Passionate For Dance Fundraiser

Passionate For Dance Press release:

Combining a Passion for Dance with a Heart for Saving Lives

Anna Gough, a London based Photographer, is hosting a fund-raiser to benefit the Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women, an organisation that serves young girls who are being sexually exploited in Southeast Asia.

The event will be held on Saturday, March 21st at Café Rez in Vauxhall, London. There is a £12 admission fee (£10 online) and the fund-raiser runs from 7.00 p.m. to 11:55 p.m. There will be five different dance styles which will be beautifully demonstrated with a taster-lesson directly afterwards. There will also be some great prizes to be won in a raffle and plenty of food to nibble on.

Gough is organizing Passion For Dance to raise funds for the cause, before setting off to Southeast Asia herself, where she will be doing direct field-work to help the organization document and publish the dire situation they face there.

“There are girls out there as young as 6 years who have been sold into the sex industry. I am honoured to be given the opportunity to help combat this problem in a small way. It will be a drop in the ocean, but maybe, just maybe it will have a ripple effect and change more lives for the better.”

For more information please call Anna Gough on +44 (0)7930 354 820

Tickets and Donations: http://www.passionatefordance.com/

More about our beneficiaries visit: http://www.tw-mae-w.org/twmaew/

Filipino martial art events in London

DG Doce Pares are holding some Filipino martial art events in and around London. For more information, please visit: http://www.dgdocepares.co.uk/

March

15 (Sun) Sport Stickfighting Refereeing and Judging Workshop 4.30-6.30pm
29 (Sun) Doce Pares British Championship and Invitational Championship,
Kent

May

02 (Sat) KOMBATA Limited Armour
02 (Sat) MANNY PACQUIAO vs. RICKY HATTON (evening)

July

03-05 (Fri-Sun) Doce Pares European Championships, London

September

06 (Sun) Doce Pares Summer Camp, Colchester

November

15 (Sun) Doce Pares “Quest for the Best 2” Championships, London

Help stop Clause 152 – your personal info shared across the public sector

This post is off topic for Phil-UK but still relevant to those of us based in the UK.

Earlier this year, the UK’s justice secretary, Jack Straw, unveiled the Coroners and justice bill 2009. It’s purpose is apparently to create ‘more effective, transparent and responsive justice and coroner services’. However, one part in particular sent civil liberties advocates’ alarm bells ringing: Clause 152.

In short, this will allow any information about you to be shared throughout the public sector without your permission. What kind of information? Anything can be accessed, whether it was gathered by a public body, such as your school or local council, or a private company like your bank or telephone company.

This may not sound too bad on its own but together with the government’s plans for a National Identity Register and increased surveillance powers, it helps enable serious intrusions on our liberty and freedom. Remember, we won’t know who will get hold of the data or why they want it.

What you can do about it

If the idea of your personal life being shared without your consent worries you, make sure you let the government know. Write to your MP using the WriteToThem website. Encourage him or her to vote to have Clause 152 completely removed from the Coroners and Justice Bill.

It only takes a few minutes. To make things easier for you, here’s some sample text:

I refuse to consent to the arbitrary sharing of information under any ‘Information Sharing Order’. Please vote to have Clause 152 completely removed from the Coroners and Justice Bill.

(Make sure you change the text as the site blocks anything that’s registered as copy-and-pasted text.)

Do your research

If you’re not convinced about the dangers of this clause, I encourage you to do some research and learn about the issues. Here’s a starting point:

FireFallDown – Band Promotion

I’m passing on a message from Markus C., from Filipino Students in The UK, about a band called Firefalldown. You can visit the band’s website at http://www.firefalldown.com


Hey Fellow Filipinos,

I just want to flag a London-based band called FireFallDown for they have kindly asked me to message you all to promote their band and their upcoming London show. Two of the members of the band are actually pinoys (from Makati and Cabanatuan). So let’s show our warm support for them!

I was browsing through their site and their music is just incredible. You should visit:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/FIREFALLDOWN/8414624973

http://www.facebook.com/pages/FIREFALLDOWN/8414624973

Website:
www.firefalldown.com

MySpace:
www.myspace.com/firefalldownmusic

They will also be doing a show (their last London show for the period!) on the 4th March at the Trinity Bar in Harrow (378-380 Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2DE).

