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Advent Calendar: December 9

12/9/2016

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Day 9:

This is Achat.  He is one of our sewers at PeaceCYCLE.  He is super proud of what he does and loves to tell people about it.  He is a well versed taylor who makes school uniforms, dresses and suits for weddings, and so much more!  Now he has perfected the classic and super totes. These are his favorite items to make, and likely, if you have one, he was the one that put it all together!  (he was not so excited initially, when he discovered how hard it is to work with the plastic trash..... but... in time, he became so good at it, that he can make quite a few in a short amount of time!)

Achat, and all of our sewers, use a treadle sewing machine.  Without regular or consistent electricity, it is hard to have any electronic devices. In addition to the inconsistency, the electricity is also very expensive. In the US, we pay between 8-12 cents per kilowatt hour. In Haiti, it is 39 cents a kilowatt hour! (and consider the differential in pay scale, and now you're catching on). For this reason, the treadle works at all hours of all days. We have even helped our staff to invest in some solar lights to give them a chance to work even when it is dark.



Today's Challenge: Just take a pause each time you use any device that requires electricity. A computer, dishwasher, light switch. Consider that you have a place to charge your phone, a stereo playing music, or a blender to make a smoothie. Think about the refrigerator in your home that keeps things cool all day long without a glitch in current for even a moment. So many things throughout the day that make our lifestyles possible are completely reliant on electricity at the ready. So many electricity hungry gadgets that bless our daily lives! Even the alarm clock that you want to throw a rock at...... is a blessing! Simply be thankful today for the electricity you have access to and the many many gadgets through your day that utilizes said current.  

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Advent Calendar: December 8

12/8/2016

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Day 8:

We may look at the door to a car or truck and think nothing of it, but imagine being in your mid-40's and never having opened a car door..... that is the reality of most of our staff at PeaceCYCLE. Entering a private car is rare. Knowing how to pull up the handle to open the door is complicated and even somewhat stressful. Never before have they worn a seat-belt, and the experience of air-conditioning is like a world of its own! At PeaceCYCLE, on several occasions, we have borrowed a car and taken the staff on excursions, and the ride in the car is half of the adventure!

The common transportation method is walking or tap tap (seen here). People sit in the back of an old, rusty (but sometimes painted elaborately), small pick up on precarious benches facing one another. They often squeeze in many more people standing in the center or hanging off of the back. There is no door to enter nor exit, as you simply step onto the back to get in and out. The tap taps run up and down various roads, and thus a person may require many series of rides to arrive at their destination, getting off and then on another hot and sweaty crammed tap tap, paying out yet another portion of their minimal resources.
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Today's Challenge: As we spend the month of December opening doors, we challenge you today to pause as you open your car door today. As you get in, and as you get out, take a moment to think about how automatic it is – how you have done this for a lifetime, and how it requires no thought. Think about the door and the safety it provides for protection but also the lock that can keep things secure within the car. If you have automatic doors that open by the push of a button, revel in that amazing technology for a moment. Watch that sliding door glide open without any physical effort and be impressed.

Consider your transportation in general. Do you drive? Ride a bus? Ride bike? Walk? Consider the ease of these modes of transit and the regularity, timeliness, and cleanliness of them. Think about how safe you are when you are in a car, wearing a seat-belt, driving on roads where laws are enforced. Consider how bike lanes, stop lights, and traffic obedience creates a flow and general safety. Think about the road crews that fill in pot-holes before they become large enough to engulf your car, consider the crossing guards that help children after school, ponder for a moment the street sweeper machines and those who operate them and how that keeps the road open for travel.
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​So often we take things for granted. Today' we encourage you to be thankful for transportation!


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Advent Calendar: December 7

12/7/2016

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Day 7:

Remember Manel? We visited him and his sister the other day. These photos are taken from the rooftop of his small living space. This is Manel's favorite place to sit, in his comfortable chair on the rooftop. (A seat pulled from an old broken truck).

This is his view from his rooftop chair, over the tin roofs of many neighbors, the ravine that is filled with trash that washes down in the rains, and other folks sitting on the bridge without much to do.

One thing about our PeaceCYCLE workshop is the fact that it creates productive people who are not idle. We recognize that the idleness of so many folks is what creates much of the chaos in Haiti. We aim to positively influence the workers, not only by educating them about the environment, teaching them new skills, and empowering them, but we are also occupying them and stimulating their minds to keep them from finding their way into other troublesome activities.


