Making a (Simple) Difference

Everyday I wake up with this incessant need to make a difference. What does that even mean? Whether I am aiming to change the world or to tie some little boy's shoe, I can make a difference today and everyday. Today I performed at RAK (Random Act of Kindness) for an elderly gentleman as I helped him pick up his dropped mail and retrieve his package from the holding box labeled "one" all the way at the bottom of the mailboxes.  Knowing absolutely nothing about this man other than he is a few years my senior and finds it difficult to bend down and get back up with my speed and agility, all I can hope is that he passed it on. By that I mean I hope he RAKs someone else. Wouldn't it be ammmaaaazzzing if all we did each day was RAK each other? The world would certainly be a better place for it. Could it possibly be annoying, everyone always trying to help you do something, potentially causing counter productivity for some? So did I make a difference in his life, probably not, but maybe I made his day; at least one could hope.

The first time I came into contact with this idea of being RAKed or RAKing someone was on Semester at Sea. There were a few discussions about it that I had heard of here and there, but it wasn't until I was finally RAKed that I really understood what it was all about. I was having a stressful or difficult day (I know, hard to believe on a floating ship that travels around the world) and when I returned to my room I found an envelope tape to my door. Concerned and disconnected, I opened the envelope to find a tea bag and a note from my friend, Liz. The note said "Enjoy this tea and pass the RAK on!" I couldn't believe it, here I was wallowing in my own sadfest and someone remembered that I liked tea, that I had commented that I would love to try that kind of tea, and was thinking about me enough to drop some by and simply make my day. My whole attitude changed from that moment on. Simple, simple tea bag made my day. You know I returned the favor to Liz by sharing another interesting tea I had acquired on my travels and I also try to pass it on to others.

Sometimes it really is the simple things in life that make your day; someone opening a door for you when your arms are full, a sincere smile, or a note that says "hey, how's your day going?" My day yesterday was made when I got into a conversation with a chatty, little 4-year-old with a big personality about some Dorothy-inspired red glittery shoes. Most 4-year-olds are shy and they will barely leave their mother to come color with me in silence. Not this precious angel, she just chatted away about the shoes and her shoe size and I talked to her about her brother and her mother. Midway through our intense discussion, I was informed that this beautiful little girl speaks not one language, not two languages, but three. She was trilingual in English, Turkish, and French at the age of 4 and well aware of her abilities. Amazing. Talk about jealousy; what I would give to of grown up speaking multiple languages.

So maybe I wasn't RAKed by this little girl, but she did manage to make my day and make a simple difference in my attitude for the day. A simple little conversation about red glittery ballet flats and I was feeling good and somewhat inspired. Stupid, maybe, simple, absolutely, perfect, you know it!

Make it your goal today to RAK someone. Smile and tell someone you like their top, give some change to the person in front of you in line that cannot find it, buy someone a coffee, start a conversation about anything, help someone who is clearly struggling, and have absolutely no desire for them to return the favor; that's what it is all about. You really can change someone's minute, hour, day, month, life with a simple little unexpected gesture.

The Concept of Giving

Heading into the holiday season (tomorrow being Thanksgiving) I have decided that I can do more to help others; we can all do more. As we gear up for Black Friday and start thinking about our Christmas/Hanukah wish lists, why not think about someone else, or how our gifts can help someone. Isn’t that the idea of the holidays; aren’t they supposed to be about GIVING?

This year give thanks for being as lucky as we all are to have grown up in beautiful homes with beautiful families around us, supporting our every move. Then think before you buy and figure out how you can give a gift that helps that child that wasn’t as lucky or blessed as we all got to be.

For a couple of days know I have known that I was going to write this blog, but just this morning I learned about a new organization doing what I attempt to do with my small following, but on a much larger scale. www.dtj.com or Discover the Journey attempts to educate people about real issues, real problems, and real situations that exist around the world; problems that need real solutions. I came across an initiative they are running called “i am child” (shared it on my new twitter account and on my facebook page), which lists 7 categories of children in the world and the situations that are their lives. It discusses the displaced children, the enslaved children, the orphaned children, the child soldiers, the girl children in the developing world, the street children, and the impoverished children.

