Commuters & Food

So it’s been a few weeks now (five to be exact) since I started working for Foodbank.

Five weeks since I started spending almost two hours of my day observing the behaviour of that strange species of the workforce known as ‘Commuters.’

And this is what I have learned:

• A packed train is a totally acceptable place to apply a full face and neck(!) of make-up.
• A packed train is the perfect place to have an argument with your boyfriend (who just started working at the River Cafe - the same place as you) about waiting for the train on the wrong platform (which apparently was so typical of him because he did the same thing a couple of weeks ago when they went to visit her mum. Not that I was shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation or anything).
• A packed train is the perfect place to catch up on some sleep, even if you’re standing.
• It is a commonly held belief (and practice) that pushing the button to open the train door before the train has completely come to a stop opens the door faster.
• Looking tired and miserable is the only acceptable way to travel on trains.
• You have elbows for a reason – use them or lose them.
• There is no place for weakness in the Commuter’s territory – very young, very old, or just slow – they will not hesitate to walk all over you like they didn't even see you.

As you can see – it’s been educational.

But I’ve also learned about food. In particular, having no food.

People in England really do go hungry. People really do have no money for food.

I mean I knew this when I signed up to Foodbank but now I’ve actually seen it.

The first couple of weeks I spent most of my time visiting the London Foodbanks (we have 15 open at the moment and another 12 due to open soon). I saw how the Foodbanks operate and got to meet some of the volunteers and clients.

The first client I met was a guy who was probably in his early thirties. He’d been brought to the Foodbank by a couple of plain clothed policemen. He was pretty emotional. Turns out he’d been caught shoplifting bread and eggs earlier that day. His benefit had stopped 23 days ago and since then he hadn’t received any income. He said that once his food had run out he had to beg. He said hadn’t eaten for four days. Four days. And he’d gotten so hungry that stealing seemed to be his only option. He said he’d been off drugs and alcohol for six years and this was the first time he’d been in trouble with the police since then, he was really upset about this. He started to cry when we gave him some food. He was so thankful.

BOOM

That was when I realised. People really do go hungry. People really do have no food. In England.

That was when I realised what Foodbank was about and why it’s needed. Since that first week I've met a whole range of clients who for some reason, have no food or the means of getting any. 

This not something I expect to see in England.

So yeah, an educational few weeks to be sure. 

Disturb us, O Lord...

Disturb us, O Lord,
When we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord,
When with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, O Lord,
To dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas,
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Francis Drake, 1577

What Rachel Did Next

So, it’s been an interesting year. The first six/seven months –Fun Times. The last five months – less of the fun and less of the sun (did we even have summer this year?).

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great to be home and see everyone that I missed while I was away. But since then it’s been fairly average. I’ve spent most of the so-called summer filling in job applications and receiving emails telling me I’m not qualified/experienced enough to do whatever job it was I applied to.

Ever been unemployed? Then you’ll understand my pain – trying to find motivation to fill in another form, being too lazy to read the Job Description and skipping straight to the Person Spec, feeling guilty for any time not spent job hunting, finding inventive ways of avoiding answering the dreaded question of “don’t you have a job yet?” (My favourites – jumping out of a window, or [if you’re not on a ground floor] pretending you haven’t heard and start asking them if that’s their car being towed), wondering if you should abandon your values and apply for a job as a manager of a Nike store, wondering if you should have sent in the application to be London Met Commissioner as you don’t think the current candidates will be any better than the previous ones and wondering why the media keep finding new statistics about high rates of graduate unemployment.

But back to my main point – it’s been an interesting year:

•  September 26^th 2010 -  the official start of DTS lecture phase (if you wanna know what I’m talking about and have a serious amount of time on your hands then read this: www.rachelgoestonz.blogspot.com)
• September 26^th 2011 – the official start of my working life as an intern for the Foodbank Network. (Farewell unemployment, hello having to set an alarm to wake up before the sun)
• September 26^th 2012 – the official start of my reign as world CEO? Intern to world domination in one year? Easily achievable

Interesting times. And its about to get even more interesting. As of next week I start a programme called Mission Year (www.missionyear.org.uk).

