I need your help.

I have a few questions for you, it would help me tremendously if you'd answer them. You can comment on the facebook post, tweet me, or comment anonymously on this post: (Disclaimer: There are no right or wrong answers, and there is no judgement from me based on your answers)

1. Do you try to shop for products that are ethical? (slave free, 'green', sweatshop labor free, fair trade, no animal testing, etc).

2. If you do, what products specifically? (ie coffee, clothes, chocolate)

3. If you don't, what do you think is keeping you from shopping for ethical products?

4. Do you typically think about slavery when you shop?

5. If it was easier to shop ethically and the prices weren't too much more, would you purchase those products over mainstream products?

Gawking or Giving

Yesterday I stumbled upon this article by CNN about so called 'Poverty tours' in slum communities of India. I spent two months volunteering in Mumbai, India back in 2007, so I found the article fascinating. You can read the article for details, but the author essentially was describing and evaluating these tours and reflecting on the tour he went on with Salaam Baalak in New Dehli, India. The tour was led by a former 'street boy' who had been helped by the non profit organization and now led tours through his old community.

The idea of a 'Poverty Tour' makes me uncomfortable. I work hard to advocate for the exploited and adhere to the belief that we are all equal, no one is better than anyone else. I have spent years writing, reflecting, praying and working to overcome my own prejudices. Our country is wonderful, but we have instilled the concept in our citizens that we are somehow better than everyone else in the world. Even on a micro level, more powerful races and groups act as if they are more valuable as people than groups with less power. Its a sad part of the human condition. So at first glance, poverty tours seem to perpetuate that belief. It reduces whole groups of people to zoo animals. Wealthy Westerners with resources and time spend a day walking through deplorable conditions, wearing their shiny tennis shoes and designer sunglasses. The full attire of some of the participants of such poverty tours probably costs more than what many of the people in the slums make in one years time. It seems tacky and extremely disconcerting for the families who live in these communities. They already live in fear of exploitation due to the caste system and other social ills of their country, so to also deal with gawking from perfect strangers seems to rub salt on an open wound of low self worth.

Many of these 'slum tours' likely have nothing but financial motivation from conducting these tours. They pay no respect towards the residents of these communities. However, what this Salaam Baalak organization is striving to do seems quite noble. They provide income and rehabilitation for children who were previously living on the streets. Street kids in India are subject to great exploitation, from labor trafficking to prostitution. Life for these children is extremely dangerous, and this organization is attempting an innovative approach to providing income for these kids. Their website describes the tour as a way for you and I to hear about the stories of the guides and to experience life through their eyes. It seems like something that I would enjoy, to be quite honest. I have met and grown to love street kids in several countries and have advocated on their behalf. But no story I could tell you would compare to hearing it straight from that child. Empathy is frequently evokes through the senses, not just through a story told by a third party.

I often grow frustrated with my own excess and materialism. I also grow frustrated at the complacency I see in the church and in our society as a whole. I can be quoted on numerous occasions saying "Well I'd like to take that person and drop them off in the middle of Mankurd Slum in India, let them see what it feels like to be forgotten by the world and to suffer". That comment is usually met by agreeing nods. As I read the news article, I heard myself saying that. How is my comment any different than what this organization is trying to accomplish? They are trying to raise awareness about social issues through the five senses. They may be able to reach large groups of people who come to India for tourism purposes and provide them opportunities to use their future trips for good and volunteerism. If one tourist devotes a day to a walking tour through a low income area of India and they leave inspired to make a difference, was it worth it? Or is it not worth the social stigma that residents of these communities face when they see outsiders touring their neighborhood? Could these residents feel violated and uncomfortable upon seeing tourists in their community? Would it hurt the overall community more than it would help? Is there a way to execute such a program with the support of a community and with holistic, beneficial results to all involved parties?  I'm not sure if I've found an answer to this question. It has raised questions in my mind regarding short term missions, which I will talk about in another post at a later date.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts as I explore this issue.

