Like any other writer I sometimes suffer from that dreaded disease: writers block. There’s nothing worse than sitting in front of a blank screen with a deadline looming and nothing to write about. Fortunately for me, I found the cure several months ago when I was introduced to the science of glycology and decided to become an independent distributor for a fabulous company, Mannatech. Now I have too much to say and not enough space or time.

As an independent distributor, I found out that I joined a growing team of men and women globally who are involved in a business model that Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) calls the business of the 21^st century and I’m riding the waves of what two-time US presidential economic adviser, Paul Pilzer, calls the wellness revolution. According to Pilzer, the wellness industry is a growing one and is expected to produce the world’s next trillionaires in not many years from now. His forecasts are hardly surprising when one considers the appalling record of world health statistics that can be confirmed by even a cursory glance at figures outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO). People the world over, in particular the generation of baby boomers, are increasingly recognising that traditional medicine is no longer the cure-all for their desire to stay healthy, to look good and to live a better quality of life.

Mannatech is a major company at the forefront of this wellness revolution and much of my time these days is spent telling the Mannatech story: the benefits I have received from using the products, my journey to financial freedom, the amazing people I have met through the opportunity and the stories they have been telling me about how they feel about using the products.

One of their major products is a revolutionary weight management product called Osolean^®. With this product I found that even though the scales told me I was heavier, my waist was actually smaller and I looked trimmer and more toned. Why? Because as my lifestyle change and use of the product helped me to burn more fat, I also developed more lean muscle and lean muscle is heavier than fat. That is one of the key workings of the product and guess who’s not complaining?

The company also produces its flagship product that aids cell-to-cell communication and provides the body with vital ingredients to enable it to naturally heal itself of ailments. This is key to the company’s nutritional range since without proper communication the body will be unable to make use of any goodness that is put into it.

Having said all this, the secret to the company’s success lies in their patented technology products whereby they have researched and harvested plant saccharides or glyconutrients or glycosugars, as they are variously called, and produced them into a proprietary range of ‘real food technology’ solutions. Glyconutrients are essential for optimal cell health and they are the missing link in food today. No other company has the mandate to produce glyconutrients, though many have recognised the value of these components and have risked lawsuits in appropriating claims to producing glyconutritional products.

That being said, Mannatech pulls out all stops to protect its associates and provide them with a platform to exclusively market their cutting edge products. It is certainly a company of solutions: providing the answer globally to wellness in the 21^st century, providing a solution to those who want to take control of their financial future and, thankfully, providing a solution for my writers block.

If you want to hear some more of the story, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 01922 635092 and visit my website at: http://www.mannapages.com/joyroxborough/Default.aspx.

Caribbean Focus Takes a Trek to the North Pole with Dwayne Fields

Part 3 of 3 – Back in London

Back on comparatively warmer soil in London, Dwayne is busy completing a Combined Honours degree in Psychology and Third World Development at the University of East London. He also works part time at Barclays Bank.

“I want to be able to help people one day,” Dwayne said. “My degree is preparing me for that. There are many people abroad as well who I would like to help and my choice of third world development is equipping me with knowledge about life abroad.”But Dwayne is already engrossed in his mission of helping others as he has begun work on setting up the Dwayne Fields Youth Foundation. The aim of the Foundation is to give young people a sense of achievement by providing them with opportunities to participate in similar challenges to the Polar Challenge. The aim is also to provide workshops and seminars, as well as mentoring.

“One of the great things about the Polar Challenge,” Dwayne said, “is that it takes you outside of your comfort zone and helps you to see the possibilities of success that are available. I would love to see the Foundation organising events like a week away survival experience for young people to help them to get a hold of these ideas and to transform some harmful mindsets.”

Dwayne added: “A recent government poll highlighted that East London has one of the highest rates of gun and knife crimes in the country. To go a step further, the document stated that young black men were more likely to fall victim to, or commit, these types of crimes in London.”

Dwayne said: “But this does not have to be the case. I hope to encourage individuals to step away from what is stereotypically expected of them and help them to realise that they themselves can become positive role models. Completing the Polar Challenge taught me that your ability is limited only by your imagination. No matter what your circumstances are, if you want to survive, you will! And if people try to limit you, that’s their problem, but you can overcome.”

Everyone needs inspiration and Dwayne said Matthew Henson has been the main one for him. Henson was the first black man to make it to the North Pole. He completed the feat in 1909. James Cracknell and Ben Fogel, both adventurers who have completed events on par with the Polar Challenge, have also been sources of inspiration for Dwayne. “I admire these men because they are constantly trying to better themselves and to achieve more,” he said.

