Anyone feeling altruistic and want to change the world?

Wow, this is a great idea but I too love birthdays. Hmmmm. Plus I don't get to buy myself much these days (kids!) so birthdays are the one time I can have a treat. However, even typing that makes me sounds selfish as hell as some people don't even have water for goodness sake!

I really might do this!

Alternatively - have a way of giving half.  A lot of halves would make a lot of money. 

.....but it's true we're a selfish lot, when put in this perspective.

Depends how generous your relatives are! I don't get much these days...although half of something small is still more than nothing! 

Its a tough one.

Like probably most, I don't get much these days for birthdays, other than from the good lady, and more facebook happy birthday posts than actual cards, so maybe that could be construed as being green and saving the planet?

Still makes me feel selfish though

I'm not saying anything .. I'm from Africa..... but just read this

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9681699/How-charity-makes-life-worse-for-Africans.html

There needs to be a change in how we deal with this ,just giving money doesn't really help

Yikes. That is fascinating and terrifying. When you look at it like this it's scary, the world has far too many people already. Not that I would suggest letting people die from famine etc, it does make for an interesting point. Educating people has to come hand in hand with providing charity, especially sex education although there must be a lot more than there was due to work to stop the AIDS epidemic.

What do you think should be done Andy?

Gees that isn't an easy question to answer..

Over there they believe the more children you have the better ,that's why the men have many wives ,some men have 10+ children ,I've known someone to have 15 kids ..yep 15 .. I can't speak for all but the zulu's expect their kids to look after them in their old age , that might have been OK in  say the 1800 but things have changed so much since then and nowadays the kids do other things other than what is expected of them, oh and the apartheid era didn't help 1 bit (and no I wasn't brought up to hate them, if it wasn't for a black I wouldn't be here today but that's a whole different story of my life) ... They do need to address that problem and that boils down to education ,but sadly that will have to start from the ground up ....I     

That is a terrifying thought!! 

I do find African history fascinating, from brutal tribal feuds to the Colonial age, and the enforced politics, bureaucracy, education and even religion on African populations with different cultures and little interest in Western values.

You'd think Westerners would have learnt something over the years, then you look at recent history in the Middle-east...

Education seems key, but the approach that's been taken over the last 30 years+ clearly isn't working. Maybe the primary message of birth control needs to come from outside the classroom, maybe the village elders, whoever is held in high esteem locally. Maybe it's the local witch doctor! I wonder if its our concept of what education should be, that's causing the problem?

Have always longed to go to Africa, and hopefully manage a safari before all the animals are extinct. But confess to still getting swept away with the tales of Wilbur Smith and his version of Africa 

lol witch doctor hehehehehe ... They are the worst of all their concoctions no not really worth using as some include battery acid and other nasty stuff .... OK believe me or not must have been around 1995 1 of our guys was shot right in front of our work place ,he survived lucky enough but after that he went to the witch doctor who gave him some medicine that would make bullets bounce off him ,up until the day I left 1998 he believed it would help him.... Ahhhhhhhhh I miss home