"Find What Speaks To You"

Have you seen the commercials on TV for for Pier 1 Imports? They are the cutest commercials where an individual is walking around the store and they hear something... It's generally a voice that is too cute for words and is saying something ridiculously relatable to the person who is doing the browsing. The individual sources the voice and it's an inanimate object that the person just has to take home now that they seem to have a wonderful bond. The tag line for the commercial is "Find what speaks to you."

These commercials are...
- Adorable
- Make me want to shop at Pier 1 Imports (I'm such a sucker for clever marketing)
- Speak to a greater truth in our lives

I find that when God has something important to say to us-- something important for us to learn-- He brings the lesson to us in forms of things that "speak to us". That could be a particular conversation with a friend, a quote you happen to read on Facebook or Pinterest, a picture you see, a movie you watch, or even a book you just happen to start to read at a bible study you randomly signed up for.

From the specific detail of the last sentence I'm sure you can see where my example is going to be coming from...

There's a church here in town that I don't attend. I've gone a few times with my husband and a few times on my own. We have friends that attend and are heavily involved. And while we don't attend regularly, we often go to their extra activities. Most commonly, we attend their bible studies.

A friend of mine who attends had posted a status on Facebook about how excited she was for the upcoming ladies study. I don't remember the post exactly but I can almost guarantee it said nothing about what the study was about, who the author of the book study was, or even what night of the week it was going to be. All it said was the title of the book which I had remembered hearing about before-- "Lioness Arising". While the description of the study was basically non-existent, she shared her excitement for what she was sure was going to be an awesome time of fellowship and learning with fellow ladies.
I needed to inquire more.
I found out the night of the week and signed up.
Done and done.
Easy as pie. (And I feel, as someone who likes to bake, I can use that analogy and stand behind it's truth.)

The Sunday before the study was going to begin I attended the service at the church. I got my book "Lioness Arising" by Lisa Bevere upon arriving and anxiously awaited the end of the service so I could start reading. When the service finished I headed straight for my wonderful husbands amazing coffee shop, sat down with a lovely cup of strawberry green tea (my usual) and started to read.

Let us pause for a moment and asses the "speaking to me" scenarios we have encountered thus far:
1- The Facebook Status. Really? It was so vague! But "something" spoke to me. I signed up literally within a day to be part of the study and would have signed up within minutes if it was a face to face conversation, not over a Facebook status where I had to wait for the next post to learn more information.

2- Anxiously awaiting the end of a Church service to read. Church is great. I love going to church-- meeting with other Christians, learning about God, reading his Word, worshipping Him. He is awesome! But I just knew there was going to be more learning, more of God speaking to me through the book, than at the service that Sunday.


As I was sitting at the modern concrete and re-claimed wood coffee shop, sipping green tea from the bright red mug that is the perfect inviting accent to the almost cold look of the modern decor and snow filled outdoors beaming in from the large windows, I couldn't help but get the shivers and feel the warmth of the surreal terrain when imagining the Lioness described in the book. The description is as follows;

"Radiant light was everywhere and appeared to come from everything. There was no mist or shadow, only glorious color. These saturated hues of living color were comprised of shades so concentrated that I am without earthly reference to name them. The pigments were layered and multi-dimensional. For some reason I best remember the tones of purple (but not quite our purple) and blue (yet unlike ours). There were no edges, sides, or upper border, yet the backdrop of color enwrapped what is showcased-- an elevated platform of flawless, cream-colored stone, and on this platform reclined a golden lioness."

As the imagery from the above passage lingered in my mind and senses, I continued to read through the first chapter and anticipated even more tangible passages in the second...

The second chapter starts with the quote;
"If ever there comes a time when the women of the world come together purely and simply for the benefit of mankind, it will a force such as the world has never know." -Matthew Arnold, nineteenth-century British poet and philosopher.

The wonder, honesty, bravery and pure power of that quote just gets me excited.

The second chapter spoke to the injustice of human trafficking. Can you imagine my excitement? Here I am, reading a book on how us women are to arise like a lioness to come together and be a force for Christ the world has never seen, and then they touch on a topic so relevant to me like human trafficking! This takes the whole "it speaks to me" to a new level.

