Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Exploring Colorado!


          Time has really been flying by these last few days. My time spent in Kansas flew by. I had such a great time seeing more relatives and having time to just read and relax. I also got to help celebrate Beth and Nadia’s birthdays that are this week. Nadia was so cute as she grabbed at her cake and got all messy as she enjoyed eating it. My grandma and I drove out to Colorado on Wednesday. My grandparents built a cabin in the early eighties on Mt. Princeton near Buena Vista. I have been coming out here since I was a baby and the place really is a second home to me. Actually, in many ways, it is the only place where I feel I truly belong.
            Home has been an interesting concept that I have spent a lot of time thinking about in the last few years. I was born in Kansas, but moved away when I was six, so Kansas really is not home. But I never felt like I truly belonged in Indiana and could never see a future there. I am settled in Pandora, but I don’t know many people in the town and even though I have a job and a great bedroom, the place will never truly be home for me. I have spent more time at college than in Pandora. I love Harrisonburg and Virginia, but I do not see myself living there after college. So this only leaves Colorado.
            Here, up high over 9,000 feet I feel a sense of security and comfort. No matter how much time I spend away, being back in the mountains feels so natural and truly at home. It is here that I spent so many summer weeks and loved being as a child. As an adult I still feel that same sort of magic about the place. The cabin is isolated so that life just seems to slow down and I am filled with peace that I have found no other place. It is here that I know and feel the presence of God. I hear the wind blow through the Aspen trees with hummingbirds buzzing around and all my walls and insecurities I built up over the years I was away seem to just fall down. Here, I have time to truly reflect on my life because everything seems just so far away and am able to be the person that I want.
            And in this place, I do not only have time to be myself, I have adventure knocking at my door. Beyond reading, scrapbooking, and spending time with my family, there is so much to do! We always visit at least once the nearby ghost town of St. Elmo. This old mining village still has some of its original buildings and is alive with history. But my favorite part of the town is where some logs and boards have been placed on the ground to provide a place to feed chipmunks. The chipmunks here are so tame and come out everyday to eat sunflower seeds out of the hands of tourists. As an animal love, this never gets old! Friday morning my grandma and I drove out and I enjoyed having the chipmunks crawl all over me as I held out my hand to feed them.
            This weekend my grandma and I had a great adventure as we went on a road trip to Denver. This was my first experience in Denver other than dropping people off at the airport. We met up with my friend Lauren in Littleton at a really great cafĂ©. Now Lauren, who is from the Denver area, had been in my art history class in Belgium, and we had become good friends as we traveled on the different field trips together. I had not seen her since I left Europe, so I was so excited to catch up with her! We had a delightful lunch (fish tacos) and explored a little of Littleton before heading downtown Denver to the new History Colorado Museum. This museum opened a little over a month ago and has a lot of interactive displays to teach people about this great state. Not only did we learn a lot of history, Lauren and I also got to go ski jumping (virtually) and milk a face cow! I loved the visit so much and am looking forward to the time when I can go out and spend a longer amount of time with the beautiful Lauren!
            After dropping Lauren back off at her apartment, Grandma and I drove to Arvada to visit her niece Jeannette. We had a lovely dinner then headed out to the suburb of Golden where we had a lovely walk by the river and ate some frozen yogurt. Jeannette then drove us up to the top of the mountain where you can see Denver in the far distance. Buffalo Bill is supposedly buried at the top of the mountain. Once again, the beauty of the mountains took my breath away. No matter how many times I come here, I am still blown away by the beauty. As amazing as some of the places I visited in Europe were, nothing compares to the Rocky Mountains!
            After spending the night at Jeannette’s house, Grandma and I drove to Vail, Colorado. We bought our tickets and headed to the top of the mountain on a gondola ride. I had been up here with my dad a year and a half ago, but that time the mountain was full of snow and skiers. This time, the mountains were green (well as green as it gets during the heat and dry weather Colorado is getting) and full of hikers and bikers. The views from the top are outstanding and it was so fun to be able to see mountains in every direction you look! We ate lunch at the top before heading back down into town. Once back in town, we looked around at the farmer’s market and a couple of store before driving back down to Buena Vista to get some ice cream.
            On our way back, about ten miles north of Leadville, we went past a forest fire! We could only see smoke and it was still a ways away from the road and any houses. That fire (the New Treasure fire) is one of twelve fires currently burning in the state! It is really scary watching the nightly news to hear of the different fires spreading across the state. The fire we saw has only burned 300 acres so far, but is only 5% contained. This is tiny compared to the High Park fire, which has spread across 82,000 acres! There is a fire ban in place in most areas around the state and even the village of Alpine, where my cabin is located, is taking every precaution against this very present danger! We really need to keep these fires and men and women fighting them in our thoughts and prayers. 11,000 have been evacuated throughout the state and if rain does not come soon, the situation will only get worse!
            Grandma and I plan on driving back to Kansas tomorrow, then I will leave Friday to spend the weekend in St. Louis with my other Belgium roommate, Erica before going home on Sunday. I have loved this time with my grandma and honestly, I am not looking forward to heading home. 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Researching Eastern Congo

