "Bukowski" about Charles Bukowski, the poet.


It's called "Born Into This." I really like it. You can find it at Hollywood Video. I'm reading CB's poetry now. Bono is in the film. So is Sean Penn. They're both into Chas. Bukowski's work. BTW, he was the real-life model for "Barfly", the feature film based on his early life. Bukowski seems to me an awful lot like my Grandpa, Leo Rodak. I'll bet my mom would like it.

I dedicate this blog entry to her - Leona Jane Silka. I really love you, mom. I wish you could know that. I'm listening to "Instant Karma" now. It's a John Lennon tribute album. All proceeds go to save Darfur. The song, "Mother" makes me think of you. It's covered by Christina Aguillera, who has such a beautiful voice. I hope you'll listen.

Anyway, back to LA dreaming for me....

And I promise my next post will be about progress on Raising Malawi.

Here's a look on the brighter side: Kabbalah teaches us that life bears countless opportunities, much like a multiplex cinema. And you're the star on every screen. What's more is that each theater shows a different quality film. In theater 1, you're living your ideal movie, where blessings and joy abound. In theater 12 (actually, the number of potential movies is infinite), your life is, for lack of a better term, a horror flick.

While the Lightforce of the Creator is always the producer, you are always the director. You make the choices that determine how the plot twists and turns. You're also the casting director, choosing who is playing each part.

I share this with you today so that from now onward, you take every decision in your life as one that can rewrite the script of your movie. This doesn't mean that every decision must be a drama (pun intended). But whether you're choosing between right or left, chocolate or vanilla, LA or NY - know that you and only you get to decide what happens in the next scene.

FIELD TRIP!


Raising Malawi runs a spirituality for kids (SFK) program in Malawi in addition to its other orphan/child care programs.

Here are the SFK kids on a field trip to Southern Bottlers Ltd., the licensed manufacturer of Coca Cola.


It's located in Blantyre, the main commercial and industrial center of Malawi.

The field trip was meant to introduce the children to alternative career options.

Packaging bottles at a soda factory is actually a great job in Malawi. This trip was the first time many of these kids had ever been out of their rural villages and into town. They were so delighted with the experience and many of them hope to work there someday.

Southern Bottlers gave each child two bottles of pop. Consol Homes prepared a special meal for them -- looks like boiled eggs and nsima (local staple of maize).


I'm told it was a quite a special day for everyone involved.

ANGELS AND CON-ARTISTS MAKE GOOD BEDFELLOWS


I'm going to share a little drama that's been going on in my life for a while. I'm going to bury it in a long post, so hopefully the people I am writing about will get bored and not see themselves in this entry. Or who cares if they do? Not sure who or what I'm protecting anymore.

This is not intended to be a personal affront on anybody. It's more a story of archetypes. The Angel archetype (people who really truly want to reveal Light in the world) and the Scam Artist.

How do you know who you're dealing with? Sometimes you can't use your head. You have to rely on your intuition. I am also finding that people -- good people. people in my immediate social circle in positions of authority -- will prey on the "Angel" to their own benefit. Empty promises to get what they want for their own personal and immediate gain.

I get so excited by the occasional post on my blog. Will some anonymous person out there be moved into action? Inspired to pull a few bucks out of their wallet? Inclined to want to make a difference for the orphans in Malawi? Will I meet some good-hearted souls who can help infuse new energy to this cause?

We all have our own things going on and most of us truly believe our resources are scarce, so I totally understand why this isn't a slam dunk. But I get so frustrated when I put good energy toward making a difference in the world and I get preyed on instead. Look at this letter I just got the other day. I saw this on Oprah -- big rings out of Nigeria scamming Americans for money. While I am honored to be deemed an "honest and trust-wealthy person", I am offended that "Mrs. Betty Nkosi" would prey on people like me. Scary thing is, some Angels really are gullable enough to want to help. Of course, i suspect a thread of greed in the would-be Angel's motivation. More on that in a minute.

#SCAM ALERT# #BAD KARMA ALERT# SCAM ALERT##BAD KARMA ALERT# BELOW:

13 PARKTOWN
BREE, JHB SOUTH AFRICA.
OUR FAMILY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS IS
nkosineedhelp@yahoo.com
PHONE 27-73-311-43-38

ATTN.


My name is MRS, BETTY NKOSI, the wife of MR. ZUMA NKOSI of Zimbabwe. This might be a surprise to you about where I got your contact address. I got your contact from the internet, while searching for an honest and trust wealthy person, who will assist me to implement this transaction and act as my late husband proxy business partner.

During the current war against the farmers in Zimbabwe from the supports of our President Robert Mugabe to claim all the white-owned farms to his party members and his followers, he ordered all white farmers to surrender all their farms to his party members and his followers.

My husband is one of the best farmers in our country and because he did not support Mugabe's ideas, Mugabe's supporters invaded my husband's farm and burnt everything in the farm, killing my husband and made away with a lot of items in my Husband's farm. Before his death, my Husband had deposited with one of the Security Company in Johannesburg, South Africa the sum of US$ 22,000,000 (TWENTY-TWO MILLION U .S DOLLARS ONLY)) with our son name CHARLES NKOSI and made every documents with his name both the certificate of depository.