Mission Year (MY) is a framework equipping Christians to live in community with others, to serve the local church and to reach their neighbourhood. MY participants work with a number of ministries tackling social exclusion in areas of high social deprivation.

And so, in a few weeks I’ll be moving to Bethnal Green, East London, to live with three other MY participants. I am super excited about being part of an inner-city community where there is such a desperate need for Jesus. As part of MY I will be working, as an intern, with the Foodbank Network four days a week.

The Foodbank Network is a Christian charity that provides emergency three-day supplies of food to those in the UK who due to some kind of crisis, such as benefit delay, unexpected bills, illness etc, are without any food, or the means of getting any food for the next few days.

Clients are identified by frontline care professionals, such as social workers and Doctors, and given a voucher which they take to their local Foodbank and exchange for a three-day supply of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food. They are not just given the food but tea/coffee, sometimes a meal and someone to talk/pray with. All food is donated by the public and sorted by volunteers. Last year the Foodbank Network fed over 60,000 people experiencing food poverty in the UK.

London currently has 14 Foodbanks up and running, with another 12 planning to open in the next few months. I will be working with the Regional Director for London in supporting current Foodbanks and establishing new ones. I am super excited to be working with an organisation tackling food poverty right on our doorstep. See www.trusselltrust.org for more info. 

Now the mathematically minded among you will have noted that I will only be working with Foodbank for four days. Fear not. On the fifth day I'll be working with the church I’ll attend in Bethnal Green. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing but I do know it will involve working for and with the local community. Possibly: kids work, youth work, teaching English to refugees or volunteering at my local Foodbank.

However, as an intern I don’t get paid, instead I get expenses. And although my expenses will be pretty generous for an intern (not quite parliamentary stylee though) it won’t quite cover my contribution to the house living expenses. I am short by £100 a month. This is where you come in...

If 10 people gave me £10 a month for one year I would be able to cover rent, food, bills and if I’m careful I might even have enough left over for some chocolate biscuits. Or, if 12 people gave me £100 I’d be covered for the year. You see where this is going?

Would you partner with me by donating a monthly sum/one-off donation of £5/10/15/30/45/60/75/100/whatever you find down the back of the sofa so that I don’t starve/freeze/become homeless over the next year? (Although that would be ironic). Anything and everything will be much appreciated. If this is something you could do then simply hit the Donate button on the right or send me a message/email/letter/leave a comment and I can send you my details.

Thanks guys.

With love from Rachel

P.S. If you happen to know any super rich people who might like to help me out then by all means, pass the message along. Thanks people.

P.P.S. This new blog  will chart my adventures in London. 

Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance

Bear with me, that title is pretty scary but what I’m about to explain isn’t.

                                   

This video shows a series of loans being made and then repaid between 2005 and 2011. The loans were made through a non-profit company called Kiva.

Kiva aim to alleviate poverty through lending money to small business owners and entrepreneurs in the developing world.  

This is the simple version of how it works:

1. You chose a borrower. Kiva have list of borrowers seeking lending from all around the world, you might want to lend to someone in a particular country or for a particular business.
2. You make the loan. Using Paypal you can loan as little as $25 (only £15.66) or the full loan.
3. You get paid back. Once the borrower has started to make a profit they pay back the loan.
4. You can re-lend the money. Or keep it, that's your decision.

You see, Simple As and non-scary. Click here to see the more complex version of how it works.

So the video shows loans being made and then repaid. It’s brilliant right?

It’s not only helping people to escape the vicious cycle of poverty but its part of a long-term solution to help them help themselves, their families and communities. I LOVE it. In fact, I’m feeling so inspired by this video I’m gonna make another loan.

There are currently (at the time of writing) 1,020 men and 1,078 women from 60 different nations across the world requesting funding for grocery businesses, timber business, jewellery businesses, land for somewhere to live... the list goes on! 

