Skip to main content

Buying toys

Yesterday me and Teresa (the new volunteer, and the first ever for Um Pequeno Gesto) went to game, a developed world supermarket (or sort of) with a mission: buy gifts for the kids. Some because a nice sponsor sent a donation to buy something specific for a birthday, others just because I realized in the Orphanage they had nothing to play with. It was fun actually, us kind of lost in the middle of all those possibilities, trying to count of many 70 cents footballs we could afford not to go off budget. Clearly we did not realize the footballs were 70 cents until I got home and did the conversion :-)
Oh well, it was still fun, we got a blackboard and coloured chalk for the little ones, we got legos and puzzles, footballs for the boys, hula hoop circles for the girls. We even got High Street Musical sets of crayons and pens. The only thing we could not get was a Barbie or a doll for a girl’s birthday next week, not only were they expensive (even in real terms) but also they were all white girls. And that, I was not happy about, but I guess that is what you can get in South Africa and bring here…
I knew Teresa would enjoy the visit but was hoping she would control my anxiety of buying the entire store. That clearly did not work out. All she could avoid was me buying a little 4x4 ten-euro tricycle for my godchild and a giant bucket of chalk that was more pricy than the blackboard!
We were happy with our achievements and my room now looks like a playground, at least until the last weekend. We now consider that the furbishing of the nursery has started, we got a feel for the prices and we definitely decided we are coming back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time is what makes us different

I heard what is likely to become one of my top 3 favourite quotes on a podcast on Friday. "Time is the only real democratic asset. We are all awarded the same time, it is what we do with it that distinguishes us".  Now, I recognise that most of us need to work with survive and that is not democratic throughout. But on an equal opportunity basis, this is an interesting way of putting it. For many years I did not understand why MS thought my resume was so interesting. In fact, they chased me during the entire recruitment process, even though I had no idea of moving to London or Finance. I wanted to be a consultant and stay in Lisbon forever. But traditional consultants in Portugal saw nothing in me, and MS did not let me go. When I started screening resumes and hiring people a couple of years later is when I understood why I was different. TIME.  I was truly different about what I did with my time. Not necessarily the basics - choice of degree or anything. But really ...
1 comment
Read more

De-cluttering for opportunity

As I binged listened to the Bixchix podcast today ( Episode #31 Married with Luggage ), I got to meet this entrepreneur who left her life with her husband to go travel the world. No, I am not here to talk about quitting my job and travelling the world near and far (I have 2 children remember?). What called my attention was that as part of this process, she had to de-clutter, sell her stuff, carry a suitcase to another country and at the end leave no house behind. I have recently had a good de-cluttering spree so I relate to it, as I am not quite done yet. There are still bags to be taken to charity downstairs (hidden from the children as they have not seen those with toys) and I know there is more in the house that we can certainly leave without. But this is the extent of my de-cluttering drive right now, stuff. What I thought this episode brought new perspective was about de-cluttering is about so much more than stuff . Betsy Talbot argues it is actually about de-cluttering fro...
Post a Comment
Read more

London FintechWeek - Day 1 Reflections

Today, I attended the day 1 of the London Fintech Week. It is exciting to have the opportunity to be part of such an event - personally and professionally.  I have done my formal work debrief so now want to focus on some reflections.  The first session that called my attention was  ‘Is London still the world’s financial center?’.  by Nick Murray-Leslie. The speaker was clearly making a case for it but the more he provided the arguments for it, the gloomier I got about the prospects. Talent is key - and the environment is not prone to it as Brexit talks progress. And no, it is not all about Brexit but it certainly does not bode well for people wanting to hire across Europe and for talent looking for exciting opportunities. Moreover, in general terms and outside Brexit, I find that the world will be much less about where you are but rather about where you are connected. In a not so distant future it may not matter if we are based in London or Rome to do many of t...
1 comment
Read more