Today's Challenge: When you leave your house, take note of the view you have when you are on your porch. Appreciate the trees, the grass, the snowfall, the neighbor's houses, the clean streets, the parking spaces, the driveway.

When you return home, sit in your most comfy chair or couch. Take a moment and don't “do” anything – just sit – prop your feet up. Be comfy. Appreciate it! Be thankful for soft fabric, cushioned padding, and foot rests. Take note of how many places in your house you can sit comfortably. Look around at the pillows, the blankets, the carpet. Now, while sitting there, take a moment to think about the many activities that occupy your day. Work, school, sports, meetings, volunteer activities, etc.. etc... Think about how they help you to develop as a person, to build social connections and to come up with new ideas of how to make your community better.


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Advent Calendar: December 6

12/6/2016

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Day 6:


This is Roberto. Note that his door is welded together pieces of old medal signs. He lives up the precious and narrow stairs inside this door with his aunt. Roberto, age 22, is currently attending school in the afternoons after working at PeaceCYCLE in the mornings. He is in the equivalent of the 4th grade this year. He is a typical 22 year old in that he enjoys soccer, will eat ANYTHING and everything, and loves to listen to music. But due to his circumstances in life, he has seldom been offered education opportunities, and is subsequently very behind and a bit slow in learning. (But he cuts plastic water bags like a champ!!)


In Haiti, it is not uncommon for a family to choose one child to go to school, while the others stay home. Other times, it depends which child fits into the school uniform or shoes, and they will go to school that year. In order to pass the tests to go to the next grade, the child needed to learn the material for the year, but often they may have missed many days of school due to family needs at home, illness, or societal problems (such as manifestations that make the route to school unsafe, teacher strikes because they have not been paid, etc...). The learning environment is not an easy one, with many children in one small space, and no barriers between classrooms, causing lots of distractions, children struggle to learn. Often the teachers do not arrive on time, or even at all. The teachers themselves are minimally educated and simply have the students recite and memorize things. Therefore, many students are unable to pass the test when the year concludes.


Today's Challenge: Take a moment to think about your education. Contemplate for a moment how it changes your environment when everyone is offered education, and how nearly everyone you know can read and write, and thus have access to constantly learn more.  Think about those who helped make your education possible (parents, tax payers, bus drivers, school board members, scholarship donors). Think about the teachers that influenced you; appreciate that they were at school every day, on time, prepared to teach. Consider that it was never a question as to IF you would go to school, but that it was just a part of your development, an expectation. Be thankful that you never had to stay home from school to go get water for your family to drink, cook, bathe, and wash with. Think about how it would feel to be 22 in the 4th grade. Think about how that might affect your social and emotional development.  




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Advent Calendar: December 5

12/5/2016

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Day 5:

Yesterday we visited Angelor's house. Just outside that door, his sister was doing laundry, and climbing up to the roof to hang it to dry.  Today we invite you to enter the "door" to the "laundry room" at Angelor's home.  Climb on up the ladder, with your arms full of laundry.  Then hang it carefully over the edges of the roof and on some old electrical wires.  Now pray that it doesn't rain..... then go up and do it all in reverse!  (This is after hand washing each item...... after walking 1/4 mile to get the water to hand wash each item).

Today's Challenge:  Do a load of laundry today.  Instead of doing so begrudgingly, stand in awe in your laundry room.  Imagine how miraculous it is that a machine agitates for a half hour and your clothes magically come out clean!  Put them in the dryer or allow them to air dry.  Consider how simple this process is as you plop your clothes from one machine to the next.  Just pause for a moment in appreciation for technology and access to it that allows your schedule to have minimal time devoted to washing and thus free you to do other things.  When you are folding the laundry, be thankful for fluffy towels, sports clothes, dress clothes, sleeping clothes, socks without holes, and underwear that fits.  

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Advent Calendar: December 4

12/4/2016

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Day 4:

Meet Angelor.  He is 21 years old, and desires to finish High School.  He is currently working at PeaceCYCLE in the mornings and going to school (8th grade equivalent) in the afternoons. His pay has helped enable him to go to school.


With his employment, Angelor has helped his mom to begin a small business preparing food (rice and beans) in the mornings and selling it. He is also known for spending money buying gifts for his family. (he is one of 7 children and is very generous).

You may notice the slightly precarious deadbolt affixed to the concrete wall in this photo of Angelor standing in the threshold of his door. The reality in Haiti is a difficult one. There are many insecurities of safety and security, but yet it is an extremely sharing environment. They have great trust for one another within the community, but feel the need to protect themselves from society at large. There is no confidence in law enforcement if something does go wrong, and certainly no insurance.

