Save the World by Eating Chocolate

"Imagine a world where kids go to school all day, come home, play, eat a nourishing meal, and go to sleep in a nice soft bed in a warm house. While this may be true for you and I, for 286,000 children on Africa's Ivory Coast, this picture is far from reality. Those children work from sun-up to sun-down, picking cacao beans so you and I can eat this..."

Those were the opening words of Rachel's 4 H public presentation tonight on chocolate. The fair trade vs. slave trade type. It was a smashing success. Her leader said it was the best presentation he'd seen in his 6 years in 4H. (This was her 1st presentation ever!)

Rachel talked about the history and manufactury of chocolate. She educated her audience about fair trade, as well as what is truly going on with 99% of the world's chocolate production - slave trade. She ended with an upbeat note about what consumers can do to help - eat lots of Fair Trade chocolate!

She worked so hard - researching, writing, practicing - she is amazing. Her hard work paid off, AND I am so excited to have an activist in the family!

Reading like Mad - January through March, 2010

I have been reading like crazy this first quarter of the year. Here are the books:

1. The 7-Day Back Pain Cure by Jesse Cannone
2. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
4. The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. The Children’s Homer by Padraic Colum
6. Theras and his Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker
7. Journey Through Jewish History by Seymour Rossel
8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9. The Epic of Gilgamesh by N.K. Sandars
10. The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison
11. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
12. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
13. The Trial of Socrates by Don Nardo
14. Dark Water: Art, Disaster and Redemption in Florence by Robert Clark
15. Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety by Judith Warner
16. Chu Ju’s House by Gloria Whelan
17. Postcards From France by Megan Libby
18. China: Land of Dragons and Emperors by Adeline Yen Mah
19. A Year Without Made in China by Sara Buongiorni
20. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
21. Charles and Emma – The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
22. Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang
23. From the Mixed –up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg
24. Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka
25. Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick (Iraq)
26. Thura’s Diary: My Life in Wartime Iraq by Thura Al-Windawi
27. Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis
28. Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Gatto
29. Moby Dick (partially) by Herman Mellville
30. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
31. The Hole in Our Gospel by Rich Stearns
32. Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
33. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury


I'll highlight a few below.

"Lord, let my heart be broken by the things that break Your heart - that I may not forget to serve those who suffer."

That is the theme of the best book I have read this quarter.

"The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns

Stearns is the CEO of World Vision, and this book is the chronicle of his journey, to his position, but mostly to his views that things need to change. And it needs to start with US. His premise at the beginning is "God expects our lives to be characterized by these authentic signs of our own transformations: compassion, mercy, justice, and love - demonstrated tangibly." (p 57) He says "There is no "whole gospel" without compassion and justice shown to the poor. It's that simple." (p 60) And yet, we are failing. Everywhere you look, people are serving their jobs, material assets, and money before God. "For many people a career becomes the altar on which they sacrifice their lives." (p 93)

There are so many truths in this book, that I cannot provide an adequate review. So, I am going to highlight my favorite quotes, in hope that they inspire further reading.

"Why did God make me? To love, serve and obey Him. Very simple, yet extremely profound. If we all woke up every morning asking,"How can I love, serve and obey God today?" it might change everything - it might even change the world." (p 94)

"Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality." -2 Corinthians 8:13 (p 97)

"The growing gap between the richest and poorest people on earth is the greatest problem of our time" - President Jimmy Carter (p 98)

"The programs, tools, and technologies to virtually eliminate the most extreme kinds of poverty and suffering in our world are now available. This is truly good news for the poor - or is it? Not really, because we are not doing our part." (p 104)

"Imagine what would happen in your lives if there was no connection between how hard you worked and the results you got - because that is exactly the situation faced by more than one billion people who live on less than a dollar a day." For most of the poorest people in the world, their hard work doesn't matter. They are trapped within social, cultural, political and economic systems that do not reward their labor. They cannot escape the trap, and lose the one thing every person needs to thrive - hope. (p 119)

" These precious human beings created in God's image have been left behind and cast on the garbage dump of history by circumstances they cannot change. We must never say it is their fault. How dare we?" (p 120)

"The avearge income in America is $38,611 per person or about $105 per day, compared to almost half the people on earth who live on less than $2 a day" (p 121)

"If your job produces a decent income for you, do not spend it all on yourself. make some of it available to the poor and less fortunate, that they too, might live a decent life." (p 123 - modern day version of Lev 23:22)

"One of the highest and best ways of expressing our love for God is by demonstrating His love tangibly to those around us." (p 185)

These quotes seem to sum up the book for me. The end chapters discuss the hole - how people profess to be good, God-loving people and yet do nothing to help. Christianity has taken a beating with the perception that Christians are judgemental, hypocritical, old-fashioned, too involved with politics ( I have a GREAT one for this ) out of touch with reality, insenstive to others, boring, antihomosexual, not accepting of other faiths and confusing. (p 230)

The bottom line, is we need to walk the walk. So many people need help! It is our responsibility as affluent Americans and frankly - I think - more important than anything else in the world. Including all the modern views on schooling, money, consumerism, etc. (THIS to come in my review of my other favorite book this quarter!)

This book was definitely more "Christian" than a Catholic like me usually reads. We just aren't used to books with Bible quotes and such. :) But it was very positive, did not bash any religions and did not try to "save" me. A friend told me about it, and then decided to run a discussion group over 4 weeks. It was great to meet and discuss these important matters with like-minded people.

It has inspired me to do even more things like our fair trade fair, global awareness girl scout day and all my other myriad of causes. I also hope to get another JustFaith group going at church.

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

What have we been doing?

Too much to keep up with, that's for sure! So, I'll do this in one post instead of many.

