Haiku Friday

referenced by longing,
a mind, a heart, a soul, can
reach for dreams and grow.

just because

Kiva micro-loans

As promised, 2 names drawn. First out of the palm was Veggie Gnome! Then came Ramsey!
I then discovered that Emma from Indian Earth had gone ahead since reading the giveaway Haiku and put up $25 of her own for a micro-loan!! - nice work Emma - so im gonna give another one to Kale for Sale then all four of you will be loaners! As Emma said 'Be the change you want to see'.

I have been micro-loaning for a while. Its easy. I like to lend to women who are supporting families and who are prospoing sustainable and 'ethical' businesses (not soft drink sellers). I think these micro -loans are a brilliant idea. They are non interest bearing loans; you make no money on the 'investment', you just get your initial investment back. Then when the loan is repayed in full you can choose to make that money available for another entrepreneur or redeem your money. For the recipient, it can mean the difference between susbsitence living or a more secure future. By by-passing the big banking system this way, we are building our own community and providing opportunity for people who do not meet big bank lending criteria. For me, micro-loans are a way to express my belief in sharing the wealth around without condition so i have never chosen to take my money out of the Kiva system, i always re-loan and every time a loan is repayed, for each loan i add another, hence this giveaway; 2 loans were repayed.

So Katrina at Kale for Sale, Veggie Gnome from The Mad Gnome Strikes Again and Ramsey of Sunshine Valley Hut, I will email you your $25 Kiva gift certificates to redeem at your leisure and to loan to whomever you choose. Pass on the Kiva word, give locally too and thanks for reading Haiku!

10 things about Mothers Day

1. Mothers Day feels weird. Im not really a big fan of the mothers day thing. Maybe its coz Im the mother side of a split parenting couple so mothers day is not something thats been a seamless event, ive had to help the kids out lest they feel bad about forgetting or not 'doing' something to acknowlwdge it. I tried to let the day slip in the past, before i shacked up again with the bloke and they were devestated. Lesson learnt- even if you're not into it, the social pressures of it may have already affected your kids. Do it for them!

2. It forces me to confront the less than glorious relationship with my own mother, who every year desires a lunch with just my brother and me, no partners and no kids. My mum is one of those people whos' foot swings about whilst sitting and chatting and who wouldnt talk to me for days after the birth of B2, visited and held the baby but wouldnt talk to me, coz i didnt ask her to the birth as i had with B1... Not exactly relaxed and comfortable. Hasn't happenned yet... Avoided the day for another year as she left for Egypt and Turkey yesterday...

3. I love breakfast in bed and it happens but once a year, unless there has been a birth or illness. I love the way the kids invest themselves in the creative task of preparing and offering food. Its full of symbolism and giving and such a wonderful tradition. I used to have to make sure we had all the ingredients for them but now they get themselves organised and can work out a menu from what we have.

4. I have a love/hate relationship with Mothers Day ads for tacky gold jewellery and 'feminine' electrical equipment. Funny, yet not...

5. I never want to be one of those mothers who get wheeled out for the obligatory Mothers Day lunch at the local cafe and then taken for a stroll in the park. Well, maybe by then I will be grateful...

6. Mothers Day ends like any other day..starts with a bang, full of enthusiasm, goodwill and lotsa co-operation ...by the end of the day the kids are back to their normal selves.

7. A part of me thinks a great Mothers Day means not being a mother for the day... peace, quiet, a whole day of self directed pleasures and no interruptions or responsibility...oops

8. How do you work out 'mother priority' on Mothers Day?

9. Despite not being a mothers day 'follower', i have realised that despite that, i have some hidden perceptions about how i think the designated day should unfold. a) i will not make anyone food in the morning. b) i dont have to do any jobs for a few hours c) dinner is optional depending on my desire to create. Ive tried to deconstruct it but Ive just been brainwashed. Where did this only half a day of leisure thing come from. Is there a set of rules for mothers day? My very first mothers day 14 years ago, my then husband pretended to have forgotten...my response shocked me and made him keel over with laughter!

10. Mothers Day is celebrated around the world this second Sunday of May. Has anyone expereinced a mothers day in another culture and how does it differ? Is authenticity a part of the day for you ? Am i just a life long cynic? *sigh*

Now I have a dilemma

Geez, I should have known better than to have a giveaway. There are so many varied responses about which giveaways interested people, i just want to make you ALL winners and end the drought for some! I'm so happy to 'meet' some more readers and I do hope to hear from you more often; its the reward for writing. Building community in any way is such a great thing and its so nice to know who is reading your blog. So thanks for stepping up to the challenge, we all have our reasons for privacy so I really appreciate it.

