The Truth About Chocolate

Among other things, I am a chocolate lover. I just came across an article about the trafficking of children into the chocolate business. An estimated 12,000 children have been trafficked into Cote d’Ivoire to work on small cocoa farms. Nearly half of the world’s chocolate comes from Cote d’Ivoire. That's 12,000 children making our cheap-o chocolate!! This really rocks me. So what can we do as consumers of chocolate (some of us more than others).

After a little research, I found out that fair trade chocolate is also traffik free chocolate. I will be really careful where I buy chocolate from now on. Check out the Good Chocolate Guide to find out where you can buy Fair Trade Chocolate locally. Trader Joes brand is fair trade certified and Whole Foods carries fair trade chocolate as well. Help me by spreading the word about chocolate! Just another step in putting traffickers out of business...

Last Call for AWAKE!!

OCC's Awake Women's Event is coming up this weekend! We moved the event into a larger room so that you can still have a chance to register but space is filling up fast!

Check out www.occ.org for details or e-mail charlened@occ.org
This event is going to be life-changing (and very not cheesy!) You can also register the night of the event if you are a last minute kind of person. (It starts at 7pm...)

For a preview of our speakers, you can visit;

www.sunbreaksintherainycity.blogspot.com (Jodie Howerton, speaker)

www.onemomtrying.blogspot.com (Neely McQueen, speaker)

www.troniefoundation.org (Rani Hong, speaker)

www.mrssyrup.blogspot.com (Marisa Butterworth, worship leader)

See you all there!

Freedom Stones are Back!

Lynne just returned from another trip to Thailand where she met with the boys making the Freedom Stone necklaces and brought some back for us to sell! We only have a couple left after our meeting yesterday but email her (lynnee@occ.org) if you would like one. We also have another shipment ordered so if you can't buy one this time around, we will have more!

Date Change for Pictures for a Purpose

We have changed the date for Pictures for a Purpose to Saturday, June 28th. We will start selling the appointments at the May meeting. Be ready to sell!

Pictures for a Purpose

Our 1st ever Pictures for a Purpose Event is coming up soon! It looks like the event will take place on Saturday, April 26th and it will go all day (although this hasn't been finalized yet). Ashley Julian and Amy Cheng will be taking the photos and all profits will go toward our project at the India/Nepal border. Stay tuned for more info!! In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful baby pictures! Who wouldn't want pictures taken of their kiddos as a great way to help keep other kids from being trafficked into slavery?!?

NEXT WOP MEETING APRIL 6th!

Hello Women of Purpose!

We will be having our next Women of Purpose meeting on Sunday, April 6th at 9:30am. We are going to be launching our first
fundraiser to help stop trafficking on the India/Nepal border and I would be honored if everyone would do their best to be there. If it isn't a possibility, I totally understand and will email you personally asking for your help! ;) As soon as I have our room
confirmed, I will post it and email a reminder!

I love you guys!

one thing

I think I might steal this mission statement from someone...

"Every day, I try to live my life in such a way that I accomplish at least one thing that will outlive me and last for eternity."

at least one thing...we can all do that, right?

Awake Women's Event *Update*

I am so excited to announce that we will have a special guest speaker at the Awake Women's Event! Rani from the Tronie Foundation will be speaking on Saturday afternoon (April 12th)! Check out www.troniefoundation.org for more information on her and her husband's organization. I saw her on Oprah a while ago and she has an incredible story to tell. Our Women of Purpose group will also be working to help their organization at some point down the road so it will be really great for us to hear what she is doing. Make sure to put the event down on your calendar. (April 11th and 12th) We will be able to register soon!

To Starbucks or Not to Starbucks...

I just heard something that piqued my curiosity on another friends blog. The woman on the video briefly spoke about Starbucks and their strained relationship with the country of Ethiopia (the true birthplace of coffee). She mentioned the extremely low amount Starbucks pays the Ethiopian farmers per pound and then how much they charge us for the coffee (one specific Ethiopian brew sells for $26 per pound in the US). It is no wonder the country of Ethiopia can't catch a break.

My husband and I are huge coffee drinkers and have spent way too much at our local Starbucks. I have always thought Starbucks to be a globally responsible company that takes their billions made on gourmet coffee sales and gives back. It turns out that I may have been wrong. While Starbucks seems to be taking action to care for the environment (obviously important for their coffee bean business) they do not seem to put the same energy into the care of the people that supply them with their beans (Google Starbucks Ethiopia for a ton of articles and visit Starbucks.com for more info). A cnnmoney.com article says this:

"Last season, that pound of coffee fetched farmers an average price of $1.45. Figuring in the cost of generator fuel, bank interest, labor and transport across Ethiopia's dusty roads, it netted them less than $1. In the U.S., however, that same pound of coffee commands a much higher price: $26 for a bag of Starbucks' roasted Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo."

