OK we are looking for PCs and laptops aswell as related networking equipment to send to the Philippines. BUT we need things that have a bit more use in them than the picture to the left. As it HAS to be useable. Disposal of equipment is starting to become an issue in the UK so I would prefer machines to be no older than a machine that is capable of running Windows XP. Now your probably wondering what we want the computers for. Well they will be used for several things. Primarily for schooling but also used in community groups with such things as Adult learning. So if YOU or the company you work for has any of the following for disposal please let us know :-
Computers
Laptops
Mice or other input devices
Printers,Scanners,plotters
Network equipment
Networking cables CAT5 etc
projectors
power cables
Monitors CRT,Flat Screen,TFT
Infact almost any computer equipment. We can organise collection and also supply photos of them in use in the Philippines once they have been shipped and connected up. All equipment will be tested before installation to make sure its safe as im well aware things bump around in shipments.
So how do you contact us? Well drop me an email at www.tropicalpenpals.com and ill get back to you asap. We appreciate any goods that you can supply and would just like to say thank you in advance.
Ive spent a lot of this year looking at charities and what they do and wonder is it really worth our money?
Some people will say some help is better than no help. But to be honest thats no excuse for the way most charities operate and on top of corruption from all sides makes a complete farce of the idea of charity. To me a charity is “Non-Profit” Organisations “WITHOUT” personal gain. Giving free business lunches and expenses to people who head many of these organisations in the hope they will be able to network for the charity to increase funding or for political assistance in a business if i was a business owner trying this wouldnt I be classed as price fixing or unethical?
Constant bombardment of advertisements on TV for NSPCC or many other of these charities costs millions of pounds per year and where does it come from? Us and are a lot of the charities really looking for solutions or riding the gravy train?
I watched on a TV advert that a water well would cost $6000 yes thats right $6000 but there are “free” plans on the net and i think you could build and buy 10 mobile drill stations components for $6000 so where does the rest of the money get wasted? Adminstration? Expenses? Consultant fees? Advertisements? Leaflets? Paying corrupt officials? Heads of these charities many on over £100,000 salary I dont believe anyone is worth £100k per year especially in this role. Many company owners dont even get near that sort of salary and you would probably find a lot of very skilled and able people that would do the job for free for the experience and the fact that they gain personal worth and achievement. So although not recieved a salary it glows on a CV for future work.
Projects should be based on creating sustainable living and education not feeding programs that will be a constant need for cash which does not resolve any of the issues that need to be dealt with. There are a lot of people out there that would help with skills that are relevant and free but not used. The other problem with these type of organisations that just deal with feeding programs is that they are part of the problem. People are generally stuck with no income and no way of generating one and people just dont move on… they have no way to get out of the poverty trap and its now proving that like the social system in the UK you get people that have been brought up knowing no different and will never work a day in theyre life they are used to payouts from state benefit (taxpayer hand outs). Like anything with humans quite simply we adapt to our enviroment. If you have £40 or £40,000 a week to live on you could manage.
Ok i sound pretty negative about Charities and you will be right! I havent even touched on the corruption side within developing countries which at the top involves officials requesting Aid money for a charity as a “processing fee” (for theyre personal gain) and then for example the charity requests £10,000 in funding the official does the paperwork gets it approved and in return takes £7,000 back in cash leaving the charity/organisation with £3,000. Big question for me is how much from the money people donate to the workers on the ground does £3,000 cost? as its obvious over 50% is already stolen at official level but where is all the advertisment costs, leaflets, adminstrators, managers? is £3,000 getting close to £30,000 of donated funds to get it to the person on the ground?
So how would i fix the problem?? Well its as simple as this there is no easy solution. I would move away from these huge organisations as they dont work properly and are missing the whole point of charities. If you want to do something right get off your butt and do it yourself! One thing i do is give up space in my luggage for kids clothes and give them away when im in the Philippines. I never give money as I know it has a chance to goto organised gangs that collect from the beggars or on glue sniffing. I also buy meals for street kids, although i dont see it as a solution making sure kids eat that day is important to me even if it goes against my “food program ideals” but the problem i have with the “food programs” is they arent developing farming or anything else they are just feeding people. Thats what needs to change and thats the reason i have a gripe on the food programs they arent a solution in many cases it makes problems worse.
Organisations should be “non profit” There are engineers, graduates, retired educated people who are all willing to do a bit in the world to make it better so use them! Teach people about solar cooking, how to build wind turbines from scrap car parts, build a water well. How to grow food and the importance of growing the crops. All these things will bring change. Aswell as many more ideas.
Ive started writing several e-books on various subjects as a way to help increase my earnings aswell as cover a lot of topics and information people “may” want to know. The reason ive decided to do them as E-Books is quite simply they need to be paid for because of the amount of research time involved. A bit different to asking me random questions a lot more in depth and hoping to improve on them as time goes by to keep them upto date. I want to get people away from ill informed information and more in line with information that can help them to establish businesses, houses, deal with getting married, visas etc. Aswell as learning how to make money off shore to help reduce risks of people being aware of too much wealth. Currently ive added a few books that are already on the market that you may find useful for different topics to do with the Philippines to my webpage :- http://www.tropicalpenpals.com/ebook.html
Whatever your plans are in the Philippines if you havent been i advise getting some knowledge as it can be a great place where you wish you had more time to see things that you “didnt” know about. But it can just as easy be a living hell where corruption and robbery is literally taking your life in your hands.