          In November 2010, I traveled with four other EMU students to New York City to attend MCC's UN Liaison's annual student conference. That year the topic was conflict minerals. We learned all about the four minerals (Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum, and Gold) that are being mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo to be used in our cell phones, computers, and other electronics. The mining of these minerals is causing much violence, however, because different rebel groups fight to control the mines. We heard many different speakers who spoke on the work the United Nations is doing to pass international legislation that will make electronic companies have better control of the resources and do due diligence to know exactly where their minerals are coming from, as to not add to the violence in the country. The conference was very informative, but we left feeling kind of helpless, not knowing what we could personally do to help make things better.
          Then this past semester, EMU's International Student Organization hosted a speaker from the Enough Project for International Women's Day, who spoke on conflict minerals and the violence it has caused to women in the country. My friend Josh Kanagy, who had been in New York with me, and I attended the coffeehouse and talked to the speaker afterward. We learned of the Enough Project's campaign titled the "Conflict-Free Campus Initiative." Two weeks later, Josh and I traveled to Washington D.C. to attend a weekend conference with students across the United States who were interested in working to stop the human rights abuses in the DRC. The Conflict-Free Campus Initiative is taking place on over a hundred college campuses across the country. As a huge consumer of electronics, colleges can make an impact on electronic companies policy. The campaign works to have universities pass resolutions saying that they only want to buy electronics that come "conflict-free," or in other words, do not contribute to the violence in the DRC. Josh and I learned a lot and decided that we want to start the campaign at EMU. We believe that this is a tangible way that we can help to try to make change.
          So this summer I decided to make it my goal to learn everything I could about the situation in Eastern Congo and the best ways to get involved. The first part of my plan was to get informed. To do this, I have been reading informational websites, blogs, and books. My first book was Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond by Don Cheadle (the actor from Hotel Rwanda) and John Prendergast (the founder of the Enough Project). Although this book did not directly address Congo, it did give some ways on how everyday people can work to make a difference. They explained in detail how people need to raise awareness, raise funds, write letter, call for divestment, join an organization, and lobby the government.Many celebrities, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and others, have joined in this cause to try to make a difference when it comes to genocide.
          The next book that I just finished is called Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason K. Stearns. The book gives the political history of the conflict in Congo since 1992. I was very impressed with the book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand the conflict. I leaned so much about how the government in the DRC functions and how the conflict in the country cannot be reduced to just one cause. The conflict minerals play a role, but are only one of many strands of an intricate conflict that has been going on for years. However, we as Americans have a role to play to make it end. Stearns writes in his conclusion,
            "But why should we help at all? First, because it is not just an act of joint humanity. We owe it to the Congolese. Most obviously because of the centuries of slavery, colonialism, and exploitation of rubber, copper, and diamonds, which benefited western companies and helped build Belgian cities.Those past injustices should be reason enough for feeling a moral debt toward the country, but we don't need to go so far. Most of the foreign companies operating in the Congo today are listed on stock exchanges, are incorporated in Europe or North America, or obtain their financing from banks based in those countries. Many of these companies are engaging in questionable behavior that would be proscribed in their home countries. Big mining companies have signed contracts that provide little revenue to the state and have allegedly provided large kickbacks to government officials. Smaller trading companies buy minerals from the eastern Congo without scrutinizing the origins of their shipments to make sure they are not funding armed groups. Se we should do what we can to allow the Congolese to benefit from their riches, not be held back by them."
          I am very convicted that this is an issue all of us need to be concerned with. We all have cell phones and computers and so in a way, we are all partly responsible for some of the violence. So it is our responsibility to stand up to electronic companies and demand conflict-free products! We need to tell our Congressmen that we want legislation passed that will benefit those in Congo. I hope to post more throughout the summer of ways in which I am becoming involved and how we can make a difference from the United States. Good resources I have found are the Enough project's website, http://www.enoughproject.org/conflict_areas/eastern_congo along with their sister organization Raise Hope for Congo http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/. To keep up with current developments in the country I would suggest reading Jason Stearn's blog at http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/.
         

