by Heather Plett | Mar 24, 2007 | Blogger meet-ups
There’s something I haven’t mentioned about my trip down south. Wanna know what it is? Okay, I’ll let you in on a little secret…. Tomorrow, I get to meet Vicki! Yippee! Vicki’s one of those people I just KNOW I’m going to love in person as much as I do online. I can’t wait! Aren’tcha jealous? I have a feeling we’re going to be doing a LOT of laughing. Our daughters, who have become penpals, are insanely jealous. But sometimes moms get to have fun too!
Gonna run now – got some packing and laundry to do.
by Heather Plett | Mar 23, 2007 | Dallas, travel
Something wasn’t sitting right. I wasn’t looking forward to this business trip as much as I usually do. Part of it was the fact that I’ll be attending a fundraising conference, and fundraising is my least favourite part of my job, so I’m not expecting to be overly inspired. But there was something more. Whenever I looked over my plans, or clicked on the hotel website where I was booked, I felt this odd achey feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Then I had one of those eureka moments. I figured it out. I was accepting the status quo and this was shaping up to be one of those “big-box” business trips. You know the feeling you get when you’ve been shopping at too many big box stores and you haven’t had a chance to see anything unique or original for a long time and your heart aches for the tiny grocery store or gift shop on the corner where you can have delightful conversation and pick up something that’s handmade or fair trade or at least a little more original than what everyone has? You don’t know that feeling? Well pay more attention next time you go shopping, because I’ll bet you’ll come home feeling different if you skip some of those big box stores next Saturday and visit at least one little Mom ‘n Pop shop.
Back to my trip… That’s the feeling I was getting when I considered this trip. I’d accepted the status quo. I didn’t know anything about downtown Dallas, so I’d simply accepted the cheapest hotel on the list of recommendations from the conference. It was feeling like a piece of my soul was about to be sucked out through my corporate credit card. Like a good little corporate drone, I would shuffle from the airport box to the airplane box to the taxi box to the generic corporate hotel box to the conference shuttle box to the sterile conference room box to the chain restaurant box, blah, blah, blah. Stop, stop, STOP! I don’t fit cleanly in all those boxes! I have to get out!
I used to do alot more of this kind of travel when I worked for the government. I’d go to conferences in big cities, stay in a generic hotel somewhere, spend my days in generic conference rooms and go home without ever feeling like my soul had breathed. To be honest, when you do nothing but visit big boxes, you could be in any city in North America and not really know the difference. Is this Toronto or Edmonton? I forget. Hmmm…. it’s April, so it must be Toronto.
I don’t usually settle for boxes anymore. Whenever I can, I do a little homework and find a unique local establishment, like a bed and breakfast or a restored country inn. When I’m there, I talk to the local propietor and find out the best local restaurants and funky shops that no corporate hotel would every recommend. That’s why I had this uneasy feeling about this trip. I hadn’t done my homework.
Now I’m happy to report, I did my homework and I’m tossing the box as far away as I can. I’ve found a bed and breakfast in a lovely restored inn in a funky neighbourhood. (No, I can’t tell you exactly which b&b, in case you’re a crazy stalker who’s got a thing for overweight middle-aged white chicks from Canada.) It’s not as convenient as the big box hotel I had originally booked, but the plus side of that is that I get to take the heritage trolley (for free!) from a block away from my b&b to within walking distance of my conference.
When I get there, I’ll have a chat with the proprietor, and I’m sure I’ll find some artsy shops and funky restaurants in the neighbourhood. At night, I’ll snuggle under my handmade quilt in my cast-iron bed and I’ll have sweet dreams. In the morning, I’ll eat a big breakfast at the antique dining room table, and then I’ll head out to catch my trolley. I might even chat with the volunteer trolley conductor who’s passionate about trolley cars. And when I’m at the conference, I’ll skip all the workshops that talk about how to maximize your charity golf game, or how to manipulate evil rich people out of their hoards of money, and instead I’ll go to those that have words like “community” and “giving circle” in the title.
