Tonya and I had lunch today up on the roof.  Tonja expressed how difficult it was to create a meal for under $3 (I’m asking people not to spend more than $3 on a meal for me.) Yet, today I feasted on healthy spinach leaves with peaches and nuts. Tonja knows how to streach a dollar. As a single mother she raised three beautiful children and the love she gave them cost nothing. She grew up appreciating the little things. Being raised by a loving depression-era grandmother instilled in Tonja a deep commitment to making a difference in the world. Regardless of her own challenging situation as a single mother, Tonja acted on her value of making a difference by volunteering in a soup kitchen.

When I asked who were her mentors in addition to her grandmother, Tonja named her 1st grade teacher, James Knowlton at Crown Hill Elementary in Kitsap County. He passed away recently. She credits him with inspiring her to dream and the gift of believing in herself. What a powerful influence our teachers have; they teach us how to learn and think; they inspire us to the greatness of our potential.

Tonja would write thank you notes to her children’s teachers for being a positive influence on their lives. Teachers spend more time with our children than we do and she wanted to honor them. She would frequently hear back that no parent had ever written them a thank you before. How sad.

This is the note I wish I’d written my third grade teacher at Olympic Hills Elementary before she passed away:  “Dear Mrs. Kvarnstrom, I’ll always remember your third grade class with love because you opened the world to me through reading. I still remember the postcard you sent me when you went to Norway in which you wished your whole third grade class could have been there with you. Thank you for the gift of learning. I’m grateful I still carry that gift with me every day.”

When was the last time you thanked a teacher in your life?

PLEASE VOTE FOR TONJA’S BOOK

Tonja authored heART That Is Making A Difference. When she wins, prize money will go to FareStart contributors to the book and a foundation she’ll start to help the homeless. VOTE HERE for her book to win.

Tonja’s passion of honoring organizations that make a difference to the homeless led her to create Show-me-a-sign on RedBubble.  Check it out!

Good thing I’m living alone in this tent because it’s been 9 days without a ‘decent’ hot shower. Certainly the camping sun shower is adequate and I grudgingly admit it does the job with much less water. It’s true, at home I linger under the clean free-flowing hot water.

When we brush our teeth , how often do we let the water run in the sink?

Here’s a fun Internet site created in Australia with activities to sensitize ourselves about how we use and abuse water. http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/ceoteach/taps/wateruse/water_use.htm.   Makes me think twice about how I use water.

Water:  Ndiaw Ndiaw: Rural Senegal
At Ndiaw Ndiaw, 5 hours into the desert by car from Dakar, there is no fresh water. We bathed with a tea kettle from standing well water. If I had woken there this morning, as a woman, my first task would have been to walk 3 miles to a neighboring village where there was an operational well pump.

Go ahead. Imagine you’re carrying 5 gallons of water on your head in a bucket. I used to slop most of it over the sides just walking from the village barrel to my hut. My attempts generated raucous laughter.

I’m just sure I could hear the men thinking, she’s not married, she has no children, she can’t even carry water ~ what good is she?

The water burden falls most heavily on women in developing countries. Girls are denied education because they are sent to fetch water. As adults, women often take 3-4 hours each day searching for water.

Here’s a startling statistic:
884 million people in our world lack access to clean water

That’s about 1 in 5 people who don’t have access to clean water. If you’re a family of five, pick one person in your family who must drink water from a puddle on the street.  Pretty scary.

It’s a crisis killing as many as 5,000 children a day – the equivalent of 20 airliners filled with children lost EVERY DAY to an entirely preventable public health crisis.

If you feel compelled to act on water issues, check out these two sites:

http://tapproject.org/

http://www.endwaterpoverty.org/

JP Patches is a childhood celebrity for me.  I remember being transfixed in front of the television entertained by his joyful antics.  He was magical.

The bell on the roof basket rang this morning with an urgency that said I must respond.  As I poked my head over the edge to sneak a peak at the contributor, whose face should appear but JP PATCHES himself!  Oh the rush of memories.

I am 8 years old again.  Standing on the set of his morning show.  Beside me is the SeaFair Junior Royalty King.  It was the Seattle World’s Fair and I served as junior SeaFair Royalty Queen.  (Don’t be impressed please; I was queen because my name was randomly drawn out of a hat at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce who sponsored Junior Royalty at the time.)

It is I who was in the presence of royalty: JP Patches.  I recall JP asking me if I and the Junior King were married.  I remember squishing up my face in horror.  I much preferred the SeaFair Pirate.