It's amazing how God works. How he can take a simple Facebook status that requires but a simple response, to speak to us and lead us in the direction of more knowledge of Him and His wonderful plan for our lives. With every paragraph, every quote and every point this book makes I feel arising in me the attributes of a lioness-- Fierce, Fearless, Graceful, Stunning, Confident, Bold, Strong, Beautiful, and most of all, Awake.

Awake to the plans the Lord has for me, and awake to the potential we can reach when we stretch ourselves to be all He calls us to be.

My hope-- my challenge to you-- is that you fully commit to experiencing what God is using to speak to you that you might grow in His love for you, His knowledge He wants to impart to you, and the wonderful part you play in this life.

I will leave you with my words taken from the "Safari Guide" workbook, my latest Impressions on how I am feeling reading the book and adventuring with the safari guide!
"I feel this study is God speaking directly to me! That He is calling me to acknowledge it is time for me to really be all the characteristics of the lioness as my next step to a life committed to seeking justice for those who cannot speak for themselves. It's like my tool kit I'm putting together to be a fierce force of God! I LOVE IT!"

When has something really "spoke" to you? Where did it lead?

Challenge: Ethical Easter

"Hundreds of thousands of children labour in the West Coast of Africa to produce cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate. Specifically, over 40% of the global supply originates in the Ivory Coast, where the US Department of State reports that over 109,000 children work under the worst forms of child labour. Of these 10,000 are victims of human trafficking or enslavement. Children working in cocoa production labour long hours and are often required to use dangerous tools. They are frequently exposed to toxic pesticides in the fields that create health issues and are forced to walk long distances in extreme heat. Furthermore, because these children work long hours they are denied access to an education." -- From Free2Work.org

I'd like to propose a challenge.
As with all challenges, this will not be the easiest thing you have ever done.
It will require thought, effort, will power and commitment.
It will require you to go beyond the social norm, break free of traditions you may have set in place, and step into a world where you not only care about your friends, family and taste buds, but care about the world, and the people in it, who contribute to the most consumed item this Easter... chocolate.

You may think the paragraph above is slightly dramatic-- I understand. How often is chocolate "the bad guy" to anyone except individuals watching their waistline and those who can't consume for health reasons? We so thoughtlessly consume chocolate with perhaps our only thoughts being
a) How many calories?
b) What is the price?

This Easter you will challenge that thinking.
You will make a stand for the rights of human beings around the globe in going above the cute packaging, the clever marketing, and adorable eggs & bunnies that overtake your senses in stores and will commit to purchasing ethically made chocolate and candy.

Perhaps you are thinking "Sweet! This will be easy!"
I applaud your optimism!

When walking through Walmart, Superstore, Shoppers Drugmart and other chain stores, you are provided with many chocolate options. Everything you could desire! Enjoy the gooey centres of the Chocolate Creme Eggs? You can have them-- and even enjoy the same gooey-ness in the form of a Caramilk Egg and even enjoy the bitter sweet dark chocolate in the same format. Do you prefer salty with your sweet? As consumers demand the sea salt & chocolate combo, companies respond and even seek to entice you with other options-- why not caramel with your chocolate and sea salt? Want to feel healthy eating your chocolate? How about a dark chocolate bar with fruit and nuts-- you can indulge your sweet tooth and while you'll still be indulging your figure, it won't be as bad as the milk chocolate, nugget and caramel king sized bar you could have picked up from right beside.

As you swim through an ocean of rich, milky, indulgences, do you see a Fair Trade option? And I mean a real fair trade option-- none of this Cadbury-providing-Dairymilk-as-their-ONLY-Fair-trade option? Do you see chocolate eggs in festive packing made by a company that is dedicated to caring about those that work to get the cocoa from the field to the production line? Chances are, in your average retail store in Canada, these particular items are not lining the shelves.

I've pretty much just dashed your dreams of going into Superstore or Walmart and purchasing everything you need for your Easter festivities and leaving with a clean conscious. I'm ok with the fact I just did that. I'm actually happy I did.