   

Wouldn’t it be great if in the next couple of years so many loans were made and then repaid that when they do the next Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance video you can’t see any of the countries because they’re obscured by all the loans!

To make a loan go to www.kiva.org and click lend. Follow the simple instructions and there you go, bingo! loan made. 

You could loan to Uhuru Karisa, a father of three from Kenya, who needs $225 to buy manure and maize seeds for planting on his farm.

You could loan to Benita Stupfs Ocampos, a 43 year-old single mother from Paraguay, who needs $900 to buy winter clothes to sell on her market stall.

Just seen a news report about poverty in a war-torn country and wonder how you can do something to help someone there? See if Kiva has anyone requesting funding in that country and make a loan.

Just read about the plight of refugees in our cities and want to know how you can help some of the people they left behind? See if Kiva has anyone requesting funding in that country and make a loan.

Need to buy a gift for the person who has everything? Give them a Kiva gift card and then they can make a loan.

Want to make a difference to a person, family and community? Make a Kiva loan.

Come on, do it, make a loan. It will make your day, not to mention the joy it will bring someone when their loan target is reached and they can step forward into a better future for them and their family.

To make a loan go to www.kiva.org and click lend. 

P.S. Click here for a TED talk by the co-founder of Kiva on 'Poverty, money -- and love.' 

P.P.S. If you want something that's not in dollars then check Deki. 

Dream Like A Child

I must confess – I LOVE TED talks. I've lost many an hour watching inspiring talks given by some amazing people. I came across this one the other day:

Interesting ideas right? I want to focus on one point she made early on - "Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking... Kids don't think of the limitations of how hard it can be..."


So what’s your child-like idea? What would you create if you didn’t see limitations and had an ocean of optimism?

Me?

I would run a community centre, right in the heart of a community that doesn’t have much going for it. It would be a place that everyone goes to. A place of belonging, learning, acceptance and inspiration. A place for the very very young, the very very old and everyone in-between.

We would run English classes, healthy living classes, art classes, reading groups, youth groups, mother and baby groups, sports groups, mentoring programmes, debt counselling, a Foodbank, a drop-in centre, computer classes, dance classes, homework help classes, tutoring groups, cooking groups, a giant kids play area, a giant cafe for the grownups, a studio for all the kids into music, a skate park for all the kids into skating, a community garden and vegetable plots. A maybe, just maybe we’d have a climbing wall, gym and swimming pool. We'd have a team of social workers, mentors, counsellors and youth workers.

It would be a place of joy and community and love.

Now all I need to do is write a list of what needs to be to achieve it and start crossing things off – simple.

So while I don’t encourage being childish (unless you’re a child) I do encourage dreaming the big dreams of children and then seeing how you can make them happen.

What would your child-like idea look like?

P.S. Am I the only one intimidated by this girl?

Lessons in French Generosity. Maybe.

I LOVE this. 

A bunch of Super Rich people in France turning to their PM and saying, “Look mate, we know we’re in a bit of a fix with this debt thing and all. How about you tell us to give you more money and we’ll do it. We’re loaded; we’ll still have plenty left so we don’t mind. Tax us up baby!” Or words to that effect. And you know what’s happened? France has announced a special tax on the Super Rich.  

Now, my inner cynic says that these Super Rich knew about the impending tax and so decided to make the most of a tax-increase with a bit of positive publicity by appearing to offer their millions ‘for the sake of the nation.’ But at the same time, I believe in human kindness and generosity. And so maybe they did this out of the kindness of their hearts. 

Maybe.

Either way we can learn a lot from this in Britain. Which is why I'm considering sending this letter to the richest people in the country:

Hello Super Rich people in Britain, 

We need you to do us a favour. For the sake of the nation. For the sake of the thousands of people that have supported you in your bids for market domination.

You know this thing called national debt? You know how the government are cutting services left right and centre to make up for our lack of funds? You know how thousands of people are feeling the negative effects of this? Well how about you help us out? I’m thinking in a similar fashion to our French cousins - offer to pay higher taxes.

