Study Abroad Africa

What if you could not only cut the cost of your next adventure vacation, but turn a profit from your travel as well? Even better, what if you could turn your adventure travel into a high-income business?

If this sounds too good to be true, let me just say that many people do this every day. Yes it takes work, and planning and persistence (the very things required to succeed in any endeavor in life) and don’t expect to get rich. But you can expect to become a high earner and get paid to travel the world – not a bad way to live if you ask me.

There are many ways to make money when you travel, but for now I am going to focus on the big three: 1) Travel photography, 2) Travel writing, and 3) Importing items abroad to be sold on online auction sites.

In this first article, I am going to concentrate on travel photography.

Digital cameras have revolutionized the world of photography and have opened the doors of profit to average people.

With digital cameras, you do not have the expense of film to buy. Aside from the obvious benefit of lowering your costs to enter this field, no films also means you can practice your skills over and over again. Take a look at the photos shot by teenagers on their camera phones that they post on their blogs. You will see some very advanced skill levels on these blogs. In years past, these skills would have taken years to acquire, but with digital cameras the learning curve is much steeper.

Another advance in digital photography is the fact that they can now be displayed, sold and transmitted online. An amateur can set up a small website to display his or her photographs and be in business over night.

But what kinds of photos are most saleable to the adventure traveler? Here is a brief list of ideas I came up with, but you should not limit yourself to my ideas. Study magazines like National Geographic or other travel publications and look at what subject they buy and publish.

What to photograph when you travel abroad, in order to sell your pictures later:

Children. Take lots of pictures of local children. Show their activities, play and what they have to deal with in their lives. Don’t take pictures of sad or impoverished, third world children unless you are a photojournalist with a news organization. And even then, don’t expect to sell many of these pictures.

Instead, try to find, smiling, and happy children. If you can capture these children at play or engaging in activities unique to their local customs, all the better. Happy children sell photographs.

Beaches. I am assuming of course that many of your buyers may be in the travel industry, so you can well understand how saleable beach photographs are.

Scenic wonders. The more natural beauty you can shoot the better. If you can take a picture of the wondrous, multi-colored sunset, or the sharp spires of rock formations just off the coast, you will have some very profitable photographs.

Dangerous local activities. For the same reason we rubberneck at a traffic accident in the opposite lane, people are fascinated by pictures of someone kissing a cobra, wrestling a crocodile, running through streets full of angry bulls or balancing on a tightrope. If you see such dangerous activities, take a picture.

Local customs and local costumes. Readers of travel magazines are interested in what makes the people in other lands different from our own neighborhoods.

Historic places. Photographs of the peaceful fields where the battle of Waterloo was fought, the ruin of an old medieval castle, or even the grave of Jim Morrison all hold fascination from a historical perspective.

Tourist activities. Just the opposite of local customs, these activities are meant to entice tourists to come to enjoy sports like parasailing, or shooting through jungle trees on a zip line. If someone might be influenced by your picture to make travel plans to this place, you should be able to sell the picture to some publisher.

Nightlife. Tourists don’t want to go to bed at eight when they are on vacation. Take pictures of the places they can go to and things they can do when they visit this destination.

Places to shop. Another category of pictures that can entice visitors. After all, everyone wants to bring home a souvenir when they travel. Let your photograph show them where.

Unusual signs. These are more common than you think, especially when someone with limited English is trying to communicate to travelers. Signs also give local flavor and add humor.

Local foods. Can you take pictures of some of the exotic foods that are prepared in this destination? If your photograph looks scrumptious, it is saleable.

Animals. Nothing sets the scene of a local place better than indigenous animals. If you can capture the animal’s beauty, your photo will be valuable.

In part two we will discuss how to make travel writing a profitable business you’re your next adventure vacation. And in part three, we will discuss importing products from overseas to be sold online through auction sites like eBay.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

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For more than three decades, hip-hop has evolved beyond a genre of music to a lifestyle that has sex appeal and worldwide influence on everything from movies and fashion to houses and vehicles. A formidable genre for conservative music lovers, hip-hop is both influential and highly controversial. While many of the industry’s critics speak against its lyrics, lewdness, loudness, and lack of values in video themes, industry advocates embrace the diversity hip-hop brings.

“Undeniably, hip-hop is one of the strongest tools by which we can reach a segment of our youth and demonstrate the ideals stated in our mission,” said James Ammons, chancellor of North Carolina Central University (NCCU). In addition to co-sponsoring the Hip Hop Music Summit with Atlantic Records, the school offers a Hip-Hop 101 course taught by rap pioneer, Christopher “Play” Martin. Speaking to the initiative, Sharon Saunders, assistant to the chancellor for public relations at NCCU advised, “We wanted to have a discussion about rap, and whether it’s going in the right direction. Are there other ways to express ourselves in rap besides exploiting women and romanticizing crime?”