Giving Hope

This week I stumbled upon one of the most amazing giving platforms I’ve ever seen.

Seriously, this is brilliant.

Don’t believe me? Go to www.hopemob.org and see for yourself.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you all the reasons why they're brilliant though, because that's what I do on my blog. I need to write something about HopeMob to tell you why they're brilliant, even though one visit to their website would probably suffice in showing you their brilliance.

This is straight from the HopeMob website:

"HopeMob is exactly what it sounds like - a mob of people bringing hope. Just as Flash Mobs dance and bring spontaneous joy and laughter, HopeMob will bring caring strangers together to create sudden, yet organized relief and hope all over the world! We see a need and swarm it! Together...we are POWERFUL"

Essentially HopeMob  provides everyone the opportunity to be generous givers and to contribute to meeting a need that may often be overlooked. The platforms seem to range from monetary donations, to material donations, to job interviews, to assistance from specialized professionals. HopeMob members can contribute points to elligible causes to 'vote' them into a top spot to be the featured story. You earn points by contributing to a HopeMob featured story, and they'll have new ways to earn 'points' soon.

I found out about HopeMob through my favorite social media platform, Twitter. I follow Wellspring Living on Twitter and Brent and I have supported them periodically through events and donations. We love what they do for girls and women in the city of Atlanta, it's awesome. Wellspring tweeted about HopeMob this week, their Amazon wish list for a new transitional house was the featured story on the website. Brent and I were excited to be able to purchase something for Wellspring. I browsed through other stories and was touched by the amount of need represented on the site. I also was awestruck by amount of HOPE that exudes from HopeMob. Needs have been met, people have been helped, lives have been changed. I would strongly recommend you check this website out and see how you can be a part of this generous mob of world changers. Donating a toaster to a transitional house or giving ten dollars to help someone receive essential surgery may seem small to you, but its life changing to the person you are helping.

I think my favorite part about the HopeMob platform is that it gives me and you the opportunity to feel like we're part of something bigger than ourselves. We are bombarded with needs every day and it's easy to become discouraged and resign ourselves to thinking that we can do nothing to truly meet needs. This gives us the opportunity to invest in lives and come together with strangers to change the world. I love it!

This afternoon, Brent and I went online to the Amazon wish list for Wellspring and were able to purchase an item from the list. We can't do a lot right now, but we can do something. So we did our small part to meet the needs listed. We will probably continue to do so, we were really impressed with HopeMob. Last I checked, there were a few items left on the list. Maybe you're like us and can't do much, but we can all do something. I hope you'll join the HopeMob with us so we can change the world together. 

{features} Keep your eyes open

If you could soldier on, headstrong into the storm
I'll be here waiting on the other side don't
Look back the road is long, the first days of the war are gone
Take back your former throne and turn the tide

'Cus if you never leave home, never let go
You'll never make it to the great unknown
Till you keep your eyes... open my love

So tell me you're strong, tell me you see
I need to hear it, can you promise me
To keep your eyes... open my love

Just past the circumstance, the first light a second chance
No child could ever dance the way you do oh
Tear down the prison walls, don't stop the curtain calls
Your chains will never fall until you do

'Cus if you never leave home, never let go
You'll never make it to the great unknown
Till you keep your eyes... open my love

So show me your fire, show me your heart
You know I'll never let you fall apart
If you keep your eyes... open my love - Needtobreathe

This song kept running through my head as I research and drafted this post. Needtobreathe is one of my favorite bands. This is a pretty inspiring song, you can watch the official music video on youtube here. It reminds me of bravery, the importance of keeping our eyes open and pressing on towards our goals.

