Holidays

    Devon Gallagher, a college graduate from Philadelphia, wants the world to know exactly here she's been during her worldwide vacation in a special way.

    The traveler, who was born with a bone disease, had her right leg amputated(k)at the age of four. Although the amputation caused setbacks for Gallagher early on, she now sees it as nothing short of inspiration for living her best life.

    To spread that message, Gallagher has taken to social media, where she shares photos of her travels across the globe, but instead of simply using a geo-tag, she writes her location across her artificial leg before taking a picture.

    Now she has been taking pictures across the Continent, which show her cycling over the canal in Amsterdam relaxing on a wall overlooking the city of Barcelona, posing with a waffle in Brussels, taking in the spectacular Parthenon temple in Athens and enjoying a river cruise in Budapest, all with the well-known locations written on her artificial leg “I get a new leg every two years and I can choose the design on it. One day I had a sudden thought to get a chalk-board, "Gallagher said. "My mum and grand-mother weren't too keen on the idea, but my friends thought it was great and told me to go for it, so I did.”

    Gallagher said people often stare when she's writing on her leg, but once she shares the photos she receives only positive feedback. "My leg hasn't stopped me from doing anything I've wanted to do," she said. "I don't know if it's my determination to prove to myself that I can do it, but regardless, I've been able to keep up with my peers and lead a pretty great life, Gallagher shows us that you should never let anything stand in the way of your dreams. And if life gives you an artificial leg, make art

    I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice. As we enjoyed our coffee, a man called the waiter and placed his order, “Two cups of coffee, one on the wall.” We got interested and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter attached a piece of paper to the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee.” Similar occasions took place twice while we were there. It seemed that this gesture was quite normal at this place. However, it was something unique and confusing for us.

    After a few days, when we again enjoyed coffee there, a man entered. The way this man was dressed did not match the standard or the atmosphere of this coffee shop. Poverty was evident from his looks. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.” The waiter served coffee to this man with respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying. We were amazed to watch all this when the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dustbin.

    Now it was no surprise for us; the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by people in this town moved us to tears.

    Coffee is not a necessity. However, the point is that when we take pleasure in any blessing, maybe we also need to think about those people who also appreciate that specific blessing but cannot afford.

    Note the waiter, who gets the communication going between the affording and the needy with a smile on his face. Think about the man in need: he enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-dignity; he has a free cup of coffee without asking or knowing about who has given this cup of coffee to him; he only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left. Besides, we need to remember the role played by the wall that reflects the generosity and care of people in this town.

    Helen Keller was one of America's best-known women. She was admired for her courage and achievements although she couldn't see or hear. She was also known throughout the world for herself-sacrificing work to improve the condition of the blind, the deaf and the speechless. When she died on June 1, 1968, the newspaper Washington Post wrote: "Her life was truly one of the most remark able phenomena of our time and her death just short of the age of 88 leaves the whole world poorer."

    Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. For the first 19 months of her life, she was a pretty and happy baby, normal in every way. Then a sudden illness destroyed her sight and her hearing. Because she could not hear sounds to imitate(模仿), she could not speak. Helen used to say that her real birthday was not June 27th, 1880, but March 3rd, 1887—the day when Anne Sullivan entered her life. It was Anne Sullivan who taught Helen to spell certain words by a special system, Braille, and even to talk.

    Anne Sullivan could not teach Helen Keller to speak until some other important things had been learned. The little girl had to learn to control her actions and feelings. She had to learn that she could not always do what she wanted to do. She had always been able to get what she wanted by using force. The teacher had to change such habits without breaking the child's spirit.

    Miss Sullivan's battle began. Sometimes, there was real fighting between the wild child and the strong young teacher. At last, however, the battle was won by Miss Sullivan, who succeeded in showing Helen that she loved her and wanted to help her. The child and her teacher became friends. They continued to be friends until the teacher's death, fifty years later.

    The day on which Helen finally accepted Miss Sullivan as her friend and teacher was a great day in Helen's life. After that, the teacher could begin to teach the child language.

Cultural Diversity Week 2019 Mini Grants (拨款) Guideline

    To celebrate Cultural Diversity Week (CDW) 2019 in March, Banyule City Council (Australia) is offering mini grants of up to $300 for people to learn more about Victoria's cultural and religious diversity.

    Who can apply?

    Clubs, community groups and schools that are located within Banyule can apply for the mini grant.

    What can the grant be used for?

    1) Supporting your group, club or school to attend a cultural museum.

    2) Hosting your own event and inviting a guest speaker or cultural performer.

    Museum visits

    Melbourne has a number of fantastic museums that display different cultures. A list of suggested cultural museums is included in this document. But you can also visit other museums.

    Hosting your own event

    The grant can be used to invite a musician, dancer or guest speaker from the Victorian multicultural community to perform at your event. For a list of speakers and performers, visit www.multicultural.vic.gov.au.

    To apply for the grant

    To apply for the grant visit banyule.smartygrants.com.au. Applications must be sent by 27 January 2019. You will need to provide the following information:

    1) Tell us in 100 words or less how your group would benefit from the cultural education experience.

    2) Tell us the museum you plan to attend or which cultural performer or guest speaker you will invite.

    3) Provide a budget of your activity and the number of people who will take part.

    4) If possible, tell us when the event or museum visit will be held.

    We encourage applications from groups that intend to hold their event or museum visit during Cultural Diversity Week March 2019. If this is not possible, at the latest, the event or museum visit must occur before the end of April 2019.

    If you have any questions please contact the Community and Social Planning team on 9490 4222. You will be informed (通知) of the result of your application by 17 February 2019.

WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO?

    Is it amazing that the WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO makes it fun for young children to save? With the help of Standard Bank's Kidz APP and the Big Five animal friends, teaching your children about managing their cash has never been more fun. Let the WHO'S WHO IN THE ZOO show your little ones what it means to earn and save money as well as share in the enjoyment of spending their well－earned cash.

Elephant

    As your children use the mobile app to complete various actions—achieving savings goals, completing missions and achieving wishes—here various medals will be rewarded.

    Earned medals are displayed in the elephant habitat as well as locked medals still to be achieved.

Leopard

    Reward your kids with pocket money for completing 'missions': household chores, achievements, etc.

    You can create a mission for your child, or your child can request a new mission. Once created, it must be accepted. The mission needs to be completed by your child and approved by you before you can pay him or her.

Lion

    Help your children create and fulfil wishes. Wish cards and their savings progress can be tracked from your banking app.

    Once their savings goal is reached, lion will inform you of their achievement.

Buffalo

    Kids can request to withdraw cash or purchase airtime and data using their savings.

Rhino

    Rhino shows your child's latest account balance and transactions.

    Download the Standard Bank's Kidz APP from Apple App Store on the phone. Use the comment section to interact with other Standard Bank customers and bank consultants.