It's going to take time, effort, and research to find chocolate and candy options that care about those individuals making the treat first and profits second. You'll have to venture into stores you might not normally take a look in (Ten Thousand Villages or even some health food stores), you may have to do some pre-planning and order goodies online, and, as my hope is, you will realize how often we contribute to continuation and expansion of slavery around the world.

This brings us to the REAL challenge.

While the general idea behind the challenge is to have an Ethical Easter, I think the real challenge is accepting, acknowledging and allowing this challenge to resonate in your day-to-day life. Our day-to-day lives are tainted with slavery. Lately I have had the extreme privilege of seeing people all around me learn and take to heart this reality. I've been privileged to share some of my knowledge with them about slavery, human trafficking and the resources I find most valuable in being a conscious consumer. Lately one of the best feelings is where I'm having a conversation with someone, and they mention something to me about downloading the Free2Work App, or looking at the labels where their clothes are made and wondering about those who made them. These things bring great joy! I know seeds that have been planted are growing and soon enough these same people can be sharing this information with others. A movement is happening.

At Easter we reflect on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is our example of how to live, how to love, how to be. He came to Earth and shattered what the world believed as right and both preached and led by example how forgiveness conquers revenge, how we are to pray for those that persecute us, and how Love truly conquers all. Jesus was the original abolitionist-- teaching us to help the oppressed, care for the poor, the sick, the needy, the widow, the orphan, and to set the captives free. If we, as Christians-- followers of Jesus-- cannot find it in ourselves to daily, in the choices we make, live a life of justice for those have been silenced, then how are we living a life following his example?

As we celebrate the ultimate sacrifice God made out of His amazing, incredible, immeasurable Love for us, let the choices of what we use to celebrate reflect the lessons of Jesus' life on Earth-- Love, Justice and Freedom for all.

Image from TreeHugger's 10 Fair Trade, Organic, and
Vegan Sources for Easter Chocolate.

Here are some resources for you to use when it comes to purchasing ethical chocolate and candy this Easter season!
Free2Work (Can you tell I have worked with Not For Sale? Only my top recommendation every time!)
World Vision's Good Chocolate Guide
Slave Free Chocolate Table by Stop Chocolate Slavery
TreeHugger's 10 Fair Trade, Organic, and Vegan Sources for Easter Chocolate




FAQ's:
Will Fair Trade or Ethical chocolate be more expensive?
Yes, it will be. With good reason-- caring about everyone in the supply chain! From those farming to those working in the factories, the people in the supply chain are treated fairly. It's worth it to spend a little more to know that people are being treated right!

So the chocolate is more expensive which means I can't buy as much. What about the traditions of my friends/family/children/co-workers/neighbours/general human beings I am in contact with have? 
I understand that your family tradition is to hid a bazillion chocolate eggs all around the house and do a massive hunt on Easter Sunday. Traditions can be adjusted! Instead of hiding a bazillion eggs, hide clues that lead to a basket of treats! It's still a hunt and still awesome! Maybe you could splurge and hide a bazillion fair trade eggs!

How can I explain to my youth group/family/co-workers why they aren't receiving the generic chocolate they expect and love without making it seem like I am being a jerk?
No one wants to make someone feel bad. Explain to them that you have been learning about what happens with the production of chocolate and that you are using your purchasing power to make a difference. We've all been the person who had no idea this was happening. Take this opportunity to share with them the excitement you have about being a conscious consumer! Maybe you'll get them in on the movement! Even kids can find a connection. Does your kid love to go to school? Does your kid love to play sports, or dance, etc. Connecting the dots of "You get to do this but not all kids get to. Some kids have to work all day long." can make a huge impact!


How are you going to have an Ethical Easter?

The Inspiration of Conversation

I like to chat.
Big surprise, I know. *hello sarcasm*

I enjoy talking with friends, acquaintances, and just about anyone else I happen to randomly meet. You never know what kind of conversation you will have if you allow yourself to be open to the idea that every conversation, every word spoken, can change a life, change a heart, or even simply change a mood.

Obviously you can't expect every single thing you say to change the world, or have a HUGE impact on someone, but if we spoke to others with the mindset that what we say has the potential to influence them I think we would choose our words more carefully and even just be pumped to talk to people!

