I try to do one major project a year on a voluntary / not for payment basis. I like to think of it as a charitable act but in reality it is an extremely selfish act as I do it because it makes me feel happy. Last year I could only do a small project because of a heavy time commitment to some studies and the UNDP/WTO Project in North Korea.

This year I started on a volunteer project last week. It is writing a project document and a funding proposal for establishing two preschool centers in remote Baltistan in Northern Pakistan. Baltistan is mainly populated by Baltis who are of Tibetian descendent. (think blond hair and blue eyes, actually) I am focusing on 3 to 9 year old population, who do not have access to any early childhood developments. The children study at traditional schools, when available and learn by rotas. The girl children are not at all encouraged to study.

I am doing the proposal on behalf of GRACE foundation that is based in Rawalpindi. All work is done on the net and its just spending a few hours a week, really. If one is interested in doing some volunteering online please check out the UN Net Volunteer Site. You can search by your area of interests or by  geographical regions for assignments that might interest you.

This was the only assignment in education available in Asia. I should have selected another country as a few years ago I did a project that established 8 school labs and 10 computer labs in northern pakistan. That proposal received full funding and the labs already completed and in use. Though it is rather doubtful that I would ever get to see any of those, it gives one a nice feeling to know that some kids are benefiting from some thing I planned and helped become reality.

I also wrote a short article on estblishing a computer center in Sierra Leone in West Africa for the online magazine of Respect Refugees, a Canadian non profit. Check it out here.

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Good food and restaurants fascinate me. (Long ago, when I was (and the world as we know it) young, I actually was a Master Chef.) Last week I visited a rather a nice restaurant/pub in Derby, UK.

Coopers Arms overlooks a smallish lake (fishing permit 5 a day), and beautiful countryside of Darbyshire.

Above is the entrance to the Restaurant, and an inside view of the Restaurant. The building dates back to the 17th Century. The atmosphere, relaxed, food typical British and service excellent.

I had the leg of Mutton, rather large portions actually, take a look at my plate

I would like to point at a rather unique site I discovered this week, Stumbled Upon. As per BBC ""Stumbleupon is a brilliant downloadable toolbar that beds into your browser and gives you the chance to surf through thousands of excellent pages that have been stumbled upon by other web-users" You don't need to install the toolbar, but still access the websites stumbled upon by other surfers, listed by content categories. Worth a look.