See the video here. http://vimeo.com/7226498

There are so many great causes out there and sometimes when I am preoccupying myself with one (fistulas) I can forget about many more (I am only human). We need to forget the outta sight, outta mind idea and bring this to the forefront of our consciousness.

Yesterday I was teaching a class on entrepreneurship at a local middle school and we were working on an activity where the students were given a situation and they had try to come up with a “big idea” to deal with that issue, ranging from homelessness to the lack of access to food and resources. One of the girls, in all innocence and complete lack of knowledge, said to me, “well isn’t it their own fault for being too far away from cities and the resources they need?” To which I replied, “No, some people are simply born into a world that looks much different from the one we live in. Most of the time these people cannot fathom what a city looks like, what having water coming through a tap in their house would be like.”

Just because someone is born in Haiti, or Cambodia, or Senegal does not make him or her any less human; it does not make them any less a person than someone born into privilege in a developed country. I am not better than them because I was born into a comfortable house and family that was able to send me to good school and provide me with water, food, and clothing. These people are not uneducated because they choose to be, they never had access to school and books or were forbidden to learn, they are not living in squalor because they enjoy that type of lifestyle; they have no other choice. We need to remember this idea, each and everyday. What have I done that I get to deserve to live in comfortable house that I don’t even have to pay rent for because my mom is just that amazing. Nothing, I was born this way and it is my mission to help those that were not as lucky as I was.

As we move into the holiday season, keep that in mind. You can donate in someone’s name as a gift (Grassroot Soccer), you can purchase a gift that gives again (like TOMS, and FEED), you can help out a charity by buying a t-shirt or jewelry from them (i.e. Falling Whistles and charity:water), or you can volunteer your time at the homeless shelter, with Habitat for Humanity, or a food kitchen. Think outside the box this holiday season, literally, and give…

TOMS Style Your Sole Event

Every time I log back into my blog, I can’t help but think that it has been way to long since I have written. Again.

Being in home, I have been trying to think outside the box to help people and get involved in things that are interesting to me. My most recent project has to do with TOMS, the shoe company (Shoes for Tomorrow, TOM is not a person!). The more research I do on them, the more interested I become in the work that they are doing. I mean what a simple idea, I sell a shoe, I give a shoe. If only more companies could pick up this philosophy.

Anyways, I have decided to host a TOMS Style Your Sole event, in hopes that we can sell a good amount of shoes and therefore give a lot of shoes. I have found some great partners in this initiative, the guys over at Habatat Art Gallery and Coffee Company (located at 539 Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, FL; corner of Rosemary and Clematis).  I have met with them a few times and I could not be more impressed with their outlook and the work they are doing as well! Sean and Natalie own the Habatat Coffee Company and they are doing their best to teach people about the coffee industry, inform them on the issues and what companies like Starbucks are really doing, and persuading people to switch to fair trade coffee products. Fair trade is an organized social movement and a market based approach created to help producers of different products in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability.

I am so excited and thankful that they had agreed to host the event and I want help them out by spreading the word about them and their message. We are currently looking for some local artists who want to come out and customize the shoes, unfortunately I couldn’t pay them, but it would be great opportunity to expose their work as well. Of course I want this to be an event that helps as many people as possible while also spreading the word about what different people are doing locally, nationally, and internationally. Remember, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.” –Gandhi and I am most impressed with those people who are doing what they can to be that change!

I hope many people will come out for the event or at least go purchase a pair of TOMS shoes or stop by the coffee company and art gallery and check it out. The event will be taking place Saturday, December 17, 2011 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. Come and go as you please…we will have live music, refreshments, and if we get any hits local artists to customize the shoes for those of us who aren’t so artsy. You can email me at kristinanthony@me.com or stop by the Habatat Art Gallery and Coffee Company to place your order and RSVP by 12/07/2011. Show your support for the Habatat Art Gallery by liking them on Facebook!

