Over the course of the next year we are going to give away all of our extra money to the World Food Program. Follow our adventure as we try to challenge ourselves and those around us to live a little more simply and avoid buying luxury items!
For Christmas this year I received the knowledge that a woman somewhere in the far east will have corrective surgery for her obstetric fistula. And Matt is getting the same. We decided to finish off the fistula fund, splitting the remaining amount between us, and that is our gift to each other.
While reading the Fistula Foundation's website (http://www.fistualfoundation.org)I found a link to some articles about the tumultuous times that women are enduring in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I learned that a lot of the fistulas women are suffering from are actually the result of rape, as opposed to complications in giving birth. Rape, as it turns out, is an excellent tool in ensuring dominance over communities and showing force. It is the worst kind of terrorism. Reading the articles and watching the video posted on their website brought tears to my eyes and made me feel sick to my stomach. I can't believe that there are such atrocities going on in the world. It is enough to break your heart.
I have included the video from CBS's 60 Minutes, and I must warn, there are some very disturbing images shown and stories told during this segment.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION - SOME IMAGES/STORIES MAY BE DISTURBING TO YOU.
It’s the time of year when we pull out our snowman shaped cookie cutters and we blow the dust off of the box of tree decorations. We search through our recipe boxes to find the ingredients for those disgusting, yet delicious, squares full of coloured marshmallows. We dream of days off from work and spending time with our families.
(Sound effect: A record coming to an abrupt stop.)
Okay, let’s face the reality of Christmas. It’s the time of year when most people are thinking about buying gifts and spending ridiculous amounts of money on…….
CRAP.
That’s right. Crap. There is so much of it in the stores today, available at a low cost, which is totally and utterly useless. Unfortunately, the low cost to you means that there are high costs somewhere else; costs to our environment and to the lives of the people who are manufacturing this stuff (see Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff – link below).
Most people are feeling pretty stressed out right about now, with Christmas just a week around the corner. And the root of their stress seems to be this notion that they have to buy the biggest, the best, the most expensive, the most popular CRAP for their children, spouses, parents, friends, etc. What happened to Christmas being about giving selflessly to others, doing good deeds, spending time with family? Where along the way did we lose sight of these ideals? When did Christmas become such a blatant excuse for over-consumption (and I’m not talking about eating too much chocolate, for that I am definitely guilty).
This time of year I really enjoy going into Thunder Bay’s largest grocery store – The Superstore. I feel removed from all of this holiday stress and so I enjoy walking around watching people hurry to and fro, listening to people argue about which egg nog they should buy or how that old biddy just cut the line and just generally being miserable. It is rather entertaining for the voyeur side of my personality. But it also makes me sad. It makes me sad that so many people have been suckered into the idea that Christmas is about giving gifts that give instant gratification, and will probably just end up in the landfill next fall.
Skip all the stress this year and do something good for your pocketbook, the environment, the world’s poor and yourself.
Don’t buy crap.
Make something homemade; your family can’t throw that away without feeling some intense guilt.
Give edible gifts; who doesn’t want pretzels with Hershey kisses melted on them and an M&M placed on top? It’s like a little gift in your mouth.
Give a donation to your favourite charity with the money you would have spent on a gift. I recommend a Gift of Hope from the World Food Program. (http://gifts.wfp.org/)
My coworker reminded me last week that Christmas is all about peace and love. I would love to be able to witness a world of people who extend that thinking into the 365 days of the year, not just the 2 weeks at Christmas. But, for now, that will have to do. Let’s start changing the way people think about Christmas.
Peace and Love, Emily (I guess all of my relatives who read this know what they’re getting for Christmas this year!)
I haven't written on the blog lately because I have been trying to find an easy way to break the news. I've decided that the best way is to just be truthful and completely blunt.
We have bought a new car.
Obviously this purchase has spurred a few feelings of guilt, mostly on my part. We are excellent at providing justifications for our purchase, but still it is hard to rationalize spending upwards of $20000 on something that seems like a luxury (especially in comparison to our beater car we were driving).
Besides this giant purchase, our challenge has been going quite well. We have been able to adhere to the rules very well and we don't feel like we are suffering at all. The upcoming Christmas season may pose us our greatest challenge, with gift-giving being the main theme. Stay tuned for our entry on giving at Christmas....
