 New York City produces 33 million tons of waste each year. This was a weekend when the sanitation workers were on strike. Yikes! Imagine living in a city like New York without the infrastructure of sanitation and trash pick up. Back in the 1920-30’s trash was a huge problem in New York. With so many people rushing to live in the city, trash was often dumped in the streets and rivers. The picture above gives you an idea of what a mess things were! I mean have you ever stopped to think about what your town, city, or state would look and smell like if no one picked up your waste? Well in New York City trash is picked up daily and the waste is shipped off to several states and then put into landfills. Just think about how much money, planning, and infrastructure is needed to make this service run each day!  “I strongly believe that sanitation workers are the most important labor force on the streets of the city...They are the first guardians of public health. If they’re not taking away trash efficiently and effectively every day, it starts to spill out of its containments and the dangers inherent to it threatens us in very real ways. Diseases we’ve had in check for decades and centuries burst forth again and start to harm us.” Robin Nagle- What I Discovered in New York City TrashTed Talk I for one admit that I have taken waste management for granted and never thought about the process until my trip to Haiti. During my time there, I was confronted with trash. It was everywhere in Port au Prince. I mean mounds of trash and litter scattered throughout the city. Where did it all come from? Why wasn’t anyone picking it up? I mean the canals were packed with plastic bottles, bags, and boy did I see a lot of Styrofoam! Kids were playing on top of it and women were selling fruits and vegetables near it. Then I thought, what happens when it rains? Well, if it rains, the bacteria from the waste spreads into the water and soil, creating a river bed of trash that leads right into the ocean. The trash spreads and disease like Cholera spread. My heart and mind were so conflicted about the trash problem that the first night in Haiti I penned the following poem in my journal: "The rooster crows Complex is actually an understatement. The problems in Haiti are monstrous but they are not the only country in the world struggling with trash. For places like Hong Kong, Cairo, and slums throughout Africa and India trash is a big problem. So if you lived in a place like this, what would you do with all the trash? Some Haitians are not letting their circumstances defeat them--this is what I love about the Haitian people. They are expressing hope by turning the trash into treasure. Watch the following video to learn more: You see some people look at the trash and shake their heads in disgust. Some shout from the rooftops “Cholera is coming” while not providing any solutions. And then some get close and help one family at a time to get out of the mess. Papillon Enterprise is not only making use of recyclable materials but providing jobs for hundreds of families while 40% of the population is unemployed. This amazing business is taking care of the trash and circumventing the cycle of families sending their children off to live in orphanages. Haiti’s trash is a symptom of many problems and I for one am not knowledgeable enough to tackle it by offering solutions. But as a new lover of the people, I believe that those who live abroad, can do something to help. If you’d like to help one person, one family rise above their current circumstances, please consider purchasing this beautiful Haitian jewelry from Papillon. Another way we can move forward is to stop taking our sanitation services for granted. We should live with grateful hearts that we have the resources for proper and efficient waste management and pray for our brothers and sisters of many lands who aren't as privileged. Robin Nagle in her Ted Talk encourages each of us to “In the flow of your days. In the flow of your lives, next time you see someone whose job is to clean up after you, take a moment to acknowledge them. Take a moment to say thank you.” And last but not least--we should all try to live in a way where we learn ways to reduce our personal trash by recycling, composting, and reusing goods. If we all make more of an effort things can and will change around the world.
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 Period. Cycle. Bloody Buddy. Or what I call, Ms. Flow, visited me during my trip to Haiti. And why would I divulge such personal information? You'll see, just keep reading. I was really stressed out the first day in Port au Prince because I was quite unprepared for Ms. Flow’s arrival. But after a quick trip to the grocery store I left with ample supply of expensive sanitary supplies.  Well, starting my cycle caused me to ask myself a very important question: If according to the World Food Programme
How are my unemployed Haitian sisters purchasing sanitary supplies for their menstrual cycle? I mean many families are struggling just to put food on the table, so what are they using? I did not realize that by asking this question and typing in a google search on “poverty and menstruation” that I would be thrust into a the world-wide crises of menstrual management. You see girls and women around the world are struggling with managing their menstrual cycle. Some are using old cloths, leaves, wool, feathers, foam, sand, corn husk….anything they can think of to help absorb blood when modern pads are not available or affordable. Let’s just stop here and imagine the mess of leakage from using sand and feathers! If that’s not terrible enough, my research led me to finding out that some girls are actually selling their bodies in order to purchase pads so that they can stay in school or go to work. This is inconceivable and yet it is happening in the year 2016! I never imagined it was such a problem and that there are organizations assisting women around the globe with this very issue. So as a result of Ms. Flow showing up uninvited during my trip to Haiti I am seeking out ways to help my sisters. I want to know how I can assist in helping them get access to affordable sanitary napkins and possibly do some micro-financing so that they can earn income from the endeavor. Right now I’m just in the research phase but I’d encourage you to join me by doing one or all of the following:
3. Purchase sanitary pads or cups from organizations (Days for Girls , AfriPads , BeGirl . Ruby Cup ) who are supporting our sisters living in poverty.