Looking forward to hearing from you all and seeing you at the event! 

The Visit of a Lifetime

Writing this almost brings tears to my eyes…First Lady Michelle Obama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, read that again please, spent the day with Grassroot Soccer Cape Town this past week. I MISSED DESMOND TUTU AGAIN! Am I cursed? Yes, probably. I will meet him; I have to. All right enough about me, in any way shape or form, it was amazing press for GRS and the fight again HIV/AIDS and I send out a big kilo across the ocean. Additionally I applaud Michelle Obama for the work and awareness she is creating on this Young Africa campaign trip. While they were visiting GRS, Desmond Tutu and Michelle Obama had a unique opportunity to connect with the youth that Grassroot Soccer works with and also participate in some of the practices including Risk Field, a personal favorite. I believe they also visited our South African partner organization, Love Life.

I know for a lot of people, they look at this initiative and wonder what exactly it has to do with fixing the existing problems our country is facing, but I believe if you think about the impact she is making by empowering the women and youth in other nations, that it will come back five-fold if we can manage to find the patience.  Education and empowerment are the keys in helping our country and the world move forward. The Black Eyed Peas said it well, “One tribe, one time, one people, one race. It’s all one blood, don’t care about your face. The color of your eye or the tone of your skin. Don’t care where you are, don’t care where you been.  There’s one tribe y’all, we are one people.” Shakira echoed it nicely when she said “This time for Africa.”

www.grassrootsoccer.org/2011/06/24/first-lady-michelle-obama-and-archbishop-desmond-tutu-meet-with-grassroot-soccer/

Where in the world is Kristin update:

I am currently back in the United States again and I am on the job hunt this time. I am looking for something interesting that will tie back into all of the work I have put in over the last five years, help me put some roots down, but allow me to educate, spread my knowledge, and help my community.

In May I was on an impromptu trip to India (you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to get a visa to India in two weeks) with my soccer trainer Paul Gibbons, Coerver Coaching, and West Ham United’s International Academy for a couple of weeks to scout talent that could be brought back to West Ham and trained. While we met incredible people and kids, we did not find any one that met the standards we were looking for. We did, however, share our skills and knowledge in hopes that upon return we will find the first big Indian football star. Also, most importantly I rode an elephant on the highway in Delhi and went to the awe-inspiring Taj Mahal. More Indian-related blogs to come.

I was then invited on a trip to Botswana to work with Gibbo again on a soccer/environmental protection initiative, unfortunately we lacked the funding to get me over there, so that will be put on hold for me for the time being. I look forward to finding more out about it and the potential to get involved. Gibbo is also working on a project in Durban, South Africa (he’s got quite a bit going on around the world) that I would love to get involved with as well. We will just have to wait and see on funds and where I can really fit in to help out. 

We Are All Affected

Because of my work with Grassroot Soccer, HIV/AIDS has moved to the forefront of my attention and I honestly believe it might be following me around (in a different sense than you might be thinking). The other day I randomly received an email from my mother asking me if I wanted to go to an event where UNAIDS experts would be speaking in Riviera Beach. I just got home from South Africa where I was working for an international non-profit in the AIDS field! What are the chances that I come home and there is an intimate discussion with UNAIDS (United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS) experts right in my very own backyard?

So who was the mystery UNAIDS expert? It was none other than Dr. Djibril Diallo the Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Maybe no one really cares except for me, at least it seemed that way considering maybe 25 people showed up, but it was an incredible opportunity to meet and listen to someone speak who is working to mobilize support for the UNAIDS initiative of prevention, treatment, care, and support. I still cannot believe so few people were in attendance; I mean he flew down to tiny, little Riviera Beach, Florida to speak to us personally! Oh well, I am not going to complain too much because it did provide with the opportunity to speak with him one on one and introduce myself. Dr. Diallo also served as the Director of the United Nations New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace so he had heard of and worked with Grassroot Soccer in the past. Grassroot Soccer has partnerships with a few different United Nations entities including UNHCR, UNDP, and UNAIDS.