Fearing the repercussions of changing their method and/or their message (a decrease in fan base, which ultimately equates to a decrease in sales) artists fail to see that hip-hop’s mass appeal is simply a launching pad for something greater. In sync with Ammons and Saunders, one hip-hop fan asserts, “For the most part, people just want to hear good music that gets them through the day. So it’s OK to keep the method–just change the message.”

Holy Hip-Hop 101

Maintaining the method while conveying a different message is holy hip-hop. Akin to holy hip-hop music is freeing words wrapped in pulsating beats. Artists skillfully combine hip-hop’s lyrical and social conscious rap origins with gospel and urban themes. Some even combine hip-hop with crunk, R&P (rhythm and praise is dubbed as an alternate to rhythm and blues), pop, and/or soul. Along with being diverse in their approach and taking on the social responsibility that comes with being in the public eye, holy hip-hop artists set standards where young people especially are encouraged to have fun and be themselves without compromising good values.

News for most hip-hop aficionados, holy hip-hop emerged alongside rap in the late 1980’s. While percolating in a variety of circles stateside and internationally, last year, the genre gained media attention via Newsweek, Jet, Geraldo at Large, Reuters, The Source’s blog, CNN, and the Associated Press. Momentum was so great that the National Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences, added a Grammy category titled, Best Rock or Best Gospel Rap. * According to the Gospel Music Association, sales growth for rock and gospel rap is largely due to churches embracing diversity in music to appeal to youth and adults.

One of the most notable pioneers of holy hip-hop is a group called, Gospel Gangstaz. Founded in 1989 by South Central Los Angeles native and former gang member, Mr. Solo, group members include Chille’ Baby and Tik Tokk. From a life of “selling crack, drive-by shootings, car-jacking, and illicit sex,” the “gangstaz” managed to become a part of a growing body of holy hip-hop artists, who speak to life themes and challenges outside of traditional gospel music. Key influencers of Atlanta’s movement, Canton Jones, Big Ran, and eDDie Velez, help uncover hip-hop’s newest regime.

Canton Jones for Platinum Two-time Grammy nominee and aspiring platinum artist, Canton Jones is the epitome of versatility. With songs ranging from hip-hop, R&P, to soul, CJ, as he is known, is better described as a total package artist. His ability to generate music that crosses virtually all age groups and several genres is uncanny.

Jones is a singer, songwriter, producer, and vocal coach from Deerfield Beach, Florida. The Morehouse College alum is best known for creating “situational lyrics that relate to every day life.” His tour credentials include concerts in the U.S. and abroad: Africa, Denmark, Poland, Russia, etc. Besides being engaging, Jones’ music is exciting, thought provoking, and absolutely fun.

The multi-gifted artist began producing music at age 16. Like many of his peers, it was a challenge to enjoy the hip-hop lifestyle without compromising his core values. After being introduced to holy hip-hop in 2001, Jones’ life made an abrupt turn.

Like having your cake and eating it too, Jones found that he could use his talent to deliver a clean message, entertain, and encourage his audience. While it is a challenge to produce music that is both entertaining and clean, from Jones’ perspective, holy hip-hop music is the best fit. “A person has to be more creative in order not to curse. They’ve got to be more creative to keep [your attention] without using sexual content [etc.]. It’s challenging to do [holy hip hop] and still be ‘hot’ but we accept the challenge.”

In his second album, The Password: Access Granted, the “Cute” single “encourages dating without compromise or indiscretion. Jones’ third album, Love Jones ranked #23 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Chart in the first few weeks following its release. According to Jones, the album was named for his daughter Love Angel Jones and the expression of God’s love.

The message Jones delivers is about love because he says, “It’s real”. “When you genuinely feel the love–that you are there to help, people will receive and relate to your message better. That’s one thing that always gets people–the fact that you love on them.”

The A&A Way Redefining holy hip-hop’s image is Big Ran’s goal. “Our style of relating through music is differentfrom others aswe take a morepersonal approach to life in general,” Ran advised.

Best known for his role in producing various Mr. Del (of Three 6 Mafia fame), Lil iROCC, and Canton Jones projects, Ran is looking to do holy hip-hop, the A&A (his record company) way.”We want to build a relationship with our listeners by encouraging them instead of preaching to them. We want our listeners to know that we are real people that lead real lives just like they do. We also love God just like they do.”

A native of San Francisco, California, prior to becoming a holy hip-hop artist, Ran participated in the mainstays of street life including smoking, drugs, alcohol, pornography, violence, theft, and eventually, jail. The events of 911 led Ran to turn his life around as well as the music he listened to. “The music I listened to at that time was extremely influential in the decisions I made…I believe that my purpose is to influence people to do good through music the same way music influenced me to do bad early on.”

