International Women's Day 2011

[img via The Adventure Project]

From Jumo:
• Women perform 66% of the world’s work and produce 50% of the world’s food, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s property.
• According to the United Nations, girls make up the majority of the estimated 72 million children who are not in school.
• Close to 70% of the world’s 759 million adults who cannot read or write are women.

Today is International Women's Day! Unfortunately, this week is an insanely busy week for me so as much as I want to write a proper post dedicated to women, it will have to be slightly delayed.

However, I have been tweeting (or rather, RTing) for a good portion of today with posts revolving around #IWD11 :) When I get the time later this week to sit down and compile my thoughts, I will do so.

Before I go (and study my brains out about macroeconomics for international affairs), I just want to say that women should most certainly be celebrated, not oppressed! Honor the women in your life by pledging to make a difference in the lives of women across the globe :)

For a start, you can visit Google's IWD page (accessible by clicking on Google's doodle today) and seeing the various organizations dedicated to positively impacting our world through putting women's issues on the agenda.

And now I'm off. Have a fabulous rest of the week, folks! And remember that all of March is Women's Month!

Jacqueline Novogratz: Inspiring a life of immersion

Amazing woman.

If you don't want to watch the whole thing, I'd recommend going to 14:25 -- one of many of the great stories told by Jacqueline in this clip.

MTV EXIT: The Killers - Goodnight, Travel Well

The Candy Shop (& other great films)

http://www.thedoorpost.com/

I came across the trailer for The Candy Shop not too long ago. Tonight, I discovered that the film was released recently & is being featured on The Doorpost Project, a film contest. I don't think it made it to the finalists, but I watched it anyways...really well-done.

I plan to watch more of these short films during my holiday on Long Island, which starts tomorrow. Yay.

Tony Porter: on being a man

"My liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman.
I remember asking a 9-year-old boy, 'What would life be like for you if you didn't have to adhere to this Man Box?' He said to me, 'I would be free.'"

- Tony Porter

Sunitha Krishnan: Sex slavery.

This gets me:

"We think it is easy money. We think it is shortcut. We think the person likes to do what she's doing. But the extra bonuses that she gets is various infections, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, you name it, substance abuse, drugs, everything under the sun. And one day she gives up on you and me, because we have no options for her. And therefore she starts normalizing this exploitation. She believes, 'Yes, this is it, this is what my destiny is about.' And this is normal, to get raped by 100 men a day. And it's abnormal to live in a shelter. It's abnormal to get rehabilitated."

At the end, Sunitha Krishnan adds:

"I'm not asking you all to become Mahatma Gandhis or Martin Luther Kings, or Medha Patkars, or something like that. I'm asking you, in your limited world, can you open your minds? Can you open your hearts? Can you just encompass these people too? Because they are also a part of us. They are also part of this world. I'm asking you, for these children, whose faces you see, they're no more. They died of AIDS last year. I'm asking you to help them, accept as human beings, not as philanthropy, not as charity, but as human beings who deserve all our support. I'm asking you this because no child, no human being, deserves what these children have gone through."

Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- & love.

Poverty, money -- & love [Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva]

"For me, the best way to be inspired...is to stop and to listen to someone else's story... Believing in each other, really being sure when push comes to shove that each one of us can do amazing things in the world. That is what can make our stories into love stories and our collective story into one that continually perpetuates hope and good things for all of us. So that, this belief in each other, knowing that without a doubt and practicing that every day in whatever you do, that's what I believe will change the world and make tomorrow better than today."

Love it.

Agents of change.

Awww. You know you're special when someone not only quotes you, but puts your quote into some pretty graphic that looks like it belongs on someone's Tumblr page :)



Haha. Thanks, Jeannie.


PS - Yesterday, I made the comment that a sign that you've pretty much succeeded in my field, the sign that you've done something pretty spectacular with your life, is when you're mentioned, quoted, interviewed, or (best of all) highlighted by Nick Kristof. Hero.

More water talk. #BlogActionDay2010

Just earlier, Mark and I were talking, and the fact came up that a lack of clean water kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. He mentioned that this was the fact that struck him the most about the water issue. It's pretty horrific and really puts into perspective how deadly water can be for many in this world (one in eight billion, actually). Not to sound callous, but it sounds about right. If over 38,000 children are dying every week because of water-related illnesses, then yeah, I can believe that the issue kills more people than all the wars and acts of violence occurring in our world.

Mark went on to comment that the Nobel Peace Price should go to the person who most alleviates the water problem.

Honestly though, there are so many who are working on this issue from so many levels. The solutions are already there. But it takes more than just organizations like Charity:water or Lifewater International to change the numbers. It takes people and mobilization. Unfortunately, for every great idea or solution we have out there, there is even more apathy and inaction.