Today, JP brought smiles to everyone around him.  JP connected with fans of all ages as he dropped his own contribution in the basket.

I am toasty under layers of comforters and hugged by the warmth of a traditionally hand-woven Malian blanket. Do I have to face the cold outside this tent? I hear the wind whipping against the flimsy sides of the tent, pushing hard to invade my space. Oh please tell me it’s only 4:00am and I can languish under these blankets for a few more hours.

Then I thought of Fatoumata in Mali, West Africa. The thought of Mo encourages me to jump out of bed without a single whine and bless the sides of the tent protecting me from the force of wind. Mo sleeps on the sidewalk in front of the mosque in Bamako. She doesn’t have a tent.

Her story reminds me why I’m up here and I honor her every day for reminding me of how much I have, even in the worst of times:

Mo was the youngest beggar to attend Hèrè Jè. With no birth records, we guessed she was about 11 years old. From a rural village, her parents came to Bamako looking for employment. What they found was begging.  Shortly after Mo’s birth, her father died leaving her blind mother and 5 babies to fend for themselves.  Mo and her sisters sometimes found peanuts to sell on the street.

Mostly they begged on the streets. Their “home” an alcove on the sidewalk in front of the grand mosque. When we first met Mo, she didn’t remember eating regularly. She explained mostly they ate meager leftovers from people bringing food to the mosque.  Only once did Mo remember receiving a new dress for a Tabaski celebration.  Mostly she relied on throwaway clothing from others.

Fast-forward 4 years.  Mo is eating healthy food every day. She supports her mother and sisters.  At Hèrè Jè Center, Mo learned to use a serger that “finishes” fabric edges.  Not only has she mastered the machine ~ she also knows how to repair the serger when it breaks down. We think she could become an engineer! Her favorite activity is wax-stamping the fabrics. She’s a master.

When she first came to Hèrè Jè we asked her dream.  Her response, “To earn enough money so my mother doesn’t have to beg at all.”

Mo is now a talented artist creating beautiful hand-wax stamped fabrics. Her dream has come true.

Mo is why I have no complaints living up on this roof.  Bring on the wind.  Bring on the rain. I am impervious to it all because of Mo.

Lori Matsukawa interviewed me tonight for the 6:30 news on KING TV. I can’t believe they could edit and get this online so fast! Amazing team and I appreciated them coming out to support our cause and give it such fabulous visibility! Thank you!!

Check out the story for yourself:  http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=386979

I thought meals up on the roof would be about the food. Silly me. Meals are a means for conversation. Dialogue about what’s ON the table, WHO prepared the meal and who’s AT the table.

Meals have become, slow-down-sit-down-notice-the-food-and-sometimes-even-share-it-with-the-person-who-prepared-it-and-has-a-story-to-tell kind of eating.

I totally confess. I’ve convinced myself I’m so busy that dinner consists of opening the freezer, un-thawing store-bought pizza, standing over the sink eating with my hands to minimize the washing of plates. Napkin? Unnecessary. Crumbs fall directly into the sink. In all fairness, I’m communing with nature while I eat ~ I can see the birds outside my kitchen window.

So meals are a whole new experience up here on the roof.

Meals Day ONE

Sue Sorensen (aka Sue Soaring Sun) lives in Edmonds and has an amazing garden. I ate her garden for lunch; well not exactly the whole thing:  fresh cucumbers, broccoli and peas straight from the pods. Add a touch of natural yogurt with dill ~ voila ~ can you hear me feeling self-rightously full of healthy food! Mom, are you reading this?! Yes, I ate a whole meal of fresh vegetables. (And yes, sometimes I make up words.)

Sue is an artist. Don’t imagine the word “artist” as one-dimensional. As a lawyer Sue uses her art of research to help others know the law. As a garden artist she tills the soil by hand to feed her family with healthy foods. As a mother Sue guides her daughter with the art of love. Add power seller on the internet artist and activist artist helping save the Historic Rose House in Edmonds and you get the picture. A full artistic life.

So I was grateful when she gifted her time to prepare a meal for me. Sue commented, “Like many busy women sometimes you just ‘forage’ to put something together. I happen to be able to forage in my garden.” Lucky me she forages.

Have a look at what people spend on food for a week in different parts of the world.
http://www.everybodygoto.com/2007/10/12/what-people-eat-around-the-world/

What do you notice? How might you think about food differently?