And for all of you who I 'know well' through Blogville, thanks for giving me just a little more insight into who you are and all your kind and generous affirmations (sounds a bit like an awards acceptance speech -eek). Im really looking to forward to posting/ making/ gathering/ hosting and Im excited to know which it will be. I will do the usual trick of names, paper and hats and let you know next week, enough time just in case some more 'lurkers' want to come out to play!

Please

giveaway madness, like reefer madness but better (would taurus rising readers please stand up)

With the horrific events of the last few days Ive been a little down, depressed even. Im a little surprised at just how the tragic losses have affected me. So in the spirit of celebrating life and the unbelievable generosity of the Australian public; 10 31 millions bucks in just 23 days (and the number rising by the hour) from a country with a population of just 21 million, I want to give something too, beyond the fires, so Im having my first ever give away. Of what?...well of that Im not sure, i thought id leave it up to you! you have a choice of...

1) 2 lovingly knitted organic washcloths, made just for you!

2) A bottle of homemade, Gold medal winning, organic quince or plum wine; or verjus (Aussies only i think, but if you have your heart set on it i can investigate further for you the legalities of sending unknown proof alcohol O/S).

3) A pre loved book from my top 10 collection - probably Four Fires by Bryce Courtney (a truly magnificent Aussie epic, his only book I've ever liked)

4) Peter Bennets 'Organic Gardening' book for Australia and New Zealand or Barbara Kingsolver "Animal, Vegetable. Miracle'.

5) Artwork by Moi- potluck, but i guarantee it should be interesting and let me know 2 of your favourite things.

6) A collection of heirloom seeds, all still very viable (<12 mths old); cucumber, lettuce mix, tomato mix (about 6 varietals), zucchini, beans, peas, carrots, beetroots, rocket, corn, coriander, rainbow chard, parsnip, cabbage, kale and probably a few more.

7) An AU$30 donation to a charity of your choice made out in your name, receipt provided.

8) Loca vore lunch made by me at my place (or at your place if Im passing)

All you have to do is just tell me which one you're interested in and WHY! and YES, this is also a really transparent way to get to know the lurkers amongst you. I want to know who you are and those i know, i want to say thanks for reading! So, get spirited, get brave, post me, tell me what you want and i will draw one, maybe two, winners at random (im a statistician so trust me). I will let you know the winner in 7 days time. Thats it. Post away lovely blog readers.

in my inbox this morning

In my inbox this morning, an invitation for the Festival of Ideas to hear Peter Singer talking about his new book The Life You Can Save : Acting Now to End World Poverty . Ive been a fan of his for 20 years since my university days. Ive posted about tithing before and Peters ideas but I have never attend a lecture of his. Im definitely going. Heres an excerpt from the invitation

According to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people live on less than US $1.25 a day,. this entails a vast amount of suffering and avoidable loss of life. The Life You Can Save : Acting Now to End World Poverty offers a solution to world poverty. If enough of us can be moved to act—to make some moderate sacrifices in our lives—huge numbers of people could be saved from death and suffering. And if the world’s wealthiest 10 per cent of people were to donate a fraction of their income, extreme poverty on a large scale could be eliminated altogether. With his trademark clarity, logic and intellectual flair, world renowned philosopher Peter Singer shows us not only that this solution is possible, but also that we have a moral obligation to be part of it.
‘Peter Singer may be the most controversial philosopher alive; he is certainly amonghe most influential'

It was the jolt i needed to do some research i had been meaning to do all week. I have just bought some new spectacles; being back at work was a shock to my eyes and i was experiencing eye strain and nausea like never before. A clever colleague suggested an eye test (this bright spark hadn't thought of THAT). So i emerged with a set of graduated lenses (bi-focals in the old language...that sounds a little over rthe hill). I keep my last pair always as a back up at work in case i forget my current ones. Now the old back up pair is not needed any longer. I had a friend who every year would trek with her optometrist husband in Nepal to reach far off villages where they would perform free eye tests and provide those that needed them, with spectacles which had been donated in Australia. It sounded like such a good idea but my researcher brain kicked in and first i wanted to know if i did donate my spectacles, was it really a good idea? Looks like there are problems but the conclusion, little research and sometimes the spectacles are not distributed correctly or efficiently but the Optometry Association of Australia supports the practce and sends glasses to nations along with an optometrist. So for now, i decided i will donate.Its easy.