Closer to home, Dwayne’s older brother, Dwight, is also an inspiration. Dwayne first met Dwight when He, Dwayne, was 14 years old. “I fell in love with Dwight straight away,” he said, “and we immediately assumed our older brother, younger brother roles. Dwight is a really smart guy and I always wanted him to be proud of me. When I first told him that I was going to do the Polar Challenge he asked me if I was mad, but then he really encouraged me, as he always does, and told me he had no doubt that I would complete it successfully.”

Dwayne is also currently writing a book about his experiences. “I believe that I have a message for young people,” he said. “And I am well placed to have them listen to me because I am also coming from the grassroots and can therefore relate to youths who are also from disadvantaged backgrounds and who may be at risk from getting involved in gang violence.”

Although Dwayne has been a victim of violence, he said there are some myths surrounding the perceptions of what constitutes a gang. “I grew up in flats,” he said, “and we spent a lot of time in the parks. Fifteen, twenty of us would be hanging around together, because we had nothing else to do. Once people see that, especially if its black youths, they immediately perceive it as a gang.”

As Dwayne continues to encourage and inspire other young people not to live up to the expectations of such stereotypes, his parting words are: “There’s a world outside the box—anything is possible when you believe in what you are doing, when you work hard towards the overall goal and when you keep going even when the going gets tough.”

To contact Dwayne, tel: 07863566917 or email team.polar.fields@gmail.com.

If you would like to know more about fund raising for the Dwayne Fields’ Youth Foundation, see poster at: low res A3 poster for Dwaynes event.

Caribbean Focus Takes a Trek to the North Pole with Dwayne Fields

Part 2 of 3

Even amidst the breath-taking beauty of the arctic, death lurked for the unsuspecting traveller—both man and beast.

Dwayne recalls one of his team’s most poignant moments when he spotted a baby musk ox stuck on a ledge. Dwayne freed himself of his pulk and climbed up the snow bank and helped the animal down. Falling through snow and finally landing on its feet, the musk ox was so grateful that he stationed himself close to Dwayne’s legs and proceeded to follow him around for the next three days. The whole team grew attached to the musk ox, which Dwayne named Henry. But they were unable to feed it since they had no milk. The creature grew weaker and hungrier. The team tried to carry it on one of the pulks, but it seemed uncomfortable and eventually, as the helpless creature failed to keep up with them, they were forced to leave it behind and allow nature to take its course. They all cried as the baby musk ox’s own cries faded into the distance.

Death almost touched the team itself, or so they thought, when they were walking across the frozen ocean one day.

“It was a bitterly cold day,” Dwayne recalls. “We could hear the ice cracking and there were gaps in the ice. Suddenly, I fell into one of the holes, up to my waist. ‘Don’t come near! The ice is breaking. I’m gonna die!’ he yelled to Ali and Linda. But even as these words crossed his lips, Dwayne recalled having had a gun held to his head in Hackney and seeing the trigger pulled twice. He remembered being stabbed on another occasion in his abdomen and between his shoulders, and somehow he knew that he had not been spared death on those occasions to die in this way beneath the ice. Mustering all his energy, he kicked and pushed himself out of that hole. Once on the surface again, he peered down into the hole and was unable to see the bottom! There was no telling how deep it actually was and had it not been for his arms bracing on the surface of the ice and his pulk attached to his waist that kept him from falling further, he might easily have been a fatality statistic.

“I was much more cautious after that,” Dwayne said. “But, you know, the frightening thing was having to continue walking across that ice, knowing we were walking in the middle of a frozen ocean and hearing the ice cracking under our feet all the time.”

Dwayne admitted, “I like being on my own at times so there were occasions when I felt frustrated and got angry with Ali and Linda because everywhere I turned, there they were. It was particularly hard being in such close quarters with them in our tiny tent. But as we continued our journey across that frozen ocean, I looked around and saw nothing but the horizon in every direction and I knew that out there in the middle of nowhere, there as no one—just me, Ali, Linda and God. It was during that time that I really grew to appreciate Ali and Linda.

“Ali, Linda and I are all from different backgrounds, but for the most part we really gelled well together. The whole experience taught me that anyone can get along and achieve and succeed together. I learned to appreciate strangers and even the painful days were worthwhile.”

Twenty-two days after they first set out, the brave team finally arrived at the finish line. “There was just no emotion like that as we crossed it,” Dwayne said.

