Humanitarian IKEA offsets

The other night Nate and I made a couple of superfluous purchases at IKEA: namely, two fish hand-puppets and a stuffed guinea pig. (Guinea pig: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70137783; fish picture not available). Note: this was my first trip to IKEA in over a year and Nate's first visit ever.

While shopping, we noticed that our new friends were made in Indonesia and Vietnam, respectively. This quelled our urge to consume, as we considered the possibly tiny (as in, child's) hands that brought our toys into existence; hands roughened and toughened by hours of work at blasphemously low pay. Considering our faraway brothers and sisters, we asked ourselves: how can we morally make these purchases, as doing so will--to some small degree--prop up the structures of oppression that keep our friends in bondage?

While we held off on making other purchases, we did end up taking the fish and the guinea pig home for $12. We'd grown attached to them over the course of our journey through IKEA and chose not to part with them. In truth, the fact that we rarely make purchases--nevermind superfluous ones--abetted our affirmative decision-making. I get my clothes and furniture secondhand, and I buy at least a third of our groceries at a re-sale shop (it's safe, I promise!). Since my exploitative-shopping footprint is already a tiny one, I didn't feel as bad making this purchase.

Yet Nate & I still felt a little guilty because we recognized this situation as a moral choice in which we'd made the less-than-virtuous decision. SO! We committed to offsetting our shopping footprint by making a donation of double what we spent on unnecessary items ($12*2=$24) to a women's community empowerment organization focusing on work and education: http://www.newcommunityproject.org/give_girl_chance.shtml

I know that I probably won't be able to do this sort of thing every time I consider purchasing something that I suspect came about through coercive means. In that case, I hope I'll just do without.

Works for Me: ridding one's space of fruit flies

Recently plagued by fruit flies, I poured about 1/3 cup each of organic apple cider vinegar into two small mason jars and added a couple of drops of Ecover dishwashing liquid.

It only took two days to decimate the little pests.

Highly recommended course of action!

EARWIGS

A pestilence currently residing in my home; I googled it and found the following:

Keep earwigs away

This leaflet is designed to help you understand and control earwigs.

Are they a health hazard?

Although earwigs are not known to transmit disease, they can cause distress if seen in the home.

--friendly UK leaflet online

another packed week

Last update: last Monday. Since then:

Tuesday the 24th: Second meeting with my Communities in Schools Study Buddy. We meet during lunch and usually start by giving each other an update on what we did since we last saw one another. I then give him any books I picked up for him on my weekly Goodwill trip. He scores higher in math and science and lower in English and reading, so I try to get him science books to marry that passion with what needs some work. Last week we read about mummies, life in outer space, and earth care.
TodayI brought him a Star Wars novel and he FREAKED. OUT. (never mind the fact that it was part two in a trilogy :)) Since it is a little beyond his reading level, I brought a book of my own and we discussed strategies for comprehension. I shared how I circle words I don't know in pencil and then write them at the top of the page in order to easily reference later, when I write them all on a sheet of paper with dictionary definitions. We went through the first page of his new book with this strategy and he seemed to find it helpful! I am lucky to be blessed with an eager learner. But then, I don't think it's unique to my student that he can appreciate someone investing in him. All kids can benefit from it, all kids need it, all kids deserve it.

Also attended an informative lecture at Ivy Tech called "Branding Locally Grown." Asked a question about getting more fresh food onto schoolkids' lunchplates by forming alliances between the community schools and farmers. Go Fresh, Go Local--> benefit the kids!

Wednesday: Babysitting and the much-anticipated Meetinghouse Noise show that turned out to be a little less than I and some others hoped. Seems to have affected a sea change in the way my BF views performing live. Think it's for the best.

Thursday: Class; a profoundly transformative meeting with Frank Massey, ESR Friend in Residence and Gifts Discernment Coordinator at Guilford College. He helped me think about my Mullen scholarship essays by naming some of my spiritual gifts: teacher, encourager, prophet, organizer. Glad to know him and have him as a resource for the future.