Now donating my old specs isnt going to end world poverty, but it was a timely reminder to do the research on the impact of my giving and that in this current international climate of fiscal uncertainty for many in the developed/first/affluent (whatever you want to name it) world, people contract in fear and stop giving, sharing. "if world’s wealthiest 10 per cent of people were to donate a fraction of their income, extreme poverty on a large scale could be eliminated altogether" Thats US!, the worlds wealthiest 10%. Despite feeling the pinch a little with food prices and growing children, we are still donating around 15% of our income. It shocked us a little that it was this high, but when we sat down and actually worked it out, thats what we came up with. Now for any of you thinking we're rich and are therefore better placed to afford it, we are rich by many standards, but we certainly bring in well under 100,000 annually and support 5 people in the family. So 15% is alot, but it doesnt have to be that high. Be inspired, do the math, choose a cause.

blogging communities

Life has been pretty busy since the girls came home on Monday. So much for me to process there (basically, they had a crap time. the worst. murmurs of 'divorcing' their dad; need to proces more before i can post) and a busy week with youth theatre rehearsals, set constructions and painting, sleeping issues with the bean, the garden to recover, unpacking everones gear and a final christmas shop (we are having a family celebration on Monday). Somewhere in there i made the time to do a first; a blogger meet up! I was too much of an insecure bunny to catch up with kale for sale and im mad and i eat in California, so after feeling like a total loser for being so shy, i hoicked on my brave boots and strapped all the kids in the car and drove off into the rolling orchard covered hills for a boot swap of a blogging kind; a meet and produce swap with the Mad Gnome from Mad Gnome Strikes Again. Originally we had tentatively arranged a walnut for red currant swap but being on holiday, i missed the currant season so Mad Gnome decided to prune the basil instead. We wandered the garden, picked berries on the way, got chased by chooks, met the sheep and generally had a relaxing afternoon until it was time to head home for beany bedtime with the car full of lettuce leaf basil; some ofthe leaves were as big as my hand(a whole Chico bag full), it was baked basil gnocci for dinner. 3 dozen eggs, 1 kg or so of frozen red currants, 2 varigated sage plants, 2 basil plants and loquats. For my couple of kilos of walnuts and a bottle of home made verjus, Im thinking i got the better deal. Thanks Mad Gnome, we had a rollicking good time (chook drama included) and bringing home such fantastic produce was the icing on the cake. Community, wherever you find it and create it, is so important on many levels. Have any of you had a blogger meet up and how did it go?

Sunday Happy

my 'ex' step dad came for afternoon tea with his girlfriend; he's the girls 'Poppy'. Family really is how you choose to define it. he's the only 'grandfather' left on either side and although he and my mum are no longer together, he's the boybeans Poppy too. He's been in my life since i was 10 and although we are not really emotionally close, the bond is there and always will be; he was the first real gardener in my life! he's got the heart of a lion. besides lots of cups of tea, i made fresh bread and a semolina and yoghurt lemon syrup cake and Poppy brought half a kilo of snow peas from his garden,bottles and jars of his well loved home made spicy tomato sauces and pickles, 16 home made vege pies for the freezer and a fantastic spinach, feta and potato number, maybe not a fair swap... but he was a happy Poppy and the bean was happy too.

A Walk to Beautiful

I watched this documentary on Monday night. I sat for the most part sobbing, heaving from the chest with heartfelt and emapathic tears running down my face, mourning the loss of dignity for these women. The plight of women, particularly in Africa, is heartbreaking. My husband sat quietly next to me and held me throughout the film. I have known about this hospital in Addis Ababa for many years, probably as the hospital was founded by two Australian surgeons, a husband and wife team from Melbourne who went to Africa in the 50's and remained there, one Dr Hamlin died and his wife Catherine maintained their lifes work, establishing The Fistual Hospital and helping women with childbirth injuries. She has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize and is testimony to persistence.