It would be great if you can come along to this event – and possibly bring your friends with you!

Spread the word, alrighty? 😀

Regards,
Markus.

If you’re a student on Facebook, join the Filipino Students in The UK Group.

Channel 4 documentary looking for nurses to share their experiences

Des Daniels from Lion TV asked us to pass on this message:

We are currently producing a programme for Channel 4 about hospital nursing and midwifery. We would like to hear about experiences from both nurses and patients. We are interested to find out about specific situations or events during your stay or work in hospital with the view of potentially doing an interview on camera. For example as a patient did the nurses make you feel safe and looked after or did something go wrong. If you are a nurse or midwife how do you find the day to day working life? What works well and what could be improved?

Whatever you tell us, we’ll treat the information confidentially and anonymously where necessary. Our aim is to make an fair and balanced programme about experiences in NHS hospitals today.

If you have a story to tell or if you would like to know more please feel free to get in touch by emailing me at [email protected] or you can call us on 0208 846 2175.

How the Filipino parent’s emphasis on academic success may encourage mediocrity

One of the things that characterises the Filipino parenting style is a focus on academic success. For Filipino parents, education is crucial and subsequently, the brightest children are placed on a pedestal while those with bad grades get strong reprimands. This, I think, can lead to a strong fear of failure. Rather than taking on the more difficult challenges, children who wish to please their parents quickly learn to opt for the those that have the highest chance of success. After all, good grades led to praise whereas failure only means a taste of tsinelas.

Filipino schools just add to the problem. Pressure from both parents and administration make teachers very reluctant to fail students. An industry professional who was offered a teaching job recently commented, “One of the reasons I refused [the job] is that if I fail 80% of the class [who were underachievers], I would be kicked out. Incredible. Raise the standards, and you get the boot. Keep them low, and you stay on forever.”

Ironically, the Filipino parent’s over-emphasis on success may restrain excellence and encourage mediocrity. It could help to explain many of the challenges our country faces. Maybe rather than being afraid of failure, we should accept it as being one of the key ingredients for innovation. Poor students should fail but we should also reward those who bounce back after hitting the dirt.

According to Randy Nelson, dean of Pixar University, a professional-development program for the well-known animation studio, the core skill of an innovator is error recovery, not failure avoidance. Perhaps if we change our attitude to failure, we may help raise a generation of innovators for the Philippines.

Edutopia video

“Pixar University’s Randy Nelson explains what schools must do to prepare students for jobs in new media.” http://www.edutopia.org/


Related articles:

Manila’s charcoal fields

Filipino child in charcoal fields

A German photographer, Hartmut Schwarzbach, is a finalist for the Sony World Photography Awards 2009. His entry portrays the children of a charcoal burner’s camp in Manila. According to an article on the BBC News website, around 30 million Filipinos live in poverty. For comparison, the UK’s population is at around 61 million.

This photo won the third-prize in the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2007. It shows of one of the camp’s children, Annalyn, on her ninth birthday.

Read more about this at:

Also take a look at the related post about Payatas, Metro Manila’s rubbish dump.

For home care workers in Bedfordshire County Council area

A manager of a home care organisation in Bedford asked us to help inform Filipino workers in the area about their rights to transfer benefits. Apparently, another company has provided incorrect information to their staff.

If you are working for a home care provider in Bedford, Biggleswade, Sandy, Arlesey, Shefford, Stotfold and surrounding areas whose contract with Bedfordshire County Council has not been renewed, you may be entitled to transfer to our company under the Transfer of undertakings (Protection of Employment) TUPE – regulations. Under these regulations your employment rights are protected and you should be able to continue working in the same geographical area you have been used to and provide continuity of care for those Service Users that you currently look after. If you currently need a work permit with your current employer it should be possible, under the TUPE regulations, to transfer this to our company.

If you would like to consider this option, or would like any further information, please contact Plan Personnel on 01234 270242.

Our full contact details are as follows:-

Plan Personnel
Unit 15 b Bedford Heights
Manton Lane
Bedford
MK41 7PH

Tel: 01234 270242
Fax: 01234 341280
Email: [email protected]

Please also see his attached fact sheet: Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) TUPE

This is third-party information so please check the facts for yourself.

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