4. Every time Ms. Flow shows up, say a prayer for your sisters around the world who are struggling with menstrual management. We need to stick together. Period.  My Teva sandals were not cute but comfortable for the long days on my feet! My team’s purpose in Haiti was to travel to textile factories with Share Hope and educate the pregnant factory workers on how to protect themselves from the Zika virus. We were going to be presenting to over 300 women in the course of 6 days and we weren’t quite sure how to dress for the occasion. In my mind, I didn’t want to be overdressed and thus communicate a social class difference. But I what I didn’t realize is that although 80% of the population lives below the poverty line, the Haitian people take a lot of pride in their appearance! In fact, when our team arrived at the factory office we all felt under-dressed! The Her Health educators were dressed professionally and looked beautiful!  HerHealth Educator, Vanessa dressed super cute! Needless to say, I was completely surprised by how well dressed the people were and at the amount of clothing on the streets of Haiti. As we drove around Port au Prince I was thinking “Where on earth did all these clothes come from?” That’s when I learned about Pepe or the journey of second hand clothing from the United States. So as I understand it, when thrift stores like the Goodwill and Salvation Army get rid of clothes they sell them to companies who buy them in bulk. These companies then sort the clothing and put them in huge pallets to sell to developing countries around the world. In many cases, Haitian Americans living in the States, buy the clothing in bulk and then ship it to Haiti so that the local people can buy and sell them in the markets.
It seemed like every main street was filled with people selling these items. I saw a lot of cute designer clothes and shoes and trust me, the next time I travel to Haiti, I will be dressed cute! From June 20-25th, I traveled to Haiti with five other women to partner with Share Hope’s Her Health Education program. There was so much that I witnessed and so I’ve decided to write a series of post as a way for me to share what I encountered during my brief time Port au Prince. Now before we arrived in Haiti, several team members expressed concern about us driving ourselves. You see, just because we all could handle driving in Manhattan's rush hour traffic, did not qualify us for driving in Port au Prince. I’m so glad we hired a driver because driving was definitely a cross-cultural experience! First, many streets had huge pot holes, traffic lights seemed almost non-existent, and lane divisions were not clearly outlined. In some parts of the city, traffic was so crazy that at any point, another vehicle could be going in the opposite direction but headed directly towards you in your lane. And although it appeared chaotic, the people knew how to navigate the streets and get from point A to point B without killing each other or road rage! New Yorkers could learn a lot from the Haitian drivers! What I found interesting was that although the streets were crowded with vehicles, according to the World Factbook of Haiti, only 5 out of 1000 people own vehicles. Most Haitians travel by motorcycle or tap taps which are colorful buses and trucks which serve as public transportation. For a ride, the people pay about 25 cents and travel throughout the city. I have lot's to share about my time in Haiti, so make sure to check out the other post in this series!
 When I heard those words, it made me feel so old! The book they were talking about was a phone book! My kids had never seen one before and I had to explain what a phone book was in the first place. “But that’s crazy! People can just go on the internet and look things up!” they said. In that moment, I felt ancient...really ancient! Technology is changing our culture at lightening speed. I mean think about all of the things that our kids have never seen or used: My kids really have no idea how far technology has come in the last 30 years. When I was growing up my dad use to own a computer store. He would build and fix computers and we grew up with the latest technology. But if my kids were to see those same computers that I grew up with, I’m sure they would respond the same way as the kids in the following video: It’s funny because I thought I was pretty hip to the latest technology and then one day I was inputting our babysitter’s information in my phone when she informed me that I was totally a “mommy-texter” aka “slow!” What’s really funny, is that this generation of kids are totally making fun of parents and grandparents using the technology of this age. Watch these funny videos: Times are changing but I’m going to do my best to keep up. At least I don't have an AOL email address!!