Then After the death of my Husband, we decided to move to the Republic of South Africa where he had deposited the money in the Security Company as valuables. So, I decided to contact overseas partner that will assist me to move this money out of South Africa because as asylum seekers we are not allowed to operate any bank account within South Africa. We have agreed to offer you 30% of the total sum for your assistance, 5% will be mapped out for any expenses that may be incurred in the course of this transaction and 60% will be for me and my son to invest in your country.

All I want you to do is to indicate your interest and wait for the next line of action. You can contact me on the above E-MAIL with your personal contact details .Note that this transaction is 100% risk free and absolutely confidential. We advice you to contact us through our private email address; nkosineedhelp@yahoo.com

Thanks
Regards,

MRS, BETTY NKOSI

--------
This goes on all the time. I'm reading an article today in the New York Times about real estate scams in New York. They send you a picture of your rental (Wow! great place! and only $500/month!) and you go to the Manhattan address only to find a steakhouse or something. They got your deposit. You got scammed.

The article says that this specific scam was created in Turkey. "A great percentage of the scammers are coming from Turkey, Nigeria or Benin, a small country in West Africa. These are enterprises."

On the Oprah show, they showed the crackdown on one of these scam rings. These guys are living large -- beautiful mansions, amazing cars. It makes me sick to think they are preying on good people who really want to make a difference.

Here's where it gets really personal. I believe my good friend was just scammed by her boyfriend, a 29-year old guy from Turkey named Khan (of all things). I was there when they met. They've been dating for more than a year. Then all of the sudden, he needed an emergency heart transplant. I had already started "Fundraising Malawi". I think that may have inspired them to do some of their own fundraising to get Khan on the wait list for a heart transplant.

I always had a hard time with it. Horrible as it is, it's not a charity case. I could understand if they asked for a loan with some promise to pay it back after the heart transplant. But they didn't do that. They wanted the "no stress" plan. You know, his heart couldn't take the burden. He even quit his job and moved in with my friend. In a very short time, my friend raised $25K for him. He did nothing but pressure her to ask her friends for money.

I gave $75 and never apologized for my lack of generosity. I just never believed him, deep down. I believe my friend completely let herself be scammed. When I confronted her on it, she said, no way. He gets out of breath when he climbs the stairs. If he were lying, then he'd really be putting on a good act.

I hope she doesn't read my blog. I don't know how to tell her that I think she fell hook, line and sinker. And now, she is complicit in a crime. Her friends gave $25K to a big racket. Where is the money?

She just sent this note to us -

Dear friend,

This overdue email is to thank you and share my appreciation and gratitude to all of you and to life itself.

The following is a summary of what happened to Khan since he left for Turkey in March 07:

Khan's mother took him to a renowned energy healer, specialized in heart disease. The healer gave Khan 4 days of intensive energy treatment. After the treatment, Khan went to an Istanbul's hospital for a full check-up. The results came back positive - no heart condition.

The following week, Khan's entered the hospital where he was first diagnosed in Ankara. The same team of doctors who diagnosed him in August 2006, examined him for 3 days and had no explanation for the 93% improvement of this heart. The energy healing worked. In other words, Khan doesn't need a heart transplant any longer. Doctors have no explanation for Khan's healing. This is what people call a miracle.

The most important thing is that Khan is healed and can go on with his life like any 29-year old. He has chosen to take himself out of the heart transplant waiting list.

Given a new chance at life, Khan has decided to move back to Turkey in the next couple of months to be with his family.

On my end, I chose to end our relationship. I am obviously happy and relieved by Khan's healing and know that all that happened is for the best.

I hope you will forgive me - and Khan - for not having been in communication for the past several weeks while we were getting respective life back together.

Life is full of surprises.

Much love, light and appreciation.

---

It's so easy to see in hindsight. For me anyway. It's like watching the Sixth Sense the second time. I want my friend to look the lie in the eye. I don't think she can. It's too big. Where did the money go? If not for the heart transplant, then shouldn't he pay it back to his generous donors?

You can keep my $75, Khan. I never believed you anyway. And, karmically, you have way bigger things to worry about now.

So, that's a big story; a huge drama that's really not my business, but has been very painful to watch. I do have the same sort of thing going on around my own cause though. Some "dangling carrots" if you will. Do X for me and I'll make a donation to your charity. And I jump around like a puppy thinking that I might get a donation for Raising Malawi as soon as I do X.

And I do X, and nothing. People think "charity" is the same thing as "optional" or "free". Like somehow they don't have to keep good on their word. It ticks me off.

Especially because the common demoninator in all this drama in my life is me. I'm obviously going about this all wrong. I'm talking to some of the wrong people. I'm not trusting that a noble, worthy cause is big enough on its own to inspire donations. I'm dreaming up the next (red) campaign....b/c people can't give unless they believe they're getting something back.

Shit. I don't know anymore. Maybe it's true. Maybe the world is just too full of selfishness to think Angel consciousness can win on its own merit. I'm feeling defeated and I don't know what to do.