My Favorite Bracelet

I have this bracelet that my friend Marcus gave me. It's pretty simple - red and black, and made from reeds. The cool thing about it is that it was hand made in Uganda and the cash that Marcus paid for it went to help put children in Uganda through school.

The Bracelet Campaign is just one of the cool things that Invisible Children is doing to change people's lives around the world. A quick run-down on Invisible Children:

Three young college filmmakers, Jason, Bobby and Laren traveled to Africa in the spring of 2003 in search of a story. When they witnessed how the unseen war in Northern Uganada was affecting the children there they were both "disgusted and inspired". They told their stories in Invisible Children: Rough Cut, a documentary about their experieneces in Uganda. The complete story, The Final Cut, is coming to theatres soon. Keep your eyes out for it!

Becuase of these experiences, Jason, Bobby and Laren went beyond the film and founded Invisble Children, a nonprofit working to transform apathy into activism. They have many campaigns in addition to the bracelet campagin mentioned above, and I could never do this organization justice in a blog post. So... check out the website - http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php - it's really powerful, really cool, and really inspiring. Also... here's a link to one of my favorite Invisbile Children videos... it's short - and the message applies to so much more than just this singular cause... please take a minute to watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JUwYkiKWlI

PS - thanks for the bracelet Marcus! :)

Shoes for Tomorrow

When I first started this blog I knew that one of the first people/companies I wanted to share was this one:

TOMS

(Shoes for Tomorrow)

So, what's so special about TOMS? It's pretty simple:

My (healthy) obsession with TOMS began last year when my friend forwarded me a job post... She said it was with a really cool company that made her think about me. Well, I wasn't looking for a new job, but it sounded interesting, so I checked out their website.

I was surprised and inspired by the story I found there.

In a nutshell, this guy Blake

went to Argentina on vacation in 2006. While he was there he was stricken by the poverty he saw, especially among children. Many children couldn't afford shoes to wear, and as a result were contracting some pretty nasty diseases through their feet. (Let that sink if for a moment. NO SHOES. And because of that, they were getting sick. Can you even imagine? The reality of that situation is so hard for me to grasp when i have a closet full of shoes I only wear with certain outfits.) Anyway...

That could've easily been the end of the story, but it's not.

Blake designed a simple canvas shoe based on the traditional Argentine alpargata.

That May Blake started selling the shoes from his apartment with a simple philosophy: for every shoe he sold he'd give one to a child in need. By October of that year he'd sold over 10,000 pairs and in turn delivered 10,000 pairs to Argentina in what TOMS calls a shoe drop.

Since then TOMS has given away over 130,000 pairs of shoes and plans to give over 300,000 more this year.

After learning more about TOMS I was sold. I purchased a pair for myself and for every staff member of the Washington Leadership Conference last year. Because the conference was about service, I figured TOMS were the perfect shoes for us to sport all summer. We got white shoes, had a party, and painted them... TOMS calls it "Style Your Sole." http://styleyoursole.tomsshoes.com/ (We each painted ours to represent an area of service we were committed to).

We had a ton of fun and all ended up with a very unique pair of shoes!

Me painting my shoes:

The group modeling our finished products:

Reasons I love wearing TOMS:

1. They're very comfy

2. They're unique

3. I always get asked about them when I wear them, which gives me an opportunity to share the story about a cool company making the world better.

There is definitely a color and design for everyone:

And they don't just sell shoes. They have some pretty sweet other merchandise, like my most recent purchase:It combines my favorite shoes with my favorite quote! And the "one for one" applies to anything you buy from TOMS - so you buy a t-shirt, hat, etc... a kid gets a pair of shoes!

All this being said, here's what is most incredible and ispiring to me about this company: The founder,

Blake Mycoskie.

This is a guy, pretty young, who saw a need in the world ... and then - get this -

DID something ABOUT it.

To me, Blake is proof that we really can change the world. That one person can make a difference. It all started selling some canvas shoes out of his apartment... and now, 130,000 lives are better because of him.

