Great ideas are born from small causes.

Task 3. Task three is about having an idea (however little) that can be put together and implemented in a community that I am part of, to improve that community.

I live in a large compound with 3 blocks, each housing four (4) flats.

In my block, the main entrance door is dilapidated (and I'm told it had been that way long before I moved in) and thus poses a security risk.

 So I chose this as my project, to repair this door.
In order to accomplish this, I would need the agreement and co-operation of my co-tenants. I would need a couple of things namely:

• to hire a carpenter to either buy or build a new door
• get an accurate costing for this
• share the bill equally between all four flats
• collect monies from each flat
• pay an advance to the carpenter so he can get materials and start the job

So here goes... wish me luck.

I make the difference!

hmmm... so, I didn't realize just how tasking sorting trash could be!

   Ok, this week's task was making a difference and part of it was recycling.
Here in Nigeria, recycling waste (or anything at all) hasn't quite caught on yet. People still throw everything out, - together!
So for me, starting a sorting and recycling program at home was a challenge that i looked forward to, partly perplexed as to what to do with what i sorted and then HOW to recycle. I started with the sorting bit first; i got different bags for paper, plastics, clothes etc.

Here's the list of all the stuff that i threw away: 

i. perishable food items (plantain peels, onion skins, etc)

ii. bits and pieces of paper (old receipts, etc)

iii. discarded biscuit, sweet & chocolate wrappers

iv. used phone recharge vouchers

v. noodle wrappers

   Then it was on to my excesses. And I did realize that no matter how little I thought I had, there are those that really have less than I do. Things that I don't use anymore that I donated included:

i. my primary school text-books and old story books from way back - went to a neighbour of mine who's a single mother with 4 kids who are in school

ii. a few t-shirts - gave these to a young lad (Emeka) who lives a few houses away on my street

iii. old torn jeans (4 pairs) - well used and un-wearable, so into the trash they went

iv. a suit

v. old photography magazines

vi. old worn shoes (4 pairs) - gave my neighbour who rides a commercial bike (popularly known as 'Okada') a pair of Reebok sneakers, but no takers for these ones yet :-( 

   Ok, that done, it was now observation time: what I consume. As a young bachelor and business man, I tend to be on the move a lot and so eat out even though I prefer home cooked meals. I try to keep away from junk foods as much as possible, but i do have a sweet tooth and so eat a lot of chocolates and ice-cream *mouth watering already*; and another thing, i tend to make a lot of phone calls, both for business and personal relationships hence a lot of money goes into buying phone recharge vouchers.

So this week I made soup and stew and so cut down on eating out, that's about ₦1,500 per day multiplied by five days which comes to ₦7,500, about $50 on food this week. On sweets, about $10, making a total of $60 saved! But unfortunately, I didn't cut down on making calls this week.

So there, that's how my week was, see ya soon. :-)