 Good Families Don’t Just Happen is the name of a book I picked up from the Goodwill store a few years ago. I loved the title, and it drew me in because growing up I was able to observe healthy and unhealthy families and I wanted to learn how to be intentional about building a good one. In this book Cathy and Joe Prat shared their parenting/family tips learned from raising their ten sons! This book was full of great advice and here are five things I learned from them:  The Prat Boys! 1. Successful Parents Do What Unsuccessful Parents Are Unwilling to Do. In order to have a strong family, the Prats say you have to make your marriage relationship first and foremost. It’s really easy to get distracted with life, kids, career and as a result put your marriage relationship on the back-burner. “Strengthening and maintaining a marital relationship is an active process. Passivity and complacency will not allow a marriage to nurture and grow. It takes continuous effort, but we reap what we sow.” A strong marriage gives the children a strong sense of security and can lay a healthy emotional foundation. 2. Shared Parenting and Family Management is a Must! There are many women who feel like their husbands do not actively participate in the daily raising of the children. This mentality is the fastest way for burnout and can plant a lot of resentment in the relationship. I totally agree with Joe when he stated “I feel strongly that family must be a shared responsibility. I’m often amazed at husbands who expect their wives to do it all, and then wonder why their wives are frustrated, tired, angry, and unaffectionate.” Joe--it amazes me too! I am really blessed to have a husband that is extremely helpful around the house and with the kids. So Cathy’s perspective was surprising and refreshingly challenging to me when she wrote, “If your Dad’s willing to fold clothes or fix dinner, then I should be willing to mow the lawn or wash a car.” I honestly had never thought about doing some of my husband's "chores." However, this past winter when we ordered wood for the fireplace---we were all out there stacking and loading together as a family! It felt really good working together as a team. Even if you are a single parent---make sure you gather a good support network--don’t try to do everything by yourself--build your network and involve your friends in “village parenting.” 3. Treat Each Person in Your Family as an Unique Individual without pressuring them to be like someone else. There are no favorites in a good family. As a parent you might be tempted to favor one child over the next because they have similar interests or personality. “We do not pressure them to be a doctor, play a certain sport, or march to a certain drummer. They each have God-given talents and must find their own path to follow.” I think this is one of the best ways to ensure jealousy, comparison, and insecurity don’t sneak their way into your family culture. When each child is valued--each one will be a supportive team member. 4. Discipline Should be a Positive Learning Experience. Some parents do not discipline their children and let them get away with any type of behavior. The Prats discourage this kind of parenting strategy and wrote, “One of our responsibilities as parents is to assist our children in all areas of their development. When one of the boys acts or speaks in appropriately, we don’t say, ‘It’s just a phase,” or ‘That's’ the way boys are,’ or blame someone else. We deal with the situation up front and right away. If the boys have been unkind or acted out of line, we let them know how disappointed we are and what we think needs to be done.” The authors went on to explain that all discipline should be done in a manner that will never give your kids the impression that they are unloved. Recently, my boy’s were running through a museum (yes my kids act up!) and the security guard came and let me know that he spoke with them, but they ignored him. I brought the boys to the security guard and had them apologize and then handed out consequences once we got in the car. Before we left the museum, the security guard pulled me aside and thanked me. He said, sometimes he’ll tell parents their kids are acting up and the parents don’t do anything. He reassured me that although my boys were running through the museum (so embarrassing) I was doing a good job by dealing with the behavior. Well, I definitely thought my boys needed some more home training, but it was really good to hear that the simple act of redirecting them and having them apologize was a good thing. Sometimes it's really easy just to ignore my kids when they are misbehaving. Sometimes, it takes so much effort to get them in line, so it was really encouraging to have that man let me know I was on the right track. Now one of the last things I learned from the Prat family was to: 5. Teach by Example. In other words, be real. Don’t be fake--live out the life and character you want your kids to have. If you are materialistic, dishonest, hard to please, selfish but you put on the opposite face in public, don’t be surprised when your children mimic the same behavior. In practicing the art of parenthood an ounce of example is worth a ton of preachment.” The Prats emphasized that “Your children will do as you do! If you want our children to be respectful, we must treat them and our spouse with respect. If we want our children to be responsible, we