So what does it mean for us? Realistically, most of us are probably not called to start a company of such magnitude. But... every time I put on my TOMS I'm reminded of how lame my excuses are for not doing more to make the world a better place. If Blake Mycoskie can do so much in such a short time, we can all do a little more... whether it's making the extra effort to separate trash and recyclables, volunteering for a local cause, giving a little more to the charity we support, or even making a commitment to seek out and buy from compainies that give back, like TOMS. It's just about changing our mindset to realize that what we do does matter... and that

WE

CAN

Change the World.

Read more about the TOMS story or buy some shoes at http://www.tomsshoes.com/, and check out this cool video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD4f-KkAqwM.

Peace, love & TOMS :)

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me...

Yesterday was an exciting day... because I got a new t-shirt in the mail! I bought a shirt from Mocha Club's latest campaign... "I need Africa more than Africa needs me." It's a pretty sweet shirt - I've already worn it (and it's REALLY comfy!) Check it out below!

So why do I need Africa? Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAB-zJPsJjs

The really cool news is...

anyone who joins Mocha Club right now gets the shirt for FREE!

And the even better news... Marshall and I's team
ORANGE & BLUE
is on-line!

To join our team for just the cost of 2 mochas a month go to: www.mochaclub.org/joinme/Renee_Durham.

An Invitation

Do you love coffee as much as I do? Not only do I love coffee, I love coffee that costs a ridiculous amount of money. Although I know that in my head, I just can't help stopping at Starbucks for a latte or mocha once in a while. I wonder how much money I spend at Starbucks in a month. What does this have to do with anything? Keep reading.

A few nights ago Marshall and I went to a small music venue here in Indy to see a Dave Barnes concert. I've been a Dave Barnes fan for a couple of years, (thanks to Marshall who introduced me to his music). He's got a great voice, puts on a fantastic (and really funny) show, and I love his music. So for those reasons alone, you should check him out.So all that is really cool, but there's even more reason to love him. Many of Dave's song lyrics hint at something bigger than himself. Hearing him singing about changing your own actions because of others in need (10,000 children) and changing the world (Brothers & Sisters), I assumed that on some level Dave Barnes 1) is living for something more, and 2) has a heart for service. Seeing him in concert for the first time, I realized that both of those assumptions are true - and probably to a bigger degree than I'd realized.

In the middle of his set, Dave slowed things way down and took about 15 minutes to talk about his experiences serving in Africa (he's been 4 times) and working with Mocha Club. Mocha Club is an organization working to tie together two communities - ours and Africa - by encouraging people to give as little as $7 a month... roughly the cost of two mochas. In fact, I'm sitting at Starbucks right now and the board lists a grande mocha at $3.65... so two of those is less than a monthly membership to Mocha Club.

A musician rocking out and then all of a sudden stopping and using a chunk of his show to talk about serving and giving? And... seven dollars? To help create change? Seriously? Yeah. Here's what $7 can do: You know, I often struggle with doing "small things" to help. It never feels like enough... and sometimes because it's so small it makes it feel like it doesn't really matter (verbalizing that makes me feel wretched). But I looked at the numbers above. And I looked at the faces in the pictures and videos on the Mocha Club website and have done my best to make them real to me and not just images.

And I try to put myself in their place (which is SO hard in our life of excess and riches.) And I realized - if I got to drink clean water for a year, or I got a quick shot that saved me from dying from Malaria - I would fiercely believe that $7 is enough to make a difference.

So I signed up. Marshall and I created a team - Orange and Blue (I know... real creative) and because of that, we each got a free Dave Barnes CD. Come to find out, Dave Barnes (as well as other musicians like Matt Wertz) has been giving away free CD's all year... for signing up to join Mocha club, for recruiting more people to join, etc. I wonder how many CD's Dave Barnes has given away in the last year that he could have profited from, but chose not to.

He's parting with serious revenue. I'm parting with a couple of cups of coffee. Coffee that I really enjoy... but still just coffee. You know, maybe it's not coffee for you. Maybe you hate coffee. If that's the case, what's your "mocha"? What do you spend $7 a month on that is nice but you could easily part with and not really miss or maybe even not notice it's gone? McDonald's? People magazine? A movie? I know that we hear these pitches all the time for hundreds of different charities. Quit ignoring them. Pick one - whether it's Mocha Club or not - and give something that you don't really need anyway. Now.

