Ever Heard of the Orange Thumb in Gardening?

Before you give me the weird look for saying orange thumb instead of green thumb, let me tell you what this Project Orange Thumb is. Project Orange Thumb is a grant program by Fiscars that aims to promote community involvement, neighborhood beautification, creativity and horticulture education by providing communities and garden groups with garden tools and supplies.

With all those accessories and tools provided by Fiskars then it wouldn't be a wonder how easy it would be for the community to let their imaginations run wild and create beautiful gardens (may it be a flower garden or a vegetable garden).

If only our community became a grant recipient then a lot of people from the community would benefit from the Project Orange Thumb. I have noticed that from the 13 Gardens that would be the lucky recipients of the 2008 Project Orange Thumb are mostly schools (elementary, high school, and college). What a better way to let students learn about science and a way to encourage them to eat fresh organic fruits and vegetables.

In my own experience as a student volunteer in our community, our community garden has helped unified our community by making our neighbors realize how important it is to take care of our environment. Gardening has brought people together and it had even helped beautify our neighborhood because the people in our community has a sense of ownership and cases of littering has decreased.

Fiskar's Project Orange Thumb is a very unique program that not only helped the community be unified but it has helped empower low-income neighborhoods to provide themselves with nutritious food. Project Orange Thumb sure is humanitarian and it had really brought out the student's creativity as the grant recipients each had a unique garden and I'm sure that with Project Orange Thumb their goals will be accomplished.

Like My Ice Cream?

First of all I had you fooled if you thought that this was actually a real life ice cream. Well you're wrong because this is actually a candle. So if you have a craving for wax then this is surely for you! Joke! ^_^

Who would have guessed that people would actually notice my Candle Palace Candle. Like I know that the craftsmanship of the candle is quite good but I didn’t expect so many people asking me if the candle was real or they thought that the ice cream was real. I immediately then became proud of my candle and I myself allowed myself to appreciate it. And what’s more amazing about it is that this is a local product from Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.

I now realized that we Filipinos do have some products that we can sure be proud of and call our own. I was going to sell the candle for Php 40 pesos but I’m thinking of rising the price a bit because the quality is undeniably excellent.

Hmm. Just looking at the candle make me drool for real ice cream. I think I'll be bringing this one with me to Canada. ^_^

Please Honor the Milk Code!

It was in the OB Ward when I was on duty that I first heard of the "Milk Code". Executive Order No. 51 (Philippine Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes) or more commonly known as the "Milk Code" protects babies from dying by barring milk companies (like Nestle) from promoting their product as a substitute for breastfeeding which of course is morally wrong!

The milk code clearly states that breast milk should exclusively be given to babies younger that the age of one and that milk substitutes is a big no-no! Why? Because failure to breastfeed leads to the deaths of 16,000 children in the Philippines each year and 1.5 million infants die around the world every year (from The Manila Times and Baby Milk Action).

So why is breastfeeding so important that taking it away may lead to the numerous deaths of infants around the world? Here are the reasons:

1. The babies immune system is still inactive and they only get their protection from a great number of childhood diseases EXCLUSIVELY from breast milk, specifically from the colostrum. Antibodies are passively given from the mother to the baby. Without these antibodies babies could die!
   
2. Breast milk is the ONLY COMPLETE source of nutrition. Artificial food supplements that Nestle and other milk companies could never be a substitute no matter how many minerals and vitamins they add to their formulas.
3. Formula milk is NOT STERILE! It’s been proven that some infant formulas contain enterobacter sakazakii, a highly lethal pathogenic microorganism. Milk formula labels don’t have warnings on these (from UNICEF).
4. ONLY breast milk contain necessary growth factors that help babies develop physically, mentally, and emotionally!
5. Bottle feeding will confuse the baby and will prefer to be bottle fed than breast fed making it very difficult to return to breast feeding.

Aside from protecting the baby from dying from diarrhoeal diseases, breast feeding has countless benefits not only for the baby, but for the mother, and society as well. You don't only strengthen family ties with breast feeding, you also help the government save a lot of money! Don't believe me then visit MotheringFromtheHeart.com for the list of some of the numerous benefits of breast feeding!

So why is Nestle an INFANT MURDERER? It's because their infant formula advertisements present artificial feeding as healthy and comparable to breastmilk therefore discourages mothers to breastfeed. Health claims such as “contains all the nutrition babies need for all-around visual, mental and psychomotor development” or “helps your baby fight against harmful free radicals of the environment” manipulate mothers. “Formula milk does not provide babies immunity from infection. It provides inadequate level of nutrition making babies susceptible to infection, malnutrition and death” stresses Sterken, a key player in the 20 country two-decade international boycott against Nestle & breast feeding advocate (from UNICEF). And with all said, Nestle even has the audacity to counter and challenge not only the Milk Code of the Philippines but of the codes of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)!

Help protect our babies from greedy unethical companies like Nestle! Join the boycott and spread the word that breast milk has no substitute! For student nurses and nurses, or any medical professionals working in the hospital especially in the Philippines, always confiscate milk bottles from mothers! We are the empowered deputes who will enforce the Milk Code. If the mother says that she is only using the bottle but the milk is breast milk and not formula, inform her to use droppers or tablespoons instead because again, using baby bottles for infants below age confuses them and makes breast feeding difficult.

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Breast Feeding Resources:

• Baby Milk Action
• Department of Health (EO 51 or Milk Code)
• UNICEF
• Manila Times
• Mothering From the Heart
• Infant Feeding Action Coalition Canada

My Nursing Garage Sale!

Yeay! Who would have guessed that I would earn so much for my Nursing Garage Sale! Well I didn't get to take back the original amount that I spent in buying my books and other stuff but at least I get to earn something right? I'm hoping that nursing books in Canada is not that expensive. Besides it's better to buy new books that have updated info right than bring with me very heavy books that I will have to pay for if they exceed the baggage allowance given to us by the airplane company.


But my garage sale isn't over yet so to all people who live near me (Cagayan de Oro) please visit my Nursing Garage Sale HERE so that you can avail of the great stuff I'm selling at an incredibly low and reasonable price, hehehe.