Just the other day a friend told me, “Don’t send me text messages on the phone. I prefer you call.” I took a note of that. I have another friend, who says, “Any time you want to ‘talk’ to me, just send me an email.” People are different. Not everybody likes to communicate the same way. Here are the top tips in a nutshell for you.

General guidelines for Communication

1. Take genuine interest in the person you’re talking to. Ask people about themselves and they’ll talk for hours.

2. Make eye contact. It is the window to a person’s heart.

3. Master the art of listening.

4. Use body language. Researchers say 70% of what you communicate is in the body language.

5. Ask the other person’s opinion on the subject.

6. Speak in short intervals. Do not monopolize the conversation.

7. Be enthusiastic when you speak or listen to someone. Lean forward.

8. Be curious and show empathy.

9. Express your sense of humor and laugh at theirs (even if you’ve heard it before.)

10. Shut up. Harness the will to remain silent after you’ve asked a question.

Communicating by phone

1. Prepare before you call.

2. Smile and say something positive. It puts the person on the other side at ease.

3. Get personal. Give your name and ask for his/hers.

4. If you’re making the call ask permission, “Do you have a minute or five to talk?”

5. Know and state the purpose of the call. “…the reason I’m calling is …”

6. If you’re receiving the call, first, listen.

7. Agree as much as possible. Never argue.

8. Ask questions. Understand before you seek to be understood.

9. End conversation on an “up” note.

10. Speak clearly, slowly and repeat your phone number if you leave a voice mail.

Communicating by Email/Letters

1. Make the email subject line clear and interesting. Otherwise it may not get read.

2. Stick to the topic. Multiple themes and requests get ignored. Better to send multiple emails.

3. Reply to personal emails. It confirms to the sender that you’ve received it and eliminates misunderstanding.

4. Keep your inbox clean. Reply, forward or delete messages as quickly as possible.

5. Include the previous message when replying to questions for clarity.

6. Don’t send BCC email to people in CC.

7. Do not send email when you can communicate orally.

8. Ask for permission before putting them on mass mail list, and offer a way to “unsubscribe.”

9. If you are writing to a larger audience, pick one person you know and write to that person.

10. Add signature with your name and contact information.

Keep communicating!

See more Life Lessons at www.buildinternational.org

While media interest wanes somewhat on the issue of H5N1 Avian or Bird Influenza, the last month was actually a busy month. It was also a very sad month for the families who lost lives due to the virus. And for many people, the economic toll of having to cull – a nice way to say kill – their livelihood was a huge burden.

In several countries chickens, ducks and other birds were rounded up and culled as the flu virus spread through farms and went on to infect several people. In China, Laos and Egypt for example families were struck down as the human cases climbed.

Kuwait has hit hard although to date no human victims have been found. In England the largest chicken farm in Europe was closed down for a while. And while fingers are being pointed at one another and questions asked as to who is responsible, the reality is that the world just isn’t prepared yet should the virus take a turn for the worst and infect one person, and then the next and the next …

On the good side there were several companies who have reported encouraging research news on vaccines and vaccinations but of course many of the new drugs are unproven. The UN continues to urge countries to be better prepared and give them their dues; they have been training and explaining the problem to governments across the globe.

The month began with Myanmar (former Burma) reporting fresh outbreaks of bird flu. The Middle East began culling chickens with the Crown Prince of Kuwait doing a count to see if enough Tamiflu was stockpiled. China and Vietnam also reported new cases of Avian Influenza in both birds and people.

The equivalent of US$ 450 million for the Egypt H5N1 campaign was announced and Dutch farmers in the Netherlands were ordered to keep their poultry indoors. Australia had a bit of a scare when they found some of their scientists were perhaps exposed to bird flu while at the same time a women died in Laos. South Korea also tested positive again.

As more people became infected in Indonesia and Afghanistan, pharmaceutical companies began more testing of drugs with different mechanisms from the current class of drugs approved. DNA samples from a dead aristocrat from the early 1900′s “Spanish Flu” are still being held out as hopeful aid to understanding the risks. The USA and UN officials agreed to coordinate Avian Flu efforts as did Indonesia and China. Meetings were also held in various parts of the world to discuss cause and effects of a relentless H5N1 month.