If you want to join Mocha Club, or just learn more about what they're doing in Africa, check it out at http://www.mochaclub.org/. You can join my team! (However... because I signed up on paper at the concert my team info isn't live on the website yet, so hang tight :))

And... be sure to check out Dave Barnes on his website or iTunes - a really cool musician doing cool things for the world.

"10,000 children are my invitation to change. To continue in excess suddenly feels oh so strange." - Dave Barnes, 10,000 Children

Thoroughly Japan (now with pictures!)

The last few days have been exhausting! For the first time since we arrived in Japan the travel and all the activity has started to catch up with me. (So... because of that I'm going to be lazy and not post pictures. I'll update soon). Something else that's happened in the last few days - it seems our experiences have become more and more authenticly Japanese (well... most of them).

Wednesday we left Tokyo and headed to Nikko. The landscape was very different - we entered mountain country. We visited one of the best tofu factories and sampled A LOT of tofu cooked many different ways. Some of it was a struggle to get down... some of it tasted amazing! Who knew you could make donuts and cheese cake mousse out of tofu? After lunch (of more tofu) we toured a huge shrine in Nikko.

Then... one of the highlights of our trip so far (ok... I know everything seems to be a highlight, but I'm SERIOUS.) We arrived at a ryokan... a traditional Japanese style hotel. When our bus pulled up we were greeted by 4 staff members at the door (in kimonos no lesss) and immediately whisked into a sitting room for sweets and green tea. Then they took our bags up to our rooms for us - traditional japanese style with multipurpose rooms, tatmi mats and slippers so you don't wear your shoes inside - and made tea for us and showed us how to put on our yukatas - casual cotton kimonos. While at the Ryokan you wear your yukata EVERYWHERE - in the lobby, to dinner, to the bathouse (a whole other story)... it was AWESOME. I loved the yukata and will definitely be buying one before I leave to replace my bathrobe.

Yukatas:

A shot of my room: You can see my futon bed on the floor, and a massage chair (yeah... I had two!) behind that.

After we got settled in, all the girls went to the communal bathouse. (The boys did too, but I definitely don't know those details!) We were a little nervous, but we were the only ones there, so it was perfect for our first time. We were definitely more modest than the Japanese, but we LOVED the hot tubs - two inside and one outside.

Dinner was served in a private room and was amanzing - and 100% japanese. Some of it was fantastic - for the first time I sincerely ENJOYED my raw tuna (and a whole baby trout - eyes and all - see below) and some of it was harder to stomach with a smile.

After dinner we had an oragami and calligraphy lesson from Chieko - we had so much fun hanging our with her and learning from her!

Oragmai:

We went back to the bathouse after that and that night I slept on the floor on the futon mat and tatmai mats in my yukata - with the balcony door open so I could hear the running water of the stream outside - and it was the best sleep I've had yet. I could seriously go on and on about this experience...

The next morning we took to nature and visited two beautiful waterfalls and a crystal clear lake in the mountain area. It was really cool to see some of the natural beauty of Japan:

Then we went to our first FFJ school visit. It was awesome - the students were so friendly and excited!

National FFA and National FFJ presidents:





Yes, they even wear slippers in school!

We went back to Tokyo for the night and ate dinner at a famous Indian restaraunt near in Ginza (ok... so not everything is Japanese!) I was nervous because my one experience with Indian food was not a pleasant one, but it was FANTASTIC!

Today we took the bullet train to Nagoya. Sadly, we all fell asleep and totally missed passing Mt. Fuji. In Nagoya we went to the port where they import hundreds of thousands of tons of US grain every month. It was very cool. Some pictures of us at the port:

This afternoon we visited another school with FFJ members. They had a party for us where we ate many food products prepared by the students and played games. Then the officers left with their host families, where they will be for the next two nights. What an exciting experience for them!

