On Somalia, The World Food Program, and Dear0ne helping out

As some of you have heard, I’m sure, there is a food crisis in Somalia (in the Horn of Africa). While this isn’t a new crisis (they’ve experienced drought and food shortages in previous years), this one is made more aggressive by militants in the area preventing aid from getting to many of the Somalis in the area. Mothers are walking days with their children to reach camps in Kenya and Uganda, only to have their children die on the trip.

Now, from July 6th to September 12th, the Canadian Government has promised to match donations made by registered charities to help the people of Somalia. I’ve decided to support the World Food Program, as I had an opportunity to see what they do during the World Hunger Summit in Guelph, and they made a lasting impression on me. They are also dealing directly with Somalia. While I don’t think donations to the WFP count towards the gov’t program to match donations, I know my donations will be going to help those in need.

So. From now until September 12th (and maybe even later, we’ll see how God calls my heart), a portion of each sale from Dear0ne will be heading to the WFP to help with aid in the Horn of Africa.

Thanks for your support!

Check out the shop at dear0ne.etsy.com. Custom orders are also always welcome!

On humanitarianism, following God's will and the media

I've realized, slowly, the more I make every ounce of my life God-centered, the easier it becomes, and the more HIS desires become MY desires, sometimes without my realization until after it's happened. Here's what I mean.
I love humanitarian work. While I may have certain issues with Mission 'Trips,' the humanitarian work behind it is to be greatly respected. I feel a sense of pride when I see someone I know doing something, anything, to better our world, whether locally or internationally. And while I'm always looking for ways to help, I sometimes get discouraged when the things presented to me don't seem to be 'enough' or 'important enough.' Then here's what I realized. When my heart is tuned to God, He'll provide things to do, without me even looking for them. I work at a radio station. It's my job to build newscasts, record them on-air, and sometimes write the stories. While I'm in school, the stories I write have a distinctly humanitarian-feel to them. While I'm at work, however, stories are a little more limited. This morning, while looking for stories, I came accross one about the World Food Program (WFP) and their work in Somalia. Currently, because of militants, the WFP can't reach 60 per cent of the 3.7 million Somalis in need. (Here is a link to CTV's story on it with World Vision president Dave Toycen.) To me, this is an outrage. I respect the WFP, they were a big part of the Hunger Summit I attended earlier this year, and they made a bit of a lasting impact on me. The story got put in my newscast. Then, I realized I was totally doing a God-thing while at work. I work the in media, it's my job to let people know what's going on in the work. Honestly, I basically have a say over what IS and what ISN'T important in the world and local news for the few hours I'm at work. By putting a story about the WFP and people in need, I'm doing a humanitarian act. Perhaps just one of the many people (I'm not tooting my own horn, I work at the biggest news station in the area) listening will hear it and respond with prayer, a donation, or more. All because I followed what God had put in front of me.

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine a few nights ago. We were talking about trying to follow God's will and discerning what IS, what ISN'T and how to figure out which we should choose. She repeated something a friend had told her- God gives us choices. Sometimes neither one is more right or wrong than the other, and God would likely be just as pleased with either choice. But it's up to us to CHOOSE. To just pick one and keep moving forward. The conversation was days ago, but that part is still as fresh as if she had told me just a minute ago.

So sometimes, it really is no use worrying. Sometimes it's all about that first step, and following what our heart is telling us, not just our mind. Sometimes there is more than one right answer. We just need to pick the one that means more to us.

Creativity and Failures

What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me —  is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

~ Ira Glass

Good to know failures eventually produce good results...

The Tradeshow, tv interviews, and the feeling of acomplishment

What a day!

Yesterday was the Summer Company trade show.

My table! Sweet Dear0ne sign, aprons, earrings, headbands, giraffes...

Because (I know, NEVER start a sentence with 'because') Dear0ne offered more than just a service, I was able to fill my allotted table with goodies!



The Summer Company tradeshow was my first official market that I've brought Dear0ne to (aside from Etsy, of course!), and what an experience! Imagine a group of  a dozen students, between the ages of mid-teen to late twenties all sharing space under a tent to promote their entrepreneurial endeavors. Add some media, some local politicians, and some food, and you've got yourself quite a show! The purpose of the show, I'm lead to believe is to give those of trying our hands as entrepreneurs an opportunity to be out in the pubic promoting ourselves. For someone like me, who does enjoy talking and (although I rarely admit it) isn't a terrible salesperson when it's something I'm passionate about, a trade show where I get to do just that, ends up being actually somewhat enjoyable.

And to boot, I even had some sales! I got one of the other Summer Co. students to make me up some business cards, so I had a few opportunities to pass those out as well! And to top it all off, my boss even asked me to write the story up on it! Here's the published version, and I read it all day on the radio stations too! I did two tv interviews, one for Cogeco and one for Baytoday.ca. Now, anyone who was around me during the time we worked on tv stories for school knows how I feel about being in front of the camera. For those who don't, I'd rather walk around with a paper bag over my head. The very idea of it freaks me out, and while I'm okay BEHIND the camera, being ON CAMERA is something completely different. Quite simply, I'm not a fan. So it was a big deal for me to gather the courage to do an interview in front of a camera not just once, but twice.

Regardless. I gained a ton of confidence in my items and Dear0ne (people actually bought my items! And they loved it!), was able to get some free promotion, and gained some ideas of what people are actually looking for. And I'm just buzzing with ideas of things I want to make now.

You who read this, if you have any ideas for new (or different) items, especially ones for back-to-school, please pass your ideas on to me! I'm always looking for clever ideas to appease my customers!