For those of you who have been part of the TIG family for months or years my enthusiasm may seem amusing (and possibly not worth posting about), but I have to say that I am really very excited by TakingItGlobal!!!

As you can see if you delve into my blog and profile, I only signed up last week and have only managed to post a couple of blog entries so far. I'm only just finding my way around the site and getting familiar with its features.

But I am sure I will be posting and getting involved in TIG stuff quite a lot. I am so excited by the idea of a global network of people who all seem to be passionate about much the same stuff as me. So many really impressive profiles.....so many excellent ideas and truly visionary plans for the future.

What has been lovely just now is that I've had two personal messages from other TIG people; one in Kashmir and the other in Pakistan. Their stories are great and it is lovely to make personal contact with people in a very troubled part of the world.

On a sadder note, it has brought the terrible devastation caused by the earthquake in that region to tbe forefront of my mind.

Of course we could and should support the relief efforts there with any financial aid we can manage. But one of the things I have been doing a lot of thinking about recently is about the power of trade. I firmly believe that our decisions as consumers can change the world.

Imagine if all of us decided to only buy from companies with respectable human rights records. If we demanded from our energy suppliers that they generate electricity from renewable energy sources. If we looked for products that had been made by empowered and unexploited workers rather than overworked underpaid people trying to cope with sweatshop conditions.

So I am going to have a look for products on sale here in Australia of which the proceeds would directly benefit the communities in the quake zone. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

And yes, I'll be visiting the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand's website to see if any of the products there fit the bill.

As a post script I should say thanks to Cameron Neil who as far as I can tell founded the FTAANZ. Through reading his biog I first arrived at the TIG site. Thanks Cameron!!

the strongest hurrican ever about to hit the Mexican coast

The coast that Wilma is heading for holds one of my favourite beaches - the white gold sands of Tulum. When I close my eyes and remember the days I spent there, all that comes to mind is a calm jewel-like sea, turquoise against a pale blue sky.

Right now it's hard to imagine what it will be like over there. Not a person in sight hopefully (I've been reading the Mexican paper El Univeral's accounts of tourists and locals alike being herded into out-of-harm's-way sports halls) with dark clouds swirling overhead and a ferocious wind whipping up the sea.

While I write this, an electrical storm is playing out on the horizon somewhere off the Sydney coast. I can only see it faintly; the flickering is orangey yellow, almost like a broken street lamp.

I've been thinking of my friend Jennifer who has cut short her travels round Asia to fly home. Home for Jen is New Orleans. Luckily for her and her parents their house wasn't flooded. All but. The roof was ripped off, and the waters rose high enough to wreck their car. I met her in Mexico when we were both working in a little village called Colola, on a sea turtle conservation project.

So there's is a little chain of associations going on, with hurricanes being the common theme.

According to Grist, Katrina affected an area of the US not much smaller than the entire UK.

http://www.grist.org/news/counter/2005/10/20/hurricanes/index.html

Let's hope that Wilma, even if she is faster and nastier will steer clear of Mexico...and Cuba....and Florida. And then it's only 6 weeks until the Hurricane Season is officially over in that part of the world.