So far, the highlight of this year for Alex has been the Washington State Page Program. From March 7 - 12, 2010, Alex was in Olympia, working as a House of Representatives Page. He was able to page for Representative Tim Probst from Vancouver, Washington. Representative Probst was an excellent fit for Alex, as they both are interested in the environment and education. Rep. Probst is also from Illinois and went to Notre Dame. Alex loved his week in Olympia. He is now hoping to participate in the Washington DC page program in a year or two.

Alex has also been part of the Music Works Northwest Jazz Combo this quarter. He is the piano player, and has had a lot of fun, while learning more about jazz.

And this very week, Alex is in a Lifeguard training class - every day from 9 to 5. He is learning about emergency rescue, CPR and lifeguarding skills. He hopes to work as a lifeguard somewhere this summer.

Rachel has been equally busy. Her favorite thing is theater. She has been attending a year long workshop at Studio East, and will soon debut as Puck, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". AND, she just auditioned and earned the role of Cindy Lou Who in the upcoming run of "Seussical", also at Studio East. So exciting! (Tiring, too, as I will be driving to Kirkland 4 or 5 days a week! But it is all worth it.)

She is also singing with the Snoqualmie Valley Girls Choir - which she loves. It's a great group of girls and excellent vocal training.

Rachel is still doing Girl Scouts, and both her and my favorite part of this year has been Thinking Day. Normally Thinking Day in our Girl Scout service unit has been a huge fair, with many troops putting together display booths, crafts and food related to a country of their choosing. This year the service unit asked if I would run Thinking Day. I told them yes, but only if they changed the venue to match the real intent, which is to showcase the theme "Together We Can Change the World". The powers that be thought about it, and then decided to give it a shot. We enlisted our whole troop to help plan and prepare displays and such. At one point during the process we only had around 50 girls registered to attend (as opposed to 150 in previous years). I was feeling a little discouraged, and Rachel said "Mom, if only 50 attend and learn how to change the world, it's better than 150 attending just for crafts and food." And she was right! AND, we still ended up with more than 150 people attending and high accolades for the venue. Hopefully, with or without me, the "Change the World" theme will stick!

You Can't Be Catholic If...

I'll preface by saying overall we are really happy about Alex's week at page school. We were really lucky to find a host family, with whom he could live for a week. A large (6 kids), Catholic homeschooling family, that normally only takes girl pages but allowed Alex to bunk with their 15 year old son. Such a relief to send him somewhere safe.

But I was really sad when Alex came home and told me that his bunkmate told him he couldn't be Catholic if he favored the Democratic party. WHAT!!!!!

This makes me mad on so many levels. First of all it is a direct attestation to the perception that Christians are too involved in politics. Second, when did believing in peace / anti war, protecting the environment, and providing basic services to really, really unfortunate people become anti-Catholic. And what about the view that "as Catholics, we are not single issue voters" from "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship"?

I respect those people who have different views then I, but please don't teach your kid to tell my kid he can't be Catholic!

Isn't there room for ANY choices???

This is one of the funniest articles I've seen!!!

News: Increasing Number Of Parents Opting To Have Children School-Homed

March 29, 2010 ISSUE 46•13


Parents of school-homed children say they relish the extra time they are able to spend away from their kids.



WASHINGTON—According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education, an increasing number of American parents are choosing to have their children raised at school rather than at home.

Deputy Education Secretary Anthony W. Miller said that many parents who school-home find U.S. households to be frightening, overwhelming environments for their children, and feel that they are just not conducive to producing well-rounded members of society.

Thousands of mothers and fathers polled in the study also believe that those running American homes cannot be trusted to keep their kids safe.

"Every year more parents are finding that their homes are not equipped to instill the right values in their children," Miller said. "When it comes to important life skills such as proper nutrition, safe sex, and even basic socialization, a growing number of mothers and fathers think it's better to rely on educators to guide and nurture their kids."

"And really, who can blame them?" Miller continued. "American homes have let down our nation's youth time and again in almost every imaginable respect."

According to the report, children raised at home were less likely to receive individual adult attention, and were often subjected to ineffective and wildly inconsistent disciplinary measures. The study also found that many parents expressed concerns that, when at home, their children were being teased and bullied by those older than themselves.

In addition to providing better supervision and overall direction, school-homing has become popular among mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in the day-to-day lives of their children.

"Parents are finding creative ways to make this increasingly common child-rearing track work," Miller said. "Whether it's over-relying on after-school programs and extracurricular activities, or simply gross neglect,† school-homing is becoming a widely accepted method of bringing children up."

Despite the trend's growing popularity, Miller said that school programs are often jeopardized or terminated because shortsighted individuals vote against tax increases intended to boost educational spending.

"The terrifying reality we're facing is that the worst-equipped people you could possibly imagine may actually be forced to take care of their children," Miller said.

Parents who have decided to school-home their children have echoed many of Miller's concerns. Most said that an alarming number of legal guardians such as themselves lack the most basic common sense required to give children the type of instruction they need during crucial developmental years.

"It's really a matter of who has more experience in dealing with my child," Cincinnati- resident Kevin Dufrense said of his decision to have his 10-year-old son Jake, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexia, school-homed. "These teachers are dealing with upwards of 40 students in their classrooms at a time, so obviously they know a lot more about children than someone like me, who only has one son and doesn't know where he is half the time anyway."

"Simply put, it's not the job of parents to raise these kids," Dufrense added.

Though school-homing has proven to be an ideal solution for millions of uninvolved parents, increasingly overburdened public schools have recently led to a steady upswing in the number of students being prison-homed.

Against School?

Everywhere you look, you can find a reason to homeschool...

John Gatto - Against School



Several people have mentioned John Gatto to me lately, so I decided to check him out in more detail. See John Taylor Gatto. Very interesting.