I read this quote from Christian just yesterday as he was presenting MakeSense at the i7 Summit in Paris yesterday:

"Reward success. Celebrate failure. Punish inaction."

I know it was more in relation to the work that MakeSense is doing, but it made me think yesterday. Yeah, "punish" is a strong word but it's true that the biggest hindrance to development and progress in our society today is inaction, often driven by apathy. It is one of the things that keeps me up at night -- how can we motivate people to bring social change or to do social good?

It's been one of the things that has been on my mind a lot. It's one of the main reasons why The 3:18 Movement was birthed. And it so happens we're currently focused on the clean water issue.


Moving onward, I do have to say that I am incredibly glad for today. It has been such an inspiring day -- what with Blog Action Day (#BlogActionDay2010 #bad2010), The Feast conference (#feastongood), the RSA animation on Sir Ken Robinson's talk of social change, and a work meeting with some amazing & dedicated NYC women in fighting sex trafficking.

Today was the reminder I needed of why I do what I do and how much I love doing it.

Lastly, consider doing some of the following:

• Blog/tweet/FB/whatever about the water issue.
• Join The 3:18 Movement's campaign by either walking for a cause or joining the 3:18 team
• If you can't do the walk on October 23rd, consider sponsoring one of a walker. The money raised will bring clean water, health education, and community development to hundreds in Northern Uganda.
• Sign the petition below:

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Let's change the world :)

Blog Action Day 2010: Water.

[One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.]

So this year's theme for Blog Action Day 2010 (today!) is water.
How amazing is it that there are over 5,000 blogs at this moment -- nearly 40,000,000 readers -- in nearly 140 countries all blogging today about the same thing: Water.

It makes me even happier to be doing the walk next Saturday (October 23) advocating for clean water systems, health education, & community development in war-affected Northern Uganda.

Of course, the issue of clean water is beyond just the region of Northern Uganda. It is a global issue, affecting even those of us in the great land of the United States with our lovely (though not vegan or kosher, but still completely harmless & fairly pure) New York City water that we can drink from tap.

Today, WATER is a human rights issue, a health issue, a sustainability issue, an environmental issue, and a global issue. When one out of eight of us don't have access to clean water, when more people die every year because of this than all forms of violence (including war), when 38,000 children die each week from water-related illnesses, this becomes our issue.

Below are some facts that I pulled from the official Blog Action Day 2010: Why Water? website. Click on the link for more tidbits.

• Cell Phones vs. Toilets: Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets, but many more have access to a cell phone.
• Food Footprint: It takes 24 liters of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe.
• Technology Footprint:The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that’s 40 million liters to charge those alone.
• Waste Overflow: Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water sources. This not only negatively impacts the environment but also harms the health of surrounding communities.
• Technology for Good: Do you want to measure how much water it took to make your favorite foods? There’s an app for that.

And of course, there's so much more that you can learn about on the website as well as at UNICEF, WHO, charity:water, etc.

Movies for a cause: The Candy Shop.

Really looking forward for this new metaphorical movie by Whitestone Motion Pictures.

Hello Rewind photoshoot.

Last Saturday, Hello Rewind had a photoshoot to better display their products & what it is that they do. Below is a teaser video they posted of the day, made by one of the photographers Jon Freeland. Check it out & be on the look out for the results of the photoshoot :) Sure to be fun photos.

LXD + Invisible Children? Love it.

[via IC]

This week was the launch of Jon M. Chu's Legion of Extraordinary Dancers - a new web series that you can watch each Wednesday at www.thelxd.com. I've been pretty excited about this because it looks pretty epic...but what's even more amazing is that The LXD is a supporter of Invisible Children, as Jon M. Chu & the founders of IC are old friends.

The LXD shirt is being sold on IC's website -- made of 100% Ugandan cotton, with all proceeds going to help IC end the longest running war of Africa.

Make sure to watch the video above. I'm loving the music too.

Hello Rewind's latest laptop sleeve: Hope.

This past week, Hello Rewind announced their newest laptop sleeve design -- a celebration of the World Premiere of the movie Redlight. The sleeve is a tribute to the message of hope and renewal that is delivered in the movie, as well as a great way to support the survivors of sex trafficking here in New York.

Already have a laptop cover or sleeve? Pass it along to someone you know who needs one. Or purchase one as a gift! Practical, useful, a conversation starter, AND a great way to give back.

Each sleeve is $49 and can be made to fit your 17", 15", or 13" laptop, or even your iPad or Netbook.
Colors may vary but will be of a light color, from white to light gray.

You can pre-order your sleeve here today. Pre-ordering ends July 5th and sleeves get shipped by July 12th.