So why Riviera Beach? This is the part that confused me too. Well, believe it or not, according to the CDC more than 4,000 HIV/AIDS cases are diagnosed in Florida alone every year, which gives Florida the 3^rd highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the U.S. after New York and California. What surprised me even more was when I learned that the metropolitan areas from West Palm Beach to Boca Raton raked FIFTH in the nation. I am not making any of this up; it comes straight from Florida Department of Health. Does any of this surprise you? It certainly surprises me. I traveled halfway around the world to help and educate people about HIV/AIDS only to return and find out that I live in an area that needs a pretty good amount of help and education itself.   

The World Factbook on the CIA’s website is by far one of my favorite tools for getting information about all different countries in the world. So according to the statistics found on the World Facebook, the U.S. is ranked 64^th for HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (I may have already given this information in a previous blog, but I find it to enhance this discussion as well) and South Africa is number 4. So it was probably a good thing that I was helping over there, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consider AIDS a huge problem here. It is all how you look at the information. Yes, our prevalence rate is low. This can mostly be attributed to a much larger population than say Swaziland, the country currently carrying the largest prevalence rate. However, when we examine the number of people currently living with HIV/AIDS we hop, skip, and jump right on up to number 9 and that would most likely be due to our availability and ease of access to ARVs. I would also again take into account that we have a much larger population than many of the other countries listed around us. I must quickly mention though that South Africa holds strong at number 1 in this category and that probably not because of availability of drugs; it just happens to be extremely overtaken by the spread of this disease. Finally just to throw it in there, the United States hangs around number 18^th in the world for number of deaths to HIV/AIDS and it has a little something to do with that big population syndrome we have once again.

So there is the quick comparison to help you understand where this disease is lurking and also to prove that it is right here in our own neighborhoods, not just in some far away land we know little to nothing about. I urge you to take action; it doesn’t have to involve getting a bus and converting it into a testing center, it can be as simple as putting on that red ribbon and educating someone about the dangers and the existence of this disease or even donating a few dollars to a local charity or HIV/AIDS organization. While we think that maybe it doesn’t affect us because we are not gay or a minority, it affects all of us. As long as AIDS is being passed along and killing people, we are paying for it. If you have no compassion and cannot feel for those who are infected and directly affected by this pandemic, at least consider this side: the lifetime cost of living with HIV/AIDS is $618, 900. This means that if we do not do anything to fight this disease, funding from HIV/AIDS in the future will be $12.1 billion a year and that is $12.1 billion that could remain in tax payers hands or could be allocated to our education system or whatever else may interest you. So in some way or another, we are all affected.

For HIV/AIDS testing in the Palm Beaches:

·      Compass, Inc.

·      Comprehensive AIDS Program

·      Glades Health Initiative

·      Drug Abuse Foundation

·      PBC Health Department

·      Families First Palm Beach County

·      United Deliverance Resource Center

For HIV/AIDS care resources in the Palm Beaches:

·      Compass, Inc.

·      Youth Line

·      Children’s Place at Home Safe, Inc.

·      HIV Pastoral Care

·      Hospice of Palm Beach

·      Integrated Healthcare Systems

·      Minority Development and Empowerment

·      Planned Parenthood

·      Latin American Immigrants & Refugee Org

·      Palm Beach County HIV CARE Council  

Keep On Reading

Hi All,

While I am back in the United States, I know, booorrrring, I have not stopped learning and reading about Africa and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. So for the time being I am using the Google Nuggets to keep up with what is going on currently surrounding HIV/AIDS (which I will use to keep you all updated) and I am reading a book called There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene, which discusses Ethiopia and how Ethiopia has been affected by this disease. So far I have found that it gives some very good in depth information surrounding the subject as well as ties it nicely into a story that keeps your attention. I highly recommend it and if anyone in my area is reading it at the same time I would be happy to set up a small book club. Below I have provided a link to that book as well as a few other books I have found rather informative. Happy Reading!