The first time I went to a night called Women of Beauty put on by Let Go, Let God ministries, one of the main points that stuck with me was how what is in our heart, is on our mind, is what we speak. Our words have power and we need to be conscious of what we say. I had heard messages on this before but that night it really stood out to me. From that point on I have made a conscious effort to choose the words I say carefully-- knowing they can give life or do just the opposite.

Picture by Lani Elias

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with an absolutely lovely young lady. She is smart and spunky and her appearance is quick to reflect how she is so full of life and creative energy! The hangout was instigated when she approached me asking if we could chat one day about Not For Sale and my involvement with them...
Obviously...
As someone who enjoys chatting...
We chatted about a lot more than my time with Not For Sale.
In the classic coffee shop setting, over coffee and too much green tea then should be consumed in a two hour period, we spoke of travels, human trafficking and other injustice, how faith and love play into all of it, and what our dreams turned into goals are.

I think sharing your passions, dreams and goals are important. It helps bring them to life and seem more real and attainable. I have a goal to one day, open a bakery and teach baking classes to survivors of human trafficking as therapy while they are going through their aftercare program. Those that show talent could then be hired-- they have skills, a job, and best of all, a future that doesn't involve them being caught up in the same unimaginable situations that lead them to being trafficked to begin with. On top of that, I'd love to provide delicious baked goods that use all natural, organic and as often as possible, local ingredients! I would also want to ensure every thing I use is ethically sourced-- from the adorable cupcake liners to the ovens those scrumptious cupcakes bake in! Sharing this with someone makes it seem real, attainable, and like it can really happen!... Even if the goal seems so far in the future.

To hear her share her ideas, goals, dreams and passions is encouraging! Partly because she is going to do amazing things using her God given gifts and talents. Partly because she believes that God and love are crucial to seeing the end of injustice around the world! I was 100% being inspired by our conversation!

Being inspired by the words others speak is easy if you allow yourself to find the optimism and love in the smallest words. A simple "Thank-You" can change your day if no one has yet to appreciate an act you've done. Someone sharing their dream can inspire you that your dream maybe isn't so far fetched, that your dream is worth sharing and pursuing.

I have learned that you do not choose the moment you will influence someone. You must seek to have your actions and comments consistently inspired by Love. You never know when God will use even the smallest comment to change the direction of someones life or inspire them to further seek relationship with Him, which can and will change the world.

When have you been inspired by a conversation with someone? 

Freedom Sunday and the days that follow.

Freedom Sunday.

A day where the faith community as a whole comes together in their place of worship and devotes their time to learn what it means to end slavery.

This is incredible.
As a Christian I truly believe that we, as the church, should be leading the movement to end slavery in our lifetime.

The night before Freedom Sunday my wonderful husband and I were hanging out with some friends and we chatted most of the evening about faith. We chatted various aspects of faith and at one point my husband said something absolutely wonderful. He mentioned that doing good things like feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, helping the widow and orphan, shouldn't be something of special mention for a Christian. When you die people at your funeral shouldn't be like "Aelea was awesome. She helped the poor, the orphans, etc...". That should be commonplace. That is a given if you are a Christian. It would be like saying "Aelea liked to breathe air to survive everyday." That is just a part of what we do, how we live every single day.
It should have no honorable mention.
We should all be living this way.
Those words have stuck with me.

The next day, Freedom Sunday, I had the opportunity to speak at Pathway Community Church. Since I had worked with Not For Sale as the Tour Fellow, and Not For Sale created Freedom Sunday, it was a pretty good fit. I gave a quick Human Trafficking 101 lesson then their pastor spoke an amazing message on Compassionate Justice. He used the story of the Good Samaritan and I can't even begin to re-tell his message. One of the bottom lines is that compassion doesn't just mean loving God and loving your neighbour, it means going above and beyond to treat your neighbour with the passionate, incredible, never ending love that God has for them.

...And to clarify, your neighbour is everyone.

Talk about no honorable mention... everyone is our neighbour... this is what we should all be doing.

