we were warriors ~ a cutesy online vintage boutique. There are some gorgeous little pieces, sourced from all over Australia. My favourites are the twinsets and jumpsuits, perfect for an Australian summers afternoon BBQ. All original we were warriors products are made from as much recycled and vintage material as possible keeping it eco and friendly.
Buying vintage and recycling our clothes means we reduce our effect on the environment. There is less pollution poisoning our atmosphere and our landfills aren't getting as full so quickly.
So what are you waiting for? Pop along now lovelies, and check out the latest from we were warriors!
In Uzbekistan, children as young as 7 are forced to hand pick cotton by the government. Taken out of schools, they live in Soviet style camps, without clean drinking water, protective clothing and adequate renumeration. Many leave in debt because their living expenses out weigh how much cotton they were able to pick.
Uzbekistan is a former Soviet Union country in Central Asia, ruled by a brutal Totalitarian regime.
The second largest producer of cotton, also known as White Gold, the Uzbekistan government continues to profit from the back breaking work of its people who farm and pick the cotton.
Sadly, the largest inland sea is now a mere desert. During the Soviet occupation and in the years since, irrigation to produce cotton has dried out the sea. This has left a large majority of the 10 million Uzbeki people without an income. The left over sand and dust cause cancer and other respiratory diseases.
It takes 2,000 litres of water to produce one cotton T-shirt.
This is a grim story of our clothes. But there is hope.
As we increasingly choose to wear organic cotton T-shirts, we are voting with our wallets and demanding a fairer deal.
This modern day form of slavery must end in our lifetime. Children deserve an education rather than being forced to hand pick cotton and families deserve to reap the profits from their harvests.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Inner peace.
How do you find yours?
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
One of my favourite things? Jeans. And even better than jeans? Organic jeans.
These ones are perfection.
Kuyichi - started 7 years ago and dedicated to Organic Jeans. They're a far cry from the typic fisher man's pants we think of when we talk about organic pants.
ORGANIC COTTON
Did you know that more than 25 % of all insecticides used globally are used for growing cotton? These chemicals pollute soil and water, kill wildlife and are harmful to the people and land they work on. Organic cotton guarantees it is been made with respect to the people and environment. Kuyichi is the first jeans brand to make 'Pure Denim' out of organic cotton.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Do you ever stop to think about the story of your clothes? Where did they come from? Who made them?
This video explains a little about why organic cotton is so important, and why we should be increasing our demand for organic cotton production. I'll be talking about more about this in my next few posts.
Today we have all been talking about Kony and International Women’s Day. For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.
Firstly, Kony2012: this campaign has gone viral, and if you haven’t seen it yet, get out from under your rock and watch it. (Link provided at the bottom). The response has been unparalleled. News feeds have been jam packed with links to this video and haters have blogged, status updated and shared their opinions about the campaign.
In short – the advocacy to capture of Kony through military efforts, will implicate children abducted into the army. As a strong believer and advocate for nonviolence I hate this. Meeting violence with violence we will never establish true peace. The blood of the innocent will tarnish justice.
But Kony will not agree to peace. Hundreds of thousands Ugandans, Sudanese, Congolese and citizens of the Central African Republic have been killed, mutilated and abducted by the man number 1 on the ICC register. What is our alternative? Should we turn away when we already know so much? In all the arguments, there is yet to be a practical alternative. In the meantime, innocence is suffering.
Alice Achan
In 2010 I had the honour of visiting Northern Uganda for the first time. I met ex-child soldiers (one guy new Kony personally), women with mutilated lips and families’ still living in displacement camps, but it was the young women that changed my life.
Alice Achan, an Acholi women (the tribe of Northern Uganda) has given her life to see reconciliation and healing for the young women and children affected by 26 years of conflict. She is a pillar of light in the Pader region and her name Achan means Mercy. Alice runs a school for young women, many of whom are former sex slaves, which provides boarding, food, education, counselling and vocational training. There is even a nursery for their babies. This school highlights the importance of providing reconciliation and healing for those who have experienced hell under Kony’s army.
While the world gets behind the campaign to Stop Kony, we must consider the long term effects of this war on it’s people, and how it will end. When the LRA cleared out of Nth Uganda in 2008, so did most NGO’s and the UN. 3 million people were left to move back to destroyed homes and farms. They were left without proper sanitisation, food, medical facilities and education. Returning children were rejected from their communities because of the crimes they had ‘committed’. The Acholi people had relative peace, but peace was stunted because their needs weren’t met and they couldn’t access the healing and reconciliation they needed.
When the LRA are dismantled, children will possibly be returning home to villages destroyed, or families who reject them. Will we be tweeting and talking about reconciliation? Or are we all momentarily caught up in ‘ending a war’. How long and how far will our activism go?
Peace is tricky. It must be held lightly and understood from all angles. By removing Kony, we remove the source of the infection, but there will be traces throughout the body of poison. Civil society leaders like Alice stand as the hope for peace to nurture and grow in places like Pader. (Pader was the head quarters for the LRA for many years). We must identify these individuals and organisations that empower their own leaders, who know their culture, and get behind their efforts. The international community has a voice and has resources. Let us marry them up with those with the knowledge and the skills.
So happy International Women’s Day! I cannot think of any woman more deserving of accolade and praise than my friend Alice, and the beautiful women at her school who have survived Kony’s war.
To learn more about their work please check out these links and maybe even donate. (Sorry, you won’t get a cool bracelet to wear.
How much do you know about Guantanamo Bay? We hear bits and pieces. We know there are severe human rights abuses taking place. We heard about David Hicks. We know it's almost as close to hell you could ever get on earth. But what do the figures say? And what do they mean?
Check out Guantanamo by the Numbers and have a look at the factual reality. Why are there children in Guantanamo? And where did those who were related to 9/11 go? And why are there so many people in Guantanamo?
So what has happened to innocent until proven guilty? And when did it become ok for torture to be applied without a judicial process? Check out these stories from some detainees, who were captured, tortured and released without explanation.
This is what a world of fear looks like.
Monday, January 9, 2012
2012 - The Year of Coming Face to Face with Dreams.
Go confidently in the directions of your dreams, live the life you've imagined. Henry David Thorleau
The thing about dreams is that they have the potential to always remain in our minds and our hearts. They are intangible. We have to make the decision to release them. To ignite their potential and set fire to the possibility of them. Dreams might fail us, but life might fail us too. The fear of disappointment and regret is worse that the fear of releasing the dream.
So this year is about releasing the dream. There will be late nights. There will be a lot of hard work. There will be disappointment for sure - that is a guarantee. But if we don't live our dreams, someone else will live them for us.
So go confidently into 2012 and face those dreams. Take them off the shelf. Dust them off and dance upon fear.