So what will this month bring? Hopefully more cooperation and certainly vigilance is necessary. But for those who have lost family or friends and been forced to cull a vital part of the local income, most people will simply hope this next month isn’t as bad as the last. We’ll see.

By the way, sources for all the above information can be found on our “Current Headlines” page above.

This bout was a bit strange, lost my voice (some were happy), stiff neck (some agreed) and a few other not-so-normal flu symptoms. Others around the area had the identical problems so it was just the particular flu strain or virus which caused the extra complications.

What sprang to mind however was the real danger of an H5N1 virus mutating to a human virus and spreading from human to human to human … It could happen so fast, and is so invisible (until it strikes) that it really is a bit scary. Yes I had heard that the flu was spreading around the country but I didn’t really think it would get to me. And worse, even though I was taking some precautions, it got me before I could do anything about it anyway! It really made me stop and ask myself what it would be like if Bird Flu started to spread around the globe. Even if news came out that it had jumped to a human form in … say Indonesia … which is quite far away from me, could I do a lot to prevent it? I’m not so sure now …

A few things I was pleased to see was that (a) the media did mention that the flu was making the rounds, (b) we were even given some advise about personal hygiene, social distancing and so forth and (c) that my eight year old washed his hands several times a day (sure saved a lot of cleaning up around here).

But again, what if …? Panic and fear are not the correct way to look at the whole subject of bird flu, after all, it is possible nothing ever comes of the H5N1 variety, but I really am glad that I am keeping up with the news on this so at least should it mutate, I can have some warning. The old, “Be Aware and Prepare” adage has been re-established in my vocabulary, and in my families too.

Example: the outbreak in Nigeria was caused by the import of poults — young birds — from China. Not migrating birds.

There are many difficulties involved with this, not least the huge illegal trade in poultry, and for that matter, in wild animals of all kinds, animals generally kept in perfect disease-mongering conditions.

In the mean time, Avian flu has resurfaced in a fourth northern Nigerian state. Turkey announced an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak at a farm in the southeastern part of the country, as English authorities explored the possibility of a connection between recent outbreaks in Suffolk and Hungary.The DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) report said a company meat processing plant adjacent to the farm handled imported poultry products from Hungary.

Tests were being carried out on blood samples from four children suffering from bird-flu-like symptoms, a private Turkish television station reported.

The children were from villages in eastern Turkey where authorities confirmed that a number of domestic poultry had died after contracting the avian flu.

Agriculture Ministry workers began a cull of all poultry in four villages in the eastern Turkish province of Batman.

So, are these outbreaks related. Is this a case of big industry trying to hide the fact that they may be spreading the H5N1 virus, not wild birds?

Tell us your views on the issue and stories of the day – add comments to this post!

This New Year has brought with it a heavy toll as far as Bird Flu is concerned. More deaths in Indonesia with the alarm bells sounding as to another possible cluster (human to human transmittion but on a small or confined area).

Japan, Nigeria and of course Vietnam also reporting Avian flu in their regions – not a pretty sight at all. Here are some of the headlines:

Bird Flu Infects Indonesian Teenager, Creating New H5N1 Cluster
Bloomberg – USA

Indonesia reels from two new bird flu deaths, outbreak feared
The Brunei Times – Bandar,Brunei,Brunei Darussalam

H5 bird flu strain confirmed at poultry farm in Miyazaki; Japan
The Japan Times – Japan

Caribbean countries urged to strengthen bird flu-fighting capabilities
Jamaica Observer – Kingston,Jamaica

New Outbreak of Bird Flu Hits Nigeria
Today’s THV – Little Rock,AR,USA

Vietnam faces Bird Flu resurgence
Spero News – USA

Don’t count on the Avian flu as having flown the coup just yet, we have a long 2007 in front of us. We can be glad that God is in control.

And, experts say a fresh outbreak of avian influenza in Nigeria is more widespread than thought.

Meanwhile, the University of Maryland School of Medicine will begin testing its cell-based bird flu vaccine in January in preparation for a possible flu pandemic in the near future although it is still too early to build up stockpiles of bird flu vaccine in preparation for a human flu pandemic, flu experts say.

French authorities say they cannot rule out bird flu after 4,000 chickens died on a French farm on Saturday, 16 December 2006 and scientists are out in force in effort to identify deadly strain believed to be Avian Influenza in Delaware, USA.