Riley at the party, helping make dumplings:

Paul and his host brother, Riley meeting his host brother, and Regina with her host sister:

The adults are staying a hotel in downtown Nagoya. Tonight we get some extra (and much needed) rest. We'll meet up with the officers and their host families tomorrow for a farm tour. For now... I'm getting some sleep. Sayonara!

There are no words...

A quick recap of yesterday:

We started off the morning at the US Embassy where we were briefed on the state of agricultural trade and affairs between the US & Japan. We spent the afternoon and evening at the headquarters of Mitsui, our sponsor for this trip. After our meetings with Mitsui they hosted a reception where we got to meet and hang out with several of their junior staff members, who are close to my age. It was fun to visit with them and learn from them.

I tried a sushi roll with salmon eggs. My Mitsui friend was very nervous for me, but I ate it like a champ.

Mitsui Junior staff

TODAY

Today was a very special day - one that I think will be hard to top! I think it's hard to describe what we experienced today in words, but I'll give it a stab. (That's why there are lots of pictures, which also don't do the day justice).

This morning we left our hotel at 5 am for the Tsukiji fish market - the largest market of its kind in the world! The place was already busy when we got there way before dawn. As we walked down the streets of Tokyo we could smell the fish several blocks away from the actual market. We arrived and walked through a maze of allies packed with small shops like the one below: already open and preparing for a busy day.


Then we made our way to a warehouse. As we stepped in we saw a floor that was lined with fresh tuna ready for auction:

There were men running around everywhere, examining the tuna closely and taking notes on which ones they wanted to bid on:

It also seemed like a social affair as many of them visited and laughed together. It's clear they work together often. But then, the bells started ringing and things got serious. Everyone started dashing for the lines of tuna they wanted to bid on and the auction started. As they auctioned it sounded more like a song or tribal chant than our auctioneers.
Below: an auctioneer with a bell.

After that we made our way to another warehouse full of frozen tuna:

As we left that warehouse I heard a guy talking to a japanese man about how the acution worked, and I looked up and one foot away from me was Zac Effron! No kidding! And then I looked to my left and there was Vanessa Hudgens! I was being pushed out the door and didn't get to say anything or get a picture, but we saw them again later in the market and Regina snapped a couple photos of them.

This is where the tuna goes: (this market is right outside the warehouse)

In the alley/market place there were small restaraunts. We went into one and the 12 of us litterally packed the place - there was only a bar to sit at. We had a very expensive breakfast - tons of:

Sushi. Yeah - kind of strange at 6:30 am, but I ate a lot!

This afternoon we went to the home and farm of the Hagiwara family. This is Mr. Hagiwara, a 13th generation farmer!

He and his family were absolutely wonderful. We met the whole family, including his son Aaoi:

When we first arrived they showed us how to make "sticky rice" balls - a very traditional food in Japan. Here is his mom steaming rice (this is in their front yard):

The rice was put in a stump that was carved into a big bowl:

Then we took turns pounding it!

Then we went inside their home (a very traditional and beautiful Japanese home) where Mrs. Hagawara prepared lunch for us (including sticky rice balls made out of the rice we helped make outside). It was very special - the food was wonderful and everything we ate came from their farm (and was all organic). They definitely welcomed us as family at their table.

They also showed us many family heirlooms that are very old, including this pipe below:

Then we toured the farm - the grow a number of things there, including organic vegetables and herbs. I really liked this old van that had been converted into a storage place for tools:

We spent several hours walking around their farm, and down neighboring paths. We visited with the family and especially played with Aaoi who was so fun and energetic. He was such a great reminder that people are the same no matter where you go. He had no idea that we were Americans trying to learn a new culture - he just climbed in our laps, ran, and played with us all afternoon.

Aaoi and his grandma:

One of their neighbors working on her farm: (I think she thought we were crazy for taking pictures of her) She rattled on in japanese to Nessie and I as if we could understand even when we kept shrugging our shoulders - but she just smiled and kept talking.

We made our way to a playground where the officers had a lot of fun:

We were all very sad when we had to leave. It's incredible how quickly you can bond with people - even people very different from you - when you have open hearts and open minds.