Volunteered at the Friends School.Essentially, I am just another friendly adult presence as the students do arts and crafts projects and work on homework. They were all adorably inquisitive and creative. One of the students asked me if she could sit on my lap during snack and it was just about the cutest thing. I helped another student with his homework for a while and then we sang songs together. I loved it! The many-years coordinator who I worked with is an excellent role model for working with children. She and I talked for a little while on steering kids away from violent/gun play because that is the sort of thing I've encountered in some other children I work with and I don't always know how to deal with it. She gave me some good tips. As Quakers who follow Christ's totally non-violent lead, we thoroughly reject all forms of violence and war and believe that "just war theory" is not from God. It can be hard to teach these things, though, to Quaker kids who find the forbidden so fascinating!

Friday: Read Scripture for Joint Worship Service: John 5:1-9a. Invited to do so by Travis. It was a beautiful service with a profound message on the the fractures and breaches in the Church of the Brethren and other mainline protestant denominations that come about as a result of their inability/refusal to do what they ought to model the full inclusiveness and love towards GLBT brothers and sisters that Jesus taught.

Later that day, I participated in a Healing Prayer workshop with Frank Massey and about 20 others. It was pretty much beyond words--indeed, I left the workshop feeling somewhat stoned, and had to take several minutes of rest and relaxation afterwards before I could really talk about the amazing soul-work I had experienced in such loving company. Had the first nameable mystical experience of my adultlife... and so feel more like I can hold my own with my very mystical roommate now. ;-)
Friday night was memorable because we got a cat! She hasn't told us her name yet and she's very likely pregnant, but she is adorable and our household has totally taken to her. It helps that she is housetrained, polite, and asks for what she needs.

Sunday: Another big day! Round three of co-teaching first-day school in preparation for going it alone in March. I'm supposed to be working on my curriculum right now... but of course I'm updating my blog as a mode of procrastination. (Sorta.) (On that note, I think my Lenten vow has to do with be more intentional about using my free time to really get work done. As in, when I catch myself slipping off to gmail or NYTimes health articles, I'm going to take a moment to pray and center and see if that's really what I want & need to be doing in that moment. Since Nathaniel has the same issue, he's backing me up and making similar vows. Yay!)

After Meeting we jetted over to the Church of the Brethren, where I delighted in a service that puts children at the center and heard another great sermon from Carol Wise on GLBT issues. (She's been visiting our town this past week and making the theological rounds.) Afterwards Nate volunteered at the Hardware Co-op and I tried to get some curriculum work done until a precious little one's first birthday party at 2pm, where I had a delightful time catching up with folks and met the Mullens for the first time, collecting an invitation to visit! :)

I spent most of yesterday working on my scholarship applications and had to babysit last night. That was a lot of fun. In an attempt to get some ideas about what children know/find intriguing about Jesus, I surveyed my little guy. Here's what he came up with about Jesus (he's almost 6):

-He lived in a place called "T"
-He didn't have electricity
-He was a famous teacher; he taught people how to play dead, Said "If you die..."
-He didn't have any money
-Nor did he have a house
-He often slept outside
-He was a wanderer.

I mean, I think these things are important to note about Jesus, especially in our materialistic age that is so contradictory to what Jesus taught & called his people to live, but I'm not sure I can do much of a lesson plan for 7-yr olds around them!! :)

Whew. I think that's it for the highlights of the week. As for today? I'm gonna leave that for the next entry. Time to get back to work! <3

past tense payment

Just paid the ticket for my accident. This puts my total investment into an accident that has been deemed not my fault not only by my insurance company, but by the person who caused it and the woman who "witnessed" "me" causing and later recanted, at $2,200. All on a student loan that should've gone to pay for two more classes of seminary study. Awesome!



Here are some lines I like a lot:

Are we forever the prisoner of our actions?
It's a good question.
It was Hamlet's question.
And it's the unresolvable conflict in our penal system.
Why do we put people in jail?
To rehabilitate them, and restore them to our company?
Or to punish them, regardless of how much they might change?
One can't hold both of these ideas in one's mind simultaneously--that's why our prison debates on TV and in Congress are so vehement and incoherent.
The two sides cannot be squared by mere politics.

