Early New Year Message 2010... from Down Under

We are flying to Melbourne tomorrow, Dec. 29th. The computer is still set on American/time/date, so that might be a little confusing to you when the blog comes up.
We'll be staying outside of Sale, Victoria (where we lived 37 years ago!) with our dear friend Gordon and his wife Julie. So, I thought I'd better get our New Year Message out now in case we don't have wifi there.

Happy New Year 2010!

New Year Message from Bob and Mary...

Spread kindness throughout humanity. Do something kind AND wonderful for others this New Year.

Note from Mary... I'm truly inspired (AGAIN!) this new year by author Greg Mortenson. His new book, "Stones Into Schools" is worthwhile reading. His first book, "Three Cups of Tea" teaches that... "YES, one person CAN change humanity".

His goal is close to Mary's heart... education for girls who are yearning for literacy. He builds schools at the ends of the earth. If you haven't read his first book, do it now and then go out and buy his second book (buy several and give them away!). His story will leave you in awe. His story is worth passing on and on and on to all your friends and family----- strangers too. (I dream of winning the lottery one day and walking down the streets of America, passing out books to everyone I meet.)

What are the most literate countries in the world? At the moment, we're living in one. Australia takes literacy very seriously. (From most online reports I researched, they have almost 100% literacy.) We see it throughout our travels here. It's easy to spot. You see heaps of people reading the newspaper or books while they ride the trains or buses. Newspapers are stacked high in the chemist shops or grocery stores. Whenever we come into a new town or shopping area, bookstores seem to be around every corner. That always makes my heart sing! (We decided that The Australian newspaper you see in the photo, is the world's largest paper. It gives you an arm workout whilst reading!)


And this New Year, don't forget something as simple as www.freerice.com. It's an educational website for adults and teens. Besides vocabulary, it now has math and geography quizzes! It will increase your brain power while earning rice for poor people all over the world. The exact details are on the website.

Spread some cheer this year! Spread literacy in all ways possible.

Happy New Year Everyone,
Bob and Mary