Ran’s debut compilation album, The A&A Way, features a host of holy hip-hop artists including Canton Jones, Mouthpiece, Kay Bizzy, Mr. Del, Da Fam, and Adrien the Rock Star. With song subjects that vary, Ran says the album is, “motivational and aggressive at times”. He also describes the album as “mellow, soothing, danceable, catchy, and thought provoking”. Uniquely packaged, the album combines elements of Southern bounce, R&P, and East and West coast hip-hop into one.

Also known for his nu-life-soul music projects, Ran’s pattern as a holy hip-hop artist is promoting a first class standard of living as well as a positive reality. “Music should be relevant to currentsituations, [environments], andlife issues without being negative,” he advised.

New Testament eDDie Velez is a TV and radio personality and host of the Holy Hip-Hop syndicate program. He is also the founder of The Fellowship of Holy Hip-Hop an organization that has promoted the advancement of holy hip-hop for 11 years.

Velez’s industry experience dates back 26 years ago when hip-hop was known as rap and was only played on Mr. Magic’s Friday night radio show. According to Velez, that was when a good time was nothing more than a “DJ, two turntables, records, and a rapper to keep the party movin’.”

A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Velez is a new testament to the holy hip-hop movement. Even though he began rapping in 1981, Velez did not start on the holy hip-hop circuit until 1998 when he debuted on Hot 97.5’s holy hip-hop radio pilot in Atlanta. Prior to the program, Velez spent much of his time on the streets where he was promised everything short of peace and good health. In 1993, Velez’s life turned around completely and he made a commitment to live for God.

In addition to his media role, Velez is currently the senior director of Youth Development at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, under the direction of Bishop Eddie Long. Weekly, his ministry reaches approximately 1, 200 youth and young adults. True to his music roots and vibrant personality, Velez incorporates the elements of hip-hop in everything he does including graffiti fonts in his PowerPoint presentations. His natural ability to spit rhymes is so fluid it even comes across in his responses. Often, he surprises his young listeners who soon realize that neither his age and experience nor his status as a youth pastor has anything to do with his ability to vibe.

Velez, who has talked with many prominent artists throughout his career, encourages the diverse approaches that holy hip-hop artists have. From being crunk to giving encouragement, what matters most to Velez is the impact made on society. “At the end of the day, I have to ask, is my service bettering or worsening society?” he remarked. Equal to the music, beats, and flow is the message. According to Velez, the motive of holy hip-hop is to “pick up the mic and encourage people in Christ.” Since his life is now Christ, Velez attests, “This is it. This where it’s at.”

Subliminal in nature, and like pictures in a photo album, holy hip-hop artists leave a lasting impression in the minds of listeners. Collectively, artists are proving that hip-hop is a genre of music that easily adapts itself across cultures. As hip-hop continues to evolve, most assuredly, it will expand to encompass the holy regime whose artists, lyrics, beats, flava, and flow have already made an impact, worldwide.

Part II: The Source talks to hip-hop pioneers, Curtis “Kurtis Blow” Walker and Christopher “Play” Martin about their roles with holy hip-hop: www.thesource.com/blog [http://www.thesource.com/blog].

*The award for Best Rock or Best Gospel Rap was presented during the 49th annual Grammy Awards on February 11, 2007.

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Low dose naltrexone has recently garnered attention as a possible treatment for autoimmune diseases, neurological conditions, cancer and some other illnesses. Naltrexone is an opiate antagonist, which means that it blocks opioid receptors in the brain and thus eliminates the feeling of pleasure caused by e.g. drinking alcohol, because our endogenous opioids (endorphins) cannot bind to the receptors. But when used in very small doses (less than 1/10 of the normal dose) naltrexone can be used to stimulate the release of endorphins.

History

Low dose naltrexone was pioneered by the neurologist Bernard Bihari in the early 1980s, when he was studying medications used for drug and alcohol withdrawal. He noticed that very small doses of naltrexone (initially 3 mg) taken at bedtime only blocked the opioid receptors transiently, which stimulated the body to produce more of its endogenous opioids and produced no significant side effects.

Bihari tried LDN as a treatment for HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis, two conditions that have been shown to be associated with low levels of beta endorphin, one of the most important endogenous opioids. In some of his AIDS patients the blood levels of beta endorphin as much as tripled when using low dose naltrexone.

Patients also experienced marked clinical improvement. The MS symptoms (especially fatigue) were relieved and the illness progression seemed to halt. Most patients never experienced a single MS attack after the initiation of low dose naltrexone. Patients infected with HIV had their viral counts drop radically and their CD4 counts subsequently went up. As a result the rates opportunistic infections and AIDS related malignancies decreased.

Later development

Encouraged by his success Bihari and other doctors began trying LDN for other conditions, such as other autoimmune illnesses and cancer, often with great results. The support from the patient community has been overwhelming. Patients with MS have collected money for clinical trials and there have even been three conferences on LDN and the fourth one is scheduled for October 2008.

