Some of the blog posts of Toronto-based consultant and philanthropist Asif Zamir, as shown from his site, asifzamirconsulting.com.

1. AsifZamir Blog Posts
http://asifzamirconsulting.com/asifza
mirconsultingblog

2. A pig wearing pearls
The bible says that we shouldn’t give pearls to pigs,
because that won’t change them into great men, it
simply dresses them up and wastes our resources.
This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way several times
over. One of my biggest frustrations is giving my time
and resources to people who piss it away.
Okay, to be fair, most people in my circles don’t do
that, but the few that do are all the same. A few
months or even years they come back hoping for more
pearls.

3. Half full or half empty is up to you
You’ve all heard the “glass half full or half empty” saying.
Today I talked to one of my clients in Calgary Alberta who’s
business I’ve been consulting for only a few months. In this
short time he’s managed to radically improve his client
base, customer satisfaction and just as importantly, his
financial strength.
I just got off the phone with my client and afterwards
realized that much of my work involves presenting a full
picture, and pointing out the good and bad. Whatever the
client seems fixated on, is what I gear up to fix. I love
hearing good things from my clients, so this was a good day
for me.
A problem might take a lifetime to solve, but a perspective
can be changed in seconds. – AsifZamir

4. AsifZamir, the cow
You don’t want to name your child Asif. It’s a silly name, even though it’s a take on the biblical
name Asaph who was a major part of King David’s team.
But naming a cow AsifZamir? Yup, a cow in Rwanda has been named AsifZamir in my honor.
Why? Becuase I donated money to a theater company in Rwanda, so that women can perform
their stories at the largest art festival in Africa. Yup, the largest art festival in Africa!
Five women, including a poet, a few actresses, a couple Americans, a pop star, a singer, a radio
personality, several dancers, three Rwandans all raised in different countries, and even a puppeteer.
Using movement, dance, poetry, puppets, personal testimony, and their wits, they’ve written a new
theater piece. They explore questions of nations, bodies and borders, of what it means to be local
in this messy, globalized world.
Travel within Africa isn’t cheap (go ahead, look up travel costs TO and IN Africa right now, I dare
you…you probably won’t do it, because your a lazy bum), and the festival is unable to provide
housing for so many artists. Anyway this whole thing cost around $4,300 and 71 donors including
me covered the cost. This is not a business project, just a straight giving project to make a LOT of
African women smile.
In terms of Rwanda, I’ve participated in building several orphanages and several long term child-
care programs. For those of you who don’t know, 1 million people in Rwanda were murdered in 100
days back in the 90′s.
I have good friends who survived the ordeal and now live in Canada, and I’ve had dinner with
people who still live in Rwanda today, rebuilding the nation. – AsifZamir