Markham Real Estate Today with Asif Khan

On May 14 2010, I had the priviledge of attending the annual Children Of Hope Gala Dinner.  Over the past three years I've attended this event, I am more and more impressed with the generosity and kindness of the organization.  Children of Hope was put together to respond to the overwhelming needs of orphan children, orphans that were left to fend for themselves after the tsunami, earthquakes, communal riots and wars.  In 2005, Children Of Hope became a federally registered Canadian charity and is a great example of the Canadian spirit of helping the less fortunate. 

Children Of Hope's mission is to raise funds to meet the basic educational needs of orphans and to educate Canadians about the needs of orphan children around the world.  Education gives hope!  Funds raised go towards books, uniforms, tuition, transportation and teacher salaries in Asia, Africa and the Americas.  Their commitment to bringing lasting solutions give the kids hope for a brighter future and will help transform their lives.  As little as $25/month gives these kids the necessary tools to rebuild their lives.  That is less than $1/day, which is even less than the cost of one small coffee each day!  THAT really puts life into perspective does it not?  In a nation of abundance, we sometimes forget that something so little can change someone's life.  The Honourable Bob Rae stated "In our quest to make a living, to build our future, we forget about the need for compassion, the need for care and the need for charity". 

This year's theme was "Believe....Make Change Happen".  How appropriate!  We have the power and the resources to "Make Change Happen".  Clara Hughes, arguably one of Canada's greatest success stories in the history of Canadian sport, said it best when she said "Success is not about winning medals, I've won medals of every colour and winning medals is never enough.  Success is about a voice, and the better you are and the more you win, the louder is the voice you have.  How you use that voice defines what success is.  How you use that voice to help others, defines who you are and what you have done and what your capacity is."

Before choosing Real Estate as my career and passion, I was the hired gun in industries going through change.  I was brought in to manage change and develop training and programs to move companies forward.  I've always said "Change is inevitable, and the world needs change to prosper". Sitting at the gala, it hit me.  I realized that for some, change is not inevitable.  Change is what has forced the hardships on these orphans, but how is change from the state they are in inevitable for them?  It is not.  Don't get me wrone, they do need change to prosper, and yes they need to believe that change will happen.  WE need to help them make change happen.   "Nobody's Children" are "Everybody's Children"!  We need to provide them with hope. 

We need to shift the direction of the human conditions around the world.  With so much suffering in the world, there is a huge opportunity for us to help. We all have a chance to shift the suffering to joy!  It is time for us to step up and Make Change Happen.  We take much for granted in this great nation we live in.  Headlines about interest hikes amounting to one-quarter percent send shockwaves through the entire country.  Is there a housing bubble or not?  Is the price of gas going up 0.9 cents or dropping half a cent?  Funny how when we look at the suffering in the rest of the world, our problems seem so lame.  Let's make a commitment to make a difference, and let's do it now!  It is a small contribution, however by helping make a difference in their lives, we WILL make a difference in the world.  I invite my colleagues, other businesses and fellow Canadians to step up and help one child.  To us it is just less than the price of a coffee a day, but to these children it is the cost of living.  Together we can make a difference.  It wasn't too long ago that we hosted the winter olympics here and showed the world who Canada is, about our care and our generosity.  The theme song for the Olympics was "I Believe".  To steal a line from the song, "I believe in the power of you and I". 

Children Of Hope, you are an inspiration.  Thank you for who you are, what you do, and for making a difference - one child at a time!

Children of Hope is located at 62 Main Street North, Markham, ON.  You can reach them on the web at www.childrenofhope.ca.  Make Change Happen.  "Everybody's Children" are counting on us.