DAy 265: Product Line Photo Shoot
We’re in the midst of coordinating what is going to be a spectacular, fashion-forward, eye-catching, breath of fresh air photo shoot for the Nyara product lines.
Our photographer is the incomparable Jen Picard.
One of our models is my dear friend and colleague, creator of FORWARD Magazine, Jessica Matten.
Stay tuned for more details!
Nyara branding shoot
Spent the day shooting the aesthetic for three lines of Nyara jewelry. Wish I could share more, but this is top secret until the launch! I’m also putting together a proposal and preliminary design for the Attiak Women’s Business Group workspace. If you support women in business, you can help bring this project to fruition!
We are very excited for this launch, and will share more when we can!
Day 237: These guys and Mama Hope!!
Everyone needs to stop getting it so twisted. Africa doesn’t need you to save it from itself. Besides saying “Africa” all the time is like generalizing all of Europe or Asia. 54 countries people. 54 very different countries. How can you try to cram 54 countries into one massive (negative degrading) stereotype? In the words of one of the ministers at Agape, “step away from the stupid!”
Je Rends Grâce: 365 days of gratitude: I Digress: An observation of "First World" Arrogance.
Taking a moment to step away from the purpose of the blog to just share a thought:
My dear friend and colleague shared some information with me this morning about riots that occurred in Gulu. My friend, to clarify, is a Gulu resident and an Acholi. He became a refugee at the age of 7 in Sudan due…
Day 229 (Apr 16)
Saddened and angered over IC’s attempted screening of Kony 2012 in Gulu. It erupted into multiple gun shots and soldiers filled the streets. This message was shared with me by a dear friend who is, yes, Acholi and living in Gulu. I’m not sharing this person’s name out of fear it results in this person person being a target for UPDF and/or IC supporters. For anyone who still wants to ignorantly (and arrogantly) state, “well they’re just trying to do something good” - wake up. It’s easy to be so laissez-faire and flippant when it’s not your home that is being affected. In fact, when making that kind of lame comment, you prove just how arrogant and inneffectual western-based “aid” can be because the root of it is stemmed in something so vile and flagrantly stupid. I find it incredible that even when locals from Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, [insert one of the 54 diverse African nations here] present their argument as to why this IC campaign is bunk, they are met with outrageously rude and demeaning comments from Westerners that have never been to any country in Africa. Check yourself. Do you really know better than the Ugandan activist, the Nigerian scholar, the Sudanese farmer, the Algerian woman…You’re prepared to tell them, to their face even, that when it comes to what they need, you know better? The road to hell is paved with good intentions, indeed.
In all of this, I’m thankful that my friends and colleagues in Gulu and Atiak are still alive.
Day 228 (Apr 15)
Very excited and grateful to be able to contribute to A Day Without Dignity. This is very important to me and I want to make sure I write something worth reading!
Day 227 (Apr 14)
An amazing chat with TMS Ruge of Project Diaspora. I can’t say how incredibly wonderful it is to speak with someone who shares the same perspective on what exactly “aid” should be and look like. I’m honoured to have the Co-Founder of such a positive organization want to invest time and thought into meaningful dialogue with me about CH.
Day 225: What an amazing AGM with some amazing new board members. 2012 is going to be an incredible year for Caleb’s Hope. Big props to Nicky Bastos, Tonie McMahon, Natalie Davison and my mother.
Visible Children: Misinformed and naive.
From a Canadian Press interview with a New York PR firm hired by Invisible Children:
“With all due respect, I think [Mr. Oyston’s] criticisms and things he’s written are important but are a little misinformed and naive,” said Jesse Derris of Sunshine, Sachs & Associates.
To which I shrug and…
Please Read - Kony 2012: what’s the real story
The Guardian newspaper in the UK is trying to work with people who have worked or travelled extensively in Northern Uganda to get a more accurate story to that represented in the Kony 2012 video. Many critics, to date, have argued that the video does not reflect the real concerns and issues faced in Northern Uganda. As Arthur Larok, Action Aid’s director in Uganda argues:
Many NGOs and the government, especially local government in the north, are about rebuilding and securing lives for children, in education, sanitation, health and livelihoods. International campaigning that doesn’t support this agenda is not so useful at this point. We have moved beyond that.
READ the stories, as told from those who work on the ground in Northern Uganda, who’s very clear that “social stability, health and education” are more important than trying to capture a man who hasn’t been in the country for 6 years.
Visible Children: We got trouble.
For those asking what you can do to help, please link to visiblechildren.tumblr.com wherever you see KONY 2012 posts. And tweet a link to this page to famous people on Twitter who are talking about KONY 2012!
I do not doubt for a second that those involved in KONY 2012 have great intentions, nor…