I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Woohoo! This is shaping up to be a good trip after all!
by Heather Plett | Mar 21, 2007 | Africa, women
I’m feeling mightily uninspired lately, so I’m going to cheat a little and post a story I wrote for our newsletter at work. In the past year, I have had the pleasure of meeting several incredible African woman whose wisdom, boldness, and passion have inspired me. Fidelis is one of them.
Fidelis Wainana wishes that people from rich and powerful nations would stop trying to fix Africa. “What we’re asking for,” she says, “is for people to listen to us, not try to fix us.”
Wainana, a native-born Kenyan, was recently awarded the African Green Revolution Yara Prize for her work with Maseno Inter-Christian Child Self Help Group. She visited Canada as a guest of Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Micah Challenge.
“North Americans shouldn’t assume that their solutions will work for African farmers,” she said while in Winnipeg, attending a deliberative dialogue where people had gathered to talk about the Green Revolution for Africa. “People are talking about the need to increase soil fertility, but in many parts of Africa, fertility is not the issue.”
Wainana works with families led by widows or orphans to help enable them to grow their own food in a sustainable way. She insists that development work must be rooted in relationships and community. Without relying on high-cost inputs such as chemical fertilizers, her organization has helped families harvest 10 bags of maize from the same land that previously produced only one bag. Sometimes, she says, it’s just a matter of teaching them how to use the resources they already have, like manure from their livestock.
By building relationships with people, helping them to recognize their own abilities, and encouraging the sharing of knowledge among the community, Wainana’s organization has been instrumental in eradicating malnutrition and increasing the average income in over 20 villages in Kenya’s Kisumu-Maseno region. “It’s important to see the link between spirituality, community, and farming practices,” says Wainana. “My faith has a significant impact on my work and in the work of our organization. We encourage people to see their own strengths and recognize the gifts God has given them and their community. Many times, they already have all the resources they need.”
At the end of her visit to Canada, Wainana had the opportunity to address the Federal Government’s Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. In her address, she urged the Canadian government to ensure that any increase to aid for agriculture should get into the hands of the grassroots communities. “Too much money has been wasted in activities that don’t reach the grassroots,” she said. “We appreciate the support of Canadians, but we want you to walk alongside us and not try to do it for us. Please remember to listen to the voices at the grassroots.”
by Heather Plett | Mar 20, 2007 | Dallas
Early next week, I’ll be spending a few days at a conference in Dallas. I don’t have alot of time to do the tourist thing, but I should be able to at least escape for a few evenings of wandering around the heart of the city. I’ve never been there before, so I thought I’d ask… does anyone have any suggestions for some “must see” landmarks or “must eat at” restaurants in Dallas? I’m staying downtown (not far from the convention centre), and mostly I’ll just be on foot, so keep that in mind.
If you had a free evening in Dallas, what would YOU do?
by Heather Plett | Mar 19, 2007 | birthday, Maddie
My little butterfly turned five this weekend.
Happy Birthday, Maddie Monkey.
You’re growing so quickly, it almost takes my breath away. Some day soon, you’ll stop having baths with me, and you’ll no longer beg for lie-with-me-night. Some day soon, you won’t reach your arms up for me to lift you into the air. Some day you won’t ask for “trouble” and then laugh as I toss you onto the bed. Some day you won’t tell me funny stories about the little man in your toe who wipes his tiny little bum. Some day you won’t want to play “would you rather” anymore. Some day, you won’t pull out your little Fisher Price schoolhouse and ask me to play the teacher/mother while you play the child. Some day, you’ll read your own story books and no longer care if I read them to you. Some day we won’t build high towers out of Lego. Some day, you’ll ride your own bicycle and no longer bounce around on the tag-a-long, singing and laughing. Some day I won’t push you on the swing anymore.
When that day comes, I’m sure I will cherish the new moments that come with it, but a piece of me will wish that today had lasted just a little longer.