Pathway also showed the documentary Nefarious: Merchant Of Souls that evening, open to anyone who wanted to come. Talking about the sex trade is a tricky thing-- especially when a good chunk people would rather live "safe" faith. Nothing about Nefarious is safe. It's dirty and in your face about the harsh truth and realities of human trafficking and the sex trade around the world. From women treated as cattle, sold to the highest bidder, and even children sold by their own family members. I spoke before the documentary about my time in Thailand in May 2012 (which you can read about on my blog-- check the archives) and how hard it is to wrestle with the emotions that you face while there. These are the same emotions people who saw the documentary are living through right now and they all end up doing the same thing; fuelling a fire to do something.

Doing something about injustice is rarely safe. It requires you to go out on a limb, challenge the comfort of your every day life and stand up against issues others want to turn a blind eye to.

I saw people looking for what to do next. Passionate individuals who want next steps. And this is where my own personal struggle comes to play:
Yes, helping those in the sex trade is huge, but helping EVERYONE involved in slavery is SO IMPORTANT! It's easy to watch a documentary about those being exploited in the sex trade and want to do something, but please don't forget about those in exploitation making your clothes, your food, your toys. Toys for kids, made by kids? The food for your family meal picked by people being abused and exploited? I think it's easier to feel the heart tugs of the sex trade because, for the most part, our view of sex is of how meaningful and special it is in the marriage relationship. To remove someone's choice from sex is unacceptable. One thing to also keep in mind is that those being exploited in domestic servitude, labour, and other forms of slavery are also raped, beat up, taken advantage of, and made to feel worthless... just like those in the sex trade.

I want to encourage you to take steps forward with your new passion to not only end sex trafficking, but work to end slavery all together. Here are a few of my top practical application steps:

1) Pray. So often we look at prayer as a last resort but prayer is huge! Pray for those held captive-- those being trafficked, the traffickers, the johns, and everyone else involved in the process.

2) Support organizations already standing against slavery! International Justice Mission does amazing work, same with Not For Sale and Love 146 to just name a few that I personally know are awesome. Even organizations like Kiva-- providing loans so individuals coming out of exploitation have a future, and those vulnerable never become exploited.

3) Educate yourself, then educate others! Read the book Not For Sale by David Batstone and Disposable People by Kevin Bales. Share what you learn! Tweet about it, share it with friends and family on facebook!

4) Shop smart. Seek out ethical options for your every day purchases using resources like Free2Work, and also know that a lot of artisan made goods (think Ten Thousand Villages) are made by survivors or those at risk for exploitation. Buying their products can ensure they don't end up exploited.

5) Pray some more. Gather with others passionate and pray. If you ask God what you can do to end slavery, and you are willing, He is sure to move you to meaningful action.

We, as individuals with passionate hearts to live out lives rooted in love, can end slavery. Every prayer, every Facebook or Twitter post, every dollar donated, truly makes a difference in creating more activists that will come together to see slavery ended in our lifetime.

"Where am I supposed to buy clothes?"

I was recently on vacation with my family in Hawaii.
When I say family I mean my husband, mom, dad and two older brothers.
The last "family vacation" we took was when I was 16 years old to Disney World.
Needless to say, it was an interesting time to see how our personalities, interests and lifestyles meshed and, at times, didn't mesh.

I'm sure we can all agree that people are in a state of constant development. Consistently growing, changing, evolving into the product of their beliefs and surroundings. Every person in my family is very different. It was quite interesting for us be together for just over a week, and I am consistently grateful for my husband being there as someone I could escape the generic "family craziness" with.

While on this trip, you best believe my family is on the prowl for deals. You're on vacation-- you take in markets, touristy shops, and all the big shopping centres and outlet malls. As a girl on vacation, it's often essential to at least go into a store and see how expensive the high end brand names items are (Coach, Prada, Tiffany's, etc) and compare that with how reduced the prices are at the outlet malls.

But something else occurred.... I found myself standing up for the "over priced" products.

Now I'm not talking overpriced Prada and Gucci purses, or Armani suits, or Channel clothing. I'm talking about the $7.95 chocolate bar and the $24.00 bag of coffee.