This hospital is for many women an end and a beginning. An end to the shame and rejection by their families and communities and lack of self worth and the beginning of the potential for a new life; a life free from pain and humiliation. Many women walk hundreds of miles to recieve help. Five mini hospitals are being built in remote communities to provide help to those who cannot make the journey to Addis Ababa. It is estimated that 200,000 women in Ethiopia alone suffer from fistula. The film "documents the plight of fistula sufferers and the inspiring journey of five women as they move from devastation and despair to restored health"

So, what is fistula? A fistula is a hole. An obstetric fistula of the kind that occurs in Ethiopia (and many other developing countries) is a hole between a woman's birth passage and one or more of her internal organs. This hole develops over many days of obstructed labor, when the pressure of the baby's head against the mother's pelvis cuts off blood supply to delicate tissues in the region. The dead tissue falls away and the woman is left with a hole between her vagina and her bladder (called a vesicovaginal fistula or VVF) and sometimes between her vagina and rectum (rectovaginal fistula, RVF). This hole results in permanent incontinence of urine and/or feces. A majority of women who develop fistulas are abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities because of their inability to have children and their foul smell.

Can fistula be "cured"? Yes. An obstetric fistula can be closed with intravaginal surgery. If her surgery is performed by a skilled surgeon, a fistula patient has a good chance of returning to a normal life with full control of her bodily functions. The Fistula Hospital has a 93% success/cure rate.

How much does it cost to treat a fistula? At the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals, it costs US$450 to provide one woman with a fistula repair operation, high-quality postoperative care, a new dress, and bus fare home.

So thats what i did to honour these womens lives, and the telling of their story. I decided to 'love-a-sister' and paid for a fistula operation and have pledged to donate one more each year on an ongoing basis. i figure 37 dollars a month can be covered by my family, all of whom have had the priviledge and benefit of professional midwifery care. There are many ways available to support our sisters.
Tesfa Ineste
let’s give them hope

small change changes lives

i recieved an update email this morning from Mwanahamisi Rashid, Pili Kago and Grace Emanuel. I loaned some money to this group of 3 Tanzanian women through the Kiva microloan organisation and who have now raised and invested enough capital to begin repaying the loan. This is what i like about Kiva, the real contact you can have with people you have never met but have helped in some small way and the fact that you can choose exactly to whom (and what kind of business) you wish to lend money. By providing what to us in rich country is the equivalent of a meal out, to the recipient of the microloan it can be the difference between subsisting and living, It can make a world of difference to their lives and their families and communities.

Its hard to write this without sounding preachy or paternalistic but i will do my best. So far with Kiva i have supported women with young families in Africa but i think my next few loans will be in Afghanistan. I think its so important to support women, as women are the key to lifting families and communities out of poverty. An educated and independent mother will pass on life skills to her children which sustain and advance community.

Here's how Kiva works.

When you visit the Kiva website you will find listings of all registered entrepreneurs and their complete business details and photographs and how much capital is needing to be raised. All listed entrepreneurs have been screened by local non profit organisations specialising in development funding. You create a Kiva account into which you deposit funds via Paypal (who provide this service to Kiva for free) for you to distribute to your selected recipients. When you find a business and a business person whom you think you would like to support you can choose to fund the entire amount of capital needed for that project or you can contribute a minimum of a $25 loan to that person or group, a microloan can be a composite of many lenders. When the group or individual has raised the capital required, the business expands or begins and when enough profit is made repayments are divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund that business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed and this continues until the loan is repayed in full. You can then cash in this repayment or elect for this repayment to be credited to your Kiva account for you to make another loan. All through the process you recieve email updates on the venture and its owners.

What i really like about Kiva is the grassroots nature of it. Its individuals helping individuals directly and its not for profit, so all your money goes to those who you are loaning to. And, unlike bank loans, no interest is claimed. You can elect to make a voluntary contribution to Kiva to support their fieldworkers administrate the service and can choose the form of that donation; USB, torches, pens etc. I also like that you can choose directly whom you wish to support so that you can make choices about sustainable and ethical businesses. I wish this operated everywhere.

