Thomas Bell's Blog (15)

The story on womenwatch that I thought was one of the most important wasn't one of hope, but one which simply informed. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88685 tells the story of how women and girls are often given less food than they need, because the food is diverted to the males of the family. These people in Pakistan have been displaced by war, and now there is not…

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This day's project takes a leaf out of Earth Hour. In other words, in order to raise awareness and challenge people to think about water, people will have to go a wh*** day without using water (Except to drink, of course). This would mean that many household tasks, like washing dishes and gardening, will be almost impossible. Of course, people would be welcome to travel down to the nearest river and bathe there!

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When I looked at this, I thought, what do I have that can already produce power? Of course, the first thing I thought of was my exercize bike, but this is overused, and really, would only power something if I was exercizing. Continue

I would like to highlight another group of people trying to solve world problems through collaboration. When I was in middle school, my school participated in the Challenge 20/20 program (http://www.nais.org/conferences/index.cfm?ItemNumber=147262). In this, we partnered up with a school in the USA, and tried to find a way to solve one of 20 major global problems, based off the book High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20… Continue

Ah the primacy of the 20's at my peak. Celebrating my 27th birthday. Living in suburban Brisbane, Australia, which has undergone a massive shift. Luckily, practices common in outback Australia for water and energy preservation have been successfully transported to the city. Every house now has a water tank to catch rainwater. These are used to power mini-hydro generators, which work with the solar panels that work so well in the sunny climes of Northern Australia. Power is stored in a battery… Continue

I found this to be a very difficult task. I was intent on finding an innovator in Manila, Philippines, but after much fruitless searching nothing could be found. In a way, this is not surprising, as many people no doubt lack any internet or communication services, so much innovation goes to waste. In the end, I gave up finding something which hadn't been posted on evoke already. Instead I looked up Australia, and was surprised at how universities were using there vast number of intelligent… Continue

This game has been specifically made to be played on Mobile Phones. This is evidence of how mobile phones have completely changed peoples lives, not just in developed countries, but in developing countries, where landlines were passed over in favour of the easier Mobile. So there we go, a resource, something almost everyone, or at least every family, has, even in the poorest countries. Continue

Back in Australia, working now. Ah dinner with the colleagues, always a good time. Pity that we rarely have meat in our meals, such as that enjoyed in youth. Still, good collection of vegetables here, tofu of course, now the main source of protein for many people. It was hard to adjust to it, having disliked it so much, but since meat prices skyrocketed, I'm afraid I have to live with it. Continue

In manila, small, often orphaned children, beg passing cars for money, walking across the road and tapping the windows of passing drivers, asking for meager amounts of change. Alternatively they try to sell flowers or other such items. However, what many people who kindly and completely innocently give money to the children is that many of them are members of organized gangs, and are used by others to make money. The money you give them is often taken by the organizers of these 'cartels', and… Continue

I live a good life. A great life. I'm in the largest house I've ever lived in, with the comforts of modern life. I have people ready to serve me food straight away when I get home. However, I live in a small little world. I actually live in a walled community, with guards at all the gates, separating it from the outside world. Continue

Its near the beginning of my third year studying coral bleaching on one of the few remaining relatively healthy sections of the Great Barrier Reef. The data that the team I am part of has collected has been important in determining what climate change, pollution, overfishing, and aquaculture are doing to the natural ecosystems of the ocean. The day is drawing to a close, and I have just come back from a scuba diving mission, gladdened by the fact that as far as I could tell there were no new… Continue

Efren Penaflorida Jr. has been working with Filipino children since he was in school. I choose him because I had the pleasure of meeting him at and talking with him. He was elected CNN hero of the year, which of course was an honour for him, and a demonstration of how much his work matters. Continue

When working on a project with someone, one of the most annoying things possible is that you spend ages working on something, say a poster, only to find the next day that your partner has already done that, and you wasted a huge amount of time an effort. Similarly, when trying to solve global problems, there is little to be gained from multiple people creating the exact same solution to a problem, or simply trying to redo something already done. Continue