These are the items we most often, without a doubt, consistently try to receive the best bargain on. When you go to the grocery store, when you hit up the dollar store, you are looking for the best deal on the little extras we casually supplement our lives (and even our waistlines) with. Should a chocolate bar be only $0.65 or should we be paying $7.95? When you consider the supply chain, $7.95 seems like a small amount to pay for fair wages & labour practices, codes of conduct, transparency, and a company that cares enough about the people making their product to treat them fairly-- from picking cocoa to getting it on the shelf. And while I can't say the company that produced these $7.95 chocolate bars are taking all the necessary precautions, it is a lot harder to imagine that the $0.65 you pay for a chocolate bar is providing even close to the same.

As I make mention of how I now choose to take my business from a clothing company that has a poor. or no, Free2Work rating to a company that does, I am being asked more and more "What is Free2Work?" and "Where am I supposed to buy my clothes?". People ask those questions sometimes in a mean way-- how you get offensive when you are being informed something you have always been doing is not seen as "right" by everyone around you.

Moments like this are a turning point.

You now have the opportunity to share with people about modern day slavery and how it's literally in the fabric of our clothes. It's an opportunity to plant a seed with them that their every day choices-- the bargain they hunt for, the deals the try so hard to find, are contributing to something they may not have even known existed. To put it simply, you could change someones life by sharing with them the choices you are making and the reasons why.


\When people ask where I shop, I love sharing with them the amazingness that is Free2Work and their most recent Apparel Industry Report | From Farm to Factory. Being with NFS at the time this was released and doing their social media posting was a blessing. While the report doesn't feature strictly Canadian brands, it highlights so many of the brands we all have access to (brands like H&M, American Eagle, Lacoste, Forever 21).



I encourage you to take a look through the report and do two things:
1) Put your new knowledge to action.
Be a more conscious consumer when shopping. The hardest thing can be applying the knowledge you have-- when you have a chocolate craving, buy the A or B rated brands, not the D or F rated. When you go shopping for clothes, buy items from stores with A or B ratings, not D's or F's.

2) Share your knowledge with others.
The more that people know they can make a difference when they are purchasing their wants and needs will hopefully result in more people making that difference and shopping smart.

When have you explained to someone why you are a conscious consumer? Has this inspired others to do the same?

Polices | Company Performance from the Apparel Industry Trends | From Farm to Factory Report

I like Cats and Ending Slavery.

When you meet someone have you ever wondered why one of the first questions is often, “What do you do?”. Most of us answer with our occupation. My question is, why do we let our jobs define us? I have learned that your job does not define who you are. Your actions, your beliefs, your experiences – those things define who you are. I work in radio and in retail. If you ask me what I do, I'll answer with “I help change the world. I'm a humanitarian.”

When writing to friends and family to gather financial support for our second Hero Holiday to Dominican Republic in July of 2011, that blurb above was my opening paragraph. I thought it was pretty darn good. I was defying social norms and sharing a valuable lesson; your work does not define who you are. When I look back now, I realize I was also doing something else-- telling people who I am. For people I may not have kept in touch with after my move to Winkler, or for those who thought they knew who I was, I was re-defining their image of me in their mind. Regardless of what people knew, I was redefining myself as a humanitarian.

Defining who you are to people is an interesting thing-- from first impressions based solely on your looks to only having a brief conversation, or to generalized assumptions taken to the extreme because of one fact people learn, it's definitely something that has been of great interest to me lately.

One thing I have learned over time is that while you can choose what you put out there of yourself to show to the world, the world will attach itself to various things. These things might be exactly what you'd like them to be, and then again, they might attach themselves to things you don't necessarily agree with or place as much value on.

An example of the above, and in my opinion a perfect example, is my total of five months with Not For Sale. While there you live with people, start to work with them, and get to know them immediately. My time was spent focused on the professional, work aspect of the Fellowship. Keep in mind,  you are not only working with an entire staff and fellow fellows but also living with and literally 'doing life' with the other fellows. In these situations, and to a certain level, people can cling onto little facts that will show they know you (they listen to you, they are making an effort to become friends, etc). You may share a random fact or two and those facts become who you are...

For me in this situation the fact was that I like cats.
I have a cat at my parents house.
Her name is socks.
I think cats are cute, cuddly, and adorable.
You look at my Facebook wall from my time with NFS and...
IT'S ALL CATS.
CATS.
CATS.
CATS.

