I finally updated our personal website SofieHofmann.com Travel section. I just uploaded the pages and our pictures in Italy. We spent our long weekend break last year, Autumn 2005, in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.
SofieHofmann.com Blog was also updated as I promised to write all SofieHofmann.com updates at the blog. View my blog at SofieHofmann.com to see the photo that I included there. It’s not at all a waste of time. Just find it out.
I just finished updating the sites of Lux International and Green Cross Switzerland. I added the March issue, German version of the newsletter of Green Cross Switzerland. You can check it out at the Publications page, Publikationen in German language. If you see this, Nachrichten 01/2006 – (105 KB) , that’s the link to the pdf file.
With Lux International, I changed some pictures at the Company Information and The International Management Team under the Contact menu. It took me sometime to update it since I first have to change the dark background of one of the pictures and patterned it after the light background of the lux pages.
I am also on the process of updating SofieHofmann.com site with regards to our travel in Italy last year. In just a few days, our pictures in Siena, Tuscany, Italy will be available for viewing.
I just updated Pandan.ph Portal. Links to news about the oil spill in Semirara can be accessed at Pandan.ph Portal. This way, you’ll be able to know what’s happening. I suggest that you read from bottom to top starting from the date January 10, 2006. I really encourage you to read all the news.
I have been monitoring the oil spill in Semirara and it is really unfortunate that it happened. The latest that I read, the oil spill affected about 236 hectares of mangrove forests and 40 square kilometers of marine life. Less than 10 percent of the affected area had been cleaned up.
It was on December 18, 2005, when a Napocor barge ran aground off Sitio Bobog, Semirara, Antique, spilling between 200,000 and 350,000 liters of bunker fuel. In 2 days from now, it’s going to be 2 months since the accident happened, and so far they have cleaned up less than 10 percent of the affected area. You think about it if it’s good or not. Less than 10 percent?!
Look at the issue in a wider perspective, why is it that most people don’t want coal and diesel power plants? We use bunker fuel for diesel-fired power plants and coal for coal-fired power plants. We need to transport bunker fuel and coal for these power plants in different islands and regions. The barge of Napocor was transporting something when the accident happened. We know the impact of what happened.
Let us ask ourselves now, so why do people push for renewable energy? Renewable energy have pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, but it is definitely better than the coal and diesel power plants. Some would say that renewable energy is expensive. Well, that’s the price we have to pay if we want a clean environment.
The fact is, money is not really the question, if we really want to do it, we can do it. The problem is if we have the willpower to do it. There’s always a way but if you want to settle for less and dirty like the coal and diesel power plants, then you suffer, and when you get sick, it’s going to be more expensive for all of us considering that most filipinos don’t have health insurance. The government and the private sectors could find a way to finance putting up those alternative energy but you will wonder who will pay for your hospital bills if you get sick because of the pollution and accidents caused by coal and diesel power plants.
There’s a lot of possibilities but I won’t go that far. For now, this is what I have to say, if you care about yourself, if you care about others, if you care about the environment, if you care about Mother Nature, then be responsible. I leave it up to you, on how to be responsible.
You can start here… Vote for renewable energy in the Philippines… at www.panda.org.
I updated the website of Pagtatap Foundation. I uploaded some pictures taken in 2005. Pictures could be viewed at the 2005 Activities section. The photo gallery will no longer be included as a menu instead photos will be placed at the Activities menu.
I also placed a text info regarding the Pagtatap Foundation sponsored Manggyan Medical Mission on April 1-5, 2006 in Pandan, Antique, Philippines. Please read the information and donate if you can. We are asking for your help and support. We try to give our help to some of those who need medical care and assistance and we are doing this by sponsoring a medical mission. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I especially included the photo above to show you an example that some people would really wait that long because they don’t have that much money for the operation. I took this photo on April 18, 2005 when I went to the hospital with my niece who followed up those who were operated during the medical mission on April 3-6, 2005. The elderly woman was operated after 10 years of waiting and the cyst was finally taken from her back. She told me not to take a photo of her face and I just smiled. You can just imagine what kind of wonder your help would do.