tithing for social and environmental change

I am currently reading 'Giving' by Bill Clinton. As a literary work, well...its crap. The word 'friend' gets used a little too much for my liking and makes the text appear a little too much like a 'look who i know' fest, but it is an interesting compilation of the different approaches and examples of people from all backgrounds trying to make a difference in the lives and communities of fellow global citizens. No impact man has linked an article by ethicist peter singer which is an interesting read on the subject. Now by all accounts, the Rising Family are '10%+ givers' but it doesnt sit 100% happily with me, it smacks a little of paternalism and offsetting a bad conscience for 'immoral' living. I was raised a marxist-atheist (i know, do such things still happen!) seriously, i was, we even used to sing 'keep the red flag flying here' as a christmas carol (not that we celebrated Christmas per se) I digress. What does being raised a Marxist have to do with 'giving' and the issues i have? Well, philanthropy by its very nature can be viewed as a very capitalist/christian based concept (is it any wonder that its a huge part of American culture?). Someone who has some (whatever it may be) to spare gives to someone/something in need. In the Marxist paradigm of providing for/ recieving for each according to their need, philanthropy becomes obsolete. So, when confronted with someone from the Salvos asking for a donation, my family justified their refusal on the grounds that 'the state' should be responsible, is in fact morally obliged to provide for its citizens. So to donate to the Salvos would be akin to approving of the system as it stood and sending a message of 'letting them', the government, off the moral hook to look after all its citizens well. Citizens individually choosing whether or not to assist others in the community (whether it be individuals or a cause)should not be condoned. All citizens should be responsible for looking after each other and their environment by way of organising society in a very different manner.

Now essentially, i still agree with the essence of these arguments and it has taken me a long time to get to a more balanced place in regard to such matters. However, i have also come to the conclusion that whilst I must do all i can to make our government a more socially just and environmentally responsible one through the process of choosing to participate actively in the democratic process (which I believe is a responsibility for us all), agitating and voting for change, if i wait for the enviro-socialist paradigm to be expressed in our organisation of society, then the good i can do, the possible difference i can make whilst I wait will be an opportunity squandered. So, now i try to embrace the concept of giving as the least i can do, its all about compassion i guess, while waiting for governments to 'get it' but i still have some leftover issues around the bougeoise nature of it all.

Purging the Poo

Its over. Our time as a 2 car family is cactus, kaput, gawn. We made the decision last night to get rid of one our cars;the Peugot, affectionatley known around here as 'the Poo' and finally pare ouselves down to just 1 gas guzzling energy sucker which we will convert to liquid gas. We did the numbers and reckon that even if we spend $1000 a year on taxis' or hire cars we can save about 4 thousand annually with all associated costs. Its pretty easy for us to have one car really, even with 3 kids. Our logic...

1# we could just get a little better organised with our time
2# B1 already busses it to school
3# B2 bussess home from school
4# we live within walking distance from the centre of town
5# there is a bus stop at the end of our street
6# I only need to catch 1 bus to work (when Im not on maternity leave) and the bus drops me nearly right outside the door
7# if we need to pack the car with gear for a family of 5 for holiday travel we just hire a bigger car or borrow one from my mum (thanks mum, havent asked her yet to be a part of our downsizing equation)
8# Simon is a stay home dad so no need to shuffle work/kids and car

So, when ya look at it, its hard to justify having had 2 in the first place!

Now comes the big dilemma... when we decided to sell the car we all went 'great 4 grand saved, lets go to Indonesia for a family holiday!'. Ummm, hello!
Is it all just swings and roundabouts? Can we ever justify another OS trip when using our carbon footprint/consumption of resources as a measure against which to evaluate and live our lives? We sponsor 3 girls in India and Thailand, 1 monk in Tibet, sank a well in Africa when we married, make loans via Kiva, monthly fund medicins sans frontiers and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and Greenpeace, are life members of Trees for Life, never eat red meat, restrict our fresh fish intake, purchase only biodynamic hormone,antibiotic free chook n eggs, run the house on PV solar, harvest thousands of litres of rainwater, grow some of our own food, compost, recycle, buy second hand for almost everything (we love eBay), shop seasonally, buy locally, line dry ( can you believe its ILLEGAL to dry using outside clothes line in some US states parts of the US?!- clotheslines are an Aussie institution) support SLOW... yaddah yaddah yaddah.. its a bit like being kosher- hehe eco-kosher... We tithe within an inch of our lives, say 'no' to almost everything, hell we even recycled our old wedding bands - from our past relationships, had the jeweller melt them down and add some extras for our new ones (i even part paid the jeweller with some gold teeth i happened to have lying around which i aquired from my ex-mother in law -that does sound very odd I agree!!) Does all this bloody holier than thou living attone for contributing to jet fuel burn? CAN WE GO TO INDONESIA FOR A HOLIDAY?!!! Im on Kermies side- its not easy being green.