author intrusion

does it really get there?

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Link: - In Touch.

I love Christmas shopping. Especially since I came across a charitable gift catalog, and while casually thumbing through it, found that $25 would open the door for a girl in China to attend school. I could donate this gift in the name of my teacher-sister. Perfect! For $60, I could buy rice seedlings for a farmer in Cambodia to feed his family and generate income. What better gift for my environmentally minded agriculturalist son? And just $25 for a baby goat to almost single-handedly lift a family from Senegal out of poverty—who wouldn’t treasure such a Christmas present?

I had so much fun matching a donation to each person on my gift list. But later, as I began to see more and more statistics concerning misused funds by non-profits, I began to wonder: Did my hard-earned cash actually make it to that little schoolgirl? Did the farmer get his full allotment of seedlings? And what about the family and its budding goat business? Did my gifts really impact the people for whom they were intended? If I had such questions, I was certain others were also asking. So, for all of us, I determined to find out “the rest of the story.”  I would follow the donations all the way to the people who received them.

Because the catalog that first hooked me was Partners International’s Harvest of Hope, I asked them for permission to follow up on their projects—no strings attached. They agreed. So, toting tape recorder and camera, I set off—for North Africa, Senegal, and Sudan; India, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China. And, oh, the things I saw!

need a skirt?

Well, the time of shameless consumerism has begun! The headline of our paper last Wednesday read, WHY GIVE THANKS WHEN YOU CAN SHOP? I don't know about you, but that made me pause and feel a little sick. It's funny how the one holiday that hasn't been co-opted by consumerism may be simply overtaken by it. I mean, why encourage people to buy stuff for Thanksgiving when you can have people buy stuff on Thanksgiving?

I'm always in a quandary about Christmas gifts. It's so easy to just run out to Target or the mall. But for me, I'm so awful at shopping, I get overwhelmed and just pick up stuff that looks good enough. I hate that about myself. This year, I'm kicking back a little.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be directing you to websites where you can shop in your jammies and slippers and help support people in developing nations who are trying to support their family. The items are fair trade and ethically made. (Just say no to Sweat Shops! :-D) This tree skirt was made in India through ASHA, an organization that represents 800 artisans. At the website, A Greater Gift, you'll find scads of beautiful holiday linens, teas, coffees, dishware, jewelry, home and office organizers, and more.

Why not make your Christmas shopping count for more?  Besides, some of this stuff is just gorgeous.