An example of a post on my Facebook wall.

And while that's not a bad thing, it is certainly something that I reacted to in a few various ways: I thought it was funny at times, some what annoying and even heartwarming.

How did these people pick this one random fact to be their main point of "knowing me"?

While living with these fine fellows there were other things that stood out to them; my love of baking, my inner grandma, the fact that I love Jesus. But the cat thing was unlike any other.

To this day I still receive pictures and other hilarious articles to do with Cats posted on my Facebook wall. I absolutely love it now. It is more heartwarming than ever, never annoying, and always funny. It's nice to know that while cats were the random point of connection then, to this day the picture of a too adorable cat reminds them of our time together, working to end slavery.

My life with cats and cupcakes with NFS.

What is it about you that others tend to cling to when they think of "knowing you?" What do you think of the connection between you and that one "random fact?" 

Work reminds me of the Dominican Republic

Upon arriving home from my time with Not For Sale I had to find a job.
Hello, stating the obvious.
After being unemployed for five months, and with big adventures coming our way, the decision to "apply everywhere" wasn't a hard one to make. The same day I emailed a resume and cover letter I had an email back from a chain restaurant in my local area. One interview, and one shadow shift later, I was employed-- within a week of returning home.

I started as a hostess and am now a waitress. I had worked in the kitchen of a restaurant before but this whole "front of house" stuff was brand new to me. I like chatting with people, I can joke around, I smile quite frequently. It seemed like it was going to be a natural fit.

As a server, and as I'm sure you know, we take your plates once you are done with them. We dump your leftover food into a garbage can and put the dishes into the "dish pit" to be cleaned. Who knew this simple, 2 minute or less task would have me constantly thinking about my time spent in the Dominican Republic...

Putting food into the garbage. The amount of food. The food that you don't eat. The portion that was too big for your stomach to handle. The food that you are paying money for and throwing away. This is heartbreaking. This simple act of throwing food away constantly leaves my own stomach turning...

When on a Hero Holiday with Live Different in the Dominican Republic, a portion of one day is set aside to go to the Garbage Dump. Yes. That's right. The Garbage Dump. That mystical place that we put a side thought towards every week because our garbage is taken away by the big trucks and they leave the now empty cans at the end of our driveway. We know it exists, yet we rarely ever think about it. In the Dominican Republic, people live at the garbage dump. Mostly stateless individuals and families who are considered by government to be neither Haitian or Dominican. Those that live at the garbage dump spend time opening up the trash that is sent there and doing a few different things:
1) Compiling the food that people throw away into containers to eat later
2) Looking for items they can use that people carelessly tossed away
3) Finding recyclables they can bag to redeem for money.

None of those things sound appealing. Not one. We can all agree on that. If life were a movie this is how a scene would play out: I would collect dishes from a table with the food you are "too full" to eat and walk up to the trash bin. The camera shot would now be from inside the trash bin and as I dumped the food in the screen would go black, showing just how much food I casually tossed in to pile up. Next, from the black screen, it would open to a blue sky overhead, and a small Haitian child would be looking in. He would dig something out and the screen would open up to show where he is. This child is in a garbage dump, taking that food-- that half a hamburger, the extra chicken finger or two, baked potato, french fries, and would be transferring it into a bag that he is going to keep for later. Dinner is served.

While on a Hero Holiday we work alongside those who live at the garbage dump (It really is taking the concept of "working from home" to a whole new perspective). We lend our hands to them to help them  sort through the incoming trash and find the recyclable materials they can use to make at least a little bit of money. It's hot, it's smelly, it's unthinkable unless you have been there for the experience. The day we went we had the opportunity to hand out care packages of food to those that call the dump home. It was a life changing experience unlike anything you can think of-- Just look at me. I work a "normal" North American job and I can't spend a day at work without thinking of the woman I helped one morning almost two years ago.

How much has a humanitarian or missions trip changed your day to day life? Are there tasks you complete that during the day that remind you of where you have been and the work you did? Comment below.

At the garbage dump.

Talking about tattoos at the garbage dump.

To learn more about Live Different and their Hero Holidays visit their website, LiveDifferent.com and experience how you really can change the world and be changed by living different.