Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

I just heard this yesterday, and I think its really great, that Bill Gates is stepping away from Microsoft to do charitable work with his wife full time. I always get so depressed watching shows like "The Fabulous Life of...", and see how some of the richest people in the world spend their money. $300,000 on a hotel stay, $1.5 million on a personalized car, etc.

I always think of how many lives could be changed with that money... especially when it takes so little (According to the World Bank, 1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day). I was shocked the other day when I read this article about child labor in India. The article states, "[Sarojama] has barely been able to feed [her five grandchildren] so she was forced to borrow money from a local factory owner. Unable to pay back the loan she sent her young grand-daughter to work. Parimeeta was taken out of school and has been working 12 hour days for two years." Here's the shocking part... "The debt is less than $20."

Really, the good thing about shows like the "The Fabulous Life of..." is that I can't criticise the obundantly rich without thinking about how I am with money, and I how I could also be better with it... do more important things with it.

Anyway, I guess that Bill Gates had to ask his children if it would be okay for their inheritance to be dramatically reduced. They agreed (I'm sure they won't be hurting), and so he's off (or soon will be) to focus on the fight against Malaria and AIDs, amongst other things. This makes me happy.