Mahani Alkaff

21/08/2025

When this millionaire sold his company for $326 million, he didn't buy a yacht or mansion—he did something that left an entire community speechless.

Marcel LeBrun had already lived the entrepreneurial dream. His social media monitoring company, Radian6, was acquired by tech giant Salesforce in 2011, making him incredibly wealthy practically overnight. He could have retired to any paradise on earth. Instead, he looked around his hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and saw 1,800 people who had experienced homelessness in just one year.

Most people would write a check to charity and move on. Marcel rolled up his sleeves and asked a different question: "What if we didn't just give people shelter, but gave them a foundation to rebuild their entire lives?"

That question sparked something extraordinary: 12 Neighbours—a revolutionary community that would redefine how we think about addressing homelessness.

Marcel didn't just build houses; he architected hope. Each of the 99 tiny homes is a masterpiece of thoughtful design—fully furnished, equipped with solar panels for sustainability, complete with kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. But here's where it gets remarkable: every home includes a front porch, because Marcel understood that dignity isn't just about having four walls—it's about having a place where you belong, where neighbors wave good morning, where community happens.

At the heart of this village sits something unprecedented: a business center offering job training, education programs, and real pathways to economic independence. Marcel's vision wasn't charity—it was empowerment. "I won the parent lottery, the education lottery, the country lottery," he reflected. "It would be arrogant to say every piece of my success was earned when so much of it was received."

The impact has been staggering. Residents don't just have homes—they have stability, community, and most importantly, hope. Some have found full-time employment. Others have reconnected with family. All have discovered that when society invests in people rather than just managing problems, transformation becomes possible.

But Marcel wasn't finished. His $4 million personal investment has attracted $12 million in government funding, proving that bold private action can unlock massive public support. The model is now being studied and replicated across Canada, turning one man's compassion into a movement.

What makes this story truly viral isn't just the money Marcel spent—it's what he understood that others miss. True change doesn't come from handouts that create dependency. It comes from creating systems that restore dignity, build community, and give people the tools to author their own comeback stories.

In a world where success often breeds isolation, Marcel LeBrun chose connection. In a society where wealth typically builds walls, he built bridges. And in a culture where homelessness is often seen as someone else's problem, he proved that when we treat people as neighbors rather than statistics, miracles become possible.

Today, 99 families have more than just roofs over their heads—they have addresses, communities, and futures. And Marcel LeBrun has more than just wealth—he has a legacy that will inspire generations.

Sometimes the most powerful way to change the world isn't through grand gestures, but through simple acts of seeing people as they truly are: neighbors who just need a chance to stand tall again.

07/08/2025

A backyard full of trees is a front row seat to the seasons.

03/08/2025

Ice lettuce, a succulent green with fleshy, ice-like beaded leaves, has a slightly salty, tangy lemony flavour. Adds a refreshing crunch to seafood salads etc.
Its leaves are covered in tiny, dew-like bubbles that resemble ice, hence the name.
It can be cooked like spinach or Swiss chard and also delicious in urap or kerabu and Nasi ulam.
Pickled: It can be pickled for a longer shelf life.

03/08/2025

02/08/2025

Biologist Jeremy Griffith whose decades-long work on the human condition offers a provocative and biologically grounded theory about the root cause of our emotional struggles. His work has attracted praise from a wide range of respected thinkers across disciplines – including science, philosophy, and mental health – for its potential to reframe how we understand human behavior, and more importantly, how we heal.

At the core of Jeremy Griffith's theory is a concept he refers to as the human condition – the psychologically troubled state that arose in the human species as a result of a conflict between two parts of our evolutionary makeup: instinct and intellect.

He explains that our instincts, developed over millions of years through natural selection, provide fixed orientations for behavior. But as humans evolved the ability to think, reflect, and experiment – as our conscious intellect emerged – we began acting independently of those instinctive drives. And here's the critical point: because our instincts are not capable of understanding this new, flexible, knowledge-seeking behavior, they responded as if our conscious mind was misbehaving, doing something fundamentally wrong.

Griffith describes this response as a form of internal condemnation. Our instincts in effect couldn't grasp the need for exploration and experimentation, and so they effectively "criticized" our conscious attempts to understand and manage the world. The result was a deep psychological conflict: the conscious mind, unable to explain or justify itself against this instinctive opposition, became defensive, angry, preoccupied with proving its worth, and blocking out the 'criticism' or alienated. We became angry, egocentric and alienated sufferers of what Griffith refers to as the human condition.

Crucially, Griffith emphasizes that this condition is not shameful, but heroic. It arose not from failure, but from the courageous pursuit of knowledge and self-understanding. And most significantly, he argues, now that we can explain this conflict, we are finally in a position to resolve it – bring an end to the need for our defensive angry, egocentric and alienated behavior and heal the psychological suffering that has burdened humans for so long.

One of the most compelling aspects of Jeremy Griffith's explanation is that it seeks to defend, rather than condemn, human behavior – by revealing its deeper biological roots. While trauma, environment, and brain chemistry certainly play a role in emotional health, Griffith contends that these are surface expressions of a much deeper biological clash – one that explains not just individual distress, but generational patterns of psychological suffering.

In a field often fragmented by competing frameworks – from neurobiology to psychodynamic theory – Griffith's work stands out for offering a unifying lens, one that bridges the evolutionary and emotional dimensions of human suffering. It is an approach that has been described as a paradigm shift – a foundational biological explanation that has the potential to redefine how mental health is understood and approached www.HumanCondition.com

26/07/2025

The tree in this image reminds us of the delicate yet profound interconnections that shape our planet and our existence. With its branches reaching towards the heavens and its roots deeply embedded in the Earth, it serves as a living testament to the wonders of nature. It cleans the air we breathe, cools the environment around us, shelters countless species, and nourishes the soil beneath our feet. But what if this tree also represents something greater—something more than just the biological processes that sustain us?

When we pause to consider the depth of its impact, we are forced to ask: Are we as interconnected with the Earth as this tree is to its surroundings? The air we breathe, the land we walk upon, the water that sustains us—are we aware of how deeply they rely on us as well? Perhaps it's time to recognize that, just like the tree, we too are part of a greater ecosystem, and our actions ripple through the world in ways we often fail to acknowledge.

As we contemplate our role in this intricate web, we are invited to ask ourselves: How can we nurture the Earth as it nurtures us? How can we contribute to the health of our environment and our shared home? Let’s explore these questions together and see how we can create a better world for all. 🌱💭🌍

26/07/2025

Breakthrough for traditional natural medicine

The Indonesian Health Ministry supports the development of herbal medicines and phytopharmaceuticals to improve pharmaceutical independence and transform the ...

17/07/2025

https://theb1m.com/video/gelephu-mindfulness-city

Bhutan is building Gelephu Mindfulness City, a new self administered region in the country designed around the concept of gross national happiness

13/07/2025

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.”

“I’m not trying to imitate nature, I’m trying to find the principles she’s using.”

Bucky Fuller

18/04/2025

A lady asks: "How much do you sell your eggs for?"
The old vendor replies "50¢ an egg, madam.” The lady says, “I'll take 6 eggs for $2.50 or I'm leaving.”
The old salesman replies “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven't sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”
She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won.
She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurnt with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for.
They paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip...
This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller...
The question it raises is:
𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙮?
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆?
I once read this somewhere ,that a father used to buy goods from poor people at high prices, even though he didn't need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them.
I was amazed. One day his son asked him "Why are you doing this Dad?" His father replied: "It's charity wrappd in dignity, son."
I want to challenge each one of us to do better. We can do that.