Put Some Shoes On

Can some one please explain to me why it is that Afrikaners small and large do not wear shoes in public places? In the mall, in the parking lot, in the grocery store. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just didn’t wear shoes to work. Could you imagine a guy in a suit waltzing into work without any shoes to complete the ensemble? In my mind shoes have become a very necessary part to completing any fashionable look (and unfashionable looks). I mean people have entire closets dedicated to shoes. Maybe we need to lend some to these South Africans.

Maybe it is a cultural piece I am missing? It can’t be because they can’t afford shoes, because I regularly see people get out of very expensive cars sans shoes, or could it be that now they can’t afford shoes because they spent all their money on that car? Trade down, my friends, trade down. In order potentially come to terms with this very strange phenomenon, I have decided to look into the historical and current trends of shoe wearing, mixed in with a little germ action.

So we all know that the primary purpose of shoes is to protect your feet, though some may argue that stilettos do little if anything to protect your feet. For me they mostly destroy my feet, which is why you will rarely see me wear them. Anyways back on topic, did you know that the earliest evidence of protective covering for the human foot date because almost 40,000 years? Wow, that was a long time ago, so why haven’t South Africans picked up on their use yet?

Okay I am no scientist and I have not done any experiments or studies around this, but I am quite aware that most floors, parking lots, etc. are pretty dirty and quite germ infested. Hmmm, apparently there was some study done that recently identified a myriad of dangerous and health-threatening germs carried unknowingly on your shoe. So here is my conclusion, again you don’t have to agree with it because I am not an expert…but, if there are dangerous and health-threatening germs on your shoes, which you are trekking into your house, then I would guess that if you are walking around barefoot, there is a pretty good chance you are just sucking those germs up right then and there, no need for transference into your house. Oh, so maybe the South Africans are protecting to floors of their homes, or maybe they are still transferring them just without shoes. 

Alright in the study discussed above these are the germs regularly found on shoes according to Suite 101: “Escherichia coli (E. Coli) - causing symptoms ranging from severe stomach pain accompanied by diarrhea to kidney failure and potential death in 1 out of 50 victims. Klebsiella pneumonia – a gram-negative bacteria that can rapidly destroy lung tissue and in 25 to 50% of patients will cause death. Serratia ficaria – causing gallbladder empyemas and sepsis as well as biliary infections. The study also found that the transfer rate of bacteria from the shoes to uncontaminated tiles ranged from 90% to 99%. Given that most home flooring includes porous wood, throw rugs and carpet; direct transmission is virtually certain.” I’ll stop there with all of this disturbing information, but do note that there is more. Okay so while this started out a way of understanding the lack of shoe wearing I see here, I may have uncovered that even us people who wear shoes may want to consider taking them off upon entrance to our homes. Sorry.

Now, moving along to current trends of shoes, the most recent is the concept of barefoot running. Apparent benefits are that of better balance, posture, less joint stress, and more muscle tone. Barefoot running can be exactly as it sounds, running without shoes, or it can be running with a new type of foot covering with “barefoot technology” that matches your foots natural arch and contours without adding any additional support or cushioning. I’m not exactly sure I would enjoy running without my Asics, but I guess I can’t knock it until I try it. Almost coming full circle, from barefoot to shoes to barefoot, but I don’t think that the barefoot running idea will force people to ditch their other shoes, so that really leaves us still in the shoe category.

While mostly out of my research I have decided that shoes should be disinfected and removed upon entering a house (the Japanese have always had it figured out), I still believe that all South Africans need to start wearing shoes and putting them on their children. Just doing what I can to try to save some shoeless Afrikaner at a time.