One of the main ways that we work to raise awareness with PhotogenX is through publications and other materials that we distribute. You may have seen some of these products on our online store . Well, recently I started feeling a bit weighed down by all of the product that we distribute. To us, topics such as sex trafficking, honor killings and infanticide continue to grip our hearts, but have become normal conversation. Sometimes we get dirty looks from bystanders when we discuss our "work" in public and I don't blame them...for instance; "Remind me to call the Sex+ Money film crew about the human trafficking bank account, oh and please pass the butter".
Because researching the horrors of humanity tends to make the heart a bit heavy, I wanted to bring a bit of a lighter tone to the mix. I was really inspired by DIY crafters like Knitta, Please who make the world a bit more colorful in really sweet + simple ways. My creative friend Jannelle and I started to brainstorm and have a lot of new products that will be making their first online appearance very soon.
Around the same time that we started dreaming up projects, crafts and cuteness, the Banyan Tree Cafe on the YWAM campus in Kona asked us to create a PhotogenX store inside of their cafe. Instead of just putting books on a bookshelf, we decided to create a whole lotta' work for ourselves and dreamt up a plan for a sweet bookshelf. I love to create but am sometimes lacking in the skills department (read: I can't draw or paint). Thankfully I have some of the most creative friends in the whole wide world (seriously, they are from all over the world and they are amazing). I knew my friend Cambria (who we traveled to Panama, South Africa and Egypt with last year) would create a masterpiece and she truly has. She lights up when she gets inspired and she is one of the few people I know that would spend 3 hours in the paint store with me staring at samples and talking about all the paint names (seriously, naming the colors "enchanted forest" is a pure marketing scheme...and we fell for it). A new friend, Joel, just so happens to be a master with a jigsaw (he also designs and makes clothes). Cambria, Joel and a few other artists have created the most enchanted bookshelf I have ever seen. They have taken a little idea that I had and turned it into a beautiful reality. I feel really lucky to call these talented artists "amigos"(yeah, I call them that). Check back soon for more photos of the final set up!
Pure Hope Pakistan Teaser!
Steve and Greg spent the last few weeks in Pakistan working on a campaign to bring safe and clean water to over a million people who have been affected by the disastrous floods (read more about the campaign here). Since they have returned a few days ago they have been putting together photos and video footage to shed light on the problem, the need and how we can respond. Below is a short clip that Greg put together yesterday. Check back in the coming weeks for more updates from Pure Hope Pakistan.
feedback.
Lately.
Over the years we have learned that it is important to take advantage of every available opportunity that we get to CELEBRATE! We have had picnics in airports, tea parties in Afghanistan, baked Christmas cookies in shantytowns and most recently we used Halloween as an excuse to dress up and take a lot of photos of ourselves. A singalong also evolved as is the norm when Isaac and Steve are in the same room.
Read more...
Pure Hope Pakistan
If one suffers, we all suffer.
My husband is going to Pakistan in a few weeks to help distribute water filters to flood victims and to document one of the greatest natural disasters ever known to our earth. My thoughts and prayers have been focused on those who are suffering from waterborne diseases now more than ever as I ponder what my response to my suffering brothers and sisters in Pakistan will be.
If you are wondering the same thing and would like to take action for those who have been so devastated by the floods in Pakistan, leave a comment below or e-mail me at diane@photogenx.net and maybe we can come up with some solutions together.
Freedom is sweet.
-END forced labor in the cocoa industry
-ERADICATE poverty among cocoa farmers
-PROMOTE Fair Trade
-CHANGE Consumer Habits…
…all by giving Fair Trade chocolate back to adults and kids as they Trick-or-Treat in their communities on October 31st.
Global Exchange is giving out FREE Reverse Trick-Or-Treat kits (containing fair trade chocolate attached to an informational card about the problems in the cocoa industry such as child slavery, environmental degradation, and poverty and how fair trade provides a solution).
*Global friends, please get involved, too!!!
Join Not For Sale in the "Raise the Bar Campaign" by selling delicious Sweet Earth Fair Trade Chocolate, hosting a film screening of the new documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate, and asking others to sign to petition to make Hershey’s fair trade. Your efforts in this chocolate campaign will:
1. Raise awareness of the ongoing use of child labor and human trafficking in the cocoa industry;
2. Inspire thousands to sign petitions asking Hershey to be transparent in the sourcing of their cocoa beans, and begin sourcing Fair Trade Certified cocoa;
3. Raise funds needed for the Not For Sale Campaign to end child labor and human trafficking in the production of chocolate.
Not For Sale has partnered with Sweet Earth Chocolates so you can offer 100% organic Fair Trade chocolate to your friends and family! This chocolate comes from grower co-operatives that monitor their operations to ensure that forced labor was not used in the production of their chocolate.
Read more...
Next to Me
Sleeping at Last is making a yearbook! This band reserves a very intimate place in my heart since I walked down the aisle to one of their songs, Careful Hands, when Steve and I got hitched. Listen, exhale and check out the Yearbook Project that they are doing!
Like cold water to a very weary soul.
Have you ever had a day (or a month...or seven months) where you are tired and weary and feeling like you've lost a bit of perspective on why you do what you do? I certainly have had a lot of days like this since I got sick and my body has been fighting to keep up with my heart. Today I received news that gave me goosebumps and helped awaken my soul to the truth that the world is so much bigger than me.
If you have been reading for a while, you may remember when I posted about the opportunity that we had to spend time loving the children of Panama. While we were there we learned about an issue from Matt & Misty Hedspeth that we couldn't ignore- the adoption system (or lack thereof) in Panama. While we were learning about the government controlled orphanages, restrictions on child placement, the only 9 foster families in the whole country and the stigma surrounding taking a child from a different family, class or culture into your home, most citizens of Panama are left unaware that there are problems behind the walls of the brightly painted buildings that housed thousands of abandoned, forgotten or orphaned children.
Matt & Misty (a family rights lawyer) left their home in North Carolina a few years ago when they realized the desperation of the adoption situation in Panama. They founded Hearts Cry Children's Ministry to create efficiencies for orphans and wrote a proposal to the government to implement change in the system so that it would be compliant with international adoption standards. While we were in Panama the proposal was accepted, Heart's Cry Ministry was given office space in the president's office and just recently they have been able to place a few children in homes for adoption!
We created a publication for Heart's Cry Ministry to use with the proposal to bring the stories of the children to the hearts of the citizens of Panama. The book needed to be approved by the government before printing (since the children are under the guardianship of the government) and a year later- the book is approved for printing!!! (did you get goosebumps?)
Every Nation, 24 hours and YOU.
Founded in 2008, ONE DAY ON EARTH is creating an online community, shared archive, and film. Together, we will showcase the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occur in one day. We invite you to join our international community of thousands of filmmakers, hundreds of schools, and dozens of non-profits, and contribute to this unique global mosaic. Through the One Day on Earth platform, we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates. Read more...