Back in London, he has no doubt indulged in more than a few Indian takeaways, but his mission is far from over. He has since participated in the Chara Challenge, an army style race across Dartmoor, and he plans to trek to the South Pole in 2012. The funds he raised for the Polar and Chara Challenges went to the charities Action for Children and Mothers Against Violence. Dwayne is also now raising funds for the Dwayne Fields Youth Foundation, other charities and for his South Pole Challenge in 2012. He is also looking for team members to join him for the 2012 South Pole race and for this he needs two reasonably fit individuals between the ages of 18 and 30. Donors, sponsors and aspiring team members may contact Dwayne on tel: 07863566917 or email team.polar.fields@gmail.com. You may also wish to join Dwayne on facebook.

“After the South Pole, I plan to do Everest,” Dwayne said. “Then I’ll do some warmer challenges in the Caribbean region—from the tip of South America to Panama.”

In the meantime, London is a busy mission field as Dwayne sets about continuing to prepare himself for a life of service to young people.

If you would like to know more about fund raising for the Dwayne Fields’ Youth Foundation, see poster at: low res A3 poster for Dwaynes event.

Jared Marcus Wright, who appeared on his school’s ‘A’ honour roll list, has also attained his first leadership level, that of Regional Director, in a well established natural food supplement company. And Jared is only five years old! He graduated recently in fine style from kindergarten and his ‘A’ achievement, coupled with his business achievements are cause for double celebration.

Jared told Mannatech’s Leadership in Action magazine: “My aunty enrolled me in Mannatech. I am so happy that I am a Mannatech toddler because by the time I grow up there might not be many jobs around. It feels great to be a Regional Director already. I also graduated from kindergarten recently and I was on the ‘A’ honour roll list. I guess all this means I am famous. When I grow up I want to be a Platinum Presidential Director and then I will be really, really famous! Thank you Aunty Joy and Uncle Roy and Aunty Cynthia and everybody at Mannatech.”

In today’s economic climate, this is not merely a cute story. Whether he realizes it or not, Jared has joined the ranks of financially literate business owners who have money working for them instead of them working for money or merely exchanging their time for money.

Robert Kiyosaki expands on this and other ideas in his book, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’. In his money quadrant theory, Kiyosaki highlights the difference between owning a job (self employment) and owning a business, which gives the business owner the leverage to invest in order to create further wealth.

University students, and people at any stage in their working career, would do well to pay attention to these ideas. Straight ‘A’s are great, but the truth is that one can no longer depend on the efficient working of the old paradigm of achieving qualifications in order to guarantee a good job for life.

One would do much better to take a page out of the book of such people as Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and other business owners who are aware of the financial education that is seldom taught in schools and universities.

By the time he is actually old enough to appreciate the strength of his position as an associate and leader in his own business, it is likely that Jared’s business will be turning over enough so that if his ‘A’ academic record continues he will neither struggle financially through university, but neither will he be dependent solely on those ‘A’s to take him, if he’s one of the lucky ones, to the next stage in an uncertain career.

This gentleman, who obviously I cannot name, in response to my networking with him about the proposal to help the children in Ghana with food supplements, said he disagreed because although the problem I am addressing is a very real one, it should be one that Ghanaians are solving themselves. He likened it to building wells or houses for people in developing countries, saying that those were short term, non-solutions. He was highlighting the failure of traditional aid models and on some levels I don’t discredit his views.

This gentleman is working on a project through which he says he is targeting those young Ghanaians who will be able to solve Ghana’s problems in the future. Very noble indeed. But what about the needs that exist in the meantime? By the time many of the young Ghanaians he is aiming to assist are able to make a difference, perhaps many of those who the ‘Give For Real’ programme is trying to help will have long since succumbed to the harsh realities of malnutrition and other effects of poverty.

I have a very good African friend (not from Ghana) who managed to acquire an excellent education and went on to run his own successful businesses, has lectured in prominent universities and is a fountain of great ideas. However, he came from very humble circumstances and when one looks closely at his frame one can detect the long term effects of malnutrition: rickets. Orphaned when he was only four, he did not receive the care he needed and although he is doing well today his childhood could have been much different if someone had taken it upon themselves to care for him properly.

There are many Ghanaians who are doing excellent work with needy children in that country. But there is so much need there that nothing that anyone does, however small, can go amiss. And the fact that traditional aid models have fallen short in terms of delivering long term solutions to problems in ‘developing’ countries is no reason for us to sit by and do nothing now.

There are many Western corporations who see Africa (and the Caribbean) as lucrative business fields. They go there and rape those countries: purchase raw materials at dirt cheap prices and make huge profits in the West; purchase the best real estate for precious little and say they are doing good because they provide jobs for local people, when the reality is that they provide poorly paid work in dead end jobs that leave people marginalized anyway.