My hope is that we can all work together to keep our eyes open in our community. These atrocities could be happening on your street, behind the scenes of your favorite restaurant. I wrote about the restaurant in Woodstock, Georgia that was allegedly using slave labor. I was messing with SlaveryMap at the end of our mapping session at the Backyard Academy and showed the listing in Woodstock to a friend of mine sitting next to me. She gasped and said that she and her mother (in law? I can't remember) used to dine at that restaurant pretty regularly. It's pretty sobering to think about the times you came into contact with people who were likely being held against their will. I know its happened to me before. I went to Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake to participate in a relief project. Our host had three young girls and one older woman living in his home. His wife didn't live in the home, just him, a few men, and the women. They cleaned, cooked, didn't say much. I didn't think much of it because the norm in parts of the developing world is to hire housekeepers to help with tasks. In a lot of cases its a good way to earn income.

One year after completing my trip to Haiti I read a book by E. Benjamin Skinner called 'A Crime so Monstrous'. In this book he details the plight of restaveks, young children who are enslaved in domestic servitude. This practice is common and culturally accepted, even by clergy and other prominent moral figures. You can read a CNN article about restaveks here, or read Skinner's book.  My heart sank when I realized that it was very possible that I came into contact with young victims. I want to be clear, I do not KNOW that our host was perpetuating this social ill and owned slaves, the clues just seemed to add up in my head. I would hate for someone to think I was accusing him of doing something so atrocious, the situation just felt 'off' while I was there.

David Batstone, the founder of Not for Sale, had an instance of slavery in his community shocked him into action. Here's the direct quote from the Not for Sale website

"I read in a local paper that one of my favorite Indian restaurants in the Bay Area had been trafficking women from India to wash dishes, cook meals and other tasks. The story came out when a young woman, Chianti Pratipatta died of a gas leak in an unventilated apartment owned by the proprietor of the restaurant, who forced Chianti and others into slavery under threat of reporting their illegal presence to the authorities.

This was happening in my country at a restaurant I frequented. My shock turned into a consuming passion that took me around the world to learn more about how slavery flourishes in the shadows.

I also learned about the solutions. I met heroes. Modern-day abolitionists fighting trafficking and slavery on the front lines. And I knew I had to do something. Not for Sale combines technology, intellectual capital, abolitionist groups and a growing network of individuals like yourself – joined together to end slavery in our lifetime.
Welcome to the movement."

My memory of my time in Haiti, the accounts of slavery cases in my own community, and stories like David Batstone's remind me of the need for us to, like the song, 'keep our eyes open'. Be brave, be smart. Do research, understand the situation. Then, look around. Take note of what is happening in your community. There are a ton of resources for how you could potentially identify situations that aren't quite right. You don't have to do the investigating, you can just call a hotline number. The Polaris project has a great fact sheet with a hotline you can view to learn how you can play your part in identifying potential slavery situations. We can all play our part in ending these heinous crimes, and sending a message to traffickers that this is NOT okay and we will NOT tolerate it. Let's work together to keep our eyes open so we can discover and shine light into the darkness of slavery in our communities.

{features} Shopping

I'm continuing my Not for Sale {features} today with one of my favorite subjects- shopping! Well, in my pre-student loans single years, shopping was one of my favorite subjects. It doesn't happen as much now, except for groceries and the occasional impulse buy at Target. We are so blessed in the United States with so many options. We have numerous grocery stores, specialty shops. We can choose if we want our style to be preppy, boho, hipster, or simple. The possibilities are endless. We take food to a completely different level. I've been to 14 counties and our grocery stores are unmatched. We take food very seriously, and usually its pretty fabulous. I mean, obesity is running rampant, but that's a topic to discuss in another post. I know I take for granted the infinite choices at my fingertips.