It’s simple enough. You have millions to spare. The government does not. Well. Actually. Let’s face it, most of the government have a few mill to spare (but don’t get me started on that). The nation itself does not.

So how about a bit of generosity. How about you give back to the nation and people that helped you get where you are today. I’m sure if you rang Dave&Nick up they’d be delighted to accept your most generous offer. And of course, you will be remembered for all time as the people who helped get Britain back on her feet.

Yours sincerely, 

one of the non-super rich people of Britain

And for those of us who aren’t super rich, get yourself supporting the Robin Hood Tax. 

Behind the Net Curtain

Anyone else out there grow up with at least one parent convinced that if you didn’t have net curtains covering your windows every single neighbour and passerby would spend all their free time watching your family eat dinner or watch TV? Anyone else ever go past a house where you can see the occupants living a net curtain free existence and wonder how they sleep at night knowing that everyone who went past during that last hour saw them on the sofa in their PJs crying over X-Factor (not that I would ever do that)? Anyone else feel naked without their privacy being protected and prying eyes kept at bay with a few inches of net?

Anyone but me guilty of all three?

Time for a confession: almost every room in my house has net curtains. I find it hard to envisage life without them.

The windows in my bedroom overlook the garden, adjoining gardens and then the gardens that back onto my garden, the houses that belong to those gardens and then I can see a bit of the other side of the valley (can you even have valleys in a city?). As such, it sometimes feels that when I look out of my windows half the world and his mum can see into my room. Excellent for watching fireworks on bonfire night but not so excellent when you've a green face-mask on and you’re dancing around your room singing along to Glee (not that I would do this either). So I usually have net curtains strung across my windows to protect me from (the nonexistent) prying eyes. Not once when I’ve looked out my window have I ever seen someone else look out theirs too. And in the previous days of school revision and in the current days of unemployment staring out the window happens a lot.

A few days ago I decided to clean my bedroom windows. And for some unknown reason (temporary madness or something) I decided to push back the net curtains.

O.My.Goodness.

I could see EVERYTHING (or as much as you can see in gardens and backs of houses). But seriously, it felt like I was living outside. So now, whenever I’m bored of searching for jobs or whatever, I can vacantly stare out of my window without having to hold the net curtain up and feel like a really obvious spy/stalker.

But the best thing?

Sunset.

Every evening (excluding rain clouds and winter and all that) I’m treated to an amazing display of colour and cloud and shadow and sunlight as the sun disappears behind the other side of the valley.

Today I saw cloud, blue sky, purples, greys, white and orange. And at the centre, a blinding brilliant bright light that I knew I shouldn’t look at but couldn’t help doing anyway.

And today I wondered how many of these had I missed when the net curtain was there. How many times had I missed the opportunity to witness the sun disappearing from sight in such an amazing display of pure awesome? And I don’t even like nature.

And of course, in typical Christian fashion, my mind soon turned to God. How many times had the ‘net curtain’ in my life prevented me from seeing Him? How many times had food, uni, internet, music, friends and family stopped me from seeing God at work? How many times has my own stubbornness, laziness and lack of self-control stopped me from moving the curtain? How many times had I sat by the curtain and never considered what was beyond it?

How could I have been content with this?

Some might argue what about when the clouds are there? What if you can’t see the sky? What about winter when the sun sets before anyone is even awake?!

I would reply that they’re taking this analogy too far, but for the sake of discussion (never argument), I would claim external factors. Something other than me getting in the way. At no point does this mean that God is not there. That He is not working. That He is not speaking to us. But maybe something outside our control is getting in the way.

Maybe God doesn’t seem to be there right now. Maybe you’re struggling to remove your net curtain. Whatever it is, I want to know that God is there. He is always there. Talk to Him.

Matthew 25

This is an interpretation of Matthew 25:31-46 by a woman who was homeless:

I was hungry and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your church and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so holy, so close to God

But I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.

Taken from Issues Facing Christians Today, by John Stott (London: Marshall Pickering 1990).

Ouch, anyone else guilty of this?

Micah 6 v 6-8

With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God