Its a thought ive been toying a lot with lately as many of the jigsaw pieces are missing on the net about starting a life in the Philippines and how to deal with officials,locals and generally how to get things done. Because there is a big misconception with people assuming great got money and my bags packed ill start a new life in the Philippines.. LET ME STOP YOU THERE!! firstly you know nothing about the country its cultures and its people. Never mind getting onto the side of corrupt officials and gangsters who may make you a target for extortion and forcing a takeover of your business. Other businesses are less likely to get interference but the truth is what do you know about farming? Fish breeding or other businesses? in the Philippines its nothing like the West and inputing western ideas may back fire at a heavy cost.
So what ive been thinking of is taking different ideas and putting books together that really are useful guides. There are some guides already out there on marriage, buying,renting and managing property, how to deal with immigration and the paperwork involved. Several of these ive added onto my site already (which you can find at http://www.tropicalpenpals.com/ebook.html) but im hoping to add my own in the future. This is where you come in what do you want to know about the Philippines and Cebu and also businesses so i can get an idea of where to start researching and writing.
Well its almost that time of year. Christmas is nearly upon us and starting to ready stuff to “ship” home. Its an expensive thing to do but long term a good idea. Because a lot of the tools i need for projects in the Philippines are either hard to find or unavailable and many goods are fakes such as Dewalt drills which still manage to be overpriced even though not real.. Now ive tried a few Balikbyan home collection companies but none of them reply to emails which is never a good sign and I do most of my contacting people via the net to make life easier for me due to being busy during the day. But ive also managed to find some forwarding companies that deal with sending from boxes all the way upto containers.
While searching for people to send my boxes i came across “tax rebate” agents. After a quick calculation on one of the sites i was pleasantly surprised that im owed over £1000 for this year alone so hoping to claim as far back as possible as ive been paying too much tax for several years if this is correct. These agents are also on the mainpage of my website and i strongly advise just doing a quick questionaire to see if your owed money and if you cant be bothered or dont have the time to do it yourself get one of them to claim your money back for you.
Many people go through life led by career or pushed to the limit trying to make ends meet. But this is where people start to lose want matters in life. The money doesnt matter.. although it may seem the end of the world some of the time or even most of the time. Its pulling your family together.. the little things like telling your kids you love them or a small text msg or call to your wife if away from home to tell her you love her each day. You may be in a bad place sometimes but its those moments that the happiness you give to other people that can shine through to make your day.. an unexpected call to tell you your missed and loved. Being the better person in life takes you further than complaining about the bills or hating people.. truth is most of the things you cant fix so why bother? A prime example of this is the current bank failures in the UK and US and robbing the tax payer to pay for it. Truth in this is you may get annoyed complain or a lot of other emotions but what will happen? Nothing.. they wont put it to the vote they wont ask the people so just dont get annoyed about it. When the next elections come round just vote them out of power. Until then concentrate on your family unit. Family is everything.
A lot of people maybe wondering how or when can I do this to build a new life in the Philippines. Truth is there is no ideal time but “now!” because you either need to start getting money there or start building money to do it soon.
My life is as complex if not more so than most. Im not rich but i do earn more than the average person wont go into the in and outs of things. But simply ill put in upto an 18 hrs a day 7 days a week to make things work. The secret in life is there is no easy run for most of us. The truth is if you want to make it happen you really do have to make it happen. Lots of work and sweat and some days you just feel to tired to do anymore. At the end of it a bit of good judgement and common sense make the life you want rather than the life your stuck with.
Currently i do around 4months at a time in the UK and 2 months in the Philippines but as things develop it will eventually be a choice if we want extra income.. at the moment its needed to make the piggery develop and hopefully the farm.
Now im currently piling up projects on a “to do” list for things i can carry out and most of them are coming up a lot cheaper than I expected. Now why would i want to go green in a country that its very cheap to live?
Well firstly im not a green guy.. im not a stereotype with a beard,glasses wolly jumper and pipe. But i do have a few reasons that drive me.
Firstly i like to save money
secondly i want to be self-sufficent.
In power cuts or fuel problems will be able to supply my own.
Growing our own food stocks gets rid of the worry with such things as the chinese milk crisis which has now gone as far as getting in Yakult with the melamine.
It helps others. Once my pig production is up and running will be giving excess gas to neighbours.
Notice no enviromental on the list? this is because nothing is 100% about the real causes of the global warming issues and until someone is saying 100% im doing it to save money,help my local community and develop cheap ways of producing fuels etc.
I will have to base this on a house outside the city as you will struggle for some of these ideas to work in an apartment or condo (maybe due to neighbour complaints).
Biodiesel fuel production from Oils such as coconut or from methane produced by livestock.
Biodegrader (generates gas from waste such as manure).
Solar panels (pretty obvious but will be developing building my own units).
Wind Turbines (how to build from bits that can be found online or at a scrapyard).
Water drilling (there is a lot of underground water imagine no water bills due to providing your own).
Hydrophonics.
Growing Vegetables and fruit.
Generating fertilizer.
Air conditioning.
Creating a green home that has reduced heat.
This will be a growing area and i welcome people to get involved with ideas and projects on my site due to the discussion forums being easier to pass information back and forth. http://www.tropicalpenpals.com/forum
