Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Help To Get Rid Of African Poverty

The promises made, concerning African poverty, at the recent G8 Summit are under scrutiny now. Progress on carrying out the promises must be monitored closely. Politicians have the ultimate power to get rid of African poverty once and for all.

Celebrities such as Bob Geldof and Bono do the invaluable work of keeping the issue uppermost in our minds and on the news. Everyone, as an individual, can also do his or her bit. The only way out of African poverty is for all African communities to become self sufficient, and that is something we can all give and aim for.

There have been many attempts to rid the world of African poverty. It seems obscene that it still exists in the 21st century. Whilst some African countries have made advances, others struggle terribly. Wars, drought, crop failure, disease, corrupt government and the apathy of the West have all played a part.

Charities do their bit to help. One of my friends used to be a member of an organization that recruits people to sponsor individuals in Africa. There was one who sponsors a little girl in a remote village in Malawi. This organization, and similar ones, works in a clever way to combat African poverty. It allows us to establish a personal relationship with one child, but the money we send each month helps the whole community. They have used the money towards the cost of building a school and to dig a well.

It has also been used to buy mosquito nets, to address the problem of infant Malaria, and to buy school equipment as well. The sponsored child writes letters to my friend through an interpretator, and he send letters to her through and fro never forget the occasional gifts. The organization sends him reports on the work they do in the community and articles about African poverty in general.

This sponsorship is incredibly important to everyone in the community. As each village becomes self sufficient, the organization moves on to another community caught up in African poverty and invites its sponsors to take up a new sponsorship there.

It's a wonderful example of a well thought out and long term strategy. Some charitable giving has to deal with short-term emergencies of course. Just imagine, however, if everyone who could afford to became a sponsor. Just think what effect that would have on African poverty.

The other way in which you can try to give support is to buy Fair Trade goods in the local stores. The Fair Trade movement has been most successful in trying to combat African poverty by setting a fair price for farmers and growers in Africa, so they can achieve a reasonable standard of living.

Some of the independent companies that have taken up the Fair Trade cause have been successful enough to be bought out by well-known brands. If you buy Fair Trade coffee, tea, chocolate and bananas. So ok, it's just my little bit imagination, once again, if everyone did the same. How about a little help from you?

If you like to know more about worldwide communication, there is a website located at http://www.answeringphoneservices.com called The Answering Machine providing great information about Phones and Network communication.

Credit Card Rates Are Not Stable

What kind of Credit Card rates are you finding now days? I have to say that I usually get a few pitches in the mail on a daily basis. If it's not Visa, it's MasterCard, and if it's not American Express, it's Discover card. I'm sure you can relate on that. When it comes to Credit Card companies, one thing they are very adamant about is pitching.

Sometimes I just want to send them a memo regarding all the paper they're wasting. Because come on, how many of these are you tearing up, or sticking through the shredder? It's not as if we can literally get every Credit Card they encourage us to apply for.

Even when your Credit limit is almost used up, they are still sending brochures to encourage you for a special loans with low interest rate, why can't they track that we have nothing much to go for? I think it is because of their company structure which one department do the promotion while another do the Credit check, isn't it?

Finally, of course there is the whole deal with the Credit Card rates. Most initial rates are 0 percent on all balance transfer. However, when it comes to purchases, it's typically nothing as generous. Believe me; these companies know how much we like to spend, and they're out to make loads of cash off of us. It's the same with the 0 percent Credit Card rates on balance transfer.

They're basically hinting for you to transfer any large amount that you're currently paying too much interest on. However, do we fall for this routine spiel? Of course we do. We want that 0 APR as long as we can have it. Even if it's only for the first year. After that, it may be time to check out new Credit Card rates and transfer that nasty balance again.

If you are on the lookout for a Credit Card, but aren't sure about current Credit Card rates, then it's the time you hopped online. The Internet can and will provide you with who has the best offers at this point of time. Find those ideal Credit Card rates in a flash when you use the World-Wide-Web. Just don't go too crazy with the charging.

Do you have a Credit Card? How many are stacked in your wallet or purse? Are you toting around a few Platinums and that American Express card with no limit? Yikes, this can get a little dangerous if you're not careful.

As most of us know, the old Credit Card rates can change on a dime, and then you're suddenly losing hundreds a month in nasty interest, especially when the time you are not paying off all the bills at once! You better watch out, as they will rise.

That's always a major bummer. Who ever invented the Credit Card, anyway? You'd think they would have come up with one that had a fixed 0 percent APR on all purchases. Don't those Credit Card companies realize that's what we're all looking for?

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