Today's Challenge: Consider all of the infrastructure that allows you to feel safe. Ponder as you go through your day today the lack of anxiety that exists just knowing that you do not anticipate danger, theft, and riots. Acknowledge that you do not feel threatened when you freely pull out your phone when waiting in line. Be thankful that you do not feel the need to hold your purse close to you at all times, or hide your wallet under your shirt. If you carry a credit card and minimal cash – think about how that simplifies your safety concerns if you have a make a large purchase and do not need to carry large amounts of cash.

If you lock the doors of your house/car, be thankful for the structure of the doors/locks that allow you to do so. If you live in a place where you feel safe enough to not lock your doors, appreciate that reality.

More concretely, find someone in your community that helps maintain law and order, that comes to the aid of people in need, that assists in crisis. (Police officer, fire fighter, parametric, or otherwise). Thank them for what they do and their contribution to helping you feel safe and comfortable in your community.


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Advent Calendar: December 3

12/3/2016

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Day 3:

Meet Madam St. Ang. She is actually the original seamstress for the original plastic recycled bag long before PeaceCYCLE began. It was just a few of us collecting trash and trying something out.... .and she did the first experiment with us.

She only recently got a door. This was one of the big improvements she has made since her employment with PeaceCYCLE. She has a door with a lock, and a new tin roof. You can see that this became a photo shoot for the whole family. Madam Saint Ang's children are older, but she also raises several grandchildren.

Recently the quality of her sewing seemed to be going down. We had a discussion that she could not continue employment if she did not keep up good quality (often we see staff wanting to accomplish more and doing things quickly, but not paying attention to quality). Over time, we discovered that the poor quality was more due to her eyesight than her attention to detail.

We got her some reading glasses (of which she is very proud) but it is all a guess as to what is helping her vision. In addition, she was trying to sew when it is dusk, under the tin roof of her home. Poor lighting paired with vision struggles had made her attention to detail difficult. A solar lamp and a pair of reading glasses has helped.

Today's Challenge: This evening, take note of the time in which it becomes dusk. Realize how early that is and as you continue to be productive, be mindful of the lights in your house, and how much they empower you to study, read, learn, feel safe, communicate, socialize, and continue to develop as a person after that early evening sunset.
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​In addition, when you are reading, working, or relaxing, be cognizant of your vision. If you wearing glasses, or taking out your contacts, be thankful for your eye Doctor and your access to go to one. Be aware of the vision tests and prescriptions that have allowed you to see better. If you wear non-prescription reading glasses, be thankful for the nearby dollar store that lets you grab a new pair each time one gets misplaced! If you don't need visual aids to see well, BE THANKFUL! Offer a prayer for those who are blind or those who have visual impairments without access to optometrists.  


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Advent Calendar: December 2

12/2/2016

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Day 2:

This is Manel.  He has been working with PeaceCYCLE for about a year and a half.  He expressed interest in the compost process and has taken charge as the leader of our compost efforts.  

After passing through a very narrow corridor, you arrive at a particularly narrow door, here you see Manel standing in the threshold of the entry to his home. The doorway is followed by uneven and precarious steps leading steeply up to the small space where he and his sister live. 


Today's Challenge: Throughout your day, in your workplace, school, and home – pay attention to the stairs and their uniformity. Be thankful for precision. Acknowledge the blessings that simplify your life such as an elevator or ramp.  Be thankful for the railings on a staircase. When you are carrying in a load of groceries, notice the width of your doorway and hallways, and be thankful. Notice the sidewalk edges that have nice curbs that slope gently down at the crosswalk.  




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Advent Calendar: December 1

12/1/2016

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Day 1:

This is Sherline, standing at the threshold of her home.  Sherline is 26 and because of her employment at PeaceCYCLE has saved money and gone back to school in hopes to finish high school and receive a diploma.  

Note the "kitchen space" just to the left of the photo.  This is a common (and quite spacious) cooking set up, just outside the door (for ventalation purposes), cooking over charcoal.  

Today's Challange:  Cook a meal (don't go through drive through) but prepare a meal for yourself, a friend, your family, or neighbors.  While cooking, spend time being thankful for your kitchen, your appliances, your pots and pans, your electricity, sharp knives, mixing spoons, counterspace, running water, dish towels, cabinets, and all the blessings that are within your kitchen.  

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