--from This American Life's special on Prison Performing Arts based in St Louis Missouri

two weeks busy

Last week felt so long... not because it eeked by, but because the days were so packed. Clyde went to and was released from the hospital, I had my first lunch with my study buddy, Interfaith Youth Core came from Chicago for training, my zoomie Greg led worship on Thursday, and I attended the College Board of Trustees meetings on Friday. Oh, and I made something like five dozen cupcakes. And we volunteered at the animal shelter after making a crazy vegan Valentine's brunch of biscuits and gravy, eggless frittata with asparagus and sundried tomatoes, and seven-spice potatoes. And there was Team WECI Basketball. Not to mention all that time spent helping/cheering along Nathaniel with his application. And the 100-mi radius potluck last night. And I co-taught first-day school yesterday in preparation for going-it-alone in March. Sigh! I'm gonna stop before I remember anything else. :)

Unfortunately I did not get much done in the way of thesis work. It was very much one of those weeks where I allowed myself to get pulled hither and thither with extra-curricular activity and did not take time to ground myself in my studies. Heck, I didn't even make class Thursday morning because I was so sleepless Wednesday night. I'm recommitting to my work this morning... getting up and out at 8:45 was a good start. I'm about to clean off the whiteboard and make my weekly calendar before listing a bunch of books for sale online. I desperately need cash and am thinking of getting back into, actually.

joint letter of AFSC and FCNL

from the American Friends Service Committee (afsc.org) and Friends Committee of National Legislation

November 7, 2008
Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC, 20520

Dear Secretary Rice,
We are deeply concerned about the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s
North Kivu province. As you know, the recent surge in violence, sparked by fighting
between the CNDP rebel forces, local militias, and the DR Congo’s national army, has
displaced tens of thousands and led to widespread killings, looting, and distressing human rights abuses, including sexual and gender based violence. We are alarmed by the lack of humanitarian access to the tens of thousands of Congolese civilians who fled the recent violence and the continued insecurity that has led to the reevacuation of many aid groups working to assist them. While U.N. agencies stepped up efforts to deliver assistance earlier this week, tens of thousands of civilians are still without shelter, and many lack access to food and clean water. While the cease-fire is holding in Goma, reports indicate fighting has resumed in other
parts of North Kivu. U.S. resources and attention from the most senior levels are needed urgently to protect civilians and prevent a further escalation of the crisis.
In coordination with ongoing diplomatic efforts by the newly appointed U.N. special
envoy, the French, British, and engaged African countries, and building on Assistant
Secretary Jendayi E. Frazer’s recent visit to Kinshasa, we urge you to:
• Appeal to all armed actors to immediately cease hostilities.
• Prevail on all parties to allow unfettered access for humanitarian relief assistance
to civilians who have been forced to flee their homes and communities.
• Urge all countries to halt the supply of weapons to armed parties.
• Persuade all armed groups in North Kivu to fully participate in the comprehensive
disengagement plan, including the separation of forces and brassage processes.
• Support the convened negotiations in Nairobi to include all actors in order to
review their responsibilities under previously signed agreements, notably the
November 2007 Nairobi Communiqué and the January 2008 Goma Peace
Accords.
• Work with Security Council Members, the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping
Operations and UN member countries to improve the capacity of the U.N.’s
FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION peacekeeping operation in the DRC (MONUC) to better protect civilians and create space for the provision of humanitarian assistance.
• Increase efforts to find long-term and non-military solutions in the eastern DRC,
including an increase in civilian capacities on the ground to undertake important
work in areas such as community policing, justice and reconciliation, and broadbased
development.

Fighting and unspeakable atrocities have continued in the DRC for far too long.
Promoting a sustainable peace, protecting civilians, and providing humanitarian relief can be achieved with these recommended steps. We appreciate your immediate attention and support your leadership role in addressing the urgent crisis in Congo.

Sincerely,
Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)

CC: Assistant Secretary Jendayi E. Frazer, Africa Bureau, US State Department