I have a decent understanding of business and I have no doubt that what Starbucks is doing is completely legal. The question is this... is it ethical? Is this the problem with the world today? Just because it isn't illegal to pay these farmers WAY less than you are making, it isn't necessarily right. Is this the problem with big business? Is it impossible for us to see the people that work in the dry, dusty Ethiopian fields as legitimate people with real flesh and blood families. Do we notice or care that they have children that are starving? Do we care that the people of Ethiopia are no where near getting by? Do we just overlook it because it makes us uncomfortable....... I have felt convicted because I am just as guilty of this as Starbucks.

So what do we do? We can approach this with anger and write nasty letters and stage a boycott that doesn't really make any impact. (This is where I was at yesterday). OR!! We can approach this with a gentle hand and give Starbucks (and other companies like it) a chance to do something revolutionary and start really taking care of the suffering, invisible people of the world. Let's give them the opportunity to change how we do business in the US.

The bottom line is this... I am just as guilty as Starbucks. I rarely think about where my food comes from or where my clothing was made or who made it... This is a call to begin thinking about it. This is a call for us all to take action.

Awake Women's Event at OCC

Time to wake up, ladies!

April 11th and 12th....

Stay tuned for this fabulous, fabulous, very not traditional women's event coming to Overlake Christian Church.... In other words, this event will not look like your grandmother's bathroom AND it will meet you where YOU are at......

Speakers are Jodie Howerton, Neely McQueen, Jennifer Wilshire, and a Rani Trong from The Tronie Foundation.
Worship by Marisa Butterworth (scary I know :) )

I am SO excited! Keep your ears and eyes open!

And our next Women of Purpose meeting is...

Sunday, March 2nd! Put it on the calendar! We will be meeting from 9:15am to 10:45am in the Music Suite's Orchestra Room. See you all then!
PS. I will be sending out a couple of email reminders as well.

The necklaces Not for sale at this time...

So sorry ladies.... I just received an email from Leah (who dreamt up the Freedom Stones project and works for World Concern in Thailand) that she has had a major family emergency and might be moving back home to the states as soon as next week. I do not have any details but she asked for prayer for her family. In the meantime, Freedom Stones is on hold... I am sorry if anyone was wanting to order them! Let's pray. I'll post details as I have them...

Order Freedom Stone Necklaces

Here are some of the examples of what these women can do! The Jewelry averages from $35-$50, believe me, they are worth every penny and then some. Each necklace is so well made. Each piece has meaning. I bought the red thick-stoned one with the silver pieces. It was $50. The women can also make long beaded necklaces that hang down for a bit less cost. I would suggest everyone in our Women of Purpose group order a necklace. It makes you feel so proud when you wear it. If you have questions about this please contact me.

corriewest@yahoo.com (206)349-0734 

Freedom Stones and Girl Power Hour

Sorry it has taken me a week to write about this great event, but here it goes...

I took on the mission to sell Freedom Stone necklaces at this great women's networking event in down town Seattle "Girl Power Hour." This was a great success! I sold all 10 of the necklaces and all of the money went to help continue this project in Thailand. These necklaces are so amazing and special. They are hand made by a missionary and Thai women who have survived and gotten out of the sex trade and prostitution rings in Thailand. The money goes to help continued support in the mission to provide micro loans, training facilities and safe houses for these women. I am very proud to say that I have helped to get the word out about this project to a group who would have otherwise been unknowing. I was able to speak in front of around 75 women about what Women of Purpose is doing and what the Freedom Stone program is all about. 

Women from all walks of life expressed interest in helping out with our cause. A boutique owner offered to sell the necklaces at her shop for no cost during the month of May. Another women offered up her web design services to help build the Freedom Stone website. I am so thankful to the women who helped out with this. I hope to do many more creative things with Freedom Stones and women of purpose. 

If you would like to place your own order for necklaces, please contact me.

corriewest@yahoo.com

Great Book I've Been Reading...

I have been reading this book for the last three months (pathetic since it is only 357 pages) and it has really been challenging a lot of my views, changing my heart in certain areas and helping me to realize what we are all called to... It is called "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. If you pick it up, prepare yourself to be rocked. I just read this paragraph last night (that is not all I read last night but close :) ) and it really resonated with me. I woke my sleeping husband up to read it to him and I just thought that I would share it.

"Just as "believers" are a dime a dozen in the church, so are "activists" in social justice circles nowadays. But lovers are hard to come by. And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about. We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists but of lovers - a community of people who have fallen desperately in love with God and with suffering people, and who allow those relationships to disturb and transform them."