But there's a dark side behind our infinite choices and plethora of products at our fingertips. It's easy to forget about the people who make our products. Sex trafficking is a huge issue. It traumatizes women, girls and boys, and leads to lifelong issues that are difficult to recover from. But there are far more individuals who are victims of labor trafficking than sex trafficking. There are 9 victims of labor trafficking to every 1 victim of sex trafficking. (Polaris Project)

Many of these trafficked individuals are making our clothes. They're harvesting the cocoa and cacao beans to make our chocolate and coffee. They are picking our produce. This is a huge social issue. I don't want to get on my soapbox, but it disturbs me that while we have labor laws in the United States, minimum wage and organized unions to protect workers from being exploited. But the vast majority of our products made overseas are subject to no such regulations. There is a lack of concern from companies, simply due to a lack of concern from their consumers. We have been primarily concerned with price, quantity, and quality. It's easy to forget that someone made that dress, picked that tomato, and harvested that cocoa. I've been ruminating on this issue for years, and felt pretty helpless. I could find fair trade coffee and chocolate, and a few clothing items, but it was almost impossible to live a fair trade lifestyle, especially if one is a college student or a social worker on a budget.

But Not for Sale is trying to change all that. They've introduced Free2Work, a smartphone app and website that grades companies on several elements to determine their ethical practices. Free2Work is excellent. They've been consistently adding companies, and they want to work with companies that have bad grades in order to improve their score. And the data isn't completely depressing. I was happy to see that Gap, inc received a B- score for their products. It's not perfect, but they are making strides in ensuring their products are slave free.

As a result of efforts like Free2Work and other consumer pressure, chocolate companies like Hershey's are beginning to acknowledge that they are ignorant about their supply chains. They realize this needs to change. I found this article that reports on Hershey's announcement to introduce fair trade products into the market. It's not perfect, but its progress. Trader Joe's just signed the fair food agreement to begin to certify their produce as ethical. Change is happening.

The Free2Work app has encouraged me that I'm not alone in the fight against labor trafficking and slavery. It's given me practical steps to take to ensure I'm making good decisions regarding my consumerism. It's been encouraging to see the progress as a result of efforts from Not for Sale and others. We will win this fight against slavery. I hope you have a few moments to check out the Free2Work app or website. It's really interesting and you may be surprised to learn about some of the companies listed.We can change the world, one purchase at a time.

"Don't buy someone else's misery"- Kevin Austin, Not for Sale

Everyday Sales

I'm currently reading Dave Ramsey's book, 'Entre Leadership'. I have to admit, at first I didn't see the need in me purchasing and reading this book. I didn't consider myself a leader or an entrepreneur. It took about one chapter to change my mind. 
 

 I'm not going to do a thorough book review or highlight all the many excellent aspects of Dave's book- I'm sure you can find numerous people who will give you that information. The book is full of leadership and business principles, but most, if not all, of these principles apply to the entry level employee or the unemployed. The book is as much about character as it is about business. I can be a leader in my job; I can be a leader in my areas of service.

 The chapter I just finished was one that I was pretty sure did not apply to me. I approached this chapter on sales with halfhearted interest, only determined to read it because I have to read a book in its entirety. And wow, I was certainly wrong about this chapter application in my life. You see, I've always had issues with 'sales people'. I don't enjoy people coming up to me in stores when I'm shopping, I don't like it when people try to sell me products. I've never enjoyed multi level marketing and get annoyed when 'friends' call me up to 'chat' in order to sell me their product. I'm just not a fan. Dave gave an illustration about pushy sales in the book: he likened it to the sales person being a hammer and the client was the nail. Ouch! I don't want to be a nail, with a sales person hammering me with information, facts, and pushy tactics in order to get me to buy into what he or she is selling.

But, this chapter has guided me into the realization that I am a salesperson. I'm in sales every day. At my job, I 'sold' people on the idea that their clients needed mental health services from our organization. I provide statistics, write grants, and attempted to serve other organizations in order to provide the best possible care to their clients. It was pretty easy for me to find a balance in this area. I think I did an okay job of not pressuring other providers. I gave them information and let them come to us. The same has applied at my teaching job. I 'sell' my students on the importance of their internship, the importance of coming to class and doing their assignments.