For you out there, try to make a difference. You can do it. It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Show your love not only to your family but also to your brothers and sisters in Christ. Help if you can.
I finally uploaded the pages of the new web design of Pagtatap Foundation. I finished redesigning the website few weeks ago but didn’t upload them right away. Its guest book, site map and photo gallery are not yet available. I’m still thinking if I have to transfer the pictures from Pandan Antique Homepage. The problem with the free hosted site, the bandwidth is so limited that if a lot of people viewed the pictures and the bandwidth allowed for the month was used up, others will not be able to view the pictures anymore. Well, I’ll just have to find a way.
I also updated the site of Green Cross Switzerland and added some photos at the Swiss Big Game Fishing but I didn’t write about it before we left for vacation on January 03, 2006. I hope to be able to post our vacation photos soon. I will post it here anyway if I have updated our personal website at SofieHofmann.com.
I finished updating the site of PSAP-PAROLA.org yesterday evening. Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme (PSAP) is a non-stock, non-profit foundation based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It primarily aims to support the Filipino seafarers’ quest for better and humane working and living conditions.
PSAP has been publishing its newsletter/magazine called “PAROLA” for the Filipino seafarers. Parola has no ads at all but next year, they will start accommodating commercial advertisers at the Parola newsletter. Why advertise in Parola? The magazine is quite very informative for the seafarers and its family. I do not wonder that Parola newsletter is quite popular among the Filipino seafarers.
Some of the officers and staff of PSAP would visit one of the ships every month just to see the Filipino seafarers. The ship and crew that they visit is being featured at the SHIP and CREW of the MONTH, which I think very noble indeed. By merely looking at their photos, you will have the tendency to have some mixed emotions. For one thing, they are away from their loved ones, like right now, instead of spending Christmas with their family, they’re somewhere out there sailing at sea with their colleagues, while we are here enjoying on the ground.
May I ask everyone to please pray for them everyday, for their safety and wish them happiness even if they are away from their family especially this Christmas season.
May I also appeal to everyone to please support Parola newsletter by advertising with the magazine. Parola is circulated to over 10,000 individual Filipino seafarers and their families. You can download the latest issue of Parola, just visit PSAP-PAROLA.org website.
That’s all and have a wonderful day! Tomorrow is Christmas day!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!!!
Last Monday, December 19, 2005, I updated the start pages of the French, Italian and English version of the site of Green Cross Switzerland. The last time I updated it, I only inserted a pop-up window at the start page of the German version. The pop-up window is all about the “Babushka Painting Competition” of Green Cross Switzerland in relation to the Chernobyl accident 20 years ago.
The solidarity gathering by Swiss children for the children of Chernobyl will be on the 26th of April, 2006 in “Waisenhausplatz” in Bern. If you are a resident of Switzerland and would like to participate in this competition, sample patterns of Babushka can be ordered at Green Cross.
Herewith are few samples of the works of the children from Switzerland, courtesy of Green Cross Switzerland. Read my past blog entry, 20 Years after Chernobyl, to know what does Babushka mean.
Today, I uploaded some documents, press releases, regarding the Social and Medical Care Programme of Green Cross Switzerland. The press releases are only in German and French languages. If you can read either of the two, you can check the media pages of the German and French version. It is about the help that Green Cross Switzerland is extending to one of the contaminated areas in Russia, “Chelyabinsk”, as well as Ukraine, through their Social and Medical Care Programme.
Chelyabinsk, in the former USSR, was the center of the Russian nuclear industry, also known as the “Mother of the Atomic Bomb”. Due to the unprofessional handling of the radioactive waste during that time, and as the area was producing nuclear weapons in high quantity, waste accumulated and contaminated Chelyabinsk and its neighboring areas.
Aside from that, there were also two serious radioactive accidents that occurred in 1994 and 1995 which contaminated the area. The radioactive wastes overflowed to the Techa river and it led to the radiation contamination of about 124,000 people, 28,000 of those were residents of the place “Brodokalmak”. At present, there are 1,100 children living in Brodokalmak, 800 of those are registered to be sick.