Sure, CBS can publish columns from Michael Fumento and other ostriches who want to bury their heads in the sand and claim the extra money spent on health care has not strengthened the global system for the future, and true, alarmists are equally to blame trying to make a buck on this or at least get their moment of fame. What we really need is a wise balance and to pull together to help all the world. Every time I go to Sudan and see how little is done and how hard it is to help, I wonder why we aren’t further advanced in our 21st Century.

A set of activities identified in the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) new Global pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply requires immediate and sustained action and funding, if the world is to be prepared for an influenza pandemic to which there would be almost universal susceptibility.

A report on last winters cases in Turkey seem to indicate that children and youth may be particularly susceptible to the virus.

“To some extent, this reflects the same age distribution observed globally, where 50.5% of cases occurred among people aged <20 years, and it suggests that age-related factors may influence susceptibility to the disease,” the report states.

Meanwhile, WHO reports that, “We are presently several billion doses short of the amount of pandemic influenza vaccine we would need to protect the global population. This situation could lead to a public health crisis,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Director, WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research. “The Global Action Plan sets the course for what needs to be done, starting now, to increase vaccine production capacity and close the gap. In just three to five years we could begin to see results that could save many lives in case of a pandemic.”

Of the case-patients described in the report, all of those who died in Turkey were teenagers, while all the survivors were younger children, aged three to nine years. “This reflects closely the global situation where the highest case-fatality rate (73%) has been observed in the 10-19-year age group,” the article says.

Turkey was the first country outside Southeast Asia to report human cases. A total of 21 human H5N1 cases had been reported in January on the basis of tests in a Turkish laboratory, but only 12 of these were confirmed by the WHO because the remainder were not confirmed in reference labs recognised by the organisation.

Bird-Flu Pandemic Could Cost $2 Trillion
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty – Prague,Czech Republic
September 18, 2006 — A severe bird-flu pandemic among humans could cost the … Health Organization official said the threat from the H5N1 avian-flu virus was …

Indonesia receives US$47 million to overcome bird flu
Antara – Antara,Indonesia
… receiving senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human … government of Indonesia`s top bird flu priorities such … sustained action to control the H5N1 virus at …

Bird Flu Fighters Await $670 Mln From Donors, World Bank Says
Bloomberg – USA
… for a global effort to fight bird flu. … to bolster disease surveillance and management of avian flu. Human fatalities from the H5N1 avian influenza strain have …

US offers more bird flu funding
Jakarta Post – Jakarta,Indonesia
… Aburizal Bakrie,, USAID Avian Influenza director Dennis Caroll said that the US was pleased with the Indonesian government’s redefined bird flu priorities. …

… and so it goes on!

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The summer solstice (first day of summer) is due later this month but Bird Flu season hasn’t diminished from our daily lives at all. Here are just a few headlines from countries all over the world I spotted this morning!

EGYPT: Poultry industry set to recover, union says

CAMEROON: Chicken back on the menu despite bird flu presence

YEMEN: Poultry business loses US $1 million a day due to bird-flu fears

EGYPT: Human bird-flu deaths prevalent among breeders, says health ministry

COTE D IVOIRE: Poultry cull in city markets after bird flu outbreaks

IRAQ: Government reiterates readiness to fight bird flu

EGYPT: Health ministry reports 13th human bird flu case

EGYPT: Last human bird flu case recovers, say health authorities

COTE D IVOIRE: Bird flu strikes urban residential area

AFGHANISTAN: Deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu hits fourth province

JORDAN: In wake of bird flu panic, chicken sales back to normal

JORDAN: WHO declares country free of bird flu, prevention measures maintained

BURKINA FASO: Bird flu continues to spread

DJIBOUTI: First human case of avian flu

NIGERIA: Bird flu fears decline, but experts warn against complacency

PAKISTAN: USAID provides avian flu detection equipment

INDONESIA: bird flu death verified

CHINA: China to stop using human flu drug on poultry

NIGER: New bird flu outbreak near Nigeria: official

ROMANIA: EU extends Romania poultry ban to entire country

DENMARK: Danish ducks had less serious strain of bird flu

The need to keep our eyes on Bird Flu from the international perspective is clear, or? Your comments are welcome.

You can view these stories and more from the Reuters link>>