must accept and fulfill our responsibilities. If we want our children to be kind and compassionate, we must be sensitive and caring in our words and actions. If we want our children to be happy, optimistic, and hopeful, we must show them the way.” I was reminded of how true this is when one day, my eldest was going around shouting commands at everyone with a terrible tone of voice. It was then that I realized she was totally mirroring my own bad attitude--and let me tell you it was ugly! My kids see me mess up all the time. I’m not perfect and I don’t claim to be because I want my kids to see that we all have weaknesses but can grow and improve each day. I agree with Joe when he said “To be a good parent means constantly trying to become a better individual.” Parenting is hard work and building a healthy family is even harder. I hope some of these insights encourage you to keep making your family a priority. Remember good families don't just happen! If you want to learn more from Cathy and Joe, you can visit: http://www.garcia-prats.com/garcia-prats.com/Joe_and_Cathy.html I am so proud of all of my kids but I want to give a shout out to my eldest daughter Jayda. She loves to draw, design, create, build--she is always doing something with her hands. This past month she really stepped up when she willingly agreed to design and sell t-shirts as a way for her to contribute to my father’s kidney transplant fund. She was so excited throughout the designing process and because of her willingness to share her gift of drawing she was able to raise over $200! I am a firm believer that God gives us gifts to bless others and Jayda definitely did that. A big thanks to everyone who purchased a shirt you have encouraged her to keep giving to others!! Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
I never knew that this green ribbon stood for Kidney Disease Awareness. Now I know because my dad is experiencing kidney failure. Kidney disease has fought its way to the forefront of my life as for months my dad has suffered and battled it in silence. First of all, my father, Henry Luvert is not known for being the “silent” type. Usually loud, boisterous, loud, fun-loving, passionate, loud—okay you get the point—loud! You see as a social justice and civil rights advocate, he has stood up for the voiceless for decades! As a child, I remember him talking on the phone for hours at a time helping and assisting victims of racism and discrimination. Why did they call him? Because he didn’t just talk. You know there were some in our community who only talked about injustice but never put the time to help fight against it. My father, was a man of action. Those who encountered trouble and wanted something done or wanted someone to stand with them—well they called him. This March, my dad is blessed to have his youngest sister, Jennifer Luvert donate a kidney. She was the perfect match and on March 15, 2016 the kidney transplant will occur. I will literally owe my Auntie Jennifer so much for giving a gift of life to my father.  One way I want to show my gratitude is by making sure all of her costs are raised for the surgery. I don’t want her to have to pay one cent—she is already giving so much! Please help me by raising $3,000 to cover all of her expenses like transportation, food, living, medical expenses.
All I need is for 30 people to give $100. Would you be that person? If so, please go to this link to make your contribution: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/10490 Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity! To follow the campaign please LIKE our Facebook Page "Help Henry Get His Kidney": http://on.fb.me/1TTHA0v Each year my kids go off to camp for the week and my husband and I take a staycation. We stay at home in our quiet and clean house and enjoy the local sites without having to pay for babysitting! What’s really cool about living in New York is that there is so much to do. You’ve got the Pocono Mountains in the North, the beaches on the Jersey and Long Island Shore, and of course Manhattan with the Broadway shows and shopping! In the summer there are always free concerts and outdoor performances. The best advice I got when moving to New York was to “live like a tourist.”
Isn’t it true that people that come to visit your area get to do the best things? So we figured, instead of leaving New York for vacation we would try and discover and enjoy the wonderful gems of our area. We had a great time!!  I have to admit that I really am the nerd in our family. In fact, I usually have to plan fun into our family routine or it would never happen. That is why I am so happy that I married a “fun” guy. My husband constantly fills our home with laughter while playing jokes on the family or telling his ridiculous stories of childhood. He is big on creating memories in our home and was the one to convince me to go camping. Yes, live outside in a tent for a few days. Initially I was totally against the idea but like the crock-pot that I am, I slowly warmed up to it. I’m so glad I stepped outside of my box because now it is a Murray favorite! Murray Camping Trip 2014
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Murray FamilyI've been married to my best friend Bryan Murray since the year 2000. Now we have four incredible children and a super full life with extended family and friends. Archives
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