A study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found that 89% of patients with Crohn’s disease were improved on LDN and 67% achieved a full remission. There are clinical trials currently running for multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, autism, fibromyalgia, pancreatic cancer and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (head and neck cancer). A large HIV/AIDS study is also running in Mali, West Africa.

Illnesses that can be treated with LDN

LDN has been successfully used to treat the following conditions:

Autoimmune diseases

multiple sclerosis

systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE/LED)

rheumatoid arthritis

ankylosing spondylitis

pemphigoid

sarcoidosis

scleroderma

Crohn’s disease

ulcerative colitis

celiac disease

psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

Wegener’s granulomatosis

transverse myelitis

Cancers

bladder cancer

breast cancer

carcinoid tumor

colorectal cancer

glioblastoma

liver cancer

non-small cell lung cancer (NSLC)

chronic lymphocytic leukemia

lymphoma (both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s)

melanoma

multiple myeloma

neuroblastoma

ovarian cancer

pancreatic cancer

prostate cancer

renal cell carcinoma

throat cancer

uterine cancer

Other illnesses

HIV/AIDS

hepatitis C

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/primary lateral sclerosis (PLS)

autism

Alzheimer’s disease

Parkinson’s disease

Behcet’s disease

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, emphysema)

endometriosis

fibromyalgia

chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)

irritated bowel syndrome (IBS)

LDN may possibly also work for e.g. myasthenia gravis, antiphospholipid syndrome/Hughes syndrome, narcolepsy (a possibly autoimmune condition), interstitial cystitis, chronic Lyme disease/post Lyme syndrome, acne, rosacea, chronic urticaria, dementia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), cluster headaches, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been reported to be helpful in insomnia and migraine prevention.

Mode of action

Endorphins are often associated with the pleasant feeling we get from e.g. exercise, but they are more than just that. Beta endorphin and met enkephalin, another opioid peptide produced by the body have profound effects on the immune system. Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that met enkephalin acts as an anti-cancer agent. Beta endorphin levels have shown to be low in HIV/AIDS, many autoimmune conditions and e.g. migraine.

Autoimmune illnesses have been traditionally seen as manifestations of an overactive immune system and are usually treated with immunosuppressants, but more and more data is emerging that suggests that autoimmune conditions may in fact be forms of immunedeficiency, explaining why LDN, an immunostimulant, works for them.

Clinical effects

In most autoimmune diseases the disease progression halts. Symptoms, such as fatigue, pain, muscle weakness and cognitive problems are often alleviated, as well. In degenerative conditions like ALS and Alzheimer’s the illness progression is slowed down. The lipodystrophy caused by antiretroviral (HIV) drugs usually improves significantly.

Bihari reports that a halt in cancer growth occurs in about 50% of the cancer patients he treats. Some of these patients show objective signs of tumor shrinkage. Some patients who have been deemed terminal with little time left are still alive and doing well years later, such as one with pancreatic cancer (one of the deadliest cancers) whose case was published in Integrative Cancer Therapies.

According to Bihari LDN works best for the following cancers: multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s disease, breast cancer, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract (including the pancreas) and non-small cell lung cancer. That isn’t to say that cancer patients should ditch their existing treatments, but LDN can be combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Some patients only undergo surgery or are considered not to benefit from conventional treatment, so they would be good candidates for LDN.

How it is used

LDN is taken every night between 9 PM and 3 AM, as the body produces most of its endorphins during the early morning hours. There are usually no side effects. Some people experience problems with sleeping during the first week. Nausea, feeling “high”, gas and bloating and hunger pangs may occur in the beginning and usually go away in a few days. In patients with MS spasticity may transiently worsen. It may take anywhere between a day and a few months to notice improvement.

LDN can safely be taken with all other medications, foods or supplements, but because it is an opiate antagonist it cannot be combined with any narcotic painkillers (opiates), including tramadol, and taking it with immunosuppressive drugs (like corticosteroids) may cause the drugs to “cancel out” each other’s effects, as LDN is an immunostimulant. The only contraindication is a past organ transplant, because taking an immunostimulant might lead to graft rejection.

Any doctor can prescribe LDN as an “ex tempore” prescription, to be filled by a compounding pharmacy. Some people use foreign pharmacies, as it is legal in most countries to order medications from abroad with a valid prescription. LDN may be formulated as capsules or liquid, but the liquid has to be refrigerated and is less convenient when traveling. It is recommended that calcium carbonate is not used as a filler for tablets.

The recommended dose is 4.5 mg, but some people, especially those who are very slim and those with severe MS, only take 3 mg. Often prescriptions are written for 1.5 mg capsules so that the patient can try taking either two or three at once. LDN is also relatively inexpensive, usually costing between $15 and $40 a month.

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