And I need not speak of the historical pillage of many of these countries that are now still struggling. Of course I am not so naïve as to discount the many, many incidences of corruption on the part of the governments of some of these countries. There is not alot I can do about that. But, if in my capacity as a Social Entrepreneur, I can build my business and make a difference in even one child’s life then it will be worthwhile and more worthy of my time than many of the unfulfilling roles I have occupied on some occasions during my working life.

Chapter 12 of Richard Branson’s book is entitled: ‘Do Some Good.’ I don’t know what Branson’s philosophies are or what motivates him, but his choice of quotation at the opening to that chapter is very pertinent:

‘Change the world, even if in a small way                                                                               Make a difference and help others                                                                                               Do no harm                                                                                                                              Always think what you can do to help.’

I like to play games with kids. My favourite one these days has been to whip out a bottle of what my colleague calls the Rolls Royce of food supplements. The children’s version is a delicious, chewy supplement that has no artificial additives but is packed full of nutrients extracted from 11 different vegetables and fruits. I’ll casually ask the kids, “Do you want one?” Their eyes typically sparkle as they catch sight of what to them looks like a jelly baby.

“Mmm,” they murmur as they wrap their taste buds around the delicate morsels.

After a few moments, I issue my challenge: “Guess what’s in it.”

Typically, they say: “jelly…sugar…”

“No,” I tell them. And then the fun begins. “It’s got brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots—”

Even before I get this far in the list of gruesome greens, I see the confusion clouding their countenances.

“Eeei!” they exclaim, and their faces drop in disbelief. When I first played this little game with 9-year-old Ameena, she all but snatched the jar from my hand.

“Let me see that,” she said. Her friends huddled around her and they read the list of ingredients for themselves.

And then the questions came thick and fast.

“Did you make those yourself?”

“Can I buy them in the shops?”

“How much do they cost?”

And then the cue that signals game over: “Can I have another one?”

These supplements are so delicious that although they are meant for children and although I am happy to share a few, I am usually not too keen on the can I have some more? request because that is usually a precursor to the empty jar syndrome!

It never ceases to amaze me that the company that produces this supplement has captured the attention of adults and children alike with something that is not only good for them but tastes great too. It’s the perfect alternative to additive-laden, sugary sweets. And it answers the perennial problem of getting your kids to get the benefit of those gruesome greens.

Can you imagine having your kids snapping your hands off to get their vegetables down them? Now wouldn’t that be something?

If you’d like a chance to win a jar of these, what I call natural, no-tears formula in food supplements, or what my colleague calls the Rolls Royce of food supplements, here’s a simple question for you to answer: how many different vegetables and fruits are in this supplement? Email your answers to joyroxborough@yahoo.com with ‘Rolls Royce of Food Supplements’ in the subject line, stating your name and a contact number.

For further information or to organise a presentation and sampling, please telephone Joy today on 01922 635092.

Article published in the Vine Magazine (http://www.thevinepublication.com/theVINE_mag_june.html), June edition, p.26

It is quite possible to fill a stomach and yet leave the individual unfed – unfed of good nutrition, that is. This situation has become a worldwide epidemic. Children in Africa often do not get enough food – period. On the other hand, children in the West typically get too much of the wrong foods – burgers, chips, sweets etc. Both situations lead to a situation where children the world over are not being fed adequately at the cellular level, hence the increase in childhood diseases like diabetes (mainly for those in the West) and stunted development and starvation (mainly for those in developing countries).

As a social entrepreneur, I am taking steps to use my business to alleviate this issue where I can, and with some creativity I know it can be done!

A short video from a company that is well aware of the dilemma: http://us.mannatech.com/give-for-real.html.

Some people object to the idea of embarking on one’s own business, stating that it’s too risky and that it makes you work longer hours. But the truth is, a calculated risk is better than a state of stagnancy in a job with a glass ceiling, especially if that glass ceiling is suspended too low for you to even stand upright under it.

We are never really taught about investing and financial commonsense in school. So many of us never ever think of climbing out of the boxes that have been set to contain us. I made my decision to get out because of necessity. It’s a bit like the two lepers in the Gospels who decided that staying in the city to starve was not an option. What had they got to lose? Nothing. On the other hand, what had they got to gain? Everything if things worked well for them.

I started out on my journey not too long ago and it’s been great. It’s not been without its tense moments, but then which venture—job or otherwise—is? That’s right—none.

I had great fun writing about my first 10 weeks in the business. This was some time ago now. The people in the corporate office were tickled by it I was told. If you’d like to catch up on that article, you can do so by accessing p. 12 of the company’s online e-brochure at: http://www.mannatecheurope.com/assets/products/documents/Celebrate/UK_Celebrate_June_2010/UK_Celebrate_June_2010.html. Hope it brightens your day too.