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Zoos and Kansas

Here I am in Kansas, exploring a different part of the infinite abyss. The last few weeks have actually gone really well for me. I finished up strawberry picking last Thursday morning and am so glad to be done! Friday my parents and I went to the Columbus Zoo! It has been voted one of the best zoos in the country, so I have been wanting to visit for a while. It really was a great zoo, although it was quite busy. After the zoo, we ate at our favorite Columbus restaurant, Abuelo’s before heading to a Clipper’s (the minor league baseball team) game. Saturday was spent working in my garden, then on Sunday I watched the French Open before it was called for rain and packing.
            Monday after watching Nadal win his seventh French Open (VAMOS RAFA!) I drove the thirteen hours to my grandma’s house in Newton. Tuesday I went to the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita with my grandma, my aunt Barb and uncle Sam, cousin Beth, her husband Alan, and their two kids, Simon and Nadia. I really enjoyed being there with Simon who is three and the perfect age to really enjoy a lot of the animals. The zoo itself has also been voted in the top ten zoos in the country. It is not nearly as big as Columbus, but you are able to get so close to the animals and I think I prefer it. Highlights include seeing the elephant training up close and personal, going through their jungle, and feeding the giraffes! The giraffes would come right up and stick out their tongues to grab the leaves in my hand!
            Yesterday, Grandma and I ran some errands and explored downtown Newton a little bit. After an afternoon nap, Barb and Sam with Beth and the kids came over for dinner. I loved being able to catch up more with Beth and play with Simon and Nadia. This morning Beth and I played tennis together in McPherson. It felt so good to be back out on the court and have some fun with Beth. So far, this break is really just what I needed. I have been able to relax and hear some more about my grandma’s life. I enjoy having the chance to get to know her better, while also relaxing and spending time with my cousin Beth who has always been such an inspiration to me.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Living the Reality of Each Day

          Every day is different and brings with it a different reality. Last week was really hard for me and as some wise woman reminded me, I don't like to fall. It reminds me of Relient K's song "When I Go Down." The lyrics go "I'll tell you flat out, it hurts so much to think of this. So from my thoughts I will exclude the very thing that I hate more than everything is the way I'm powerless to dictate my own moods. And I just pray my problems go away if they're ignored. But that's not the way it works. When I go down, I go down hard. It hurts to hit the bottom and of the things that got me there, I think, if only I had fought them.  If and when I can clear myself of this clouded mind I'll watch myself settle down into a place where peace can search me out and find that I'm so ready to be found."
          Last week I was tired, emotional, and a little bit lonely. All that made the rejection really hard to take. However, my summer really is not bad at all. I have already had the time to relax and catch up on sleep,  go spend time with friends out in PA, and now I am learning new lessons out in the strawberry field. I have worked harder this past week than I have in a long time, maybe my whole life. Yesterday, I picked for 2.5 hours in the morning, then planted melons and pumpkins for 4 hours before coming home for lunch and a nap, then heading back out to pick for another 2.5 hours. This morning I picked in the rain for 3 hours, then sold strawberries in a stand for 8 hours. The job may not always be fun (So far this week, my legs feel like they want to die, Monday was hot with a high of 95, My face and arms are sunburnt, the rain today was miserable, and working the stand was freezing so I had to wear 3 sweatshirts) I feel like I accomplished something at the end of the day. I love the people I work for and am making good money to pay for college next year.
          I also get the opportunity to go spend time with my grandma. Strawberries will come to an end next week and I hope to drive to Kansas on June 11. I will stay the rest of the month and hopefully Grandma and I will go out to the cabin in Colorado for a week and I can visit a couple of other friends who live out West. Then I come home and sell sweet corn for the rest of the summer. So right now I am at peace with my summer and am feeling blessed with the opportunities that it has given me.
          The other big opportunity that I have had is to do my own research. This last March I learned more about conflict minerals and the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I have been doing a lot of reading and researching so far to find out what I can do to spread awareness of the conflict occurring there. There is a lot to say on the issue, but I will write on that next time!