Changing the Picture

Get ready for some shameless self-promotion, people! Journalists for Human Rights is throwing its first ever art auction on December 9 at Propeller Art Gallery from 6:30-10:00PM. The event, in support of jhr, will feature the unique work from artists all across the country with each giving their own interpretation on the meaning of hope, empowerment, and change. We want to focus on and celebrate art's very real potential to influence positive change in society.

Proceeds from the event will support jhr’s projects in the DRC, Liberia, and Sierra Leone as well as the Canadian art community.  So on the eve of Human Rights Day, join us in culture, cause, and celebration!

For more information and registration, please visit: http://changingthepicture.eventbrite.com/

Kiva + Me = Birthday Love

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday and as a present, I asked my closest friends to invest in an entrepreneur in any developing country using Kiva, my new found love. I discovered the awesome of this organization a couple of months ago when I made my first loan to Tarcila, a woman in the Philippines who makes and then sells furniture (blog post here). Ever since then, I've wanted to get more friends involved in it. And my birthday presented itself as just the perfect introduction I'd been looking for.

Shiyoen Chum groupThanks to the amazing generosity of my best friends of nearly 13 years (!!!), five entrepreneurs from all over the world have been given the chance to develop their business and potentially lift themselves and their families out of poverty. From the Philippines to El Salvador and from Cambodia to Peru, our entrepreneurs are involved in all sorts of different trades and industries, including baking, transportation, fishing, and retail! It's pretty awesome stuff.

But in addition to warm, fuzzy feeling of doing good, what I loved most about this year's present was that I learned something new about my friends along the way. After making their loans, I asked them to share their reasons for choosing whoever it was they ended up choosing...

LuciaMarisa chose Shiyoen Chum's family of fishermen from Cambodia because she wanted to invest in something that reflected health and nurturing. Val chose Aida who runs a motorcycle service in the Philippines because it struck her as a unique and innovative service. Carm invested in José, the baker from El Salvador, because she too is an aspiring baker. Cynthia chose on the basis of necessity, which Lucia's fruit and vegetable store provided for the members of her community. And finally, Gloria invested in Alejandra, who operates a buy-and-sell business, because she knew that Alejandra had to support three young children and would need the money to put them through school.

Honestly? Listening to these reasons was one of the most rewarding parts of this little initiative. Why? Because it gave me a deeper glimpse into who these ladies are and for me, it was an affirmation of how well these ladies know themselves, as their choices brought to the fore aspects integral to their personality.

So thus made my 2010 birthday! Who knew that this simple act of investing would reap so many wonderful rewards? 

Oh and did I mention that October is also Kiva's birthday month? A happy coincidence with wins all around : )

Thanks ladies for actually taking the time to actually educate yourselves about the organization, the process, and the individuals that you invested in! So happy to be on this microfinancing journey with you!

José Pedro QuinterosAlejandra Montejo Aida Navajo

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday (legality all over the world, holla!) and as a present, I asked my closest friends to invest in an entrpereneur in any developing country using Kiva. At first they asked me if I was sure that there was nothing else I wanted. Believe me, this wasn't some kind of selfless act, I asked myself that question long and hard too before making the ask. I won't deny it I am absolutely the kind of person who loves being spoiled and showered with gifts on her birthday. But honestly, this time around, there wasn't anything else I could think of asking for. I'm priveleged enough to say taht at this moment, I have evverything that I could possibly need and that there's nothing more that I want. It's an odd but incredibly liberating feeling!

And so enters Kiva...my new found love.

I discovered the awesome of this organization a couple of months ago when I made my first loan to a woman in the PHilippines who makes and buys furniture (blog post here) and ever since then, I've wanted to get more friends involved in it. And my birthday presented itself as just the perfect introduction I've been looking for.

Now, thanks to the amazing generosity of my best friends Carmen, Cynthia, Gloria, Marisa, and Val, five entrepreneurs all over the world have been given the chance to develop their business and potentially lift themselves out of poverty. Investing in countries all over the world

More than that, what I loved most about this ask was that I learned something new about my friends along the way. After making their loans, I asked them to share the reasons for who they chose and that in itself was a wealth of learning. Marisa chose the fishing group because



The Clock is Ticking.

I'm going to let this video speak for itself.

For more information, visit www.girleffect.org.

Half the Sky

I just recently finished reading Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dunn’s brilliantly written ‘Half the Sky’ and let me tell you right now that that was probably the single most agonizing book I have read to date. You don’t know how many times I had to put it down, weep a little, cuss a lot, and pick it up again just to repeat the process. Called ‘Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”, the book covers the often underreported issues of the sex slave trade, the crippling poverty that the world’s women share a disproportionate amount of (around 70% to be exact), maternal mortality (which takes a woman’s life every minute), and the misogynistic customs and traditions that so terribly degrade women to beneath human status.

To say that the stories presented in the book are horrific would be the greatest understatement ever made, but at the same time, this should not be overshadowed by the fact that the stories also offer a profound, albeit distant, glimmer of hope. Yes, the stories are, at times, excruciatingly graphic, but to see how these women pull themselves out of what may just be the worst conditions known to the human race, is beyond inspiring. Kristof and WuDunn take us on such a raw and real journey connecting us with equally raw and real women from all continents of the world (you can read a few of their stories here). While reading the book, I was taken to the two extremes of the emotional and mental spectrum...from being repulsed by the despicable savagery our world's women must endure to being so moved and inspired by their sheer bravery, determination, and resilience.

Honestly, it’s a travesty that women around the world have to suffer these incredible injustices, but what’s even more tragic is that a lot of the people in our priveleged Western world don't really know about it. Okay sure, they (we) may have a vague idea, but it’s this abstract and distant fact that we come to simply accept and forget. I keep urging (pleading, begging) my family and friends to please read this book. But it’s hard because it deals with seriously tough issues and sometimes, it’s easier to just ignore it or sweep these realities under the rug because well, it doesn’t directly affect us...or at least not visibly so. And I totally understand that. The topics discussed in the book aren’t sexy and it’s not exactly the kind of book you want to curl up to at the end of a long day and fall asleep to. But it’s all too important not to read and I just can't stress that enough. If I could shout it out on the rooftops, believe me I would!! Melinda Gates put it best when she described the book as "...both a brutal awakening and an unmistakable call to action".

So please, if you consider yourself even remotely human (which I sincerely hope you do), please, please, read Half the Sky. And once you do, believe me, it will change you...