Food As Survival

At the Bamako based Hereje Training Center in Mali,West Africa, previously begging street children eat breakfast and lunch every day at the center. Learning to eat nutritiously is as much a part of the curriculum as health, AIDs prevention, literacy and social skills. While begging on the streets the girls were lucky to eat something every two days.

I noticed the first few weeks at Hereje Center, new students will spend all their money on food.  Students receive a stipend while they learn to prevent them from having to beg during the 18 month training.  The $20 stipend covers transport, their food, food for any family they may have, water plus a portion to a savings account in a local microfinance institution.

I remember asking Sanaba, 15, when she first came to the center, “What is your dream?” Her response, “To eat until I am full.” In the beginning, some students would wake at 4:00 am in the morning to walk to Hereje Center instead of spend money on bus fare.

And what do they do with the extra money you ask? When I asked Assa, 14, she reached into her pocket; with a big grin, she offered me a piece of candy.

6:15 am

I’m up on the roof waiting for the King 5 TV interview. It’s chilly. The sky is overcast. The sun is rising somewhere out there, lighting the buildings in downtown Edmonds. The city is just beginning to wake up. Looks like King 5 had other breaking news, so I’m headed down to the shop for last minute prep before I officially go up to the roof.

11:30am

I’m totally stressed. Just beam me up Scotty. Thank heavens for volunteer Dana Nunnelly who arrived just in time to send me home for a rest. One of the many lessons I’m learning is to ask for help; and accept the gift of help from others. What a joy to be around volunteers who show up just when you need them most. It’s what I love about what I do – being surrounded by caring volunteers dedicated to service. I can only hope they get as much from this as I do.

3:30pm – One hour to lift off!

Just arrived back at the shop after a visit home to pack a bag. Excitement is building. Dana has everything under control.

Henry is 10. He’s number one volunteer in charge today of no parking signs and barriers at both ends of main street for the arrival of Engine 20 from Edmonds Fire Department. Maddie is in High School; Maddie joined us just last week to start her service learning volunteering, even though she’s not getting credit until school starts in the Fall. These are just two of almost 20 volunteers who showed up to help and support me today for this Up On The Roof event.

9:00pm – First post from up on the roof!

The moon is keeping me company. It’s as though time is suspended up here. Being in this new space reminds me of my first night in a new country. New smells.  Different noises.  Is that scratching George the raccoon who hangs around downtown Edmonds?  Will he join me in my star gazing tonight?

Click here to see photos from today on our Flickr page.

And click here to see even more photos and videos from today on Dana’s Flickr page.

From the Everett Herald:

Carol Schillios has cleared her schedule and her refrigerator. Her friends know not to call the house, but to check her mailbox every few days.

Schillios may not be home for months.

This Friday, she’s moving up. Up a tall, metal ladder. Up to a flat, gray rooftop.

And that’s where she’ll stay, for who knows how long.

Schillios isn’t coming down from the roof of her Edmonds store until a million people have donated a dollar to aid humanitarian efforts and pledged to do one thing to help make the world a better place.

Click here to read the full article.

When we talk about food in developing countries, a lot of people think the focus is about poverty — that’s not what my focus is. Food represents both culture and survival; we build community when we break bread together. So it’s a natural fit to learn and build community around a meal and this goes much further than Mali, Africa where my training center is; it can be right next door. Part of my effort here is to educate people on what living on $7 per day looks like, by giving them an opportunity to make meals and share them with me. If you’re close to my Edmonds rooftop you can sign up to bring me a meal–the information is below. If you’re a distance away–you can follow what’s happening on my blog as I share my experiences.

To Sign Up:

1. Pick a date between August 1 – 31
2. Pick a meal, either lunch or dinner
3. Confirm with Ari at arielmacpherson@gmail.com

Prepare the meal:

Gather family, friends and/or neighbors and prepare a meal from a developing country of your choice. Set aside a portion to bring and remember, my portion can’t cost more than $3! I’ll want to know about your experience researching and preparing the meal so be sure to share that with me via email: c.schillios@verizon.net.

Dine together

The Rose House has offered their kitchen if you and your family or group want to prepare a meal and eat together at the Rose House. Contact Ari to reserve the Rose House for your developing country meal.

Deliver: the meal to 523 Main and I’ll haul it up to the roof in the basket!

• Serve Lunch between 12-1PM
• Serve Dinner between 6-8PM

Guidelines:

• Carol has water
• Please bring food on environmentally disposable plates
• Make proteins from things other than red meat