There’s still a lot of them out there… and they need our help…
As we are about to celebrate Christmas, if you can extend your help, just help… anyone… help anyway you can. People will appreciate it!
I updated the site of Swiss Big Game Fishing few days ago regarding Swiss Salmo Perl “News” 2006. Today, I added some pictures of the Swiss Salmo Perl fishing baits. Swiss Big Game Fishing will be introducing new Swiss Salmo Perl products for the year 2006. It will have a some sort of an exhibit on the 24th of December 2005 at Vitznauerweg 17, Weggis, Switzerland from 8am to 5pm.
Swiss Big Game Fishing is a hobby site of Peter Hofmann. Swiss Salmo Perl became known as “Hofmann Loeffel” which was named after him. He is into big game fishing and if you visit his site, you will see that he is quite successful in it considering that it is just his hobby. He and his friends would travel to Kenya most of the time, and they could really catch sharks, as in big sharks. You can visit this particular page, Fangerfolge, if you would like to know what I mean.
If you are into fishing and living in Switzerland, well, why not visit his place and you’ll probably find something that you have been looking for. Swiss Big Game Fishing have a lot of products with regard to fishing like fishing rolls, fishing rods, fishing lines, fishing hooks and fishing tools, not only fishing baits. You’ll probably find more there aside from what I mentioned but that is all that I can remember.
Ok, till next time, have fun fishing… Have a wonderful day!
I updated the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines, several days ago. It was really exciting. Pandan.gov.ph is one of the 5 finalists at the “2005 LGU Website Contest”. I was like a kid giggling and jumping when I told the good news to my husband. You can read the news at www.pandan.gov.ph.
I installed a new guestbook and I even modified it so it will look like the other pages of www.pandan.gov.ph. I also reinstalled the web forum but a newer version. Even if I did a back-up of the database of the old one, I was not able to reconfigure it. I lost all the names of those who registered already, so it’s back to square one. I hope you’ll register again and let us make use of the web forum of the site.
I also installed a simple site search. When I say simple, it is really simple. If you view the search page of the www.pandan.gov.ph you will be able to read my tips there. It’s not perfect but it could somehow help you. Try it out so you know how it functions. Just don’t search the words like bugang river, malumpati, municipality and the menu words because it will give you unnecessary results. As I see it, when you search malumpati, it seems like it’s also giving you the search result for municipality. That’s just one of the shortcomings of this simple site search.
Don’t worry, sooner or later, if the other pages have been indexed by either google, msn or yahoo, I will probably use their site search but for the meantime, this one will suffice.
Well, that’s all for now. Have a wonderful day!
I have been signing out with that phrase today. I guess, it reflects that I had a wonderful day today. I feel like singing and dancing just like when I told Hub that good news, but it’s already past midnight here so I’d better go to bed now. Tomorrow is another wonderful day and I’m looking forward to it! Ciao!!!
I just updated the site of Green Cross Schweiz last Wednesday night. As I’ve written before, Green Cross will have a Painting Competition, actually a “Babushka” Painting Competition. I just created a pop-up window at the startpage of the German version site announcing the event on the 26th of April 2006.
The event is a demonstration of solidarity of the school children from Switzerland for the children of Chernobyl. I just hope that you still remember what happened in Chernobyl 20 years ago. The nuclear power plant accident occured in Chernobyl in the former USSR, now Ukraine, on April 25-26, 1986. For more information about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, please visit this website, www.chernobyl.info.
What does “Babushka” mean? Babushka is a Russian word meaning “grandmother” or “old woman”. I found out that some english dictionaries defined the word Babushka as a “woman’s head scarf” but in Russia it is never used to mean “woman’s head scarf”.
If they defined it as a “woman’s head scarf”, what an imagination, the evolution of the words, huh! In this case, the word “Babushka”! I guess, they called it that way, probably because most of the “Babushkas”, the grandmothers in Russia and Ukraine are always wearing a scarf covering their head.
Anyway, if you already click the link Green Cross Schweiz, you probably read the details of the event at the pop up window. If you want to participate, just inquire at Green Cross Switzerland.