I'm also a salesperson in my daily life. This blog is called 'the Everyday Activist', because I've found that very few days go by where I don't think about, talk about, or do something about any of the causes in which I'm involved. I care deeply for people and I want to fight injustice. That's why I became a social worker, that's why I follow so many different charities and advocacy organizations. That's why I take part in the political process and why I talk about slavery and sweatshops at dinner parties. I feel like God made me to fight for justice. I'm deeply passionate about this area of my life. I feel like these causes are important, and should be important to everyone. So essentially I'm in 'sales' while in my fight for justice. But it’s been a humbling realization for me that just as much as I hate being 'hammered' by a Amway or Mary Kay salesperson, I can't 'hammer' people with my causes either. I have to be sensitive to the people I'm talking to, the people I spend time with. Some of them can't emotionally handle the grim facts surrounding slavery and trafficking. Some just don't care, and pushy behavior may just drive them further away. Of course, it would be just as easy to go to the other extreme and just give up. I've met many former activists and social workers who just gave up and became jaded towards the causes they once so passionately fought for. I don't want to enter into that realm either.

I have many nuggets of truth I'm taking away from 'Entre Leadership'. Today's nugget is essentially about finding balance in my 'sales'. I don't want to hammer my loved ones into embracing the causes. I need to approach this area with sensitivity, intelligence, patience, and much prayer. I want you to be disgusted by slavery. I want you to reach out to help your impoverished neighbors. I want you to buy products made in fair labor factories and fields. I want you to contact your representatives about slavery, the LRA, child protection, fair labor practices, and other local and global issues. But I don't want to be a hammer. I'm trying to sell you into fighting for justice and helping those who are desperate need of intervention. I passionately believe in this 'product' so I'm going to attempt to approach my activism with sensitivity. Some things make me angry, and righteous anger is justified. But at the end of the day I want love to be what we're selling, love that ultimately is manifested through the fight to end injustice around our world.

Do colors matter?

Yesterday was Down Syndrome Awareness Day. I have a couple of friends who have sweet babies born with a 47^th chromosome, and many more friends who have loved ones with Down’s Syndrome. I saw on facebook that you could wear yellow and blue to show your support and raise awareness for March 21^st. So I woke up yesterday morning and rummaged around my closet for a good yellow/blue outfit combination.

As I was rummaging I started to wonder what the point was in wearing blue and yellow. What would I, one person, accomplish by simply wearing two colors? To be transparent, I almost gave up on searching for my outfit. But then I realized that I didn’t need to be asking ‘why?’ I really needed to be asking ‘why not?’

We live in a jaded, cynical world. It seems that many people are content in their complacency and it causes them discomfort when they see others stepping out of their bubble, out of their comfort zone. So they criticize, point fingers, and always have a reason why you SHOULDN’T do something, because ‘How can one person make a difference?’ It’s always ‘why?’ instead of ‘why not?’

So yesterday, I grabbed my blue and yellow sundress and put on my yellow necklace. Why? Because I know sweet children with Down Syndrome, and they are amazing, beautiful, perfect children of God. Because when three or four people at work told me that they ‘liked my yellow’ I was able to tell them why I was wearing yellow and blue. And I hope that I was able to encourage my friends who have children with Downs. I know that these families experience discrimination, stereotypes, and even judgement from people who are ignorant and vicious. I imagine that it could be a lonely road. I wanted to stand with them, I wanted to show my support.  So, if the only result of me wearing yellow and blue was to encourage, I’ll take it. But who knows, it could impact people in ways I will never know.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how small the deed, we will never know how God can use it. From pennies to millions, from wearing colors to signing petitions, every little attempt at advocacy and activism matters. I hope I never become so jaded that I don’t do the little things.

So do colors matter? I think they do. Every little thing you can do to encourage, support, or raise awareness matters. I pray I never forget that, and I pray that for you too.